Mom's Meat Loaf

I'm not entirely sure how this particular dish came into being or why it has persisted for as long as it has—it's kind of a bizarre combo and when you think about it, it's really not that appetizing. Meat loaf has been a mystery for a long time. Different people put different things into meat loaf and every time it is called meat loaf. I don't quite understand, but somehow, everyone's mother has her own meat loaf recipe and everyone has had meat loaf at least one time. Some meat loafs are unbelievingly delicious and some are horrifyingly nasty. If you're looking for a knockout meat loaf recipe, then try the following. You won't be disappointed!

Here are the ingredients that you'll need:

• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 1 pound of ground pork or sausage
• Dry bread crumbs
• Canned milk
• 1 onion
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning/sage

The first thing to do when making your meat loaf is to soften the breadcrumbs in the canned milk. There isn't a specific amount of bread crumbs that you need—this is where culinary intuition matters. Your breadcrumbs shouldn't be more than the amount of meat you have. All you have to do now is combine the rest of the ingredients. This is the fun part! It's kind of disgusting, but oddly satisfying. Put all the meat and the onion and the egg and the salt and the poultry seasoning into one big bowl and—probably wearing gloves—mix it all together. You can use a mixer or a spoon, but using your hands definitely gives you that odd sense of satisfaction! Once all the ingredients are mixed together to form one meat, in a sense, add the softened crumbs. Mix the mixture once again.

Once the crumbs are substantially mixed into the rest of the meat, pack the meat mixture into the loaf pan. Make sure that the meat is evenly distributed. Once the meat is packed into the loaf pan, cover the top thickly with ketchup. Bake the loaf at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Once the loaf is finished, slice it and serve it with some vegetables and maybe some tater tots. You have now made the best weekday dinner in your recipe box! Enjoy!