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I know, it’s been a few months. But I’m back! And I’ve got a bunch of new recipes that I’ve tried and loved. This one has been sitting here for a little bit but I’ve had to fight the urge to become a puddle on the floor, which is all I feel like doing in the summer.

Anyway, I know it goes against everything I complain about in the summer, but this recipe for Baked Meatballs is worth turning on the oven. It’s easy and delicious, and the cooked meatballs freeze beautifully. I make a double batch and use half of it for spaghetti, and the other half for meatball sandwiches.

The original recipe came from Alton Brown, but I’ve adapted it to fit what I like to work with — and also because I’m too cheap to buy lamb and ground pork. This works really well with all-beef, or half beef and half ground turkey.

The first couple of times I made this, I patted the mixture down onto a cutting board and cut the meatballs out with a knife to make sure they were all the right size. I then realized my 1 tablespoon scoop would do a much better and less messy job, and I haven’t looked back.

Don’t skip the bread crumbs on the outside — it adds crunch and a little extra flavor.

Baked Meatballs
adapted from Alton Brown

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 whole egg
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, divided

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Mix all ingredients until well incorporated.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into a small bowl. Scoop meatballs using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. Roll each ball in the remaining bread crumbs and place the meatballs on a parchment lined baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Try not to eat them all before they make it into the spaghetti.

I dump everything but the meat into a bowl first, it makes for easier mixing and makes sure everything is distributed evenly.

Roll each meatball in bread crumbs — it gives it really great texture.

I still love my pan-lining parchment/foil stuff!

The day after Thanksgiving is never as low-key or relaxing as I hope it’ll be, and I don’t even go shopping!

Though it’d be nice to have a day of vegging in front of the TV after the all day cook-a-thon, family tradition (ie: the kids) dictates that the Christmas tree and decorations MUST. GO. UP. RIGHT. NOW. And over the years (and the accumulation of a lot of crap– er, decor) it’s become a longer and longer process.

Thankfully, Black Friday dinner is low-key. I take advantage of all the leftovers in the fridge, but instead of serving the same meal we just had yesterday, I created a one-dish meal that everyone loves.

As you can see, it’s as easy as can be. Using ramekins (mine hold 14 ounces) or a 13×9 casserole dish, line the bottom with a layer of mashed potatoes.

On top of the potatoes, put a layer of chopped turkey.

Drizzle some delicious leftover gravy on top of the turkey.

Top off the whole thing with stuffing.

Bake uncovered in a 350° oven for about 40-45 minutes.

For the last ten minutes, I drizzle about a tablespoon of melted butter per ramekin (or half a stick for a casserole dish) on top of the stuffing, which gets it really nice and crispy.

Serve it with leftover rolls, cranberry sauce and a nice salad. It doesn’t get any easier!

I know everyone hates it when bloggers come back after some time away and say “I’ve been gone so long! I’m so sorry! Wow, I’ve been so busy! I need to get things rolling again!” so I won’t 🙂 (but it’s true!).

We haven’t actually been so much busy as we have been contaminated with plague.

Someone who may or may not work at Mike’s place of business may or may not have decided to head into work sick a couple of weeks ago, and it’s ripped through our household like wildfire. We’ve had two separate rounds of antibiotics, prescriptions for coughs and sore throats, and as many over-the-counter pills available for sneezing and runny noses. And we’ve been dealing with this alongside a pretty sick 13-year-old dog as well.

In other words, it’s been loads of fun around here.

Anyway, I had meant to do this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie (brownies!) but just didn’t have the stamina to stay upright in the kitchen over the weekend, so I had to give it a pass.

And today has taken any energy I’ve had in reserve since it’s my oldest daughter’s 14th birthday. It’s been a caffeine-filled day as I’ve not only been baking for Thanksgiving tomorrow, but juggling the above birthday cake and birthday preparations as well.

Can you tell what she (we) is currently into? It’s an interest I am trying to encourage since I’ve wondered if any of the girls would be bitten with the science fiction bug (they all have!). The cake was heavily inspired by this picture, and as you can see I’ve got a little bit of temporal distortion happening along the bottom there. That blue is strong willed.

Anyway, I just made a basic old pumpkin pie alongside the cake (but I did get my spiced pumpkin cheesecake fix a couple of weeks ago),

And we’ve got the turkey prepped and ready to be lowered into some Alton Brown brine,

And tomorrow I get to wrestle with stuffing, potatoes and all the rest of it.

I hope all my American friends have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!