Grandma’s meatloaf

This recipe always makes me think of “Everybody loves Raymond”.

Meatloat is one of the dishes that fascinated me when I came to the United States in college. I wanted to learn authentic American recipes. I learned this recipe from my mother in law, but it took me years to get it right. I sometimes wondered if she had given the recipe wrong on purpose just to keep me from taking credit for her delicious meatloaf!

From the beginning and for a long time, my meatloaf turned out very flat. I may never know why this happened.  But now it turns out great every time.

Here’s the recipe:

You’ll need one pound of ground beef

One and a half slices of bread (whatever kind you like)

One egg

Salt and pepper

Steak sauce or ketchup

2 table spoons of chopped onions

One cup of milk.

Add a raw egg to the ground beef. Whip the egg a little before adding it. Then mix it vigorously together.

Now vigorously mix in a cup of milk.

Salt and pepper the mixture to taste.

Now mix in about 2 tablespoons of chopped onions.

Finally, mix in about a tablespoon of steak sauce, or ketchup, or a little of both.

Now crumble in your slice and a half of bread. It’s better if the bread is a little stale. Sourdough bread gives it a great flavor. You can experiment with different kinds of bread.

Mix it all in well.

Now bake it.

I like glassware, in an appropriate rectangular shape.

Spray some cooking oil in the corners so the corner don’t stick.

Now, don’t man-handle the uncooked meatloaf, just gently arrange it in the pan.
Then cover the pan with aluminum foil.

Cook the meat loaf at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

It should turn out perfect. Let me know if you have any variations.

Tostadas !!

This recipe is very similar to some of my other recipes, but in Mexican food, Tostadas are a unique plate.

Some of my Mexican recipes are for special occasions. Tostadas are more for every day kinds of meals.

I begin this recipe by boiling a nice rump roast in water, with a piece of white onion, salt and pepper. I let the roast boil for up to three hours.

Then I shred the roast in to fine, bite-size pieces.

Once I have my meat prepared, I begin with the tortillas.

Start by toasting the corn tortillas by frying them in oil. You want them crisp but not burnt. Now they are tostadas, and not tortillas anymore.  Set them aside.

Then I like to boil carrots and potatoes. I put chicken bouillon in with the boiling water.

The carrots and potatoes are cut into cubes.

I put the carrots in the boiling water first, because the potatoes take less time to cook.

I boil the veggies for 5 or 10 minutes, or until soft. The veggies need to be soft.

Drain the veggies and set them aside.

Add two cans of tomato sauce to the broth that was left over after boiling the roast. This juice will top the tostadas when we’re done.

Now we put together our tostadas.

Sometimes I start by spreading re-fried beans on the tostadas. I don’t always do this, but it’s good with the beans.

Then add a nice pile of shredded roast on the tostada.

Then add a layer of fresh shredded lettuce.

Then add your boiled veggies.

Top with grated cheese of your choice, and half-cream. ( I use Mexican cream).

At the table, add hot sauce to taste, and have each dinner guest spoon on the juice (broth) that has been served to each diner in a nice cup.

Tostadas! 

A fantastic Mexican meal.

The Oaks

This is the most beautiful setting for a restaurant I have ever seen. Our family has a summer tradition to spent time here as much as we can. The food is great. The menu is mostly sandwiches, soups, salads, and burgers, but the dining experience at The Oaks is very special. This is not fast food. The quality is superb.

The Oaks is located a few miles up Ogden Canyon.  Ogden Canyon is beautiful any time of year.  The outside tables are set in little kiosks among the trees. There is also inside dining during the winter. The Fall is spectacular with all the colors. Summer is cool on the patio next to the Ogden River. The sound of the river going by is very soothing. There are hummingbird feeders at the tables and you can just about count on a visit from these wonderful little birds. The ice cream here is famous, and many people come here especially for the ice cream. We usually have ice cream after dinner.

Don’t miss this special dining experience.  

Chips and lime.

This is possibly the most important entry on this blog.

Chips and line are a STAPLE food in our house. If we’ve rented a movie, if it’s someone’s birthday, if someone’s coming to visit, if someone needs a snack, ANYTIME I can think of, someone in my family will make chips with lime.

Nothing, and I really mean nothing, could ever be more simple than this. But you’re going to love it. Anybody who’s ever tried chips and lime in my house has gone on to make it regularly in their own house. Many people tell me they make chips and lime better than I do now.

We’ll see.

This is a Mexican treat, and this is the way folks in Mexico like to eat potato chips. In fact, many bags of chips in vending machines or at convenience stores in Mexico, come with little foil packets of lime juice and hot sauce.

People who try this in my home return to their own homes and try to make Chips with Lime almost immediately. So I’m going to teach you. Pay close attention:

Here’s what you do:

Step One: Get a bag (start with a regular family size bag) of REGULAR potato chips. (This recipe can be done with corn chips, but I believe that makes this an entirely different recipe).

Step Two: Dump the bag of chips into a large serving bowl.

Step Three: Cut a lime in half and squeeze it over all the chips.

Step Four: Generously squirt hot sauce over the whole mess. We like Tapatio hot sauce, but I relucantly will tell you that you can use any hot sauce you like.

Now, at this point, I consider the chips ready for consumption. But my kids disagree. Each one of my kids have developed their own take on chips and lime. When my sons make chips and lime, they put a plate over the serving bowl and shake it all up to evenly distribute the lime and hot sauce.

Finally, remember these Chips with Lime rules:

You can’t use lemons.

You can’t use powdered chili.

You can CHOOSE how much lime to use and how much hot sauce to use.

You can CHOOSE how much to shake them before serving.

You MUST share.

Croquetas de Atun.

Fast and fun and easy.

My croquetas are tuna and potato rolls. Rolled in spicy breadcrumbs and browned in oil, they are a fun meal served with rice and vegetables.

Start by boiling four small potatoes. (for this version of the recipe)

Mash with one can of tuna.

Add salt and pepper.

Add grated cheese. (I use mozzarella)

Add one egg to bind it all together.

Form into little logs.

Roll carefully in bread crumbs.

Heat and oil a frying pan.

Carefully toast croquetas in the oil.

That’s it! You’re ready for a fun meal. It’s great and tasty and nutritious. In our family we put Worcestershire sauce on our croquetas, but we’ve been known to use soy sauce as well.

One of my favorite cartoons

I'm going to start posting my favorite cartoons from "The Deep End". The wonderful cartoonist is my own dear son-in-law, Tyson Cole.
Check out his blog, and find some favorite cartoons of your own!

The Deep End: Royal Flush

Chiles Rellenos

People ask me to make Chiles Rellenos for them all the time. It’s a very popular Mexican Dish, and it’s hard to find in a restaurant.

I use Anaheim peppers for my Chiles Rellenos. I choose Anaheim peppers because they are mild, and when you serve Chiles Rellenos to a group, you never know who is going to like spicy food, and who isn’t.

I fill my Chiles Rellenos with a mixture of corn, sour cream, chicken bouillon, salt and pepper, and cheese.

People still worry that Chiles Rellenos are too spicy. I admit that this dish is always on the spicy side, but I still consider it mild. You can add hot sauce and chili to your own taste.

Later on we’ll explore a version of this dish with meat.

Start by grilling the Chiles on direct heat to sear the skin. Grill them till they are blackened.

Then put the chiles in a zip lock plastic bag to let them sweat. This will loosen the blacken skins.

Now run the chiles under cool tap water and rub the blackened skin off. Also, use your thumb to pull out the seeds from the inside of the chiles.

Next, heat a can of corn, or similar amount of any corn, with a couple large spoonful’s of sour cream.

Salt and pepper the mixture.

Crumble a cube of chicken bouillon over the mixture.

Now, spoon the mixture into the chiles and secure the tops with toothpicks.  

Place the now stuffed chiles in a backing dish and cover them all with shredded cheese of your own choosing.

Place in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese melts. You can also microwave the stuffed chiles until the cheese melts.

This is a very easy recipe, and people go NUTS for Chiles Rellenos. It’s always a fun occasion in our home when we have Chiles Rellenos.