Meatballs

Christmas is over!  Whew!  Now here comes all the New Year's festivities!  Hosting a party?  Need some great party food that doesn't take a whole lot of time?  Well then this recipe is for you!  This is my Sweet and Sour Meatball Recipe, which I adapted from my mom's Sweet and Sour Meatball recipe.  The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of chopped onion rather than garlic.  I don't care for onions so I substitute garlic, then I also add a little ginger to balance out the garlic.  I also like to use fresh flat-leaf parsley.  I think it adds some color and elegance to the dish, but you can omit it.  This recipe is always a hit and its great any time of the year.

Fall Entertaining

I recently hosted a Longaberger party for my mother-in-law.  In case you are not familiar with Longaberger, I will enlighten you!  They are an Ohio based company that specializes in handmade baskets and pottery.  They have great quality products that are both beautiful and functional.  Needless to say, this gave me an opportunity to brush up on my culinary skill and entertaining techniques.  From the picture below you can see we had quite the spread.

If you look closely, pretty much all of the dishes and baskets displayed are Longaberger.  I like their products because they can go right from oven to table.  Notice any other unique elements?  How do you like my pumpkin and squash candles?  A few months ago I was shopping at my local grocery store and stumbled upon the neatest little gadget!

I'm not sure what its called but you can use it to carve perfectly round holes in just about any type of produce to put tea lights in.  In the fall its easy to find lots of small, cheap squash, pumpkins and gourds.  Just put a tea light in them and you have some unique and inexpensive decorations!  

Just a little tip I discovered when I was putting these together, you may have to stuff some foil under the tea light to make it flush with the top of the gourd.

Okay so back to our original picture....notice anything else?  How about a serving bowl?  Or is it a pumpkin? 

As you can see here, I cleaned out a small pumpkin and used it as a serving bowl for my hot spinach and artichoke dip.  The best part?  No clean up...just throw it away when you are done with it!  I used the same concept to form a beautiful vase for some fall berries.

I hope I've given you some fun and easy tips for fall entertaining!