3 cups cooked corn
2 medium Roma tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper

1. Combine oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Mix corn and tomatoes with prepared dressing.
3. Refrigerate before serving.

Makes 4 servings

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup fine bread crumbs
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine ground beef with half the tomatoes, half the bread crumbs, onions, egg, salt and pepper and form into a loaf.
3. Place loaf in a greased loaf pan and top with remaining tomatoes and bread crumbs.
4. Bake until loaf is cooked through to center, about 1 hour, and allow several minutes before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf

Making the Franks and Beans made me think about other old time American staples. Despite being Canadian, most of what I would consider traditional dinners are pretty much duplicates of the American ones. Our holiday dinners are virtually identical; our college and university students live solely off of Ramen noodles and, while we like to call it Kraft Dinner, macaroni and cheese is beloved by everyone from cradle to grave.

In search for a truly authentic Canadian dinner, the only thing I could find is muskrat and onions, which is something that I've never actually eaten and would never really consider eating, smelling or generally being in around. We do have our desserts, though; butter tarts, Nanaimo bars and pretty much anything involving maple. Of course, let us not forget the ever popular poutine, which we may one day lose as a Canadian dish due to separatism.

What I personally think is the quintessential dish that encompasses both of our North American lifestyles is Meatloaf. I cannot think of a better homemade dinner that satisfies the fast food ideology, while simultaneously allowing someone to prepare a homemade meal, than a loaf of meat. There are countless "my momma makes the best" meatloaf recipes out there, so I picked the simplest one. Since ketchup is the perfect condiment for meatloaf, I decided to top it with extra tomatoes, as well as some bread crumbs to make it look like less than a log of beef. The results were pretty much as expected; a bread-like slice of meat with a slight tomatoey flavor.

I served it with buttered, boiled Brussel sprouts and a Tomato Corn Salad. Tomatoes and corn seem to infuse themselves with vinaigrette incredibly easily and this was a nice contrast to the rather bland meatloaf, perhaps even useful as a condiment. As a stand alone salad it's definitely nothing special, but I do enjoy corn and tomatoes, so it made a decent side dish.