Text 6166, 163 rader
Skriven 2008-04-26 15:38:24 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 6042 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: picnic                                                   [1]
====================================================================
Hi Janis,

>> Must be in her blood :) Kinda makes sense? :)

 JK> > Well, my dad was in the Navy during WWII & Steve's dad in the Army

 JK> Hehe.. Same with our families.. My dad in the Navy, a Medic, Ron's dad
 JK> in the Army.. :) My daughter was in jr. ROTC for years in high school
 JK> and loved it.. she made it to Texas A&M but while her food allergies
 JK> and asthma were pretty much gone, she started getting incredible
 JK> migraines in Texas ... probably from the 'new' allergies there.. it
 JK> was so sad.

That's too bad; we knew a young man who had the same sort of problem
when he went to SC from HI for his basic training. He didn't have food
allergies but his asthma kicked into high gear & he had to be sent home
with a "sorry, thanks for trying" deferrment.

 JK> > (army) green. (G) Steve went in just before she turned 3 so she
 JK> > basically grew up as an Army brat.

 JK> That would do it (grin) That's neat :)

Yes, and she had to rub it in that on the way back to her unit after her
R&R (which she took to visit her sister & meet her new-7 weeks old-
nephew she was routed thru Frankfurt, Germany.  She was able to deplane
briefly & got a brotchen which brought back memories of when we were
stationed there.

>> I'm sure she's used to it.  I can almost imagine how my daughter would
>> have done it if her allergies hadn't caused her such horrid problems..
>> oh well, what can you do..;)

 JK> > I know, and, it may have been that she wouldn't care for the
 JK> military.

 JK> Oh no, she loved it.. it fit right in with her super organized brain

Getting up for PT at 0darkwhatever, standing in formation in the pouring
rain (no umbrellas allowed) or blistering sun (those berets do not
protect you from the sun)..........yes, it takes a special person to
love that. I married one and am mom to another one. (G)


 JK> (laugh).. It was a medical thing that caused all the problems :( She's
 JK> his cousin does.. and my daughter does.. it -very- obvious haha..
 JK> anyway, she wanted 'in' very very badly, and had intended to make it
 JK> to West Point... that was her dream :(

Well, give her credit for trying.

>> You seeded and skinned the tomatoes when you used fresh before, right?
 JK> > I'd usually skin but not seed. The job took a while because I had a
 JK> > quart of cherry tomatoes, plus a couple of romas and a couple of

 JK> left in, leave more water in the mix..  I always seed my tomatoes
 JK> before cooking them down.. just a habit because really, I hate the
 JK> seeds in my sauce. :)  That's probably why I don't notice the extra
 JK> water in my sauce as well (grin).

I wasn't brought up making sauce like this, nor was Steve, actually.

>> fresh tomatoes is a completely different operation than canned (grin).

 JK> > Yes, and I'll probably use the fresh more whenever I have the

 JK> I do as well, but like I said, I seed them, and skin them as well..
 JK> even if I just put them on the gas burner of the stove for a few
 JK> minutes to burn the skin to make it start to split, then peel it off..
 JK> though usually I do it in boiling water for about 2 minutes..

I don't have a gas stove (sure wish I did tho) but was brought up giving
the tomatoes a hot water bath to skin them.  The X in the bottom is a
new idea for me tho. Have to suggest it to my mom for her canning times.


 JK> Ok, so you want 1lb turkey and 2lb beef.. or something like that I
 JK> guess or a straight 50/50 mix.. either is fine.. I can do that easy..
 JK> I always have that in my freezer.

Probably 1.5 pounds of each, beef and turkey.


 JK> > guessing for this crowd, about 3 pounds of meat, total. Then there's
 JK> > about 3 cups (+/-) of home made whole wheat bread crumbs, about 3/4c


 JK> That's a lot of bread crumbs :)  but if you don't use any bread
 JK> slices, ok, that makes sense (see below note about bread)... and not a
 JK> problem.. I make that in my bread machine in an hour, then we can

I use the recipe Steve's mom gave me; it's all bread crumbs.  But, mine,
unlike hers, are from the whole wheat bread I make.  I save up a bunch
of crusts (until I get a gallon size zip lock bag full) in the freezer,
then cube and toast them.  Then they get ground into crumbs.


 JK> grind it up and toast it, or whatever.. how do you normally make them?
 JK> Do you season them?  I usually season them with garlic salt, oregano,
 JK> basil, parsley, italian cheese, and garlic chunks while the bread
 JK> crumbs are warm.. then toast them to make them crunchy..

Hmmmmmmmm, I might try that with the next batch.  Since I use the crumbs
for other things, I don't season them as a general rule.  I've been
thinking about having some seasoned ones on hand tho


 JK> > grated peccorino romano cheese,

 JK> Yep, lots.. (grin)

 JK> >olive oil

 JK> I don't put any olive oil in my meat balls.. but whatever I always
 JK> have tons here..:)

 JK> >, eggs, spices (parsley, basil,
 JK> > oregano, black pepper, garlic--fresh or powder) and a bit of water.

 JK> Yep, no problem.. I have tons of fresh garlic always on hand.. and
 JK> fresh parsley as well.. I have tons of basil.  I don't put oregano in
 JK> meatballs  it's a bit bitter.. I don't put 'water' in exactly either..
 JK> but what I do put in mine, is a chunk of bread (usually Italian bread)
 JK> soaked in water and squeezed a bit.. so it crumbles in the mix.. hard
 JK> to describe (g).. this is in addition to the bread crumbs.. Again, up
 JK> to you of course.. it's your recipe, so you an make it anyway  you
 JK> like :) I'm just mentioning it so you know the different ideas
 JK> involved..

I've read various ways of doing it over the years. I guess it all comes
down to whoever taught you how to make meat balls originally. And, that,
in turn, comes from whoever taught them and the part of Italy the family
comes from. I learned from my MIL but add my own varients to them, as do
my girls.


>> spare a couple pounds of hamburger, you know ...  How many meatballs
>> are you planning on making?  I get lazy and usually make nice fat guys
 JK> > With the above amount of meat, I get somewhere around 50-60 met

 JK> Sounds just right :)  Depends on how you want to do it.. you can make
 JK> them big and fat or little, either way will be fine, I'm sure.  Bigger
 JK> is quicker (grin).

For sure, but my hands aren't too big. And, I suspect, you probably
don't use a scoop, either (nor do I) but I've seen some people use one.
It does ensure a fairly uniform (there we go, back to the military-G-)
size but the slight irregularity in size is part of the "fun" of meat
balls.


>> CONTINUED IN NEXT MESSAGE <<

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Mind... Mind... Let's see, I had one of those around here someplace.

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)