That one week I tried to recreate my grandma's meatloaf and burned it 3 times

Last month I got it in my head that I wanted to make my grandma's meatloaf recipe for Sunday dinner. She passed about 10 years ago and I've got her recipe card in her handwriting. First attempt I forgot to set the timer and it came out like a hockey puck. Second time I used a different pan than she wrote down and it was raw in the middle. Third try I finally got the temp right but I used too much ketchup on top and it was like a sticky mess. My wife just said 'maybe we order pizza.' What recipe from your family took you multiple tries to get right?

3 comments

3 Comments

hayes.joel1mo ago

That "hockey puck" line got me. I tried my dad's chili recipe three times before I got it right. First batch was too watery, second was way too spicy, third I burned the bottom. By then my wife was like "just stick to heating up canned soup." It's frustrating when you know the result should be good but you keep messing it up. What finally made it click for you on the meatloaf?

webb.ben1mo ago

That "too watery, too spicy, burned" cycle sounds brutal. My buddy Tom went through the same thing with meatloaf. He finally just sat down and watched his grandma do it start to finish, and that's when he realized he was overmixing the meat and adding too many extra ingredients. After that, it came out perfect every time.

taraanderson1mo ago

The whole "too watery, too spicy, burned" cycle is so real, it's like you're in a weird cooking Groundhog Day. @hayes.joel you nailed it with that chili experience, and it just shows how the little forgotten details are what make all the difference. I think it's a bigger pattern everywhere, not just cooking, where we expect things to work on the first try but have to mess up the process a few times to really learn it.