And the Oscar goes to .......

Brown Sugar Meat Loaf
The Recipes of Madison County Copyright 1995

2 pounds ground round
1 cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix
¼ cup chopped onion I used more – I wasn’t paying attention
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup milk
2 tablespoons commercial barbecue sauce
Vegetable cooking spray
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Combine ground round, stuffing mix (I crushed this up) , onions, salt and pepper. Beat eggs, milk, and barbecue sauce; add to meat mixture, mixing well. Press mixture into 9x5x3-inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. (I made two free-form loaves and doubled the glaze recipe.) Combine ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Spread over top of meat loaf. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in center of loaf registers 160 degrees. (I didn’t need to bake it nearly as long since I made smaller loaves.) Remove from loaf pan immediately. Yield 6 servings.

This was a cheat – I’ve made this recipe in the past. I thought I’d try the exact recipe again because it’s been many years since I’ve followed the recipe for the meatloaf. I usually don’t keep herb-stuffing on hand so I do the meatloaf freestyle and just make the glaze. I have to say this meat loaf was better than most of my freestyle meat loaves. I was afraid it would be bland but it wasn't bland at all. I'd definitely say this is one of the better meat loaves I've tasted.

This is a cute little book of recipes from the caterers who made the food for the movie, The Bridges of Madison County. The foods in the cookbook all appeared in the movie. I’ve never seen the movie so I’ll take their word for it. The authors note that they made this meat loaf with turkey for the movie since the actors preferred it. Hmmm. Even the meat loaf was ‘acting’ in this movie. That’s funny.