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Americans have long been exporting their pop culture to the world. With TV shows and movies being among the most consumed global American exports, it's no surprise that US actors and directors are recognized all around the globe. However, for all of us non-Americans out there, sometimes the silver screens get us all dazed and confused. Do American people really drink from those red plastic cups at parties? Do they really wear shoes inside their houses? Is homecoming really such a big thing as movies make it out to be?

But we're gonna need a true expert's opinion on the matter—our Bored Panda readers living in the US! So scroll down below to read all the questions that people had about the things they saw on TV and feel free to share your answers!

#1

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Felix Feline
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Living in a college town I can attest that yes they do. It's all anyone talks about, and the traffic jams are awful. High school football here is just as bad.

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#2

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Andres Tejeda
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its the easiest reference for us and a football field is 100yards or 300 feet or 91.44 meters.

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#3

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Kristin Scarbrough
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We say goodbye, or something like it. It's an idiosyncrasy of script writing, not Americans.

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#6

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Erin
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When my relatives from Ireland come to visit, they love to play with the garbage disposal. Even the people in their 60's think it is hilarious. They refer to it as "the murder sink".

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#7

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#9

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Erin
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was in school, it was hard boiled eggs. Now they have high-tech baby dolls called Baby Think About it. It is a Life Skills class that teaches you how to be an adult.

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#12

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Kristy P
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The "funeral" is usually in a church and then a burial service graveside.

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#14

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Catlady6000
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is especially true in small towns. The largest parking lot in town is the local teen hangout

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#15

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Hedy Hahn
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, Homecoming is really big here in the US. Celebrating at high school and university.

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#18

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Keith Nolen
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because Americans have been sold the lie (mostly by Nestle, thank you!) that bottled water is better than tap water in some way. In truth most of the bottled water IS tap water.

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#22

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Hedy Hahn
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We do call them Kleenex all the time probably because that brand is what we used.

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#24

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Dynein
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think that is to avoid accidental advertising? I'd think that in most (industrialized) countries, the typical bags offered by stores have the store logo all over them...

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#25

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ROSSELAIRA EUGENIE CRUZ
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I guess it depends. My family and friends only do photoshoots for weddings, 18th birthdays (girls), 21st birthdays (boys), or someone's first birthday.

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#26

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Erin
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Chicken and waffles is a religious experience. I live in the Midwest and some of the best chicken and waffles in the world is right here in Indianapolis at Maxine's Chicken and Waffles. Another awesome place is in Harlem (where chicken and waffles was invented).

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#28

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April Simnel
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's ground meat with binders like egg and breadcrumbs, and can also have minced onions and peppers (capsicum), and seasonings that's all mixed together and baked in a loaf pan in the oven. Most people make it with just ground beef, but when I was little in the 70s, in our home it was made with ground beef, pork, and veal, and we had it maybe once a month with homemade mashed potatoes and brown gravy, and a green vegetable. I don't eat meatloaf now. It's not horrible, it's just not my first choice for comfort food.

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Water Bottle
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf isn’t as popular as it was, but it’s a good meal. I prefer hand shaping the meat, mostly because I don’t want to leave some meat residue in my loaf pan. (Who wants meatloaf tinged banana bread?)

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Leslie O
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why are people getting downvoted for providing a legit answer? Because they're confirming that Americans do this *bad thing* by eating meatloaf? WTF?

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Chris Jones
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm hoping that there are more upvotes now. It is odd though - why downvote people for answering questions that a lot of us want to know the answers to. Though there are some people here who see the questions as criticisms and they're not. It's curiousity and the answers are really interesting.

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Hedy Hahn
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is a delicious combination of hamburger and onions and some sort of thickening like dried oatmeal or bread. Usually catsup is poured on top before baking.

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Erin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is awesome - or at least mine is. My mother's, not so much.

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Amy Walker
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is ambrosia. Actually - it's a way to save on meat that became popular during WWII when meat was rationed. Yes - we eat meatloaf and most Americans love meatloaf. Each mother has her own way of making it and that's the best meatloaf. My mom made her's from ground beef; others use ground pork, ground turkey, ground lamb or a combination. Usually spices are added (entirely personal thing - each mom is different) and some sort of meat stretchers such as bread, rice, oats, etc. It's baked. My mom used ground beef, onion soup mix, stale bread and a few other things (can't remember).

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Susan Reid Smith
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is a way of making the meat go farther, by adding less expensive ingredients like bread crumbs or egg to it to fill it out. There are different recipes and flavors.

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CaptainDinosaur
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

See April Simnel's post. My favorite is as left-overs on a sammy with a bit of horseradish.

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Colin L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people do. Others recognize it as the sad remnant of 1950s culture...

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Roadkill TheBrave
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is sacred. Don't think of hurting or harming the meatloaf. I don't know about nationwide but in the Midwest Meatloaf is a big deal. Depending on what part of the country you're in depends on what you use for the breading in it and what you put in it. The basic recipe is: 1 pound ground beef, 1 egg, 1 can tomato sauce (or Tomato soup works too), diced onions (optional), Diced bell peppers (Optional), then seasonings, sauces, etc. You mix all that up with your hands, yes I said hands, both of them, squeeze, stir mix knead whatever but trust us experienced Meatlofians, hands are the only way to go. Once you're done with that you'll have a hardcore wet mixture, that's when you add breadcrumbs, or Oatmeal, or crushed Satines. Mix it until it holds itself together, if you form it it needs told mostly hold its shape, form it into a log, pop it in a bread pan (sometimes lined with bacon).Poke holes with your finger in the top of it and put some Ketchup on it. Bake till done.

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KatPanda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Upvoted for ‘Meatloafians.’ Downvoted for mixing with your hands (even watching someone else do it makes me physically ill!) Upvoted for using tomato sauce! I can’t eat meatloaf without tomato sauce & oregano on top like Mom makes. If that makes me a Meatloafian heretic… so be it.

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glowworm2
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother made an awesome meatloaf for Passover. It helped make Passover when I was away at college a bit more bearable.

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Bill
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This dish has been around for at least a Millenia. Bread is a common filler and absorbs the grease for flavor.

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Cindy Snow
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its a sausage without casing. Or a hamburger in a bigger form. Not that weird.

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Helena Meykens Rajewski
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Isn t meatloaf common in a lot of countries? I m half Belgian and haf Polish, pretty familiar with meatloaf in both countries..don t eat it myself haha, but its a really common dish

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RMick
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ketchup isn't always the topping. Beef gravy and tomato soup are popular too. Meatloaf falls in the comfort food category for many Americans.

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Jeny Kennedy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Kinda like haggis...but without all the weird s**t...also...(I'm sorry, Dad) MUCH tastier.

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Jo Madison
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

you poor thing. A mother who provided and cooked for you. Must have been awful.

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Dynein
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Probably a typical American dish? Why would movie makers invent dishes?

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Jeannie Carle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don't "always" eat meatloaf !!!! I make mine with a combination of ground beef and ground sausage and all the other stuff. I prefer the taste of sausage over hamburger for this.

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Emily Smith
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's an old time recipe. It is usually cheap to make but it is as it sounds...a loaf of meat. It's a good way to use up leftover meats if you can ground them up. Today, we just buy ground meat so the practicality and cost saving nature of it has diminished. I still like it though and have it once in awhile.

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Steve Barker
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's like Shepards Pie without the potatoes on top. The potatoes (mash) are on the plate, however.

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Id row
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a loaf. Of meat. Made from ground beef. Add in bread crumbs, egg, onion and some Italian seasoning and mix it up and form into a loaf. Some people put tomato sauce on it, others put brown gravy. Yes, it's a staple of most people who aren't rich even though ground beef has doubled in price over the last decade.

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Christopher Gallagher
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it's basically a meatball in a log shape with a BBQ sauce glaze and maybe bacon

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*sigh*, The Yellow Teletubby
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's basically beef all mashed up with cut up onions and other things, in a lil bread-pan thing, with I think ketchup on top? Idk, it's pretty good if you make it correctly. If you don't, the outside can look perfect but you barely poke it and the inside explodes like a decomposing body lmao *looks at dad*

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Steve Cruz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is like a giant meatball that is baked through, then sliced into portions.

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Lynn Morello
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was raised in Manchester England, Mum used to often make meat loaf

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MadRatter
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Europeans eat that as well. It's just called different things depending on the country. "Hackbraten" ("mince roast") in Germany, "farsbrød" ("mince bread") in Denmark. My Danish mum used to make it a lot when I was a kid.

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Patti Renwick Parrish
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you really want to make one, I have a great recipe. It's great leftover for sandwiches! Consists if hamburger, eggs, bread crumbs, ketchup and seasoning. I would LOVE some recipes from other countries!!

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Felix Utterback
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You mix ground beef with crushed crackers or rice and some veggies (we do peppers and onions and garlic in my house) and some seasonings and bake it into a loaf. Great wrapped in bacon too. Some people use eggs as a binder to make it stick better if you're using low fat beef.

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Randy Roberts
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is a cheap way for preparing ground beef that poorer families use to get by. Its basically a loaf of meat like a loaf of bread, made out of ground beef, onions, seasonings. I should know, trust me.

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Leslie Cully
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is just a giant meatball made of minced beef and seasonings. Yum! Made well, it's delectable.

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Johnny Farnen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is cheap comfort food, a result of economics and cheap beef.

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Sinkvenice
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm English and my Canadian ex once made bacon wrapped meatloaf and I had a coronary just looking at it. I'm a huge carnivore but eating that felt like a punishment :-D

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Sarah Levine
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Here's my favorite meatloaf recipe. Note the sweet and sour tomato sauce that goes with it. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lish-nelsons-meatloaf-100648/amp

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Mary Kelly
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

some meat loaf is very good...plus you can mold it into a variety of shapes to entertain kids during various lite holidays, like st. pat's day, valnetine's day, or halloween

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albertmarksjr@aol.com
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When you grow up with a household of 9, meatloaf and mashed potatoes are common and fondly remembered.

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M O'Connell
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are 1001 ways to make it. Try one with pork, turkey and kasha, lots of paprika and cumin :)

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Amanda Rudnicki
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a loaf (just like bread) made of solid ground meat. It is eaten with ketchup.

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Jane Petersen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf (ground beef) and mashed potatoes with mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food (if someone else makes it!)

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Dre Mosley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's still a thing. Some Americans would say that it's one of those out of date "boomer" dishes(I don't think food should go out of style like clothes, but whatever), but it's still something that people make.

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Troy Latta
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's yummy! Think haggis but with a better cut of meat and no casing.

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Victoria Swift
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes. I make it about every two weeks for my family. It's a super easy dinner. You mix ground beef with eggs and bread crumbs or crackers (whatever is in your pantry), then dice up different veggies to mix in (I've done carrots, mushrooms, green pepper, onions...whatever). Then you glaze it with a gravy. There is a debate on this, you are either a brown gravy family or a red ketchup and brown sugar gravy glaze family. I'm ketchup and brown sugar. Then bake it for 90 minutes in the oven. Serve with whatever. The most important part to this though is you have to use your hands to mix it all together, like you would with dough. I have no idea why, but that's the only way you can do it.

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Ivana
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is like a burger in loaf form and it is great.

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Shart
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Omg katie hold your hat on...meatloaf is like meeting God....only you can eat the meatloaf

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Meyer Weinstock
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is one of the few things that my 56 y/o sister knows how to make; to this day, her adult kids hate it. I got all the rest of Mom's cooking lessons. Sauerbrauten anyone? -Dr M

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elfin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Always" is a bit of an exaggeration. Offhand I can't think of a simple example.

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Tabitha L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meatloaf is yummy. Best recipe I've found - https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/old-school-meat-loaf

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Tiffany Marie
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its just a classic staple in an American dinner I suppose. Should show more KFC & Mc Donalds.

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DKS 001
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

as an american: f**k your ideas from tv and movies .... meatloaf is common in the u.s. we're allowed. go eat your spotted d**k.

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Jim Ellington
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3 years ago

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Meatloaf is a method by which very white people ruin hamburger meat.

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#30

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April Simnel
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the big cities, all you need to do is raise your arm on a busy street. I've lived in NYC almost 30 years now, and no one yells "TAXI!" here. I grew up in a smaller town, though, and in the smaller places, you pretty much have to call a taxi in advance. I never flagged a cab until I moved to NYC.

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