Monday, March 24, 2008

Meatballs Meatballs Meatballs

I had been having a hankerin for really good meatballs for a few months, and I decided that the only way I would get what I wanted was to make them myself. I had no experience with meatballs but I had a rough idea of how they should be made, so I sort of just went for it. Here's what I used:

1/3 pound each of ground beef (22% fat), pork and veal.
about 3/4 a cup of Italian bread crumbs
about half a finely chopped white onion
about 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
a bit of chopped parsley (this was probably unnecessary and I will skip it next time)
1 egg
Salt & Pepper

I mixed this all by hand and formed 8 rather large meatballs, which I then browned in the cast iron skillet with some olive oil.

While the meat was browning, I started my sauce which consisted of:

1 can of whole tomatoes
1 can of crushed tomatoes
Half of a finely chopped, white onion, sauteed in olive oil
2 cloves of chopped garlic
Salt & Pepper
Freshly chopped basil

The sauce has to simmer for an hour, and the meat took 20 minutes to brown. When the meatballs were sufficiently browned I plopped them into the sauce the for the remaining 40 minutes.

I have to say, these came out as good as any I have had in a restaurant. I ate this meal for two days straight and still have some in the freezer. I might tweak things a bit here or there, but I think I have found my meatball recipe. 


Wednesday, March 12, 2008

And Two Days Later...

the travel agency who is booking the study abroad trip called and said they had received my payment, and that attendance was low and the program may be cancelled, so I shouldn't buy my plane ticket just yet.

oops.

so now i wait and see. i am not particularly disturbed though, because I have a plane ticket, so I'm going either way. Just depends on if I get to travel on my own for 2 weeks or 6.

come to think of it, maybe i should begin a prayer campaign that the trip is cancelled.

i need to go learn how to pray.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

The Tickets Are Purchased

After much debating back and forth in my head, my fingers took over and clicked the "purchase" button on U.S. Airway's website. I will be attending the study abroad program for the month of June in Madrid Spain, and then I will spend two weeks making my way by foot, thumb and rail to Barcelona, Alessandria Italy, Paris and thereabouts, until I find myself leaving from the London area.

Now that the deal is done, I feel only excitement about the adventure. I want to eat and drink all that Europe has to offer me. I can only imagine that I will be writing about my adventures as I go.