Welcome Back to School Supper!

My children and husband went back to school and teaching this week, so I made a supper for our family and a neighbor family to "Welcome Back School"! For fun, my preschooler and I designed some place setting cards using cardstock, looseleaf and broad black and red markers. I set the table with an apple as the centrepiece.

Everyone was pleased they each got an A+. The menu was as follows:

Back to School Supper Menu

Crudites, crackers and cheese

Red Wine

Milk

Sweet and Sour Meatballs on a bed of Rice

Green Beans

Fresh Green Salad

Rolls

Apple Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie

Coffee and Tea

The Meatballs were from a recipe my mother gave me:

Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 Tbsp minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/8 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine all ingredients.
3. Form into 36 meatballs. (I like to press the mixture directly onto my baking sheet, 1 inch thick, and about 6 x 6 inches square. Then I use a knife and cut the mixture into half, then each half into thirds and using the length of a long knife, slide the columns of meat apart far enough to separate. Then turn the pan 1/4 turn and cut each log into 6 meatballs. Yes, they're square, but trust me, nobody will notice or care!)
4. Bake 5 minutes in preheated oven.
5. Flip each meatball over and Bake 5 minutes more.
6. Now you can bake them a little longer in the oven, or transfer them to a simmering pan of your favorite sauce.

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/2 cup pineapple syrup (or apple juice)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
can of pineapple chunks (optional)

Whisk together all ingredients and heat until simmering.

This is what my "Back to School Baking" looked like yesterday:

I made two batches of bread, a lemon meringue pie, an apple pie and zucchini muffins (I'll talk about them tomorrow).  The rolls were still in the oven at this point. The rolls were made using the recipe in my bread book - Celery Seed Rolls/Buns on page 509. I had made them once in the past, where I said they made yummy buns. I wanted dinner rolls to go with the meal, so I tried them again. This time, I did not put any celery seeds on them. They needed an extra hour to ferment beyond the normal two risings, so they were not quick to make, but they did turn out very nicely and were just right for a dinner roll - light and fluffy and good to sop up a bit of sweet and sour sauce! The recipe says they make two dozen rolls or 12 buns, but I formed them into 32 small rolls. (16 in each 9 x 9" pan). That way, they baked into each other and had to be pulled apart, leaving nice, soft sides.

To finish off the meal, I presented my "A+ Apple Pie" to all the students and teachers around my table and everyone enjoyed a piece!

Happy Back to School everyone!