Best Ever Meat Loaf

I have tried many, many meatloaf recipes. My husband LOVES meat loaf. This is, by far, our favorite one that he always requests. It is very different than other recipes and looks harder than it is. Try it and you will not regret it!

4 TBS butter
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
2 TBS plus 1/2 teaspoon Chef Paul Prudhomme's Meat Magic (I use meat seasonings mix)
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork (available at Winco:)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup very fine dry bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in 1 Qt sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, green onions, Meat Magic, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and bay leaves. Cook and stir until mixture starts sticking excessively, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom well. Stir in milk and ketchup. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, Cool to room temperature. Discard bay leaves.Place ground beef and park in un-greased 13x9 inch baking pan. Add eggs, cooked vegetable mixture and bread crumbs. Mix by hand until thoroughly combined. In center of pan, shape mixture into 12x6x1 1/2 inch loaf. Bake, uncovered for 25 minutes. Increase heat to 400 degrees; bake until no longer pink in the center, about 35 minutes longer. Serve immediately.