Yup, that's a big chunk of meat - Blue Ribbon Meatloaf

I'd like to start off by saying I'm trying to get more into cooking with meat. It's funny to consider - I think most people are trying to eat less meat, and here I am bucking the trend! I think for me it's about getting more variety into my meals, and just the fact that I was less a cook and more of a baker means that I haven't done a lot of different things. Like, I've never roasted a chicken (that's on my list). I have an incredible roasting pan that I got for my birthday a couple years ago that I have yet to use.

Anyway, I was searching for recipes last weekend, and decided to try Blue Ribbon Meatloaf from Eating Well. With a name like that, who could resist? In addition, the fact that it calls for beer (which I have had in my fridge for several months, and never drink - it's all for cooking!), and sweet onions (I finally get to try vidalias) appealed to me a lot.

I of course managed to near-puree the onions when I decided to chop in the food processor. But on the good side, I think my herb cutting skills are getting better - I was able to get the parsley chopped fairly easily. I did just watch an instructional video on chopping parsley, though, and will use their approach and see how it goes. And I need a new knife - badly.

The loaf came out of the oven with plenty of juices to drain, as I believe most meat loafs do. The consistency was solid, but it did crumble somewhat when cutting, which I do take as standard with meat loafs. The color was not unappealling per se, but I didn't feel that the parsley gave color to the loaf as I have seen with other meat loaf recipes. The flavor was good, but not extraordinary.

Overall, I think it came out well. The only issue was that I'm not sure I'm a big loaf of meat person. I know that my mom used to make meatloaf, and I don't think I loved it, but I don't think I hated it either. It was meh. I think that I'm a little more to the meh side now for loaves in my life, so a great meat loaf recipe is not something I will go search out. I just think that I prefer meals with less meat, more bread/rice. I mean, c'mon, 2 1/2 pounds of meat for 8 servings? Just a little too much. But that's just me.