AP photograph of twins Abby and Ann
DEAR ABBY HAD SISTER ISSUES. The famous advice columnist had a twin sister who grew up to be known as Ann Landers, the name of another famed advice column. And you’d think by the nature of their work that the sisters would have the skills to live in sibling harmony. Ah, no. In fact, there were many years that the twins did not speak.
Born 17 minutes apart, maybe the sisters were destined to get into a tussle after their parents named them Esther Pauline (Abby) and Pauline Esther (Ann). But the twins went happily along, collaborating on a gossip column while attending Sioux City’s Morningside College, then dropping out of school in 1939 to stage a double wedding, and later working again on an already-established Chicago Sun-Times advice column called “Ann Landers.” And life was smooth as butter. That is until Esther Pauline left to start “Dear Abby.”
The sisters didn’t speak to each other for many years, only patching things up later in life. I’ve always wondered if the reconciliation came over a dinner of meatloaf. As we’re reporting here on TSP, meatloaf can bring people together over a common shared purpose: to eat the food of the gods. Unless, of course, you have to choose whose recipe to use, which we’ll leave to you, since there’s no way we’re getting into a sisterly food fight.
Dear Abby’s Meat Loaf
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 package dry onion soup mix
- bacon strips
Directions
1. Mix all ingredients up and put in greased baking dish.
2. Place bacon strips along top of meat loaf.
3. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees for 1-1½ hours.Ann Lander’s Meatloaf
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 lb. ground veal
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups cracker crumbs
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 package dry onion soup mix
- 4 strips bacon
- 1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
Directions
1. Mix meats together by hand in large bowl.
2. Add Worcestershire sauce, eggs, cracker crumbs, ketchup, water, and soup mix.
3. Shape into a loaf in a shallow baking dish. Drape loaf with bacon strips, then pour tomato sauce over loaf.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until done to your liking.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Looking at the two recipes – they are not far apart. The same quantity of meat, eggs, liquid, a tomato product, soup mix, crumbs of a type. It would seem (other than varied ground vs. all ground beef) the only real difference is Worcestershire sauce, and then only a teaspoon at that.
Is that what it takes to declare a difference? One teaspoon holds enough breathing room to create a peaceful space between two warring sisters ?
Get Israel and Palestine on the phone. We may have something to offer them.
Ah, Deb: Yes, exactly. Thanks. And come back soon to help us notice what a difference a difference makes.
Dry onion soup mix is a memory staple of more than a few sisters, evident here by that telltale recipe clue. Loving your family trees-via-meatloaf, and you’re so right, it’s all in there. On mother’s pantry shelves, in their grown-women kitchens, all the bits that bind. Another slice of history, please.
Hi, Marilyn. Thank you for climbing along on our meatloaf family tree. I wonder what else the dry onion soup mix can do? Any thoughts?
Ok, what I find *most* bizarre are the names. I know the country was in a depression, but really? Names are free! I, too, am a meatloaf lover and afficianado [chicken salad, also]. I could eat both every day and sometimes do! Every recipe I find, I try. I never eat the same meatloaf twice…there’s too much out there to limit yourself. Like I always say, you only go ’round once, gotta grab all the meatloaf you can!
I’ve GOT to share that I’m eating the most amazing Quinoa salad right now [yes, tv tray off to the side, cloth napkin in lap as I type], with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on the side [sugar free, thank you!]
Hi, Lisa. That you never eat the same meatloaf twice is delightful. Such a great detail. Thank you for it. I am a quinoa fiend, making a big post once week and using it for everything, including breakfast cereal. Please come back.