My grandmother was a great cook, but you would never know by looking at her. She hated eating for some reason, and was skinny as a rail. Lucky for us, her eyes must have had a palate because her food was great.
Her crab cakes were so crispy and fit perfectly on a saltine cracker. Her potato salad rocked my world. But her meatloaf was legendary. Hot from the pan, or cold for breakfast with ketchup on a sandwich, her simple meatloaf recipe is one of my favorite things to eat. When both my kids were home, I would make two meatloaves because everyone would fight for leftovers.
Like most of my Mom-Mom’s recipes this one is simple, but delicious. She grew up in the Depression and must have learned to make the most out of humble ingredients. The memory of her graces my kitchen whenever I serve one of her recipes.
Mom-Mom’s Meatloaf
Dorothy Burnham
- 2 lbs. ground round
- 3 to 4 TBSP uncooked oats (oatmeal, Mom-Mom specified, in case you didn’t know)
- 1 egg
- 2 TBSP chopped green peppers
- 1/4 tsp. celery seed (don’t leave this out – – it was her secret ingredient to many things)
- 4 TBSP finely chopped onion
- Salt and Pepper
Add all ingredients and use hands and squeeze meat so it is not coarse, mixing well. Shape into a loaf and put in pan. Spread ketchup all over. Bake covered, at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours. Last 20 minutes remove cover and pour any grease out of the pan. Spread a new layer of ketchup over the meatloaf and bake.
I just made mom-mom’s meatloaf for dinner tonight . Thank you for posting this, what a treasure it is to see my mom‘s handwriting and hear her words in my head .
I use this same recipe except I don’t use the celery seed or reapply ketchup. I’ll have to give it a try.
I never knew about the celery seed….yes it was delicious, and how she made such delicious food when she never tasted it herself we will never understand.