It's Really All About The Sandwich!

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The basics of a good meat loaf seem simple at best but through the years and many a meat loaf later I can honestly say that there are some people who can take the humble meat loaf and make it taste like.....you know! Sadly my mother was one of those people, she was a really good cook with everything else but her meat loaf would make me shudder. To this day I still feel she put way too many onions in it. My mother was the queen of onions and in other recipes that was just fine but in meat loaf, not so great. My mother's meat loaf was three parts chopped onions to a little over one part ground beef. You couldn't cut a slice of this meat loaf if your life depended on it. Each slice would just fall apart; there was not enough ground beef to hold it together. I guess if she was serving some recipe called "Onion Loaf" this would have been great but when having meat loaf, I find that the meat part of the recipe should be the headliner.
I realize that I am extremely fussy when it comes to meat loaf, it is just one of those foods that I tend to be quite judgmental about. To be fair, I have even made some meat loaves that I wouldn't eat.
My mother liked topping her meat loaf with ketchup and bacon which is pretty common. I don't mind the bacon but I am not real big on the ketchup.
I actually prefer meat loaf with brown gravy or no gravy at all as long as the meat loaf is moist. I have had a couple people who have served me meat loaf and I have actually enjoyed it and gone back for seconds, my grandmother being one and the other being my dear friend Christine.
The funny thing is I could really care less about the initial meat loaf dinner, what I truly look forward to, obsess over and dream about is that meat loaf sandwich I am going to make with the leftovers! I am surprised by the number of people that feel the exact same way. I guess when it comes down to it meat loaf is less about dinner and more about the sandwich!

A Simple Loaf

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground veal
1/2 lb. ground pork
2 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 or 4 slices bacon
3/4 c. bread crumbs or bread cubes
1/2 c. parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp. of onion powder
1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients except the bacon in a bowl. Briefly blend well and form into a loaf. Place the loaf on a rack in a 10" baking pan and cover with the bacon slices. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the meat loaf is firm and the bacon browned. Let the meat loaf rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

My Grandmother's Cold Stuffed Tomatoes

When I was little this was a favorite grandmother, granddaughter lunch. These days it’s not as easy to find the really huge beefsteak tomatoes she use to get but any size or variety will do. The tomatoes she got from the public market when I was growing up were almost as big as the plate she served them on. She would cut them in wedges but not all the way through so she could spread the tomato open like a flower. It looked so pretty, and then she would fill them with; “egg salad, cottage cheese, tuna fish or crabmeat salad. These were really filling so we didn’t really need anything else other than a beverage. I loved those grandmother, granddaughter lunches.

You will need tomatoes, (the bigger the better) if it is a good size tomato one will do for a serving, If they are smaller I would do two or three per person. You can prep your tomatoes anyway you like to hold the stuffing.

1 (8 oz.) pkg. of imitation crab meat

1/2 c. thinly sliced celery

1/3 c. mayonnaise

2 tbsp. minced onion

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Combine crab meat and celery in a bowl, mix in mayonnaise and onions; add salt, pepper and lemon juice. Chill for at least 2 hours.