This recipe came from Grandma Suzy, and possibly before that from Auntie Madeline of France, and the original name may have been “French Meatballs”.  We call them “Holiday Meatballs” because we make them two or three times during the holidays each year from Thanksgiving thru Christmas to New Year’s. Our kids have grown up on them and love them!  In fact, we’re posting this recipe today because our eldest daughter Jillian is asking for the recipe and this is an easy and fun way to get it to her!

We make these meatballs out of game meat whenever possible! Moose is our favorite, though Caribou gives it a unique taste and Kodiak Sitka Black Tailed Deer makes them amazing! So, I guess you could call them MooseBalls, CaribouBalls or DeerBalls in our house….but we DON’T for obvious reasons!!

Ingredients:

For Meatballs:  
2-3 Pounds of Meat (Moose, Caribou, Venison)
1 Cup Bread crumbs (we use a mix of panko and home ground from french baguette)
1 Egg
1/2 Small Onion, minced
Seasoning Salt & Black Pepper

For Sauce:
2 Cups Heinz Ketchup
1/2 Cup Red Wine Vineagar
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Minced Onion
1 Tsp Celery Salt
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Cloves
1/2 Tsp Allspice

Preparation: 

Step #1:  Blend all meatball ingredients together by any method you prefer, manual or automatic! Let rest for a moment, then with damp hands form a whole bunch of small meatballs for browning!

Step#2:  Mix all sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan on med-low heat until well blended.

Step#3:  Brown meatballs in light olive oil on high heat till they sizzle nicely! Transfer  to crockpot.

Step#4:  Pour sauce over meatballs in crockpot several hours before you’d like to serve as dinner with rice or with toothpicks as a great party appetizer (that’s our preference!).

Voila!

P.S. Better photos coming next time we make ’em. This photo shows a crockpot of the meatballs on the right so you get an idea of what the sweet & tangy sauce should look like, alongside a crockpot of another holiday favorite “French Onion Soup” which originated from the same part of our family tree!