Anthony...Meatballs! The BEST I EVER MADE!!!
I am originally from Providence, Rhode Island where we specialize in your kinds of Italian/American dishes-and I always thought I was a pretty good Italian cook, UNTIL I stumbled upon your site by accident and started reading-Your site is VERY funny/witty AND educational-I could not stop reading-I finally had to go to the printer and printed out several recipes-The sauce and meatballs one came out first-I made the sauce with the two pork chops-Amazing-I would NEVER have thought of that-I made the meatballs,too, but WITHOUT the Parm Cheese-also skimped on parsley, and did not use the whole-wheat roll-good, but boring- Tried it AGAIN last week, following your meatball recipe to the T this time-Spent $9.00 on real parm/regg. cheese, got a whole-wheat roll from Fresh Market(which you have in N.C.) and did it right-lots of Italian chopped parsley! These meatballs were SUPERB! (Did not forget the SUGAR!) My husband was floored, me too! I even collect Italian cookbooks when not cooking from scratch daily, and YOUR RECIPE was the BEST! I am still in SHOCK! Next time, I will take photos to send to your site-I LOVE the visitor photo section! I have been cooking Italian food from scratch since 1972, and now that I am hooked on your site, I am going to try the other recipes also. GRAZIE! as we say in Providence. Susan, now living in Satellite Beach, Florida (I buy my stuff in Orlando).
Susan... now living in Satellite Beach, Florida
Hi Susan,
I"Funny, witty AND educational..." WoW! Thanks for the compliment. I think things like recipes should be entertaining and fun to read. I read recipe books and they are just so boring, so business like! Common, it's just cooking, make it fun and interesting and get the whole family involved, that's what I say :-) Another thing about cookbooks, most of them have very little photos if any at all and if they do give you photos it's ONE, one photo of the final product... hmm.. but what do I do in the middle and what's this whats-ya-macallit your talking about here and where do I find this very strange food product your mentioning that I never heard of and what kind of meat exactly? I mean what park of the cow? There are so many parts.... so on etc... I have a dream that one day I will have a cookbook made and it WILL have MANY photos and explanations and actually be user friendly and fun to read. I have always felt that when people write about something they should just write like they are having a nice conversation with you. Anyway... , so glad you took the time to walk through the meatball process step by step exactly :-) I find it very fascinating how many people will make the recipe but will not follow it exactly; they always want to throw in their own twists. It is the nature of Italian cooking really. Actually it is quite rare to have this kind of Italian recipe all spelled out in detail with measurements even! When I was a kid I would help my grandma cook a little bit. And she NEVER measured anything, she put some of this and some of that and tasted and then put some more, she just knew! It was like magic! My Mom would do the same thing! How do you know what to put in I would ask. The answer?.... You just know. It's all a matter of tasting. Well, 44 years later and 100's of questions and a LOT of trial and error I nailed it! I finally have it figured out and now.. I NEVER MEASURE! LOL!!! I understand now, she's right, you just know! The key is you have to make the recipe over and over and over until it's just second nature, that’s the trick! The big secret really is the amount of love you pour into the food when you are cooking it for love ones. That's what makes it all taste so good! The visitors photo section is my favorite part of the site, that and the sauce talk section. I actually have about 22 pages of email conversations I need to get up on the site. It’s so much fun conversing with people about the sauce and their family history and what they remember about their Italian grandmas. Just a blast!!! I would love to receive some photos from you to add to the site. I look forward to them. Satellite Beach, Florida.. Oh, you’re up by Palm Bay and Melbourne with Vero Beach just south right? I used to go to Vero beach and Jupiter beach a lot. I loved Jupiter beach. I lived in Fort Lauderdale for about 12 years. Enjoyed my time there a lot, but now loving it in NC :-) Well, I have to dive into work now. Have an amazing day!!
...Happy cooking, Happy Times and share the LOVE!,
~8-) Anthony
Several Months later....
Dear Anthony,
I am a long term fan of your sauce and meatballs, always making it! I am leaving for Providence, Rhode Island and I just re-printed out your printable version of the whole 10 page recipe to bring up there with me! I will be cooking up your recipe to everyone I know up there (We have a Little Italy called Federal Hill where I can REALLY stock up on Italian goodies!). After I unpack myself at my Mom's house, I will be heading up to THE HILL, as we Rhode Islanders call it, and load up on egg biscuits/Sardinian olive-oil (the BEST!) San Marzano Tomatoes in BIG cans/Anisette cookies (these are HOMEMADE up there) and lots of other stuff. Then, I will start cooking! I plan to introduce everyone up there to your very well written, amusing site! And the recipes are great! In the old days, I always made watery sauces-never was taught to use tomato paste! Now, thanks to you, what an improvement! I also love your reader's tips-Used the fennel seeds once-Prefer the sauce without them, though I love fennel! maybe I put too many in. They are like cooking with lavender blossoms-only need a few! Ciao!
Yours truly, Susan of Satellite Beach, Florida, formerly a Providence... Italianized-American girl.
Hey there Susan.. you Italinized-American girl,
So glad to hear you are always making the sauce. Nice to hear it was printed out and traveled to Florida :-) I hope it made many stomachs and souls happy. That's a good thing. Big meals are not being made enough these days. It's all fast food and processed food and quick eat and run. People are forgetting the art of just cooking all day and having a nice long meal with the family. It's so important! So much love and laughter is shared at the table, people are missing this simple joy they could be sharing with each other. Anyway, I was just in Florida for Christmas. I was in Ft. Lauderdale visiting family. I used to live down there for 10 years. I'm a Massachusetts boy that moved to New Orleans then Ft. Lauderdale, then North Carolina. OH, how I love North Carolina. I am NOT leaving this place ever. I think I have finally found home :-) ...Homemade Anisette cookies.. Is there anything better? I think not :-) Yeah, the fennel tip was a good tip, although I usually make the sauce with the sausage, so I don't normally add the fennel. ooooh, water sauce.. no paste.. oh that's not good. I'm glad your using paste now. So, what is the name of this (best) Olive Oil your speaking of? I want to try. Can it be purchased online? OK, well. I'm off to make some homemade country style Italian bread. I'm on my 5th try in the past 2 weeks. I almost have it nailed down perfect! I am SO excited about this. I have been wanting to master Italian Bread for a long, long time! My grandmother would be so proud to know that her grandson can now make Italian bread. I just wish she was her so I can server her some fresh baked Italian bread and see the smile on her face. Well, happy times, happy cooking and share the LOVE!
... click Here for more sauce talk with Susan of Satellite Beach, Florida...
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