Posted on 08/26/2015 6:33:56 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
My Grandmother, who largely raised me, was born in 1890. She lost her mother when she was only ten years old, and at that young age became largely responsible for her younger brother, while their father plied his trade as a small sailing ship captain in the Tidewater, transporting freight.
She married the first time at a very young age - and actually lied a little to do it, because she wasn't quite sixteen.
She died at the ripe old age of 94; and until the last six months of her life she was completely running her own household, doing the budgeting, the meal-planning, even some of the housecleaning.
All of which is to say that she was COOKING for people, for a very long time.
A few months before she died, she was bed-ridden and comfortable, but in-and-out of lucidity. We took care of her at home, and took turns sitting and talking with her. One day we realized that we had never gotten her Chicken Pie recipe. So, my brother sat with her, and asked her how to make the Chicken Pie; and Granny said, "well, first you get a chicken; and you take all its feathers off."
She was remembering the old days, when gathering food and preparing it was very different than it became in the mid to latter 20th century.
Granny's life was often difficult; and I think that after many decades of cooking, day-in and day-out for lots of people, she welcomed the new convenience foods that became available in her later lifetime. She loved cake mixes - Duncan Hines was always her favorite - and she became a great fan of Hamburger Helper; but I think she really appreciated the Lipton Onion Soup Mix when it came out, and she used it a lot.
Her Meatloaf was wonderful, and it always had the Lipton stuff in it. I'm not sure where she first found the recipe, but I know that 'Dear Abby' of the newspaper advice column fame, published a meatloaf recipe that included the Lipton Soup mix. If you look up 'Dear Abby Meatloaf Recipe', you'll find that a similar recipe also comes up as the 'Ann Landers' meatloaf recipe. (In the 1950's, the ladies styled as 'Abby' and 'Ann' were actually sisters, and rivals in the Advice Column business ;-)
I searched a long time for a meatloaf recipe that was really like my Granny's; and the closest one I found was one that claimed to be 'like Boston Market's'. I can't find the same one now, under that search - I think it was a 'Top Secret' recipe - and now there seem to be several recipes out there claiming to be 'like Boston Market'; but here's what we do (and I like the Friedman Sisters' idea of bacon on top, as a variation, q.v.):
Meat Loaf
2 eggs
4 T. sour cream
4 T. ketchup
4 T. flour
2 packages of onion soup mix, dry
2 lbs. of ground beef
Extra ketchup for the top
2/3 c. spicy V-8 Juice (or 1 can El Pato tomato sauce with jalapenos, and 3/4 can water)
Into blender put the first 5 ingredients exactly as given. Blend until smooth.
In medium bowl combine with beef. Mix well and shape into a loaf.
Bake in a greased pan at 400 degrees F for 60 minutes. After the first 20 minutes, add the El Pato and water around the loaf; return to bake for 20 minutes. After second 20 minutes, coat top with ketchup and return for final 20 minutes.
-JT
This week: Meatloaf! (Early again; schedule change ;-(
If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking ping list, please send a private message.
-JT
Back in the late 70’s, my girlfriend saw that recipe where one mixes a packet of onion soup mix in with the hamburger to flavor it up. Nice idea, but unbeknownst to me, she used the entire packet for TWO hamburgers, bless her heart, she was tryin! The burgers were a tad onion-ey, but we both farted onion for 3 days afterwards. In retrospect, it was hilarious...just not so much at the time. Har!
thank you for the recipe. Took notes will cook next month.
One thing I regret not asking my granmother before she died was her recipes. She was cooked Southern. And I enjoyed all her cooking. Never touched the chitlings tho.
Wish I got her recipe for Butterbread. A southern desert so dang delicious Michelle Obama would ban it!
LOL!
Salt, pepper, egg(s), ketchup, the soaked bread crumbs, the soup, probably would throw in some better than boullion dissolved. For extra special I lay bacon strips over the top and down the sides of the top and rub chili sauce over it.
Then sometimes, got the idea from a guy I used to know, cut cold slices, lay in skillet, pour Golden Mushroom Soup over all, sprinkle with oregano, maybe add sm amt of water for steam, cover until heated through. I never liked the Golden Mushroom soup for anything but this.
Also like sandwiches, of course or heat up again.
Thanks for the great story. I regret I never got my mother’s potato soup recipe. As far as Liptons Onion soup mix, I love French Onion soup in the winter and make my own with a little helping of the Liptons as a liquid base, cut up Onions, and Mozzarella cheese on top. A warm feeling for a cold day.
yummm, I love meatloaf! And just found a bunch of ground beef on sale.
So i’m looking forward to everyone’s ideas.
My favorites are an Italian meatloaf patted out thin and layered with ham slices and mozzarella, then rolled up. And one stuffed with spinach, onions, and cheese.
When I want something different for meatloaf I use sour cream, onions, garlic, mushrooms, parsley and dill for a little stroganoffy twist.
Another twist on meatloaf is to use a can of tomato paste and some pesto.
Good stuff!
I made MeatLoaf last night ...one of my favorites...and really blew it...forgot the bread crumbs!
pesto - great idea!
I’ve been making and freezing bunches of pesto before my basil plants get too cold.
heh ...
What brand? ;'}
Meatloaf here is a big blob of ground beef, a can of tomatoes, a handful of saltines, onions and whatever leftover veggies in the fridge. Of course, lots of ketchup on top.
The only thing I use onion soup mix in is chicken. Mix the envelope of soup mix in a can of frozen orange juice concentrate (the concentrate, not reconstituted). Pour the mixture over chicken pieces and bake until done. Serve the drippings as a gravy by draining off the fat.
BTW, my twist on meatloaf, meatballs, etc is to mix 4 parts lean ground beef to 1 part Italian sausage. I like the extra spices and the pork makes it moist.
Your lucky.
I roasted up some ducks with a nice rice dressing and the girl I was dating wanted to make the gravy.
She made a nice batch of what would best be described as the paste you used in kindergarten.
If you thought it was thick on your plate just wait until it got in your mouth.
The things we are willing to do to keep from hurting their feelings.
Ow, and yep. Sometimes we gotta suffer through the bad to enjoy the good. If yer real lucky, they’re teachable...
I still have the recipe that my mother used for her meatloaf. That recipe was found on the can of Carnation Evaporated Milk.
All I know is you need:
1 Can of Carnation Evaporated Milk
Chopped Celery
Chopped Onions
Bread Crumbs or you can use Rice
Mustard
Ketchup
and Eggs
I don’t recall over my head the measurements but I now would make it without looking at the recipe.
I’ve never heard of ‘Butterbread’, unless it came under a different name.
Perhaps someone will see, and post a recipe.
-JT
I think that works both ways......
Fortunately, my husband is a great cook, and eminently ‘teachable’ in other areas...though he forgets to pick his socks up off the floor, forgets to put away his tools when he’s done with them, etc. :-)
-JT
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