Meatloaf

Last week, I was talking to a colleague out here in Arizona, one that I often meet up with once a week to enjoy good food, a good glass of wine, and good company. A group of gentleman (my colleagues) live in a house together, and the mix of them changes from week to week, but generally speaking, once a week (usually on Wednesdays) we meet up at their place for a meal. Well, this week, one of the guys, I'll call him Antonio, said he had a hankering for meatloaf with mashed potatoes. And I said, 'Well, I can make meatloaf, why don't we plan on our typical Wednesday gathering?'

And, so Monday passed and I started thinking, well, I really want to stay wheat-free, so I think I'm going to have to bail out on making meatloaf for the guys (you know, because bread or crackers are generally in most recipes). I felt like crap, but I knew I had to stand my personal ground. On Tuesday, I wrote Antonio and asked him if I could make spaghetti instead; I could bring pasta they would eat and pasta I would eat. Well, he never got the email but returned to the office and we talked about it in person. He was like, well.. hmmm.. well, I really wanted meatloaf. So I thought to myself, Self, how can I do this??? I know, I'll make it without bread/crackers and see how it fares - hope it stays together and that it works out.

I promptly got on IM and sent my Mom a message asking her if I was forgetting any of the ingredients in my family's receipe. I mean, I could have wrote to L to find out her family's recipe, but I figured, well, if I am going to make it for the guys, it should be my family's recipe. The next morning she called and said she had just got the message and said she thought that the recipe would work out without the crackers. I told her I had some vegetable crackers (see photo) that tasted pretty good that I could substitute, and she said, that should work, go ahead and try it. (Thanks Mom!) So, voila, I did; I prepared the loaf around 10 on Wednesday. In the afternooon, I cooked it most of the way and brought it to the guys' house for final cooking and crisping. When I showed up at the guys' house and walked in, Antonio said, yummm, that smells so good. Well, needless to say, I served up a mighty fine meatloaf with mashed potatoes and corn. It was lovely meal and had all the flavors, consistency and comfort I remember. They guys bought meat gravy in a jar to serve over theirs (of course it had wheat ingredients in it) and enjoyed pouring it all over their meatloaf and potatoes. I, however, quite enjoyed my meatloaf, potatoes and corn, wheat-free. All it took was a little ingenuity, planning, and calling in the wisdom (and support) of my Mom. What a wonderful way to be able to prepare and serve a yummy, comfort-filled dish.