AUNTIE BERNICE'S
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
SWEET-AND-SOUR
MEATBALLS
IP it
i ternic
marin of
Hills
Vermin
and her sweet-
and-sour meat-
balls.
2 pounds ground beef shoulder meat
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup matzo meal
1 packet (about 1 1/2-ounces) Goodman's
Onion Soup Mix
1 1/4 cups water
Garlic powder to taste
12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) chili sauce
1/2 cup grape jam
12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) Vernor's Ginger Ale
1 t. sugar
Place the beef, eggs, matzo meal, onion soup
mix, water and garlic in a large bowl. Use your
hands to mix thoroughly. Chill until ready to
use.
Bring chili sauce, jam, ginger ale and sugar
to a boil in a large saucepan over medium high
heat, stirring occasionally. Form 1-inch
meatballs with wet hands and gently drop
them into the chili sauce mixture. Bring to a
boil again, reduce heat and simmer, covered,
for 1 hour. Makes 2-3 dozen meatballs.
sweet-and-sour
y mother, Bubbe Ruth, was a
fabulous cook. Everything I
know about cooking I
learned from her. When I
was a youngster, my mother worked with
my father, so I did a lot of the cooking. I had
three younger brothers and I made lunch for
them. I made the hamburgers like my
mother taught me.
Every holiday, my family and friends look
forward to these meatballs.
The original recipe I had gotten several
years ago from a woman who served
meatballs as part of a buffet. I used my own
meatball recipe and her sauce.
The secret is the meatballs themselves. We
always wondered why my mother's meatballs
were so nice and soft. I use that same recipe
(for meatballs) for hamburgers and meatballs
themselves. The secret is the water.
I use a small cookie or ice cream-style
scoop to make the meatballs all the same
size. I line them up on a tray so I can form
them with my hands and drop them right in
the sauce. I sometimes make them really tiny
to serve as appetizers.
It takes a lot of mixing to make these
meatballs and you can't do it with a fork or
spoon. You have to use your hands. And I
always serve them with bread so people can
soak up the sauce. It's flawless.
—Bernice Tomarin, Farmington Hills
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