Many things are on a spectrum of good to bad. Fruitcake is not on that spectrum. It is either good or bad. Grocery store friutcake... there's a reason Manitou Springs has a fruitcake toss. Mary of Puddin Hill... I'll stab you before I share.
(I make a fusion variation of meatloaf. It’s basically keema & peas pressed together w/panko and baked in the oven, w/other half of the pan being turmeric roasted potatoes.)
I still prefer the traditional stuff if a mum or grandma makes it though. 🥰
Like meatloaf, but ham? :) Mix of ground ham (on my grandma's recipe, "good smoked ham" emphasis on good) & ground pork, eggs and crackers to hold it together, bit of brown sugar, mustard, and vinegar. She'd put 2 pineapple rings w/cherries in the middle on top of each loaf but we're not that fancy.
It took me decades to eat it again. My mom made it when I was a kid and it was just awful. Burger and oats covered in ketchup. It's probably why I still hate ketchup.
I grew up with it and love it, but I’m picky about the recipe. My grandma raised kids in the Midwest during the casserole era, then me, and it was one of her staples.
My mother-in-law, being a Liberian, adds a good amount of 🌶 kick when she makes meatloaf.
If you tried meatloaf and didn't like it, it was probably some bland Anglicized version.
It always comes down to the 👨🏽🍳👩🏻🍳
I don't understand why someone wouldn't like it, so long as they ate beef. It's a big savory, herby meatball. It's also like chili in that you can make it 1,000 different ways. So you can make it a way you like it?
The firehouse rule was there must ALWAYS be leftovers for lunch the next shift. We also had to hide the leftovers or A-shift/B-shift would help themselves! 😁
That's a new rule to me! Heck, some of the best food I ever ate was at the station, and man, I got introduced to things I'd never even heard of before! Leftovers were almost never a thing lol
Meatloaf is one of my favorite home-cookin' kind of meals. As a kid I never understood jokes about kids hating meatloaf. It's just a big rectangular meatball, basically.
Fruitcake is a waste of many ingredients that would be good separately.
My mom died 30 years ago and my dad still talks about her meatloaf. I had it at my birthday party once. All the other kids had pizza at their parties and I had meatloaf at mine.
sure. but not the 1980s kind that has ketchup baked on top (gag).
a nice meatloaf with a brown sauce and mashed 'taters? absolutely.
or an Italian meatloaf with a marinara? absolutely.
a meatloaf cupcake topped with mashed potato 'icing' yep.
shepherds pie? (basically a very wet meatloaf - yep
a really good fruitcake has proper dried fruits and not those candied kind. and maybe the boozy good cherries in the actual cake. and definitely should be booze soaked.
I can't eat meatloaf anymore because of health reasons, but damn if I don't miss a nice pile of spiced minced meat with some variety of red sauce on top.
Fruitcake is still ass, though.
This recipe is absolutely glorious. There's a shortened burger version of it too. The zombie face prep is fun, but I've done many different seasonal shapes & simple rectangles. (I don't ever use the external sauce, I just cook it until the bacon is nicely browned.) https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/261198/chef-johns-zombie-meatloaf/
Now wait when I tell you people regularly bring meatballs to potlucks and pour a mixture of grape jelly and BBQ sauce on it and leave it in a chafing dish.
My dad used to make a “jelly omelette” for me that consisted of a plain omelette with grape jelly folded into the middle after it was cooked. It turns a disgusting shade of grey where the two ingredients touch, but is absolutely delicious. So I guess, um, glass houses and all that 😂
Are you counting on her to send just the right amount of dry ice (without being wasteful), calculating the rate of sublimation based on temps along the delivery/shipment route?
Sounds like elementary calculations for an anesthesiologist.
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@rabbitholer.bsky.social should get that one.
I'm currently mostly made of mini stollen bites. ;-)
And it’s delicious.
Meatloaf has nothing on these dishes.
(I make a fusion variation of meatloaf. It’s basically keema & peas pressed together w/panko and baked in the oven, w/other half of the pan being turmeric roasted potatoes.)
I still prefer the traditional stuff if a mum or grandma makes it though. 🥰
I put bell peppers, onion, and sometimes shredded carrot in it (sneak in those veggies).
If you tried meatloaf and didn't like it, it was probably some bland Anglicized version.
It always comes down to the 👨🏽🍳👩🏻🍳
Fruitcake is a waste of many ingredients that would be good separately.
Mix with breadcrumbs, egg, onion, garlic powder, top with ketchup layer and more breadcrumbs, bake
Pretty tasty
When poverty gives you ground chuck and stale bread, you make meatloaf.
A few tweaks based on taste and it’s literally amazing. I don’t eat a lot of meat normally, but this always gets me.
a nice meatloaf with a brown sauce and mashed 'taters? absolutely.
or an Italian meatloaf with a marinara? absolutely.
a meatloaf cupcake topped with mashed potato 'icing' yep.
shepherds pie? (basically a very wet meatloaf - yep
Fruitcake is still ass, though.
Try it smoked. Even better.
Now chicken and dumplings is one that sounds made up but is amazing.
I have subsequently found that they're not all like that.
Now wait when I tell you people regularly bring meatballs to potlucks and pour a mixture of grape jelly and BBQ sauce on it and leave it in a chafing dish.
https://www.culinaryhill.com/crockpot-meatballs-with-grape-jelly-sauce/
Sounds like elementary calculations for an anesthesiologist.