Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Sweet and Sour Meatballs are one of my mother's signature dishes. She has been making them ever since I can remember, and I have loved eating them ever since I can remember! Although I have eaten meatballs elsewhere, Mom's meatballs have always been the best, and the true definition of "real meatballs" to me. Of course her meatballs would never be complete without the sweet and sour sauce to go with them. Actually, I have never even tried the meatballs without the sauce, it just wouldn't be right. My mom starts out with a basic meatball recipe using ground beef, chopped onion, egg, dry breadcrumbs, and ground black pepper; nothing fancy. She browns them first, then makes up the sweet and sour sauce and bakes the meatballs with the sauce. She always makes a great big batch of them, enough for leftovers. We like to have meatballs with spaghetti and rice of course, but sometimes we also pair them with potatoes. They also make a good meatball sandwich!

I have helped my mother make these meatballs before, usually I mostly handle the sauce, as I don't like touching raw meat. I have even made the sauce on my own before and used it in other recipes. It works well as a basic sweet and sour sauce for some things, but I like it best on my mom's meatballs. I always look forward to meatball night at our house!