The 3-Generation Meat Loaf and a Glimpse Back in Time

Author Notes

My mom and dad came of age in a big city during the depression. Like many of that generation, my dad had to work to help support the family and wasn't able to finish high school. Later he worked in Oregon clearing land and building roads as part of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp that preceded the WPA). My mom was very proud that not only did she complete high school, but went on to business school to become a comptometer operator. She worked as a bookkeeper for a cola bottling company. They met in the shadow of WWII and married. He joined the Navy, and after a bunch of exams, the Navy sent him to Purdue to study electronics. He was assigned as an electrician's mate on the USS Nicholas in the Pacific.

The war ended, my dad came home and then, there I was, among the first wave of baby boomers and the first generation to grow up with TV. Because of the training he received courtesy of the Navy, my dad returned as an electrician/assembler at the sign and signal manufacturer he retired from many years later.

We lived in the 2nd floor apartment of my grandparent's 2-flat so my earliest food memories spanned two generations' style of cooking. My gramma learned to cook from her mom and never wrote down any of the recipes. I mostly remember her sauerbraten, sülze, plum kuchen, Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, sausage and apple stuffing, homemade gravy, blaukraut...), giant flat egg pancakes rolled up with jelly inside, and grampa's garlic sausage and onions.

Now, to be honest, my mom wasn't a "natural" cook, nor did she seem to enjoy cooking all that much. She returned to work part time and, with a bookkeeper's methodical and precise manner, looked for tasty and time-saving recipes like the pressure cooker Beef Stew right out of her model '40' recipe book (another 3-genreation favorite we all make).

Also among the recipes she found was Hunt's "Dutch Meat Loaf." (As part of product promotions during the late '40s - '60s, Hunt's published a series of recipes in ads, recipe cards, and even matchbooks.) But it was my dad who always made The Meat Loaf for us and he morphed it into the version I pay homage to today.

The Meat Loaf was one of my favorites as a kid and a favorite of our kids as they were growing up. And, for some reason, guys seem to like making The Meat Loaf almost as much as eating it. Now my husband always makes The Meat Loaf (he adds some green pepper), and the post-graduate students that room with us like it as much as our family does. In fact, the guys who stay with us request the recipe more often than the gals. All four of our kids have been making The Meat Loaf since they were teens. And, as a further testament to "its yumminess" our younger daughter points out that while her boyfriend "puts sriracha on everything, he never puts it on The Meat Loaf!"

This is not a "standard" meatloaf. It's looser and moister. It's not packed into a loaf pan to bake, but shaped into a loaf by hand. Then it's baked and basted a few times with the tangy sauce. Leftovers make tasty sandwiches but be sure to slather the slices with extra sauce. And don't even think about ketchup in its presence. If you need more than a 1-lb loaf, you can mix up a double recipe but be sure to divide the meat mixture into two separate loaves to retain that perfect sauce to loaf ratio.
—jph