Grandma Horack's Meatloaf.

Our Grandma Horack (our Dad’s Mother) was from Bohemian heritage. She was a wonderfully round woman, with the softest skin in the world. If you read the Cerretti blog, she also had quite a green thumb. She had an unconditional love for her children and grandchildren. One of my favorite memories of her was when my cousin JoAnn (who is one year younger than me) and I were staying with her for the afternoon. We were allowed to “cook”. Now we couldn’t have been more than 3, 4 or 5 years of age, and Grandma got out the flour, sugar and spices, allowing us to use anything we wanted. I don’t know just exactly what we thought we were making, I remember there being a lot of sifting, (we loved turning the crank, and adding spices to see the sugar and flour combination change from the white to the brown of the cinnamon, or cloves. I remember the smell of sage, cloves, and cinnamon. I also remember my mother’s reaction when she returned to pick me up. As she came toward the kitchen and Grandma was explaining that she had let us “cook”, Mothers face got sober, and she looked at us and the kitchen and simply said, “Oh Mom!” Grandma said not to worry about it as she would do the clean up. This, I believe, offers substantial evidence as to why all of us love to cook, and are pretty good at it—-free reign in the kitchen at a very early age.

This is my Grandma Horack’s meatloaf recipe. Most meatloaf recipes bring expressions of UGH, but Grandma’s was inexpensive, moist, and the homemade BBQ sauce was the best. It even made great sandwiches sliced off cold. It can also be made up, formed into little loaves, or one large one, frozen, and saved for serving later, just thaw thoroughly before cooking.

Grandma Horack’s Meat Loaf & Sauce

1 c. saltine cracker crumbs
1 c. milk
1 lb. Ground beef
2 eggs-well beaten
½ med. Onion, finally chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/2 t. ground sage

Mix crackers, chopped onion, beaten eggs, milk, and spices together, add beef. Shape in one large loaf, or small ones, and place in baking dish, or on Saran Wrapped cookie sheet. You may freeze and thaw and cook later, or……..

Sauce:
3 T. Brown Sugar
¼ c. catsup
1 T. Mustard
¼. tsp. Nutmeg

Combine sauce ingredients, stir well, and pour over uncooked meatloaf. Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour or till done.