Editor’s Note: After last week’s decidedly labor-intensive roast chicken, Chef Scott has decided to take the week off. And with so many interns coming into town who may be having their first experience with an oven, we’ve decided to feature a recipe for the cooking novices out there. Our interim chef will be none other than DCist editor Rob Goodspeed, who’s never made a mirepoix but has been known to use the microwave on occasion.

The family meatloaf recipe is frequently the butt of jokes and rarely a subject of serious consideration. However, simple to prepare and in the words of Wikipedia “an extremely versatile dish,” a basic meatloaf recipe can be useful to master. So, during a recent visit with our parents we had our mother write out the family recipe. We were assured it works equally well with ground turkey and has quite a bit of “flexibility,” which we think means it’s hard to screw up. So, without further ado: Mom’s Meatloaf.