Meatloaf Dreams

I woke up this morning thanking heaven I wasn't running from faeries in a gigantic backyard in the middle of Texas, or fighting giants and falling down massive holes in the earth.  I had a bad dream, only because it was perilous.

THIS is why I shouldn't eat before bed.  Meatloaf especially, apparently.

The nightmares were inevitable, of course, seeing as how it was hard to keep away from this meatloaf.  I had some for dinner, I had some later as a snack, I nibbled a little before bed...
I digress, but only to explain that this was the best meatloaf I've ever eaten, and certainly the best I've ever made.  This is in no way meant as an insult to any of my friends or family that have ever made meatloaf for me, but this was King of Meatloaf Mountain--all other meatloaves bow before his presence and grace.

Strangely enough, the way I came to making this regal loaf was mostly backwards.  I wanted to do a dress rehearsal before Thanksgiving for a recipe that I found for Mac and Cheese (which I have brought up before, and will go into in a different post).   J and I are both off from work, so we would be stuck eating it all, and only that. We needed a protein, but which one? The answer was quick, seeing as how it's a favorite of J's and I hadn't made it in awhile.

I wanted to try a new recipe, so I checked with Cook's Country, a one-off from America's Test Kitchen.

I love their recipes, as I have said before, because they tell you why they chose to include or discard any ingredients.  It's tried, it's tested, it's science.

Anyway, I took so many photos of making the Mac and Cheese, I forgot to take photos of making the Meatloaf (well, and who can, really, with meat hands?).  Here, for your viewing pleasure, the best meatloaf I've ever made, and the stuff that inspired nightmares:

And the plate:

Not super-fancy, but it was delicious.  Like I said, my only regret is not having taken more photos.