December 25th is a special day for us, but not for the reasons you might think.  I grew up in a Jewish family, and even though, we don’t celebrate Christmas, we still enjoy a beautiful and relaxing day together. For one thing, it’s my dad’s birthday, for another thing, my brother, his wife and their two kids come into town from California to spend time with us. Lastly, my aunt invites us all over for the entire day to enjoy hours of feasting, conversation, bonding and game playing! It’s just a day to relax and catch up with each other. This past Christmas day, I spent some time with my sister-in-law Laura, and my cousin Erika discussing my blog. Erika confessed that she’s pretty intimidated by the kitchen, and although she loves seeing all the dishes posted on CopyCake, she knows most of which are a bit out of her comfort zone. I love the kitchen, love being adventurous in the kitchen, and don’t mind ruining a few dishes along the way to just explore, and maybe I have a bit more experience than the average person. It was a fabulous eye-opener.  I like my blog to be interesting to almost everyone. I try to shake it up with sweets, and savory, easy, difficult, adult-only and kid-friendly. So, in honor of Erika, I’ve come up with a new category called Simple Suppers. These are hearty dinners that I don’t think take too much experience to pull off. So, here’s hoping I’m right! Thanks Erika for the feedback, and I hope people like, and use this new category.

Unless you’re a vegetarian, you probably love meatballs. You can make them a thousand different ways, in a thousand flavors. This is a fabulous dish to make with your kids as well. They’ll love rolling the meatballs!  After you bake up these meatballs, you can cover them with any tomato sauce you like. Boil up a bowl of your favorite pasta, or serve them on sub rolls, or just devour them in a bowl just on their own.

Also try Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca or Nutmeg Kisses for dessert.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground round
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) finely shredded fresh Parmesan cheese (used a mix of Parmesan and Romano)
• 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs (used a toasted half hamburger bun)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce  (used Classico Tomato and Basil)
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard (didn’t have, and didn’t use)
• 3/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (used Grill Mates Roasted Garlic and Herb by McCormick)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (if you like it spicy, add more, if you don’t care for spice, just omit it)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed (of course you can just use the jarred minced garlic)
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Combine all ingredients except cooking spray in a bowl; stir well.
3. Shape mixture into 30 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs. Place on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until done.