I have been in this wonderful country for fifteen years and always wanted to learn how to make a meatloaf. I experimented with this American comfort food while studying at Culinary school but it I never really tried to making it again. While I was working for the legendary Sky Room Restaurant in Long Beach, I realized that there was a huge amount of ground beef that I decided to use for “Family Meal”, which is one of my favorite things to do while working. “Family Meal” is a family style dinner that the front of the house and back of the house enjoy together before service begins. How fortunate my co-workers have been! I’m always the one cooking it!

Anyways, back to my meat loaf story. When I saw all this ground beef, I said to myself …what should I do this time? I guess I will take another try at Meatloaf!!! It may seem like a basic dish to most people, but I really wasn’t sure exactly what went into meatloaf, so I went around asking everyone. I repeated the question, “How did your mom make meatloaf?” After collecting numerous wonderful stories, my own recipe of meatloaf was born! The satisfaction of seeing everyone enjoying my creation was an incredible feeling!

The next time I made Meatloaf was at my friends Luc and Nina. They asked me to cook dinner and as I was looking in their refrigerator for ingredients, what you know… ground beef again! Of course, it was so great to see everyone (including the neighbors) enjoying my new favorite American dish! It was like they were tasting something they never had before. As they were reminiscing this meal I realized there was plenty of leftovers to enjoy again….so I thought!

Two days later while Luc and Nina went for a small trip to the dessert: their neighbor Lee White AKA“The General” a 60 year old brick mason had a tough decision to make it was between frozen pot chicken pie or the leftovers he had the previous evening to feed dinner to his granddaughters 5 year Riley and his 2 year Charlotte so he came through the unlocked house of his friendly neighbor Luc , walked straight to the kitchen on a covert operation. He opened the fridge, reached for the remainder of the meatloaf and took it back to his house. Except for a few slices! What a nice gesture! I had no idea he enjoyed it so much that he would feed his grandchildren…they Love it!

This story made my day! I was so flattered that my meatloaf made such a good impression! Especially to people who have eaten this food their entire life. Where I come from, this is not a common dish, but this is what my cooking is all about… Learning, incorporating new ingredients, sharing, and building wonderful memories. To be able to gather people together and share those special moments is a blessing that I always treasure in my heart!

Bon Appetit!

I