Don't Stop The Party

Where have I been? What the hell have I been doing in January of all months?  It's been 12 days since I've posted. In that time I've seen two movies, Silver Lining Playbook and Les Miserables ( though Les Mis seemed to last a whole day its own self).

How I rate a movie? If I don't leave my seat to go to the restroom once.  And I remained glued to the chair through both movies. 2 Thumbs up. And cheers to a movie theater that lets you take a latte or perhaps a hot cider with brandy to your seat and offers freshly popped corn.

I've trained, worked out at the gym and gone to two Zumba classes. I've walked the dog, cleaned up after the kittens, cooked some delicious meals and read a few unremarkable books.

I've cried over Downton Abbey and football games. And, just recently, made what seems an infinite number of red, white and blue arrangements for Inauguration parties.

I also did my part for the pot luck birthday luncheon we throw every year for the owner of our flower shop. She is an enviably healthy eater who, with every birthday, seems to cut more and more out of her diet.

Dairy and gluten have been invisible recently. But since she doesn't have a wheat allergy I decided to make Moroccan meatballs and sneak in just a few breadcrumbs.

I used 3 lbs. of ground beef from Whole Foods and added one and a half finely chopped onions, 6 minced cloves of garlic, a handful of chopped Italian parsley and copious amounts of ground cumin and paprika, several dashes of ground cinnamon and cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper, 3 eggs and 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs. This make about 60 meatballs.  I baked them in a 400 degree oven on foil lined baking sheets for about 15 minutes, flipping them over at the halfway mark.

Then I finished them off in the sauce I made using another finely diced onion, 4 cloves of garlic, the same spices, 2 cans of Cento plum tomatoes(28oz ea) and 3 cups of chicken stock. I added a few strands of saffron to the stock and more spices as the sauce reduced. At the end I threw in a handful of chopped parsley.  Finally, I served the meatballs strewn with toasted pine nuts, just cause I had them in the cupboard.

GG raved and said they had to make an appearance on the blog.  This is the recipe to the best of my recollection. We served them with a coworkers' quinoa, rice and chickpea pilaf, green beans with shallots and almonds, and roasted yellow sweet potatoes. There was a yogurt and cucumber salad, a parsley salad and piles of pita bread.

It was a feast and there were leftovers. Need I say more?

Oh yeah, Go Ravens!