Barbecue Meatballs

This recipe is one of my favorites. My family's taste buds are pretty selective and they love these meatballs served with mashed potatoes and a fresh green salad. You can experiment with different sauces (sweet and sour, spaghetti sauce, etc) or use the one I've provided. Either way, it's very good. *Photo illustrates Jamaican Jerk sauce on meatballs.

Ingredients:

1 12.3 package soft silken tofu

1/2 onion, chopped coarsely

1 tsp. seasoned salt (opt.)

1/4 tsp. granulated garlic

2 Tbs. soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos

1 cup ground pecans

1 1/2 cup finely crushed saltine crackers or bread crumbs

Instructions:

In a blender, blend tofu, onion, seasoned salt, garlic powder, and soy sauce until smooth. Pour blended mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in pecans and cracker or bread crumbs. When completely mixed together, form into small balls.

Place meatballs on a sprayed cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer baked meatballs into casserole dish and cover with BBQ sauce and return to oven. Bake until bubbly.

BBQ Sauce:

Combine 1/2 cup of ketchup and 1 cup purchased BBQ sauce of choice. Add water until the sauce is a medium pouring consistency (not thick and not really thin). Adjust ketchup or purchased BBQ sauce to taste. Sometimes I add some apricot preserves, too.

Flops

So, I tried a new recipe last night. It sounded so good! Raspberry Mocha Cake. Excitedly I prepared all the ingredients, following the instructions to the very letter. The result? Flop, flop, flop. The texture was all wrong. The cupcakes rose, but became so crunchy on top you would need a chisel to break through! Then the "glorious" interior was dry as a proverbial bone.

I was so disappointed. All of those ingredients ~ WASTED! I chalked it up to experience and remarked to my husband, "If I never experimented with new recipes, it would be so boring!" You have to step out and try things or you will never progress.

Apricot-Oatmeal Cookies

I love cookies. My husband and I went to Costco recently and purchased dried apricots, pecans, almonds and pistachios. Now, I asked, as my creative mind went into motion, what can I do with all of these delicious ingredients? Jarod, often the impetus behind my creations, suggested oatmeal cookies with dried apricots. I found just the recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book and these are sweetly satisfying with a tall glass of milk (icy Silk soy milk, in my case).

Ingredients:

3/4 cup snipped dried apricots

3/4 cup margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 Tb. ground flax, mixed with 3 Tb. water

1 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts of choice (I used toasted almonds, but pecans or walnuts would be great, too)

Instructions:

In small bowl, combine apricots and enough boiling water just to cover them. Let stand for 5 minutes. Drain.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl beat the margarine with an electric hand mixer until fluffy. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda; beat until combined. Add the flax mixture and vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in as much flour as you can with the hand mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in apricots, rolled oats, nuts and any remaining flour.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until edges are golden. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Yummmmy!