Cheap And Easy Party Food
Despite the high-profile debuts of Surrogates, Fame and Pandorum, animated family fare reigned supreme on the AME weekend movie chart** for Sept. 25-27. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs dropped just 18.8 percent in grosses to retain the box-office crown, tallying $24.6 million. Coupled with sunny critical reception (85 tomatometer, No.3 among the box-office top 20) and temperate audience response (7.4 IMDB user rating, No. 6), it scored a solid victory. Which were surprisingly... not terrible. The fritters were a mite chewy, but the closest I'd come to hush puppies before was wearing them, so what did I know. The Brussels sprouts were dense, but Brussels sprouts are dense. The olives were indestructible. The meatballs in the crockpot could have been fishing weights, but, like the mushrooms and peas, slid down easily, and the sour cream even tasted good on the cherries. My own microwave was taken to the "shop" sometime last December. Now, the "shop" is my husband's buddy George's garage, so we're not talking turn-around time here. The first night "Old Mikey" was gone, I beebopped into the kitchen anticipating a nice plate of leftover pot roast. I grabbed the plate I had prepared the night before turned to the space where the nuke used to be started when I saw the empty space and went swedish meatballs totally blank. Make a list and stick to it. This step is slow cooker meatballs pretty self-explanatory but its importance cannot be overstated. Making a good list of what you need from the store will cut down on the length of time you have to shop. It also allows you to fight the "wandering belly syndrome", which happens when you push your cart around, looking at everything on the shelves, and then having the sudden urge to drop some Nutella or ice-cream in your cart, when it wasn't on your list. Just seemed like a good idea at the time, right? Don't feel too ashamed - we've all been there. Keeping your focus on the stuff on your list, while not much fun, will help save you from yourself! While wonderful for that snack, it makes a great entree as well. Slaw, potato salad, lettuce salad and chips, all make great sides to this wonderful treat. Generally, crock pots are available in oval swedish meatballs for sale round shapes. For easy
cleaning, get a pot with detachable inner ceramic container, which is safe to wash in a dishwasher.