Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Set your onions on stun

This is what you get when you ask a Star Trek fan to make meatloaf.

Tap the meatloaf, and say, "Beam me up, Scotty!"



Last week, since my son was on break from college, and I was busy but he wasn't, I asked him to make a meatloaf for dinner one night.  I gave him my Dad’s recipe.

Son:  Where do I find the minced onion?

Me: You will find onions in the pantry, top section, left-hand side, in the onion basket.

Son (disappears for a bit, then returns with a red onion, not from the pantry, but from the fridge):  Is this an onion?

Me: Well, yes, but that onion is for my salad. (Getting up to show Son where the yellow onions are, which he would have discovered if he had followed my directions.  I hand him a small onion.) Here. You have to mince it.

Son:  How do I do that?

I thought fondly of my Dad, who is the one who showed me how to mince an onion.  Thanks to my Dad, I know to use a non-serrated knife to cut onions.  I had never taught my son this task, probably because I know how he feels about all vegetables (hates ’em). 

I got Son started on mincing the onion.  Then I left the kitchen.  I went away to work on crop economics, church retreat planning, the program for the band concert, and cleaning off my desk. 

After a long time, Son came in the office and said, “I think maybe the meatloaf has too many onions in it.”   I thought one onion would be enough, but he used three onions, because he tripled the recipe.

The meatloaf was already in the oven, so I told Son it would be fine.  It turned out to be really delicious.  He also made oven fries to go with it.

From far away, raw oven fries look like apple pie in the making.
This business of leaving my kids in the kitchen while I go away is turning out to be quite appealing!

* * * * * * * * * * * *


I originally had a special bonus of the images you get when you google “Star Trek Meatloaf.”  But I deleted them, so as to not incur the Wrath of Khan.


Baltimore Meat Loaf
1 pound ground round
1 onion, minced
1 egg
½ cup bread crumbs or crackers
1 tsp salt (OR LESS!)
¼ tsp pepper
2 Tablespoons catsup

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix, make into a loaf, bake in lightly greased pan for 1 to 1 ½ hours at 350 F.

6 comments:

The Crislers said...

I have never cared for meatloaf (neither the taste nor the name; who wants to eat a loaf of meat?), but that meatloaf looked surprisingly appealing, if only because of its shape. Maybe I should try that next time I make meatballs?

I'm going to use this post as a reminder that someday my kids will be independent enough to make supper with little help. Someday. Someday.

Susan Jones said...

I have always liked meatloaf, especially cold in sandwiches the next day. (Don't forget the ketchup!) The last time I made meatloaf was five years ago for Halloween. I made it in the shape of a head (a 3-d one) and wrapped it with "mummy strips" of pie crust. I left some spaghetti hair sticking out, and strategically placed some extra ketchup on it, for blood. To go with it, I made little ghosts out of mashed potato, with dried-cranberry eyes. I don't remember what was for dessert, but surely there was some. I don't think my parents knew what hit them! :-)That is my most favorite meatloaf memory. It sounds like your son did very well. I'm not sure if you'll want to tell him my story. :-)

Common Household Mom said...

Sue, that sounds just awesome! I hope you took a picture. That is a great meatloaf memory.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

Your son's meatloaf looks delicious! Those oven fries in their raw form might look like apple slices, but I don't advise eating them with peanut butter.
SuperDad has been making a lot of meatloaf this winter, using questionable ingredients (yes, those ARE carrot chunks), but it always turns out pretty good. Mostly I'm glad he cooks.
When is the retreat?

And Susan wins Halloween dinner!

Anonymous said...

Love to read that your son cooks. What a helpful thing! Especially when you've got homework.

Patience_Crabstick said...

I love the title to this post!