Today I didn't cook a meal because hubby had to leave for the upstate to do an inspection and training session. I don't usually cook just for myself - I'm too lazy. For breakfast, I had made a batch of double chocolate muffins with a mix I doctored up a little. Yum, yum. Daughter number two and I ordered Domino's pizza and ate half for lunch and half for supper.
We talked a good bit about what she would prepare for her friend's Super Bowl Party. She loves my teriyaki wings and they are easy to prepare. Everybody enjoys our "Open House Meatballs," so she's going to make those too. She pulls for the Boston Patriots and will make a Boston Cream Pie in their honor. Salsa and tortilla chips will be easy. If she's inclined, she'll make the seven layer dip for the tortilla chips. She's thinking of making Ham Delights, but when we are serving them to men, we use those dinner rolls that are the size of White Castle burgers instead of the tiny Pepperidge Farms party rolls. She'll include a bowl of salted peanuts too.
Over the next few days I'll include the recipes for the above dishes. Tonight I'll share the one for Open House Meatballs:
I'm going to give you the easy version.
Buy frozen meatballs which are usually already cooked. Each batch requires 1 lb. of meatballs. Combine 14 oz. of Heinz catsup (the amount in the small bottle) and 12 oz. of beer OR Coca cola in a large skillet (at least a 10" straight sided one). Bring it to a boil and add the meatballs and bring back to a boil. Simmer them, stirring occasionally, until heated all the way through - about 20 minutes should do it. Cover them to keep the splattering to a minimum, but if there's no vent, tilt it so the steam can escape. You can remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and cook another batch in the same catsup/beer or cola mixture. After that, too much grease will probably have cooked out of the meatballs, but if you can't see it a lot, you can cook another batch in that same liquid. I have used a huge skillet and doubled the cooking liquid and meatballs and made one huge batch of meatballs. When I've cooked the amount I want, I transfer them to my small crock pot (which the Down Home Diva, daughter #1, has made off with). I include some of the cooking liquid to keep them moist.
I've had this recipe for about 35 years - I got it when hubby was in graduate school and back then you couldn't buy frozen meatballs. My original recipe gives ingredients to make your own, and says to freeze them not touching each other on a cookie sheet before bagging in 1 lb. batches. Then you can pull them out and prepare just as I've described above. You DO NOT have to brown them or thaw them first. They will cook in just a little more time than it takes to heat up the frozen, cooked ones.
My nieces and nephews are now in their mid forties and still love them as much as they did as kids. They were thrilled to be eating "beer meatballs." That's why I experimented with the Coke and found that it also worked well.
Well, that's it for tonight. I'll have to get myself organized to include the rest of the items in the next few days.
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1 comment:
Mother, I am drooling! Anyone who reads this recipe really needs to try it. As Ree would say this is man pleasin' food! Michael loves these made into a sub. I grate some Mozarella cheese on top and pop the sandwich under the broiler until the cheese melts. So good! These also freeze well after they are cooked. You can freeze them in individual snack baggies with 5 or 6 meatballs (depending on the size of your sub rolls) and a little sauce. Then just toss all the snack size bags into a big freezer bag and they will keep well in the freezer until you need a quick meal. I freeze my subrolls too since it takes us FOREVER to use a whole package with just the two of us.
Have you ever tried these as a sub, mom?
Love,
Your Daughter, The Diva
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