The summer before last I had an internship in Houston, TX. Since my family lives in Arkansas ,figuring out my living situation was a little difficult. Thankfully my good friend Chris and his family opened up their home to me for the 6 weeks I was there. And let me tell you, his mom Barbara, she can cook; and not only does she cook, she grills. Now Houston in the summer is hot as hell and creating anymore heat in your house (using your stove or oven) is just plain dumb. So Barbara being the smart woman that she is utilized her grill. She made chicken, burgers and all the other normal stuff; but, she also made desserts. Cookies. Blackberry crumbles (my personal fav). and all sorts of other treats. It was awesome. She would also make a large batch of meatballs and freeze them for use throughout the summer. I had never had meatballs not at a restaurant so I was in love with the meal. I asked Chris for the recipe over the Holidays and finally had the time last Sunday to make them. See below for details.
(I made a double batch, and added a little extra cheese to her recipe (for those of you who know me, duh.)
but these suckers turned out phenominal. Not to mention I got to use fresh beef from my grandparents farm in Arkansas!)
(Balls rolled and ready for the oven!)
(Ready to be eaten as a tasty meal!)
I may cook and bake quite a bit and I think I'm alright; but, I am by far the worst cook in my family. It's a running joke that I can't make scrambled eggs or grilled cheese (both of which are thinga I still struggle with today). My sister, Jordan, on the other hand, is an excellent cook. But, she can be rather... vague with her instructions. It's not her fault; she's always been this way.
I remember when we were growing up and still living in Texas (circa 1995. I was 5 she was 8.) and Jordan put cinnamon in her applesauce one day. I thought it tasted magical and asked her to get me the cinnamon. She refused to get it for me and told me to just look in the spice cabinet (because all little sisters have cooties and are gross to hang out with). My 5 year old self grabbed something that was a similar color and thought, eh, this will do.
I had grabbed Season Salt. My taste for applesauce has yet to recover.
Now I am much better at insisting she send specefics on her recipes (no more measurements of "a healthy portion of ."). She makes a fabulous home made spaghetti sauce and I thought it would be the perfect companion to Barb's Meatballs.
(Canning the spaghetti sauce not only allows me more space in my over crowded fridge,
but it was a great excuse to use my new masonrow.com stamper. How cute!)
(No fancy title needed for this recipe!)
(The super yummy and fresh salad my neighbor Carin made for Wes and I when we went over for spaghetti on Monday.)
(Wes is so weird. We were sitting at Carin's bar eating dinner Monday night when he gets up and says
"I'll be right back" all of the sudden and walks of of her apartment. Carin and I just look at each other like, what the heck is he doing??
He comes back with a handful of green onions and proceeds to keep one in his left hand, eating it raw, for the rest of the meal. EW.)
Let me know if you'd like either recipe!
Until next time...
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