Anne McAlpine: January 9, 2020

I have had a request for a good meatloaf and for gravy containing ground beef. I have made both of these recipes previously and was happy with the results.

Ryan Mickeloff was a former student of mine at Caledonia Centennial and contributed his mom’s ground beef gravy recipe to the CCPS cookbook, which is one of my favourite cookbooks.

This gravy is really good over mashed potatoes, but I have also used it with roasted baby potatoes.

I got this recipe for meatloaf many years ago from Marion Fisher of Waterloo, formerly of Hagersville. It is a really good one that always turns out moist and delicious.

Although the recipe calls for mushroom soup, I have used celery soup in place of it with good results. I have made it using ground chicken and it is also very good. When I used ground chicken, I decreased the amount of breadcrumbs a bit.

A reader sent me this recipe for what she called Monkey Bread. I tried it and although it makes a large pan full, I did taste a piece before sending it to my son and family. It is really sweet and delicious and one that you don’t slice but simply pull the pieces from. My daughter-in-law agreed that it is best when warmed for a few seconds in the microwave before eating.

I only had 2 cans of biscuit dough, so I used a can of crescent rolls, too. I simply cut them in half and rolled them into balls. You could use raisins in place of the chopped nuts or use both, if you wish.