Five Meatloaf Rings! (Just Kidding, Only One)

Finally! As promised, I have finally made a blog post where I made food! No beauty tips today, just good cooking, fast and on a budget.

At least, that's what I was hoping it would be. What should have taken an hour and a half turned to three hours because of an unfortunate misprint, and an otherwise delicious sauce was poured down the drain. Where do I even begin?

I guess the logical answer is the beginning. A few days back, I was looking through my vintage cook books and I stumbled upon a meatloaf recipe. It's a well known fact among family and friends that meatloaf and I aren't on the best of terms. To be frank, I hate it with a passion. So when I found a meatloaf recipe that looked appetizing, I knew it had to be my first food post.

I'm on a weird schedule with my husband working nights, so dinnertime falls around 9 or 10 at my house. So at 8:30, I began a quest to make the meatloaf. I started by cutting 2 small onions and defrosting my meat. Following that, I did what the recipe said. A cup of milk, 3/4 cup oats, onions, and then pepper and salt to taste.

Then came the sauce. It was a simple barbecue sauce, but with an oddly large amount of water. But I thought, "It should evaporate off at 325 degrees". Needless to say, it definitely was moist.

The inside turned gelatinous and gummy, the outside littered with onions and a hint of ketchup. I was heartbroken that after three hours of trying to get it to work, it flopped. In the end, I drained the watery sauce, covered it in Sweet Baby Rays, and put it back in the oven at 350 degrees. That made it edible-ish. I didn't care to eat any more, but the husband gives it a big thumbs up.

The Original Recipe:

What I Would Do Different

For Moisture Issue:

~Simmer the sauce mixture until it thickens before basting the meatloaf

~Only do 1 tablespoon of water

~Cook at 350 degrees for an hour and a half if using the recommended amount of water

For Flavor:

~Use brown sugar instead of white sugar

~Use at least one egg

~Use bread crumbs

~Use garlic or onion powder

~Use half the recommended amount of onions in sauce

My Adjusted Recipe For Meatloaf Ring:

Meat Ring:

~1 1/2 lb. ground beef

~1 c. milk

~1 egg

~1 c. bread crumbs

~3 tbs. chopped onions

~1 1/2 tsp. salt

~1/4 tsp. pepper

~1 tbsp. onion or garlic powder

Sauce:

~1 c. ketchup

~2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

~3 tbsp. white vinegar

~3 tbsp. finely chopped onion

~2 tbsp. brown sugar

~1 tbsp water

Combine the meat mixture and place in a greased bundt pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes uncovered. After 10 minutes are up, spoon some of the sauce mixture over the top and put in the oven, again uncovered. Every 10 minutes, apply more sauce until the hour is up. use excess sauce to serve. Makes 8 servings.

Please try this recipe with my suggestions and let me know how it goes! Or follow the recipe as is(with maybe an eighth of the water) for an authentic vintage dish!

~Madi