Omelets and Spaghetti and Meatballs

Today I woke up hungry for eggs. Probably not the best thing for me, but I really wanted them. And not just any eggs. I wanted an omelet. I sat Jackson down in his bouncer, sprayed the pan with Pam, scrambled 2 eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a bowl, and added them to the pan. A few minutes later I look in the pan and realize that it looks like it's time for me to add the cheese. I add a handful of shredded cheese and wait. And wait. And wait. I then notice that the bottom of the eggs are burning but the top isn't cooking. And it smells - bad. So what do I do? Try to fold the eggs over because burning = eggs being done, right? Wrong. It's not folding, the eggs aren't cooked all the way through, and the pan is starting to smoke. I gave up, threw the eggs out, and settled for a new batch - of scrambled eggs.

Note: According to my sources, if you put a lid on top of the pan when you're cooking the eggs, it will cook the top of the egg. Well thanks for telling me now!

Onto spaghetti and meatballs.

This is Kelly's recipe (makes 12-15 meatballs)

• 3/4 lbs meatloaf mix
• 1 egg
• Breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp oil
• Basil (chopped)
• Parsley (chopped)
• Oregano (chopped)
• 1 large onion (finely chopped)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 can Contadina tomato paste*
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• Italian seasoning
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• Parmesan Cheese
• Red wine
• Salt and Pepper to taste

(* He uses Contadina because he's found it to have the best taste out of all the tomato pastes)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large saucepan on medium heat, add oil and a little less than 1/2 of the onion. Then in a large bowl mix meat, egg, breadcrumbs, basil, parsley, oregano, other 1/2 of the onion, 3/4 of the garlic, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Mix meat with hands (Icky fingers! Eww!) and form into meatballs. Remember - bigger isn't always better. I made mine pretty big and they were a little dry in the middle. Place meatballs on a broiler pan and stick it in the oven.

Go back to the sauce pan. Add the rest of the garlic and the crushed tomatoes. Let the juices reduce to about half of what it started out with. Then add the tomato paste and mix so it's not clumpy. If you do what I did - added a can of sauce because I mixed it up with the paste, it's not a big deal. You just have to mix it more. Next you add the tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, sugar, Parmesan cheese, and a splash of red wine. Now pour yourself a glass of wine because you deserve it. The sauce is simmering, the balls are baking, all is right in the world.

Once the meatballs are baked (Around 20 minutes? Who knows...I've been drinking wine), add them to the sauce and let it saturate. Boil some water, add some angel hair (Easier said than done - remember the last time I made pasta? Does burning spaghetti ring a bell?), and you're ready to go.

All in all I'd have to say that the meatball experiment was a success. My mom tried to teach me her way of making meatballs when I was about 12, and I just added everything into a large bowl (think meat, egg, breadcrumbs, tomato sauce...). This definitely turned out better than that debacle.

Oh, and I learned something cool! Apparently if you want to get the smell of garlic off your hands, rub them on something stainless steel. I don't suggest a knife, but you're sink probably is stainless steel. It works, I swear!