Meatballs

Tawny loves meatballs. She loves homemade meatballs. There is no way to sneak a frozen meatball past her lips. She knows. She always knows! Lots of people say they know... but lots of those same people really don't. They can be tricked. But not Tawny.

She left for college last week and Spaghetti & Homemade Meatballs was on her list of dinners she'd like me to make before she leaves.

So I made homemade meatballs.

They really aren't much work. I have no idea why, more often than not, I resort to frozen meatballs. Well, yeah I do. They are WAY faster on a work night. But that's no excuse for using frozen more often than homemade. I could take a little time on the weekend, make my homemade meatballs then freeze them and store them in the freezer in FoodSaver bags. Then they'd be just as easy as frozen wouldn't they?

Ok... I'm done arguing with myself.

Homemade Meatballs! They are easy and can be just as convenient as frozen!

Most of these measurements are approximate.

Meatballs
2 lbs. ground beef (or beef/veal/pork combo)
1 medium onion, grated
3 - 4 large cloves of garlic, grated
2 TBLS Italian herbs
1 C Parmesan/Romano/Asiago blend, grated
2 C bread crumbs
1 C tomato sauce
1 egg
salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients until well mixed.
Roll into balls. I usually do 1 inch meatballs, but these are 2 inch meatballs. Place on wire rack in a baking sheet with sides. Bake at 350F 20 - 30 minutes, depending on how big you make your meatballs. You just want them to be cooked through. Now they're ready to eat! I always simmer mine a in a pot of sauce after I take them out of the oven.

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Mix it all up!




Roll into balls.

I usually like to make 1 inch balls. Then they fit perfectly in a Meatball Sub. Tawny wanted big meatballs. So these are big. I guess they'd be nice cut in half in subs. Anyway... this time I made big ones, at least 2 inches.



Bake them until cooked through.


I don't know why I started baking them. My mom always cooked her meatballs IN the sauce. Most of the recipes I see online call for frying them. I remember baking them when I first moved out on my own. It started as just baking on a baking sheet. But I think the little puddle of grease around them grossed me out, so I started baking them on a rack.



If I was going to make a big batch and freeze some for later. This is where I'd stop and flash freeze them, then put them in vacuum-sealed bags.

Now into the pot of sauce!




They're ready to serve with whatever you like!


Enjoy!

Narcisi Sangria

Ok, this is kind of a cheater sangria, since it's already sangria ready to drink from the bottle.

I started with a bottle of Narcisi Sangria.


I found that in my wine cabinet. My mom bought it for me when we went out to Narcisi Winery for a little wine tasting.

I added some Brandy & Fruit.


A couple of nectarines, some raspberries, an orange and an apple.
(I LOVE nectarines!)

Mix it all up and let it rest overnight in the fridge.


Add some nice cold gingerale... and it's cocktail time!


The Narcisi Sangria is really delicious right out of the bottle... but if you can add more spirits & fruit, why not right? Cheers!

Berry Sangria = FAIL

I had high hopes for this Berry Sangria. But it was a miserable FAIL!

While up in Pymatuning, Whitney and I snuck off to Wilhelm Winery for a little wine tasting. Whitney had some of their Edelweiss at The Naked Grape and really wanted to pick up some more. She also grabbed a bottle of their Fredonia. I tried a Riesling that was ok and also their Blueberry and Blackberry wines.

I decided that Blackberry would make a great Berry Sangria. The fruit wines only come in the small bottles, so I bought two.

Some gorgeous berries...


Some Brandy & Blackberry Wine




I didn't have any clear soda... but I did have some cold Prosecco...


Bubbly and delicious... should be great right?


O.M.G. YUCK!!!!

I really don't know what went wrong with it. The ingredients were all tasty on their own, but combined... total YUCK.

We couldn't even choke it down... it got poured into the sink... all the beautiful fruit wasted.

Oh well... can't win 'em all!

Check HERE for some awesome Sangria Recipes!

Footlongs are Fun!

Need a quick easy fun dinner?

How about Footlong Chili Cheese Dogs?



A long time ago, Jon noticed that the footlong hotdogs and the footlong hotdog buns each have 6 per package. Nice! No leftover weird sized dogs or buns.

Use your favorite chili... or use my Easy Skillet Chili whatever you like!

I bought some footlong hotdogs & buns.

When I got them home I was thinking I didn't have anything big enough to cook them on. It was a gazillion degrees outside and there was no way I was going to grill them. Then Jon reminded me that I have a nice cast iron griddle! YAY!

They fit on there just fine!


Fry them up in a little butter!


Load them into some footlong buns...


Add some chili...


Add some cheese and it's dinner time!!


These were SO good! I make Chili Cheese Dogs pretty often, but these ROCKED!

They stay together really well. I think the footlongs are a little skinnier than the hotdogs I typically have at the house. So all the filling stays put!

Cook up some fun and have Footlong Chili Cheese Dogs for dinner!

Jon's Cocoa CocoNut Cereal Bars

Our friends Jeff & Whitney invite us up to their place on Lake Pymatuning every summer. Whitney and I try to put together a weekend menu and do most of the prep before we head up to the lake.

When I was thinking it over in my head, I realized that there wasn't a chocolate dessert. I don't really care for chocolate, but pretty much everyone else loves it.

Jon made this recipe up standing in the kitchen as I was headed out the door to pick up everything I needed for my share of the cooking.

He's the brains in this operation (ummm recipe) I'm the muscle (I did the work!)



Jon's Cocoa CocoNut Cereal Bars
1 box Cocoa Pebbles (the small box I think it's 13oz)
1 bag mini-marshmallows
1/4 C butter
9 little bags (1.5oz) Coconut M&Ms (about 2 cups)

Melt the butter in a big pot. Add marshmallows and stir until coated. Cook over medium low heat, stirring until all marshmallows are melted. Pour in Cocoa Pebbles and still until well coated in marshmallow. Fold in Coconut M&Ms. Pour into a parchment paper lined or non-stick 13x9 pan. Press firmly. Cool. Cut. Enjoy!

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I started by opening all those bags of Coconut M&Ms.


Then it's your basic cereal bar recipe!

Melt the butter...


Add the marshmallows...


Stir...


Until melty...


Add cereal...


Stir some more...


Add M&Ms...


Fold them in...


I try to do that as gently as I can. I don't want to mush up the M&Ms since the marshmallow is still warm.

Press it into a 13x9 pan...


Cool... Cut... Enjoy!


If you like Chocolate and Coconut... you'll love these!

Bubble Gum Bomber

This is a wicked fun little cocktail that tastes just like Bubble Gum!

Jon & I found the recipe on one of those liquor gift sets. It had 99 Bananas, Mr Boston Triple Sec/Grenadine, a couple of shot glasses and a bunch of recipes.



Bubble Gum Bomber
1 1/2 parts 99 Bananas
1/2 part triple sec
splash of grenadine

Shake over ice and strain into a martini glass.

Enjoy!

My beautiful friend Erin enjoyed it!


I hope you do too!!

Three Bean Casserole aka Bean Shot

My friend Susie brought this to a potluck a long time ago and I had to have the recipe. She just called it "Three Bean Shit". Her title definitely doesn't describe it. So one day at work, she rattled off the recipe while I wrote it down. Tawny was just a toddler at the time, so I wrote the title like this...

Susie's Three Bean Sh*t

Well sometime in my kitchen, I got that paper wet and parts of it blurred, including the title.

I was making it when Tawny was probably in the 5th grade or so and she looked at the recipe. She said, "Bean Shot? That's a weird name." My asterisk had blurred to look kinda like an "o". She still calls it Bean Shot. I renamed it Three Bean Casserole for the blog because I try to get a G rating around here.

Without further adieu...



Susie's Three Bean Casserole aka Three Bean Shit aka Bean Shot
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. bacon chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 can (15oz) pork n beans
1 can (15oz) lima beans
1 can (15oz) kidney beans
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dry mustard
2 Tbsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste.
(do not drain the juices from your cans)

Preheat oven to 350F
In a large skillet, cook ground beef, chopped bacon & onion. Drain.
Move meat mixture to a large baking dish along with all other ingredients.
Stir until well mixed.
Bake 45 minutes at 350F.
Enjoy!

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This is wicked easy and can totally be done ahead of time!

Chop your bacon and onions.


Toss it into a skillet with the ground beef, when cooked through, drain fat.


Add beans.

Add them juice and all.

Add remaining ingredients.


Mix well


Now bake at 350F for about 45 minutes. You could also just cook it in a dutch oven over a fire!



We served it up with some haluski, broccoli salad and grilled chicken!



This is wicked good! It's awesome at a BBQ or potluck... make it on gameday for tailgating or for the crowd at your house... It's beefy bacony baked beans... like baked beans on steroids!

Try this! You won't regret it!