Well, we are planning our next summer vacation trip. We will be spending a lot of time on the road stopping for meals along the way. I like to try the local places. I get enough of the chain restaurants around home. It is nice to go into some little hometown eatery and make a discovery. Usually they have the best desserts, but you can also find some fantastic mealtime choices. One of those choices has been made famous by the roadside diner. Good old fashioned meatloaf. It is really too bad there are so few diners left. Wouldn't it be fun to take the kids to a diner just for the experience? Anyway, I hope to find at least one diner on our trip to Utah and back, but even if I don't I am sure I will come home with a few new recipe ideas.

Here is a recipe for a meatloaf that would be the star of any diner in the country. It is so good it would even be great served to guests.

Serves 6 to 8

In a skillet melt the butter over medium heat. When it stops foaming add the onion, bell pepper, celery and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine the ground beef, the onion mixture, oats, the eggs, salt and pepper; and 1/3 cup of the ketchup, and mix thoroughly. Spoon the meat mixture into a 13x9 baking dish and shape into a flat loaf about 2 inches high, smoothing the top with the back of the spoon. Spread the remaining 1/3 cup ketchup over the loaf. Place the bacon strips on top of the ketchup. Bake the meat loaf for about 1 1/4 hours or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 145 degrees F. Let the meat loaf rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with mashed potatoes, a vegetable and coleslaw.