Saturday, July 7, 2007

Another Day

So it's 07/07/07 today... I gather, from the news, people all over the world are getting married today, hoping for babies to be born today, and, dare I say it... die today? I guess the dying part wouldn't really matter to the dead person but more so for the people they leave behind. I have to say being born on 04/04 (April 4th) has been wonderful. For instance someone asks me my birthdate, doesn't matter which month or day, they are both the same, I just rattle off "04/04" no questions asked. Two of my children were due on 06/06, darnit they both missed the mark, June 4th & June 7th (oh so close)! It's really been a pain, especially with the numbers under 12... let me explain. In Canada we are supposed to write the date like this 05/09, now is that May 9th or September 5th? Well apparently it's September 5th in Canada and May 9th in the US. Now throw the year in and it really gets confusing, pick a date such as 08/03/07, write that on a package of meat in the freezer and pull it out in two years and see what you come up with! August 3 2007 or March 08 2007 or March 7 2008 or August 7 2003 or July 3 2008 or July 8 2003, did I miss any? Another thing about Canada, we are supposed to write the year before the month or the day, go figure huh? I remember switching to the metric system when I was in the middle of elementary school and I think it just made us kids wrecks. I'm still a "converter." I am getting better though, I can look at a thermometer and know that 20 degrees Celsius is somewhat room temp and I don't need my slippers. Anything past 35 I switch over to Fahrenheit, I guess it just sounds hotter :) "Hey it's darn near a hundred outside" sounds better than "Heck it's only 39 point whatever out there." Driving with kilometres and miles is a disaster for me, I'm forever taking a mileage sign and saying "okay it's 74 km to Kamloops," I times the 7 by 6 and get 42, then add the 4 to get 46 and proudly say in my head... it's 46 miles to Kamloops, all this while I'm driving, hey it gives me something to think about :) But then I ask myself, in my head of course, why don't I just say "It's 74 km to Kamloops?" Because I'm a "converter." See what happens when you switch to the metric system in the middle of elementary school?
Well however you look at it, today is 07/07/07, and I froze homemade meatballs today so I'll know just how long they've been there when I pull them out :)
 
 Update: I guess I should put the recipe up :) 
 Aunty Bub's Meatballs Oh so good, a combination of my Aunt's recipe and my Mom's. A delicious appetizer made with mini meatballs. You can skip the homemade meatballs (Recipe by my Mom) and go straight for storebought frozen meatballs but I really love Mom's recipe. Leftover meatballs go into the freezer for another night's supper.
4 slices bread
1 1/2 cups milk
2-3 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons Italiano Spice (Made by Clubhouse, but any mixed spice will do)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 lbs ground beef
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1-2 eggs

Sauce: (I don't really measure so keep tasting until it tastes sort of sweet and spicy. The amounts are very flexible depending on how many meatballs you are going to put in.)
1-2 bottles Heinz Chili Sauce
1/2-1 cup grape jelly (I use Welch's Concorde)

In a large bowl soak bread in milk until soggy. Add beef, salt, Italiano spice, garlic powder, eggs and pepper. Mix well, use your hands or an electric mixture. Shape into 1 inch balls (I use a small cookie scoop) and place on cookie sheet with sides or broiler pan. Dampen your hands with water often so the balls roll easier. Put them close together because they shrink. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes. Drain off excess fat. In a large saucepan combine chili sauce and grape jelly. Heat until mixed. Add meatballs and simmer until sauce is soaked into them, about 1/2 to one hour. I place them in a crockpot to keep warm. I made about 70 yesterday and then another 70 at 6:00 this morning for the cattle round-up today, along with 12 loaves of bread, and numerous other things.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We were just talking about the metric system yesterday at my mom's. My sil is Chinese and she goes by the metric. We were remember how, when I was in elementary school, there was talk of the standard become the metric system and we had to learn both. I never, ever got it - it was so confusing. As it turned out, the US never switched - and I'm thankful or all my recipes would be disasters!! =)

If I ever get something from Canada with a date on it, I'll have to come re-read this post to figure out what the date actually is! =)

Meatball recipe sounds yummy - and it isn't in metric, so I should be able to make it! LOL!

Anonymous said...

Hi Kansas.......
Please stop already!!!!!!! Yikes I am so confused I don't think I even got to the end of this post. lol I don't even like thinking about metric anything. I would just rather not go there. The strange thing is that I worked in metric in the lab but I think they should have left it there. It still makes no sense to me. When I want to buy sliced meat at the deli, I just say "oh about that much" with my hand signal and it works for me. Why on earth did we change anyway?? You got me. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi again....
Just have to say Wow! I would love to be there for the homemade bread and the meatballs. Sounds so mmmm good. It is almost my supper time and I am hungry, but :) Macaroni and Cheese tonight and it doesn't some how seem to compare but it's not my night to cook so I won't grumble too much. :)
Love ya!