1770 house meatloaf and garlic sauce

Easter is one of my favorite days of the year. Each is guaranteed to produce delightful company and food, but most importantly it is a fierce reminder of what Christ did on the cross and for us to focus on our salvation.

Every Easter growing up was the same. We visited both sides of the family and had two lunches on Easter day. It was way too much food and I had it down to an art! I always saved the most food for lunch #2 when I would get to stuff my face with delicious homemade Lebanese food. YUM. The past two Easters have had a special guest which is my college roomie! And guess what folks, she visited me for the third Easter in a row and was able to cook with me. Needless to say this meal was a collaborative effort and was very dear to me.

We wanted something hearty yet traditional so we settled on Ina's 1770 house meatloaf. We were scared but excited buying three pounds of meat the day before. Other fresh ingredients that were added to the shopping cart were celery, parsley, thyme, chives, and onion.

Making the meatloaf was extremely easy. Roomie sauteed the veggies as I mixed the meat and everything else in a bowl with my hands! It was so fun! Then we added the veggies, formed the mixture into a nice loaf shape and let that baby bake for a little over an hour.

At the same time I was boiling 10 cloves of garlic in olive oil in order to make a garlic sauce. I learned something new about garlic and that is that you can smash it into a sauce. Who knew! I added the boiled garlic cloves to chicken stock and boiled it until it thickened enough to serve over the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. It was delicious.

We also added Ina's balsamic-roasted brussel sprouts to the meal. What a scrumptious meal on such a meaningful day!