Family and Meatballs

This weekend turned out to be all about beer and fried food.

But I did manage to squeeze in some shopping, hiking, and baking with my mom and sister Lauren.

Trenton Falls, NY

We also hit up the farmers market and an apple orchard for Macouns, Honeycrisps, and Cortlands. 

Nothing says fall like apple pie

I'm not normally a pie baker, but this was pretty easy with some help from Mom and Lauren.

I also made another batch of meatballs. I saw this contest on the Today Show last week and I am thinking of entering:   

TODAY's Meatball Madness cookoff. The finalists get to go to the show and be in a segment judged by Bobby Flay. I don't have high hopes, but I thought it might be fun to enter!

Last night I made a double batch of meatballs so I could take a photo be submitted.
What photo do you think I should submit?

#1

#2

#3

The family said the meatballs tasted great, but next time I would use a little less cheese. I'm sure they won't mind testing out a few more batches for me, either.

Meatballs

• 1/3 pound ground beef
• 1/3 pound ground pork
• 1/3 pound ground veal
• 1/4 cup freshly grated cheese (Pecorino or Parmagiano)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed or grated
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, seasoned
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 Tbls freshly chopped parsley
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the meat. Combine the remainder of the ingredients until mixed together. Add to the meat mixture. Mix with your hands until everything it just combined. Be gentle and do not over mix or your meatballs. Over-mixing results in tough, golf ball-like meatballs.
Form into 2 inch balls. Again, do not overwork the meat. Roll until they just form a ball. They don't have to be perfect, it just has to stick together.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Do not place on the bottom rack, or your meatballs might stick.
Transfer meatballs to your tomato sauce to finish cooking.
If you aren't making sauce, let them bake another 7-10 minutes.

I couldn't find the beef/pork/veal combination at my grocery store (aka, "meatball mix"). I used only pork and beef. Next time I will find the meatball mix, because that is what my Nan always used.
I also reduced the cheese in the recipe, as I used 1/3 cup and thought it was a bit much.

Please let me know what photo to use in the comments!

I definitely see a salad for dinner in my future...