It's fun to spend time with the hand written recipes in My Grandma's recipe boxes and it is equally as interesting to look at the newspaper clippings that are included. I can tell by the way the pages are folded which recipe's "caught her eye" or were the one's she made regularly. I have to admit, I have a cupboard full of recipes cut out of the newspaper or torn out of magazines too. At least I know I came by this habit honestly (she handed it down to my mom, who handed it down to me!). My recipe today was one I went searching for as Bubba commented he needed a break from sugar and wanted some MEAT!. Well, Meat it is...Meat Loaf to be precise. My Grandma had torn an entire page from the Sunday Family Weekly section of her newspaper...some of you may remember that as an insert to your paper. This particular section is titled "Smart Cooking/by Marilyn Hansen" and on this Sunday (January 9, 1977) her title was "Rosalynn Carter and Joan Mondale share their favorite recipes". What's special about this, in my mind, is the dinner conversation this recipe spurred. Now Bubba and I don't talk much about politics, but on this Sunday, from Heaven, my Grandma, the first grade teacher, spurred an educational discussion between us. We spent the rest of our dinner, talking about who the Presidents have been over the last 30 years...this is NOT a conversation we would have had, if not for a Meat Loaf recipe from my Grandma's recipe box.
Meat Loaf
Joan Mondale
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 cups milk
1 lb. ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 egg
1 can (8 ozs) tomato sauce
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
2. In medium bowl throughly combine all ingredients but use only half-can of tomato sauce. 3. Turn meat mixture into loaf pan; smooth surface and top with remaining tomato sauce. Bake 45 to 60 minutes. Makes 4 or 5 servings.
I don't recall the Bubba rating on this one, but I think I can safely say it would get an "S". Not sure this would be the meatloaf recipe I would set aside as a "must make again", and based on the fact that this recipe isn't torn, worn or dirty, I don't think my Grandma made it more than once (if that).
Okay, now I'm freakin' out. Your Grandma was cooking in 1977? Still cutting out those recipes and making those meals. I'm only freaking because I was well into my cooking life at that time and somehow I figured your Grandma was cooking in the 30's to 50's like my Grandma. What is the range of decades that your Grandma cooked and collected recipes?
ReplyDeleteMy Grandma was alive for nearly 100 years...she WAS cooking in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's, essentially I have over 7 or 8 decades of recipes...I am finding recipes from my Great Grandmother are included in the recipe boxes.
ReplyDeleteFantastic, thanks for the info and for sharing your Grandma's recipes.
ReplyDeleteI've been searching for this recipe for years! I remember when it came out in the paper & I used to make it for my grandfather (he loved it). Thanks for posting it. RIP Joan Mondale
ReplyDeleteWow. I just posted that recipe in response to reading Mrs. Mondale's obit this week. Like you, I found the recipe, which my grandmother had copied in her own hand, not in her recipe box, but inside her copy of the Betty Crocker Picture cookbook. Thank you for finding the clipping and the source. I bet it was the same one my Grandma found.
ReplyDeleteThe only meatloaf recipe I use! I have a copy written in my grandmother’s handwriting. She used Ritz crackers instead of bread.
ReplyDeleteBeachFoxx - thanks for stopping by and sharing about your grandmother's recipe. I have posted another meatloaf recipe that is similar - using oatmeal - the rest is pretty close to this recipe.
DeleteI'm sorry that you didn't like this recipe. It is my favorite meatloaf recipe and I haven't found anything to compare. Maybe you should give it a second try.
ReplyDeleteYour probably right - meatloaf weather is approaching.
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