Well, here we go! I have to say, I’m 100% hooked on this book – and the author. From the first of her recipes (a plum tomato sauce that reminded me of my grandmother’s recipe) I was definitely hooked. I see many of my own qualities in her – mainly her nurturing and the care she takes with what she does. I was hoping to come across a recipe that I would enjoy cooking – and I found one, although it’s not technically hers. It’s a family recipe of an exboyfriend of hers, and I have to say, it was yummy, although I made some changes to the recipe.

Dolores Fraser’s Meat Loaf
2 pounds ground beef
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup ketchup
oil/butter for greasing pan
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well with your hands. Form into a loaf and bake in a 13 x 9 pan greased with some oil or butter (I used Pam). Frost with 2 tablespoons mustard mixed with 2 tablespoons ketchup. Bake for 1 hour. *Don’t be alarmed by the fact that it’s red when you take it out – that’s the frosting. The meat loaf is done.*

I mixed this recipe up a bit – my husband hates ketchup with a passion. I halved the ketchup and added 2 tablespoons of A1. I also added an egg, as I usually do in my own meatloaf recipe. I added a clove of minced garlic, because, lets face it, everything’s better with garlic.

For the frosting, I substituted Mr. Mustard (spicy brown mustard) and used 1 part ketchup 1 part A1.

Thumbs up on this recipe. My husband is NOT a meat loaf fan in any way, and he devoured this. It was nice and moist, and the garlic and onion soup mix gave it a nice zest over mom’s boring meat loaf. I made it with some simple steamed broccoli and my homemade mashed potatoes.

Homemade Mashed Potatoes
4 Russett Potatoes, cubed.
1 stick butter
1/2 cup 1% milk

Heat large saucepan of water over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, bring to a boil. Let boil roughly 20-25 minutes, when potatoes are tender with a fork, drain the majority of the water. Turn burner off and return pot to burner. Let some of the remaining water soak into the potatoes, approx. 5 minutes.

Melt 1 stick of butter and add milk over low heat in small saucepan. I do this because I find if I add cold butter and milk, the potatoes get a little gluey, and this keeps them creamy. I put them in my stand mixer with the butter/milk mixture and blend on medium-low speed. I add a clove or two of garlic and serve. Yum!

All in all, even with my additions/changes to this meat loaf recipe, YUM!