Friday Friend Recipe #226 - Italian Meatloaf

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook? I had about 50 of my closest friends and family (from all over the county) on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends . At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 19 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday. (plus so much more....)

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #226

Melissa's Italian Meatloaf

I have a favorite meatloaf recipe so I am always hesitant to try a new one, but tried this I did and it was really good!

I don't know what possessed me to make meatball muffins but they turned out great and then I was able to freeze a few for supper at a later date--which is always a good thing for the Handyman and I.

I will definitely be making this meatloaf recipe again.

I've been missing in action for a while now--almost 3 months.

This cookbook won't cook itself, so I better get busy again.

Let me introduce you to my niece Melissa!

At recipe #226, she is making her first appearance in the cookbook.

(sorry I waited so long as those were really good meatloafs)

Melissa seen below at her high school graduation party, June 2001, with 3 of her uncles--the Handyman and 2 of his brothers.

Notice the sun shining and what a nice day it seems to be?

My sister-in-law, LeAnne had Melissa's graduation party during the afternoon before the evening graduation. There was a pool and people were swimming and bbq'ing and opening gifts, having a really nice time.

No worries, designated drivers were aplenty, because at 6pm, we had to go to the outdoor graduation ceremony...where for some reason the clouds came rolling in and it began to pour---POUR!

It was a large graduating class--perhaps 500 and our niece was the very first to receive her diploma, because her last name is Aardal.  It's nice to come first!

Unless, of course, your family starts to bail out of the rest of the ceremony, one by one.

Which is exactly what happened. 

It was raining so hard, that first Gramma and Grampa left, then the uncles and their wives, then the aunts and their husbands.

So I guess it was 2 by 2 they left.

Much to the Handyman's dismay, I would not let him leave.  We stayed to the very end--otherwise his sister would have been all alone in the stands.

I wanted to be able to hug our niece and tell her congratulations--and to be there for his sister LeAnne.

Pictures don't do this justice because it was just pouring buckets, but by this time the ceremony had started and they carried on.

Some of us didn't have umbrellas, so we did what we could.

Aunt Cherrie and Aunt Eva tried to stay, but in the end, they couldn't handle it.

 LeAnne had pretty hair earlier in the day.

The Handyman had rain running off his hair!  And no shame in wrapping a pink blanket around his shoulders.  

It was cold as well as wet!

LeAnne was happy we stayed with her. I am the best sister-in-law!

 LeAnne was thinking  DAMN I'm glad this is over!

 

 The only aunt and uncle who stayed!  Woo hoo for us!

It was a great graduation ceremony!  The best I've ever been too, because, let's face it--they are kinda boring.  But this one we'll neve forget.  One could only laugh the entire time, so that's what we did.

 High School (as well as college) mascots pose a problem in this day and age and I don't quite know how I feel about it, but seeing as this community was totally built around the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb (circa 1940ish), they have always been proud of their logo/mascot/theme (whatever you call it).

Before 1980, the Bombers had a mushroom cloud on all their banners, flags, school correspondence, etc.

After 1980, they hosted a WWII B-29 or some fighter jet which wasn't  quite so offensive.

But, because it is a nostalgia thing--be it good or bad---and the Handyman and his siblings grew up in the era of the 1950's, 60's and 70's and their father was a nuclear chemist--  they still proudly have and wear their shirts with the mushroom cloud.

for what it's worth---it is ranked #4 on Buzzfeed for the high school mascots that will make you say: WAIT! WHAT?

right up there with: 

1. The Sugarbeeters (Chinook High School, Chinook, Montana)
2. The Appleknockers (Cobden High School, Cobden, Illinois)
3. The Awesome Blossoms (Blooming Prairie High School, Blooming Prairie, Minnesota)
4. The Bombers (Richland High School, Richland, Washington)

And this is recipe number 226!

Only 141 left to go!