I hate food blogs where you have to read someone's life story just to find out how much pinenuts in their pesto. Gonna keep this as short as I can.
Family recipes are a touchy issue. Things change over time, memories are fluid and people have a vested interest in their family food. My Great Grandma used to make Carrot Bread. Grandma Jane, her daughter struggled with the recipe until my Dad took over and figured out that the yeast was out of balance. Great Grandma would have used fresh Cake Yeast, Grandma Jane used Dry Active Yeast and the conversion wasn't accurate. I use instant yeast (after a bad Thanksgiving embarrassment) so is it the same recipe? I say yes.
Grandma Jane taught me to make her meatloaf at the last dinner I had with her before moving to SF. I still have the notes I took. She explained that the onion and peppers were diced very fine so they didn't fallout of the meatloaf. See, they shrink when they cook, leaving a space. I suggested she sweat them first so they go in pre-shrunk. She like that idea and we tried it. It worked. Not sure if she made it that way afterwards, but I always have.
The Dad remembers her cooking the meatloaf in a loaf pan. She showed me to make it as a free form loaf. I'm now using loaf pans after listening to The Dad, makes for easier clean up
When we cleared out her cookbooks, I found about ten index cards with the meatloaf recipe written out and price tags affixed. They weren't all the same. Minor differences. Some didn't list the bell pepper. This makes sense, until the mid-70's bell peppers were a seasonal vegetable, not around over half the year. I always remember the green bell pepper, though. The Sister doesn't like green bells, won't eat them. She's okay with red bells, tho. So now I use red bells.
So is it the same recipe? I'm gonna say yes.
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