There were several types of meatballs served at the Living Stones Christmas Party.  Excellent Cook Nancy sent me her recipe.  It is so simple and delicious – I wanted to share.  Trouble is – I do not have a picture.

See the blank spaces on the table.  That is where the meatballs eventually were.

See the foil.  It is keeping the meatballs warm.  (Side note:  Tonna’s deviled eggs were fantastic.  She said her son-in-law won’t come to her home unless she promises to make him deviled eggs.  I understand why, and I will try to get her recipe.)

I have a picture of Sheila’s (another fabulous cook) Swedish Meatballs, but no recipe.  A fine mess.  I do have a picture of the darling snowman garnish on the Swedish meatballs’ tray.  It was beyond impressive.

Be still my heart!  This little snowman was made with mushrooms.  It had a carrot nose, black peppercorns for eyes, and a tomato peel scarf.  Arms were made from green frilly toothpicks.  How cute is that?  Sheila is known and highly respected for her presentation skills.

Having a smorgasbord of meatballs is a trend on party tables.  (The Living Stones are always so trendy!)  Sheila told me that there is a restaurant in New York City that only serves meatballs.  The various meatballs served at the Living Stones party were a hit.

Carman made delicious meatballs, but I do not have a picture or her recipe.  Sheila  made three types of meatballs. ( I was too busy feeding my face to take pictures. – Sorry!)  She used the same pre-made meatballs and added different sauces and toppings.

The Swedish Meatballs were topped with pasta.  Very cool!  Then there were the sweet and sour meatballs that used chili sauce and cranberry sauce.  Sheila’s meatballs made with cranberry sauce were served on Frito Scoops.  The sweet and sour meatballs are another variation of the meatballs made by Excellent Cook Nancy.  The Italian meatballs were topped with fresh mozzarella cheese. The cheese melted on the warm meatballs and was delicious.

I will share Excellent Cook Nancy’s recipe because it is super easy and you might need it for the holidays.  You can do many variations of this dish.  Trust me.  The jam and chili sauce make the most wonderful glaze for the meatballs.

Ingredients:

3 lb bag of meatballs (You can buy these at SAM’S or the grocery store.)

1 – 12 ounce jar Heinz chili sauce ( Nancy used the store  brand.)

1 – 15.5 ounce jar apricot jelly (or any other flavor you like – Sheila used cranberry sauce, and I have read recipes that used grape jelly.   I read one recipe that added a couple of tablespoons of pepper jelly to the sauce.  Sounds interesting.   Just use what floats your boat!)

Place ingredients in a crockpot and heat on high for 3 hours.  (Nancy mentioned that she has made this recipe on the stove top, and that she likes to let the sauce get thick.  I think letting the sauce get thick is important.  The sauce then glazed the meatballs, and you get a taste of all of the wonderful flavor.)

This is my kind of recipe – easy and delicious.

Blessings to you and yours,

Click on the title of this post or go to lanabird.com for the printable recipe.  The print button is under the Share button.

PS:

For those of you in the Dallas area, be sure to attend Carols – the Sights and Sounds of Christmas at First Baptist Church Richardson.  We went, and it is wonderful – beautiful music and outstanding drama.  There are three parts of the program.  The Sights: Be Merry – is fun and filled with Christmas favorites.  The Celebration Choir presented The Concert: Be Joyous during the second part of the program.  Finally, the Christmas story is told in the performance of  The Nativity: Believe.  The Christmas story is retold with drama and beautiful music.  There are performances at 7:00 pm on Saturday, December 14, 2013 and Sunday afternoon December 15, 2013 at 3:00 pm.  On Sunday after the performance, children can enjoy cookies and milk with the Clauses.

You will be in the Christmas spirit after hearing the glorious music.  Do go and take a friend.