Through the years, we all will be together

As I try to shake the cough that's been haunting me all week, I'm preparing to make Oreo Truffles for a party we're going to tomorrow, and then it's on to making food for our family party this coming Sunday.

I posted last year about hosting the first family Christmas party we'd had in a very long time. This party was for my mom's side of the family, which for a long time had TWO family parties. The first one, the Wilkins Party, was my grandmother and her three siblings and their kids. They'd go out to dinner the Saturday before Christmas, and then back to my grandparents' house for a Yankee Swap. When the grandchildren arrived, though, a new tradition was born in the form of the Crofts Party: my grandparents, their four kids and spouses, and grandchildren, and various other assorted relatives, would gather at my grandparents' for a potluck dinner and to exchange gifts.

When I was in my early twenties, I waged a campaign to include the grandchildren, if they so desired, at the Wilkins party. A few years after that, the parties merged into one big party. We'd go out to eat, and then have our Yankee Swap. However, Gramma Bonnie passed away in September 2000, and the tradition of the family Christmas party seemed to go with her. I think we might have had one or two without her, but somehow the tradition just evaporated. No one seemed inclined to have it out anywhere, and no one in the family had a large enough house to host it.

I've mentioned more than once how alike my grandmother and I are in some ways. One of the reasons we bought our home is because it's got plenty of room for entertaining. When it really hit me last year that the only time I was seeing my aunts and uncles and cousins was at family funerals, I decided to do something about it, so I sent invitations to "the whole fam-damily," as Gramma would have said. Bad weather kept some people away, but we had a great time.

It wasn't even Thanksgiving this year when the questions began: "Are you having the party again this year? When is it?" Seems like everyone else was missing it just as much as I was. So yes, we're having the party again, and the whole fam-damily is coming. Everyone is bringing something for the dinner, a silly Yankee Swap gift, and lots of hugs and "Do you remembers." It's just what Gramma would have wanted.

One of my contributions to dinner will be meatballs. I made five dozen of these for my class at school earlier this week, and they were gobbled up; I plan to make the same amount tomorrow, which is about three times the recipe I'm giving here. I used a medium sized scoop to form them fairly quickly and evenly, but you can certainly do it by hand.

Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 small onion, grated or finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 large clove garlic, crushed (or about 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Mix all ingredients. Shape mixture into approximately twenty 1 1/2" meatballs. Place in ungreased 9x13" baking pan, or on rack in broiler pan.

Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes, or until no longer pink in center and juice runs clear.