A Few Neglected Photos From Last Year

Basically I'm just buying some time to take new snapshots by posting these old pictures. There's just not much going on so far in 2013 that's photo-worthy. In the meantime, these are from early November somewhere in Colorado (honestly I don't remember where we were hiking anymore):

Recipe for Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

My mom requested that I publish this recipe. I'm only publishing the portion for the meatballs (slightly tweaked from the original), not the sauce. I didn't use the Cheesemonger Book's sauce recipe anyway as I have my own recipe which I prefer for that. (If you're interested in the sauce recipe, just let me know and I'll post that as well. I'm just saving myself time and effort by not posting it now because I doubt anybody is interested in it.) So here are the meatballs:

Ingredients:

8 oz stale baguette or other bread, sliced
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped 
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (or you can use Parmesan if you want)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Buffalo Mozzarella, cut into smallish chunks

Preparation:

Quickly submerge the bread slices in enough cold water to thoroughly soak them, then squeeze dry. Tear the hydrated bread into small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the basil, beef, pork, pecorino, eggs, salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Mix together with clean hands.

Form the mixture into twenty small patties, 2 in in diameter. Lay a piece of the mozzarella on each patty and then mold the meat mixture around the cheese to form meatballs. The meatballs can be prepared to this point up to a day ahead.

To Assemble the Dish:

Heat up your sauce. 

Use an oven-proof dish large enough to hold all of the meatballs and sauce. Start by putting the meatballs into the dish and baking in the oven at 350 degrees until the meatballs are thoroughly cooked. Then add the heated sauce and put back in the oven for 10 - 15 more minutes. 

During this time prepare pasta if you are planning on serving the meatballs on pasta.

Remove the dish from the oven and serve over pasta with some grated pecorino or parmesan cheese over the top. This should be served hot with plenty of sauce.

Cheesemonger Recipe Attempt #1

I received a wonderful cook book for the holidays called The Cheesemonger's Kitchen.

The first thing I made from it was spaghetti and mozzarella stuffed meatballs. (Photo found online because I failed to take a picture of my own creation - though it was remarkably similar.)

Absolutely delicious.

A Snowshoe Adventure

A few days after Christmas Mr X and I headed up to Guanella Pass for some snowshoeing. It was freezing cold but lots of fun. We went for about an hour and a half total. We wanted to go longer but between the bitter cold and the frequent avalanche blasting happening rather close we decided to turn back. The snow was pristine and the scenery was spectacular.

Mr X's Holiday Spoils

Mr X got about 35 new flies for Christmas. (Thanks Dan & Stephanie!) He took great care in re-organizing his fly box. He also got two fly fishing books, much to his delight.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everybody a happy and healthy 2013.

(The Denver Courthouse all dressed up for the New Year.)