Meatloaf

I remember the day well: I was pregnant with Lillian and Tyler had requested meatloaf for dinner. That's fine, I like meatloaf as well as the next person. So, I mustered up what I remembered from making meatloaf from my mother, put all the ingredients into a bowl, and went to mix the thing up with my hands. I couldn't touch it. All that raw, red meat. I called Claire, trusty neighbor and friend, and she came and mixed up my meatloaf for me. That's really the definition of friendship, right there: mixing up your pregnant friend's meatloaf. The meatloaf was OK, I guess. Maybe I just didn't remember really well how to make it.

Ever since that day, I've been on a quest to find a recipe for a meatloaf I love. I've probably made at least 10 different variations, and tonight, I think I hit the jackpot.

It's a synthesis of many different recipes, and it was really good. Even Lillian ate it.

Here's how I did it:

1. Tear up a piece of bread and soak it in a couple splashes of milk. Meanwhile, mince up half an onion and a few cloves of garlic. Sauté until soft.

2. Mix up the bread, onions, garlic, 1 lb ground beef, one egg, two big handfuls of chopped up spinach (you could probably use frozen, I just happened to have fresh on hand), a few splashes of worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp Lawry's, 1/2 tsp salt, and a couple dashes of pepper. Form into a loaf and place on top of a broiler pan.

3. Wrap loaf in several slices of bacon. Make sauce* (3/4 c ketchup, 2 T brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp mustard powder), and slather about 1/3 of it all over the loaf.

4. Bake at 350˚ for 40 minutes. Slather another round of sauce on top and bake for another 15 or 20 minutes until done.

5. Serve with left over sauce for dipping.

*The sauce I stole from Pioneer Woman. Verbatim. It's delicious.