Meatball Sliders and Dino

I had such a great time hosting tonight’s Italian Fest meeting. We had about 12 team members come by to discuss events, food and drinks over the next three days, and we got our wrist bands for admission into the park this weekend. The evening was spent laughing and joking around, mixed with about 15 minutes of serious team talk and planning. This is the third year for Holy Cannoli to participate in Italian Fest, and I hope we continue for many years to come.



And ya’ll, I made the best meatball sliders. One fellow Cannoli, Tim, said they were the best meatballs he’s ever had; I grinned from ear to ear to hear that. I rarely create my own recipes. But the more I cook, the more comfortable and confident I get in mixing ingredients and making meals from scratch.

For refreshments, Stewart was my counterpart. We had a cooler full of ice cold Bud Light, two bottles of red wine and a bottle of white wine. Surprisingly we went through all three bottles of wine before we put a dent in the beer. I for sure thought the guys (majority of team members) would have gone straight for the beer; but they all drank wine first. Go figure...

I will say that if I could go back and redo anything tonight, I would have made more food! Every piece of bread, every meatball, and every cannoli was no more by 9:30 p.m. As a hostess, you hate to make too much food; but you never want to run out of food. I figured with 12 people and 24 meatball sliders, plus pasta salad and cannolis, we would be ok; but I definitely learned my lesson. “Less is more” does not apply to food. I’d prefer to have too much than not enough.

The Rat Pack is always on the Italian Fest playlist; so I thought Dean Martin’s “Volare” was most appropriate for the featured beat.



Viva Italia!

Julia

Julia's Meatball Sliders:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 Cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 Cup chopped onion
1 large egg
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
1/2 pound (90% lean) ground beef
12 sweet dinner rolls

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Stir together all ingredients, except meat. Add meat. With damp hands, roll meat into 12 mini meatballs and place on parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Add ketchup to serve on the dinner rolls.