Italian wedding soup

I have to finish this and put pics in but here goes for now...

1 quart chicken broth

Carrots (I use canned if I don't have real carrots)  

2 stalks celery chopped

2 Tbsps Tomato sauce

1 head of escarole

1 cup Orzo

Italian meatballs

When you make the meatballs I make them about this size.

Put chicken broth in the pan and bring to a boil.  Meanwhile cut up celery and carrots and put into broth.  Put meatballs into boiling broth and let it cook for 15-20 minutes.

Boil water for pasta and cook al dente. 

Drain pasta and save 1 cup of the pasta water.

Meanwhile cut up escarole into small pieces and rinse well. M

ake sure you cut into bite size pieces but not so small they will turn to mush.  

Put this into the broth and let simmer for 6-7 minutes.
Serve with parmesan cheese. I am going to make a batch of this soon and freeze in individual containers so I can have just one serving when I want.

Italian "gravy"

Another recipe from my in laws which I had to observe about 100 times before I got it down since those damn italians don't write any recipes down. I make this once a week and it freezes very well.

Italian style meatballs

My mother in law taught me how to make these. Let me say they are nothing like MY mother used to make (my mother's version had ketchup and onions - YUCK!). There is nothing like learning how to make meatballs italian style. My Mother in law and father in law never measured anything. I watched them make these about 10 times with my MIL telling me to add ingredients until it FEELS and SMELLS right.  Are you kidding me? As if raw meat of any kind feels good.

1 egg beaten in small bowl
1 cup parmesan cheese
3 Tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons italian seasoning
1 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs (if you make without these you need to put more italian seasoning in)
1 pound 80 ground chuck (they are much better when you buy this vs the 90% lean kind. I know, fattening. It is what it is)
3 cloves fresh garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands.

Depending on what I am making I make the meatballs different sizes. These are for regular sauce and meatballs.

If I make meatballs for sauce I put canola oil in a frying pan at medium high and wait for the oil to get hot before I put the garlic in.


Put the meatballs in just long enough to brown on the outside.

MMMM MEAT. 
Put in the sauce to cook the rest of the way.

Megan and I are carrying on the meatball making tradition; here's her version.

Organizing recipes

I am one of those people who rips out recipes from everywhere and had the papers all over the house. My kids have so much school paperwork - I had to get organized.  I put the miscellaneous papers in the plastic 3 ring binder sleeves which also helps when you spill your drink on it (not that I ever do that).  I have one of these for appetizers and one for dinners. I even rip pages out of cookbooks and put them here (yes i rip them out of the book; FOR SHAME!  I cannot stand it when I want a chicken recipe and I'm rifling through 10 cookbooks trying to find it. This way I just go to the chicken section. Ok Im embarassing myself now.