5 Year Anniversary Week: Day 1 - Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf!

This week officially marks the 5 year Anniversary of my cooking venture!  How exciting, right?  On April 19, 2010 I made my very first radio appearance with B.J. Williams and George Mason Dixon during their afternoon show on WDUN.    It was called "What's for Supper?" back then and just like we do today on "Cooking with Crevolyn," we talked about the easiest, freshest and most delicious recipes around.  

I am most thankful for the folks at Jacobs Media who jump-started me down this path that I love. Over the past five years we have discussed and I have cooked hundreds of recipes.  I've had the absolute blast of my life talking on the radio,  publishing a cookbook, talking to civic groups, writing a newspaper column, communicating through this blog and best of all, I've met the most wonderful people.   I must agree with Ms. Julia Child, when she said "People who love to eat are always the best people."



So for the next week,  I'll be bringing you some of the most popular recipes of the past five years.  Believe me, this was no easy task narrowing down over a 1000+ recipes to just seven.  
Just a note, the first three years of recipes are archived over on the J&J Foods website, under the What's for Supper Archive tab.  The past two years of recipes you can find right here on this site.  

So without further adieu, here's our first entry, Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf.  You can probably see why it's so popular - bacon and cheese in  meatloaf form.  Yes, please!

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Ingredients:

  1/2 pound ground chuck
 1/2 pound ground round

 10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

 1 (8-ounce) package sharp Cheddar, grated

 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

 1/4 cup bread crumbs, toasted

 1/4 cup mayonnaise
 1/4 cup barbeque sauce 

 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

 1/4 teaspoon salt

 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

 1/2 cup ketchup

 2 tablespoons prepared mustard

 1 (3-ounce) can French fried onions

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck and ground round and next 9 ingredients, mixing well.
3. In a small bowl, combine the ketchup and mustard. Stir 1/4 cup ketchup mixture into meat mixture, reserving remaining ketchup mixture.
4. Press meat mixture into a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan, or shape into a loaf and place on a rack in a broiler pan. Spread remaining ketchup mixture over loaf. Bake 40 minutes. Top with French fried onions; bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink.