Cloudy With A Chance Of Turkey Meatballs

Have your kids (or grand-kids) read the book Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs?

It was one of Junior Goo Shoes' favorites when he was younger.  

When the first movie came out, he was too old to go see it.  And now that Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 is being released in theaters today, there's not a meatball's chance in hell that he'll want to go with me.

Recipe Below

I was feeling a bit nostalgic about the good old days, when I used to read to Junior GS, so I pulled out the book, and read it -- to myself, that is. I'd forgotten how cute it was. I'd love to be in the town of Chewandswallow on a day it rained french fries!

Anyway...

...you won't believe what happened last weekend.

It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to take a ride out to the country to see the fall foliage.  We put some random destination into the GPS, and off we went. 

I don't know about you, but I have a love/hate relationship with our GPS.  This latest one we have is constantly re-routing us, due to live traffic information.  It drives me CRAZY! Mr. Goo Shoes is always saying,

"What should I DO? Should I listen to her, or WHAT?"

Well, if you've been married awhile, you'll understand why I never answer that question, because....

...there is NO WAY I'd ever choose the right way. 

So, I say, 

"Honey, whatever way you think..."

 ...and smile sweetly.

On this particular outing, Mr. Goo Shoes decided to follow the  re-routing that "Judy GPS" suggested, when suddenly....

...she stopped talking right in the middle of a sentence, which is not like her at all (she and I are a lot alike in that way). 

The navigation system had gone completely kaput...

...right in the middle of nowhere. 

We were SO lost.

We kept driving around until we finally came to a little town.  

We walked around, looking for someone who could direct us towards a main road to take us home. 

There were plenty of people about, but we noticed that everyone seemed to be dressed in rain gear...yellow slickers, big rubber boots, umbrellas...

...which was odd, because the sun was shining brightly, and there was not a cloud in the sky.

Just as we were about to approach a gentleman on the corner, a strong wind kicked up.

The sky went from blue to a weird shade of...

...Beige???

I had never seen a beige sky before in my life.

"Here, grab these containers!" yelled the man on the corner.

Before we could ask why, big blobs of beige stuff started dropping from the sky. Suddenly the streets were filled with people catching this glop in pots, bowls, or whatever receptacle they had.  

We, too, filled our containers, not quite sure what was going on, when the man on the corner said, with a smile...

"Ground turkey...haven't had that in awhile."

Mr. Goo Shoes, Junior GS and I looked at each other in disbelief. It was snowing ground turkey?  

What the WHAT???

We had no time to try to make sense of this, because the man was pointing at something in the distance.

"Big storm clouds forming!"

Sure enough, the clouds got larger, and closer...and they were RED.

Huge drops of red, thick rain started falling. No one seemed at all alarmed about this; they just kept on catching it in their buckets...and they looked happy!

"Uh, ketchup?" I asked.

 "Nope, tomato sauce!" replied the man. 

In a nano-second, the red clouds turned purple, and the red drops were replaced by a  scarlet-colored jelly substance. 

The man said, 

                 "It's sure sign that fall has arrived, when it rains cranberry sauce!"

I barely had time to say, 

                    "Excuse me, but doesn't anyone think this is weird?"

...when the winds picked up, and we were suddenly in the midst of a major dust storm.

By now, we were savvy enough to know that it wasn't dust.

It was bread crumbs.  

I took a look at Mr. Goo Shoes, and Junior GS, and they were...breaded...from head to toe.

All we needed was a pan with some oil, and I could fry them right up.

"It usually hails right after we get breadcrumbs," said the man.

OMG, are you kidding? I don't know if we were intrigued or terrified at this point.  

The man was right.  It started hailing almost immediately.  People were using pots and pans as shields to cover their heads.  The hail was GIGANTIC.  

It was the size of golf balls...wait, no...

more like the size of onions. 

It was onions.  

Let me tell you a few things.  One, as all this was happening, I was really feeling like I needed to check myself into the loony bin to see if I was truly cracking up; and two, I did not look very attractive with raw food in my hair. 

Oh, and three? I did not like it one bit that my very favorite black suede boots, which I had just gotten at Nordstrom's for 50% off, were now covered in ingredients that could be tonight's dinner. 

YAWN....

Wow, I must have fallen asleep at my desk while I was reading Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, because I had the most bizarro dream...

 
...and an inexplicable urge to make Sweet and Sour Turkey Meatballs for dinner...

...(even though I'd rather do anything but cook). 

SWEET AND SOUR TURKEY MEATBALLS

1 pound Ground Turkey (makes about 20 meatballs, so I make a double recipe)
1 8 oz. can Tomato Sauce
1 14 oz. can Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1/4 cup Bread Crumbs
1/2 Onion, chopped small
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, chopped small
2 Egg Whites
Salt and pepper

Combine turkey, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, pepper, egg whites, salt and pepper until thoroughly mixed. 

Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls.

 Put tomato sauce and whole berry cranberry sauce into saucepan. 
     Note: Make sure saucepan will be large enough to hold the sauce and meatballs. 
     The saucepan should not be shallow. 

Heat tomato sauce and whole berry cranberry sauce on a low flame, stirring occasionally, until it is completely melted.  Bring to a slow boil.

Gently add the meatballs. 

Press them very gently with a wooden spoon, so that they are submerged in the sauce. You may have to let it cook for a few minutes before you can do this.  

Simmer meatballs very slowly for one hour.  Do not stir until the meatballs are somewhat firm. Stir gently.

Serve over noodles.  

Are you ready to try it?

Enjoy!

Till next time,
Ms. Toody 

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