Meatball Mission: Complete (sort of)

Just a little update to my last post as I find the irony hysterical.

I kept my promise and made homemade meatballs with my boys last night—It wasn’t really planned, honestly.  I had a baked ziti and chicken stuffed with asparagus in the oven (I know you are probably all in shock right now since I so publicly noted how I wasn’t so astute in the cooking department)—but I had the time and if you are Italian you certainly understand that Sunday dinners are more special and seem to be deserving of a little extra LOVE. (Side note: I miss my entire family going over my grandmother’s for Sunday dinner and spending endless hours eating and listening to all the gossip. Those really are some of my best childhood memories) Anywho… we already had more than enough food for dinner—but Hey! I’m Italian and not sure if “enough food” is part of the vocabulary.  So…knowing that I had all the ingredients for meatballs and have had a meatball obsession since my last blog post, I had to comply. 

I asked Sean and Josh to go wash their hands—and in pure “Gina form” I must admit –I didn’t have a recipe. I know I said I would use one—but how hard could this be? I remember making meatballs with my mom and know what ingredients she used to add—so I went off of memory. 1lb ground hamburger, 2 eggs, garlic powder, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese—that was it.   It was so adorable to see the excitement on Sean and Josh’s little faces when I told them that they were going to help me make meatballs. After the quizzical look they gave me of course when they didn’t see me pull a bag out of the freezer. NEVER AGAIN.

They were a little freaked out watching me use my bare hands to blend everything together.  But quickly seemed to forget that and were so adorable smiling away as they rolled them—then of course it became about who could make more than the other—who was not making them big enough— Of course I couldn't expect this to totally be picture perfect moment right?  But for that moment when we all were rolling away, I savored it.  To me it was special. What meant even more was that Jason even participated in the fun. This was a true family affair and I am still smiling.

The kicker…

We all sat down to eat together—Sean asked for two meatballs while Josh only wanted one.  They ate all their baked ziti…..Josh, who never eats, even asked for seconds….but NEITHER of them actually ate their meatballs!!!! What??!!! I asked Sean (who loves meatballs)—“you didn’t eat your meatballs?” He said—“I don’t think I want to”. Um…ok? Same for Josh. Sigh.

Maybe the experience of seeing the raw meat was too much? I don’t know—I find this so amusing because I will admit this……..I never liked my mom’s meatballs (My mom is fully aware of this.  Please don’t think I am crushing her as you read this). I guess payback is a “you –know- what”.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way—because this is just so much more fun to write about—and I know my mom has something to smile about in the irony of all this.

Now if you are asking how the meatballs turned out—very good I must say—next time, and there WILL be a next time whether the boys eat them or not, I think I will use a little less breadcrumbs.  Hey, this is a work in progress, but at least I started.  And more importantly I lived in that moment with the kids-enjoyed them making the meatballs with me…so the fact that they wouldn’t go near them doesn’t deter me from trying again. 

Maybe next time I’ll invite my mom over and see what happens there…J

Thanks for coming along on this meatball journey with me.

Xo

Gina