MMM.....mini meatloafs! One of my favorite foods. Mom just called them "meat patties". I gave them their current title. Something that is easy to make and feeds several (or me several times!) It was her way of making the meat for a meal stretch to feed four, snice none of us liked real meatloaf. Recipe? Make meatloaf, then shape into patties and FRY them! My recipe: 1 lb lean hamburger, 1 large egg, about 1/2 cup oatmeal, about 1/4 cup sweet relish, diced onion, garlic salt, pepper and hot sauce. Blend, fry, enjoy! I don't think my actual recipe is ever the same twice, and Mom would never have used hot sauce!

I can remember watching my grandmother cook, as I was growing up, and asked her once after I had returned home for several of her recipes that were my particular favorites. She started telling me and used measurements like a "dash" of this and a "pinch" of that. Wait a minute! How much is a pinch, a dash? So we went to the kitchen and she made all those dishes for me in one afternoon, bless her heart, allowing me to quantify that "dash" and "pinch." The result was we dined sumptuously for several days (I was staying with her for vacation) and I came away with recipe cards which still reside in my box along with all those other goodies I have accumulated over the years. You still can't beat her hot roll recipe. So many of those old-time recipes were the result of having to "make do" or stretch what was in the cupboard, but they were so good! As you can see from the recipe above, I have taken to my grandma's ways!

Guess I'm getting a little nostalgic. Must be the holiday season approaching. I just may break out some of the cooking utensils and do some old-fashioned homemaking! That would be a switch, 'cause I don't cook much anymore, since there's just me. (That may be changing shortly. Larry is talking about coming home, at least for a little while, at the end of the month. That should be interesting.)