Talk of The Villages Florida - New Poll: What size meatballs did your mom make

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New Poll: What size meatballs did your mom make

Quote:

Originally Posted by senior citizen (Post 633456)

NEW POLL:
What size meatballs did your mom make????? Your grandmother, etc.?

My Ukrainian mom was taught to cook "Italian style" by both my dad plus his mother and his sisters.......whenever she made lasagna, etc. at our home when I was a small child.......she made the meatballs very very very tiny.

I always used meatsauce** in my own lasagna......but whenever I made or make meatballs for my own family......I made/make HUGE meatballs and simmered them a very long time until they were tender.

**Italian sausage removed from the casings and crumbled/sauteed....plus ground beef sauteed with garlic, etc. and put into the sauce/gravy.

But I still think of my mom's tiny meatballs.........anyone else out there remember small ones? Was it a regional Italian thing? Or just made small to fit under the lasagna noodle layers? I never asked her why. Too late now.

Sorry, not in my family although my aunts meatballs were made smaller than my mom's. My mom's meatballs were on the jumbo size. I remember having to break them in threes to eat a bite sied portion.

My mom's meatball wedges were famous in our neighborhood as she and my father owned a luncheonette and served wedges. She used to make then neat as some places today, put large chucks of meatball, and you have to be careful when bitiing into them, the meatball doesn't come flying out. After a meatball wedge, my favorite was a potato and egg wedge with ketchup.

Sometimes my mom and my aunts made meatballs to put in the lasagna and they were all the tiny type to fit within the layers. But they would also make regular meatballs for the gravy, and they were medium to small size and very tender, never used breadcrumbs, always used day old bread soaked in milk. I don't make the tiny meatballs for my lasagna, its too much work, but I make meatballs the same as my mom.

about an inch plus in diameter. No bigger than the size of a golf ball.

My mom and dad were both born in Ireland, so my mom never made meatballs.
Luckily for me, my best friend was Italian. I was invited over for Sunday dinner many times.
They had HUGE meatballs. So big, that I could only eat one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by senior citizen (Post 633522)

You surprise me. No more recipes for you. Your parents owned a luncheonette and you can't cook???????? Just teasing.....

By wedge, are you talking about the round Italian bread? My dad used to order it on Saturdays.......have never seen it up here. The closest thing is Syrian/Lebanese bread but not enough "inside".

Potatoes and eggs or peppers and eggs on Italian bread equals great lunches.

You know.......if you can peel and quarter or slice a potato.....fry it up in some olive oil.......then beat some eggs in a bowl.......pour over the cooked potatoes........there is your lunch. No reason for you to go hungry. Ditto for the peppers........faster yet. Peppers and eggs.

In my family, all that was required is an appetite and a a fork. :D

Your right, I should have not taken it for granted. Mom was an excellent cook and should have paid attention, as I like to eat well.

One could fit in your mouth at a time but never in your hand. Too messy.

Mom was German and never made meatballs, which was just fine by me. Now, if only I had gotten her recipe for red cabbage. It was absolutely the best! I know it had green apples, cinnamon sticks and who knows what else in it. Have never been able to find a recipe that is quite right.

I make my meatballs with stale bread and milk too along with egg, salt , pepper,grated onion, grated garlic and parsley. I make them about 2" in diameter. I also NEVER fry or bake them first as it creates a hard crust. I plop them in the gravy and let them cook there. Also, I used the same size for my lasagna. I just put them in a bowl and mash them with a potato masher. I also cook my sausage the same way. For lasagna, I use a pie crust thingee that you use to cut the butter into the flour as a crusher for the sausage. Then I mix the meatballs and sausage and use it as a layer of the lasagna. The other layer is ricotta cheese mixed with egg and parsley and mozzarella and peccorino romano cheese that I grate myself. Takes a long time, but it is worth it, according to Mr. Mac9.

Amusing! My mother never made a meatball in her life!:icon_hungry:

My mama had ten meatballs.
We all weighed over eight pounds