Spaghetti & Meatballs: ain't no better than these

Y'all, no lie. You cannot make or find better meatballs and sauce than these. This recipe takes hours. HOURS! You will roll and cook meatballs until you think you cannot go on. You will be covered in tomatoey splatters, your stovetop will be speckled with oil. Your floor will need a thorough mopping and your hair a thorough wash.

But when you close your teeth around your first forkful of spaghetti twirled around a chunk of unbelievably light meatball, every sweaty memory will melt away into a blissful, amnesiac blur. Rather like holding your baby for the first time and remembering nothing but perfection after just swearing you were breaking in half and to death during labor.

I know. I screamed both of those things. And then I held Jack. And Ol. And then I ate these meatballs. On different days. And all was right in the world.

In addition to tonight's vat o' dinner, I now have leftovers and enormous stores in the freezer. This will all make me happy in the near and distant future. 

Whilst supping, I told Tom how marvelous I find it that any recipe I didn't create but make often ultimately becomes my own. Or you, yours. I've made this dish countless times in the years since I found it in Gourmet during a train ride to NYC.

Ol approves

And now, the ratio of beef to pork, no veal thank you, is my own preference of 2:1. The quantity of tomatoes is less than originally called for, and I find parsley to be optional while lemon zest is mission critical. I use less milk when soaking my bread, and I dice my onions fine, fine, fine. I don't wait to add my garlic.

Like Nanny's spaghetti and roast when I was growing up, these spaghetti and meatballs will be the regular Sunday, comfort-food meal I serve to my family as we grow. As it became mine, it will become ours.

PS- How stunning was this BLT, our dinner on Friday night?!

Thoughts from the morning so far

It is a full-scale gully-washer out there, and I love it. The kids are at school, and today is a longer day for both as Jack has theater after school and Ol stays for lunch and science. I say amen. After carpool, I went to the gym and showed it who was boss. Then I came home, turned on the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas CD -oh yes I did even though it's only 10/2; these are the things you can do brazenly when no one is home to make fun of you- and made the most darling batch of mini blueberry-cream scones for a library meeting I've got tomorrow morning. I'm also bringing lemon curd, and really, is there a better combination? Well, there are but only equally so.

I decided to christen my new biscuit-cutter, and let me tell you/warn you, those suckers are sharper than you might expect. I immediately nicked my finger, but this might be my new favorite tool anyway. It's so pleasing, those perfect little rounds it produces. Oh my. Just when you think you're in control of nothing, you remember that you bought a 2" biscuit cutter, and all seems well in the world.

Today is my dear daddy's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!!!! You are the youngest 62 year old I know!

I'm about to embark on Project Meatball. These are the greatest meatballs in the world but they are an eNORmous job. As the recipe makes enough for 16 people (read: 80 or meatballs), I don't do this often, 4-5 times per year, but am always glad when I do.  It's the kind of recipe you should never halve because the amount of work really doesn't diminish, but your final product, of course, does. So, embark on this on a day like today which is really a perfect one for a meatball party. Then make friends with your freezer and for the next several months, at least, you'll be happy every time you defrost and indulge in these.