and now for something completely different!

Zesty Sweet and Sour Meatballs and Spaghetti a la Delmy!

My son has been hanging with same group of friends since grade school, adding a few here and there by the time they got to middle school. and for years they all raved about Delmy's meatballs. Delmy is his friend's housekeeper since forever. He'd beg his friend to save some whenever she made them. I never knew what they were, or what was in them, just that they were the most awesome meatballs ever! and so a few days ago, I got the recipe. Handwritten by a sweetheart of a 20 year old, step by step, how to make the most perfect meatballs!

Sounds like that sweet and sour cocktail meatball recipe you either curiously love or wrinkle your nose and say "EWWWW!" I was a little skeptical. Actually a lot skeptical. My friend, Bubbe, says it must be an acquired taste, LOL, I don't think I've totally acquired it, but it was actually pretty good, considering!

I had never tried these little wonders before, the Delmy version anyway, the bowl was always emptied as soon as it got here! This time I had all the ingredients. My kid was dying for these. Delmy took the sweet and sour recipe and added a few things. So I got started. Uh-oh, the date on the cranberry sauce can was a good 18 months past the expiration. Not sure if I should use it, the can wasn't swelled or anything but when in doubt, throw it out, so I chucked it! Grape jelly was pretty good sub. Shoot, even when I follow the recipe, I can't follow the recipe, but alls well that ends well! My kids were very happy with dinner tonight. Even Miss Picky absolutely loved this. Her taste comes from her fathers side? They didn't love my "cream sauce" phase, much happier with the canned goods!

Tomorrow we order in.

Delmy's Meatballs
Printable Recipe

1 can jellied cranberry sauce (or a jar of Grape Jelly!)
1 bottle Heinz chili sauce
1 Vidalia onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced, chopped, whatever
1/2 jar Prego Spaghetti sauce (use whatever spaghetti sauce you like, Delmy uses Prego, so I did!)
4 carrots, sliced into coins
big handful of dried plain breadcrumbs
large package of chopped meat (2 lbs)
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper
couple tablespoons of ketchup
2-3 splashes Worcestershire sauce
4 carrots, washed and peeled and sliced into coins

Mix the eggs, salt and pepper, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, water, breadcrumbs and chopped meat all together. Make very tiny little meatballs and brown them in a skillet.

Meanwhile, in a pot, heat the garlic and the onions, until the onions start to soften and turn golden. Add the cranberry sauce and mix it up until it melts, then pour in the bottle of Heinz Chili sauce and the half jar of Prego sauce. Add the sliced carrots. Stir everything together and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. Add the browned meatballs and stir. Simmer for at least an hour, stir occasionally. I simmered around two hours.

We served it over spaghetti! Egg noodles would be great, too!

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