Woodchuck and Groundhog

My Beloved's mother called this Woodchuck, because she made it in a sort of free-form loaf shape that resembled nothing so much as a baked woodchuck. Cookiecrumb would call it Groundhog, 'cause she's so clever. Actually, it's both, a meat loaf made with both grass fed ground round beef and mild Italian pork sausage (ground hog, get it?).

I use roughly equal portions of the two meats, plus sauteed chopped celery and onion, minced garlic and bread torn in bits. I add an egg and a splash of milk and moosh all that together until it's fairly evenly distributed, then mound it into a baking pan and bake it for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees, until the uneven top is almost crispy in spots but the interior is still moist.

My friend Annie calls this Meat Lump. No matter what you call it, it makes My Beloved smile when he comes home to dinner that features Woodchuck and Groundhog.