Köttbullar

Ryan's first meal: Köttbullar

Swedish meatballs are by far my favorite meal growing up. Who doesn't like meat in ball form? Well I guess the answer would be vegetarians. Each Christmas my family would have a smorgasbord ("Christmas table") which included a variety of my favorite dishes.

Across the room you would find:

• Sill (herring)
• Salmon
• Devilled eggs
• A variety of salad dishes
• Sliced meats
• Pickled beets (which grossed me out)
• Cucumber slices
• Swedish meatballs (my mama cooked them in a crock pot covered in creamy goodness)
• Small sausages
• Janssons temptation (which is my daddy's specialty - its a scalloped potato dish mixed with a generous amount of cream, butter and anchovies)
• Red cabbage (I always mistook this as seaweed)
• Dry crisp bread
• Rye bread
• A wide assortment of cheese
• Lutefisk (This is not the most appealing dish, but it makes my dad happy)
• Glogg (mulled wine)
• Rice pudding

I still wish that we had smorgasbords. We must reignite the Christmas table!

IKEA is the closest I am ever going to get to Sweden ( well for now). Every time my family would make a special trip to "shop" I would go straight to the cafeteria to order the 10 piece meatball combo This combo included the usual swedish meatballs, potatoes, lingonberries and a beautiful roll (which became my dipping roll). People cannot believe that I can eat that much food...little

do they know that you can add 5 more meatballs for only a dollar. I usually added the 5 meat balls just because I could. What is a hungry girl going to do? Buy more! Of course I would regret ordering the extra meatballs afterwards. IKEA is a maze! Remember to follow the arrows and look for signs so you will not miss your exit.

Ryan was looking through his school cookbook and found a recipe for Swedish meatballs. What a great first meal! After a week of school I could see so much improvement within his cooking. Everything was so yummy. The mashed potatoes were delectable...so creamy and fluffy with a hint of garlic. The meatballs were huge and full of flavor. Nothing is worse than

a flavorless meatball. I could smell the onions. I love onions. The gravy was not thick, but that did not really matter seeing how savory every bite was. I did miss the lingonberries though...at least the broccoli was there hehe :)

I cannot wait until his next dish!