Swedish Meatballs (Page 58)

RECIPE #799

• Date: Sunday, July 27, 2008 -- 5pm
• Location: Somerville, MA
• Kitchen: Matty's Apartment
• Dining Companions: Matty, Scarecrow, Russ, Grant, Mitch, Carrie, Alex, Paps, and Juice
• Recipe Rating: B
  

Mmmmm... meatballs. When I tried to think of food appropriate for a bachelor party, meatballs were one of the first things that came to mind. Luckily, I still had this meatball recipe left to make. These meatballs are meant to be an hors d'oeuvre, but we had more of a buffet-style meal, so I just added them to the table. The recipe was very simple. I ground fresh breadcrumbs then let them sit in some heavy cream and club soda (why do meatballs so often have club soda in them?) for about 20 minutes. Then I mixed in some chopped onion, ground beef, ground pork, and ground veal. After forming them into little balls I baked them until they were browned and cooked through, then drizzled them with pan juices. Overall, these were pretty solid meatballs. They had a good flavor and were nice and juicy. They didn't have a lot of caramelized brownness to them though. I think they would have been better had they been browned on the stovetop before they were baked. That would have taken a while with so many tiny meatballs, but it would have been worth it. As it was, I felt that there could have been more meat flavor coming out of the little meatballs. They certainly weren't bad, but they were also not the best meatballs I can imagine.

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Most relationships start with a period of infatuation. In my experience this period, which can last a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months, is full of blissful ignorance. Everything seems perfect and happy and it is easy to be optimistic. The true test of a relationship is how it looks after that period ends. Eventually you ask yourself, "Is this really the right partnership for me?"

I am reaching that point in my relationship with running. I just finished week 13 of my training, which means that I did my 65th run today. And I have to admit, my optimism is waning. Around week 6 or so I was loving it. I was eager to run every day. I had visions of myself as a life-long runner. But now I am running more than 20 miles a week, and I am tired. Don't get me wrong -- I am not quitting. This half-marathon I am training for is a non-negotiable. Barring some serious, serious injury, I will run it. But it is getting hard. This week was especially rough. I had a little rollover from last week, so in the past 7 days I ran 6, 2, 5, 3, 4, rest, 7. That's 27 miles with only one rest day.

I am still hopeful that I will emerge from this period of reflection with even more faith in my relationship with running. Right now, though, I am struggling...