shiny meatloaf

considering my facination and love of all things martha, you would think that i would be able to cook.

nothing could be further from the truth.

yet, for all of my efforts, my culinary skills just aren't up to snuff. friends and family have been more than generous (heroic even?) in their attempts to swallow things I've placed on their plates.

lasagna so crunchy you need a knife to cut it and lots of fluids to keep it from getting stuck in your throat. a roasted winter vegetable casserole with balsamic vinaigrette that turned into a warm, brown mush.

i have many favors to repay. but none so much as for the shiny meatloaf incident.

in high school, my mom thought i was mature enough to start dinner while she was at work. after a few botched attempts at a making the meal, my role was downgraded to putting it in oven at 4pm only. it was all i could handle. and really, i was okay with that.

on the night of shiny meatloaf, i did exactly what was asked of me. the premixed meatloaf was taken from the fridge at the prearranged time and placed it into the preheated oven. fait accompli.

my mom arrived home from work to find her meatloaf dinner nearly finished cooking. wow, that smells good, she said. when she removed it from the oven, she also noticed how good it looked.she was really impressed and wanted to know what i did to make it so shiny.

did i brush it with egg whites before baking? nope.

did i apply a coating of olive oil to get that glistening and crunchy coating? nope.

still baffled, it wasn't until she attempted to cut into that glistening and crunchy coating did she discover my secret recipe for her meatloaf.

a double layer of plastic wrap added the special touch. i had forgotten to remove the plastic wrap when i took it from the fridge to place in the oven.