It is now Friday, and I have about one hour to type about Meatloaf Monday from 4 days ago. This has been a week of tragic news and celebrations. Death, a severe new diagnosis of one friend and celebrating several friends with another birthday to roll around this week were just a part of the week ahead. Celebrating the Bulldogs Girl’s Basketball state semi final game is on the schedule for later today. After we pay our respects to a man that passed away suddenly way too soon and who was beloved by many. This morning I was reading in Lamentations for our ‘Through the Bible in a Year’ and came upon these verses: “I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss. Yet, I still dare to hope when I remember this: the faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.” Lam 3;19-22 This week reminded me that life is a contradiction of joyfulness and deep sadness. And all can be felt in one day. That was Monday of this week for sure.
Monday, March 3rd was the birthday of my friend, Barb Blass. Last week our small book club cooked up the idea of surprising Barb with a small celebration for her special day as it was also book club night. I pulled out Barb’s meatloaf recipe for Meatloaf Monday could not be skipped over either. (You might remember that Barb also played the joke with the seasoning packet from McCormick in Week #1.) Her personal recipe is the one she uses when she makes meatloaf at home. I realized just before Monday that this was another 3 lb recipe so I decided to have all three ladies join Terry and I for dinner on Meatloaf Monday. Annette and Cheryl were bringing birthday brownies and party supplies so we were all set. Terry was so blessed to have dinner with 4 lovely ladies. Or was he? He left quickly, saying very little. I think the book we are reading is way too girly for him. 🙂
Around noon, as I was planning dinner, Barb texted us the picture below. She was at Exchange Club. Guess what was on the menu? You got it. Meatloaf! How does that happen on your birthday to boot? Meatloaf is everywhere these days! Since Barb said she makes meatloaf infrequently, I am guessing she truly would not want 2 meatloaves on her special day. But that is how this day was going to go for her… I am not even sure who prepares the Exchange Club meals, but here it is.
Barb’s personal recipe is simply called…
Meatloaf
1/2 c. milk
3 garlic cloves
2 eggs, beaten
2 T. dry Italian Seasoning (Note by Author: Go to Week #20 toward the end to read about this ingredient for this week.)
3 1/2 t. salt
3 T. Worcestershire Sauce (divided)
1 c. Panko Breadcrumbs
4 oz. Parmesan Cheese, grated
3 lbs ground beef (I use 1/2 sausage). (I, Theresa, used 2 lbs ground beef and 1 lb Bob Evans sausage for ease with packaging.)
3/4 c. ketchup
Stir together milk, garlic, eggs, Italian seasoning, salt, & 2 T. Worcestershire Sauce. Press mixture in a 13 x 9 lightly greased pan.
For the topping, stir together ketchup and 1 T. of Worcestershire Sauce. Spread evenly over the meatloaf mixture.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Meat should register 160 degrees. Without removing the meatloaf from the oven, increase the temperature to broil. Cook 3-5 minutes for a glaze to caramelize. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
I had some difficulty getting the meatloaf to 160 degrees in the timeframe specified. I also did not seem to achieve that caramelized look, but that did not matter much, as Terry likes the plain ketchup on his meatloaf. He noted at the beginning how thick and firm this meatloaf was compared to others. This meal would feed many. Even with 5 of us we had plenty of leftovers. When I brought out the dish, I waited for Barb to say, “Hey, that looks like mine”. She did not. Throughout the meal I waited for her to say, “Hey, this tastes like mine.” She did not. It was Barb that did say toward the end of the meal, “Are we going to find out whose recipe this is?” I got up and walked over with the recipe card. I told her it was hers and she was THOROUGHLY shocked. She said, “Wait! This is mine? It can’t be. Well, that is my handwriting on the card.”. She was so funny and so cute about it all. Barb said it was likely longer than a year since she made this recipe as her one son does not like meatloaf. I told her I had 41 other recipes she could try. We all got a good chuckle out of these events.
Terry gave this meatloaf a 7.3. Again, a mark he has not given before. After 18 weeks, I double and triple check this several times to make sure. He continues to amaze me. I have learned after all this time that he is more of a ‘traditional’ meatloaf person then a specialty one. This meatloaf was likely a bit too much Italian seasoning for him, but still a very nice meatloaf that he enjoyed. After all these weeks he is becoming quite the meatloaf connoisseur. He also did not say much in a room full of women ready to get caught up after a winter-illness-vacation hiatus. Plus we had a book to chat about it. Happy Birthday Barb! Thanks for playing along with “Guess the Meatloaf Monday Trivia Night”.
At the beginning I mentioned, a week of birthdays. On Monday, my friend Erica (from years at the Board) also celebrated her birthday texting me a few times about a lunch date. On Wednesday, I took Melissa (another friend from my Board days) to lunch for her birthday a few days late. Erica and I are going to celebrate one day soon between my birthday and hers- I will be just be a little late again. However, on Tuesday, it was Martha and Chris who had birthdays. Both dear friends from my work days. I got up early to make them each a Peanut Butter pie. After several strange encounters making these pies on this morning, (Trust me. You do not want all the details that could make a whole new blog!) I put them carefully in the car. When I had to stop quickly, this happened…
I saved one and heard it tasted good. You know the Friends episode where the cheesecake hits the hallway floor and Joey happens to have a fork in his pocket and digs in? Well, I might, or might not have, taken a fork to the one that was smashed by my purse. It was in the pan yet so don’t judge. I had to see if it was any good. Right?
There is a old saying that goes “Some days the bear gets you, and some days you get the bear.” I truly did not let the bear get me with the pie. I just laughed about the whole thing and bought one at Cracker Barrel. You can’t let the bear win over pie. Maybe over death and illness, but not pie.
Until next week.
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