Best Ever Meatloaf

I'm not so sure I should keep the title of "Best Ever". I have probably eaten 3 different meatloafs (loaves?) in my entire life....each one once. I am not a meatloaf person...unless you count the singer/actor, in which case, I'm a fan. I figured I'd give it a shot, since it's easy to make and I had two packs of ground beef to use. I just don't have enough comparison to really say this is the "best ever".

Let me start by saying that mixing the ingredients by hand is a must, and most of my ingredients were very cold! Just thought I'd give you a heads up. As I added my ingredients to the bowl, I ran my faucet to get warm water to rinse with while I mixed, and I'm glad I did. I left out the onions for this since Dan doesn't like them and I didn't have one anyways. I also had some wheat crackers instead of Ritz, and they worked just fine. It used just under a sleeve to make a cup of crumbs.

The topping/sauce is what makes this recipe, I think. I misread the directions, and added the sauce in the last 15 minutes of cooking, not halfway through. Halfway through would have been better. This is why you always read through the directions, twice, before starting your recipe. Dan is busy as usual, so I don't have his opinion on this yet as he will be heating his dinner up later, so I'm hoping he likes it. I served it with some mashed potatoes and steamed corn.

Best Ever Meatloaf
from Pip & Ebby

2 lbs. ground beef
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup buttery cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve of crackers)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

For the topping:
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apricot preserves

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. I a large bowl combine all ingredients for the meatloaf and mix by hand until well combined.
3. Press into the loaf pan. Place loaf pan on a baking sheet to catch any juice that may boil over and drip in the oven. Bake for 90 minutes. Halfway through, you will top with sauce.
4. To prepare the sauce, in a small bowl combined the sauce ingredients until well mixed. Pour half the sauce over the meatloaf halfway through cooking. Reserve the remainder for dipping.
5. Let the meatloaf sit for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Forgot to take a pic before I sliced it to check for doneness.