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Overheard my aunt say she adds a pinch of cinnamon to her meatloaf and now I can't stop doing it too | Family Recipe Swap - Chatter Central

angela687•4mo ago

Overheard my aunt say she adds a pinch of cinnamon to her meatloaf and now I can't stop doing it too

I was at a family picnic last summer and my aunt was talking to someone about her meatloaf recipe. She mentioned cinnamon and I thought she was joking. I mean, cinnamon in meatloaf? That sounded crazy. But I tried it on a whim a few weeks later and honestly it just adds this warm background note that nobody can quite place. My wife asked what I did different and I just shrugged. Has anyone else got a weird secret ingredient that totally works?

3 comments

3 Comments

alex3074mo ago

Read somewhere that a lot of old school diners used to put a little cinnamon in their sloppy joe mix. Not enough to taste cinnamon, just enough to make people go "huh, this is good what's in it." Tried it once and now it's the only way I make them. Same principle as the meatloaf I guess.

carter.gavin4mo ago

Jumped on this bandwagon last year after hearing it from a coworker. I put a tiny dash of nutmeg in my beef stew and now I can't stop. It's like the cinnamon thing, just this weird little warmth that nobody can call out. My wife caught me once and gave me this look like I was ruining dinner, but she ate two bowls. Honestly, half my cooking experiments come from "that sounds dumb but let me try it anyway.

christopherwilson4mo ago

Tiny pinch is the move. I go a step further and grate a whole nutmeg clove over my chili right before it's done. The pre-ground stuff loses its punch fast, so a whole nutmeg from the spice aisle lasts forever and wakes everything up. My wife does the same double take, but she always goes back for seconds. Keep a whole nutmeg in your drawer, nobody else in your house will touch it, and you can just play dumb when they ask what's different.