I never used to use the same recipe twice, I'd vary it although I usually used a guideline. I kind of liked a pizza flavored meatloaf and would use pizza type seasonings, mozzarella cheese cubes in it sometimes, a little bit of pizza sauce for one type, served with garlic bread and fries or potato wedges. Another time I used Marcia Adam's recipe for a guideline. I'd use what's on hand. I really like meatloaf. If you don't overseason it, it's hard to goof it up. The one thing that's not tolerable to me is the inch of ketchup or tomato sauce on top. That's gross. I like gravy and mashed potatoes most of the time with it. I think it's important to mix meats in there. I happen to like pork sausage (Jimmy Dean type), ground beef, some pepperoni and bacon. I used to use turkey but got some very unattractive stuff and was put off by it so I don't use it anymore. I don't keep oatmeal around or I might use that on occasion. Many like it and I thought it was OK. To me, it's more a guideline than a recipe. Getting too exact can be problematic. More or less meat, more or less additives will all vary the result. In the link above I gave the listing of things I used in the last couple meatloaves I made and probably how I'll make it most of the time from now on unless I decide to go pizza/Italian style or something. You certainly can substitute for or eliminate the onion altogether. It's certainly flavorful enough or you could add something else if you want. Don't be afraid of it. Meatloaf and meatballs are basically the same thing. You can make meatloaf patties out of it too and cook quicker. Make several kinds. Enjoy them. Combine them. That's what I did when I came up with what I liked. There is no "best" recipe for me, since I like variety. So no "one" recipe will do all the time. Want something a little different? Put some hard boiled eggs in there or some cooked bratwurst or polish sausage. Makes for an interesting presentation when you slice it. I do have one problem making meatloaf. I can't seem to get the good crust on there my mom's meatloaf had and I like the crust! It helped with the thin layer of BBQ, essentially brushed on and then seasoned. I imagine the gas oven was dryer than my electric oven and definitely dryer than the Nesco so that's probably part of the problem. Good luck and happy testing!

It's hard to make generalities about over 1 billion people, lol. But I have found that there are many, many Chinese families who don't stir-fry at all, or do it very seldom. Not every American family eats burgers and hot dogs, either, for a local analogy. I guess if others judged American culture by TV ads and billboards, they would think we all lived on a daily diet of McDonald's Big Macs! But in general, many Asian cuisines do have a "triple path". There is home cooking; there is restaurant cooking; and there is banquet, or feast, food. I was talking to my Hong Kong-born Chinese-Portugese DH a few weeks ago, and he (finally) remembered to tell me a story about one of his uncles who died over 15 yrs ago. This uncle was famous in the family for making the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, or ho yau gai lan as it used to be spelled (I'm terrible with the new spellings, sorry). I've done this dish, and it seems very simple. Blanch the gai lan, stir-fry it quickly, drizzle it with oyster sauce. What's so hard about it? DH told me his uncle was so meticulous and painstaking about doing this dish, it was intimidating even to just watch him. Every cut had to be a precise size, the water had to be just the right temperature, the timing was down to the second. The wok had to be heated for XX number of minutes with just enough oil but not too much; the tossing and last-minute steaming done always the same way. In six decades of eating, DH says his uncle's gai lan remains the best. And every time, because he was so exacting about it, it was always perfect. But it was a lot of work, done to ensure that nothing was left to chance. He very seldom made it, in fact. Just the news that there was going to be a party and that Uncle had promised to make his gai lan, was enough to make everybody, even reluctant-to-socialize teenagers, show up for dinner! Oh, and outside of the gai lan, hardly anyone in DH's family, all 200+ members in Vancouver BC, stir-fries. Most of them don't even own a wok, which is interesting because otherwise they've kept their HK culture intact very assiduously. Unlike the American relatives, all of whom by the second generation barely remember their Cantonese, all the Canadian relatives speak Cantonese at home, so that even the fourth generation little kids are bi-lingual.

Of the above recipes I have only tried Sharon's (canarybird) and it was the best meatloaf I had ever eaten. Just this week I tried one that had been done by America's Test Kitchen and really liked the texture. The texture of a meatloaf is what I really don't like about most of them. They had tested this many ways including all different kids of meats with different porportions of fat, etc. This was of course their best effort. If I make this one again I would add more onions and some finely chopped green pepper because IMHO it was lacking something in taste. The glaze for this was especially good too. Glazed All-Beef Meat Loaf (Cook's Illustrated) 3 ounces Monterey Jack cheese , grated on small holes of box grater (about 1 cup) 1 Tablespoon butter 1 medium onion (about 1 cup) 1 medium rib celery mined (About 1/2 cup) 1 medium clove garlic, minced or pressed 2 teaspoons fresh thyme 1 teaspoon paprika 1/4 cup tomato juice 1/2 cup chicken broth 2 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 2 Tablespoons minced parsley leaves 3/4 teaspoon table salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 Lb. ground sirloin 1 Lb. ground beef chuck (Or use 85% Ground beef.) 21 saltines, crushed Glaze 1/2 cup ketchup 1 teaspoon Tabasco 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 1/4 cup cider vinegar 3 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread cheese on plate and place in freezer until ready to use. Prepare baking pan by folding a piece of aluminum foil into a 10"X6" rectangle. Place it on a cooling rack placed inside a baking pan with sides. Using a skewer, poke holes in the luminum foil every 1/2 inch. Spray the foil with non-stick vegetable spray before putting the meat loaf on it. 2. Heat butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until foaming; add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and paprika and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and add tomato juice. Cook, stirring to scrape up browned bits from pan, until thickened, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to small bowl and set aside to cool. 3. Whisk broth and eggs in large bowl until combined. Sprinkle gelatin over liquid and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in soy sauce, mustard, saltines, parsley, salt, pepper, and onion mixture. Crumble frozen cheese into coarse powder and sprinkle over mixture. Add ground beef; mix gently with hands until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Transfer meat to foil rectangle and shape into 10 by 6-inch oval about 2 inches high. Smooth top and edges of meat loaf with moistened spatula. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of loaf reads 135 to 140 degrees, 55 to 65 minutes. Remove meat loaf from oven and turn on broiler. 4. While meat loaf cooks, combine ingredients for glaze in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring, until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Spread half of glaze evenly over cooked meat loaf with rubber spatula; place under broiler and cook until glaze bubbles and begins to brown at edges, about 5 minutes. Remove meat loaf from oven and spread evenly with remaining glaze; place back under broiler and cook until glaze is again bubbling and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes more. Let meat loaf cool about 20 minutes before slicing.

A good receipe from croatia to use up those plums is to make a potato dough, cool mashed spud, some eggs to bind, and some flour. Add enough flour to form a dough. If the potatoe is cold you dont needs as much flour and they come out much lighter and nicer I think. My mother inlaw mixes the flour while still slightly warm but you use alot of flour this way. take handfull of dough, flatten with hand put in a plum and wrap the dough around it, and drop into a pot of boiling water. They sink to the bottom, when they rise take out put in bowl drizzle with butter and a good sprinkling of sugar and cinamin. delish. I usually make loads and put them in a large casserol dish. These are nice with apricots too. Jan