Tall Grass Prairie

We made the trek out to Turtle Rock Farm in Red Rock, OK for their Earth Day celebration that included, among other things, alpaca shearing, Cherokee basket weaving, and spinning. The ride there took us through expansive open prairie land and on our way back, we detoured north of Pawhuska, OK to the Nature Conservancy's Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. The preserve seemed to go on and on offering breathtaking views. As part of the restoration project, the Nature Conservancy reintroduced 300 bison to the preserve where they have about 25,000 acres to roam. Read more about what the Nature Conservancy is doing to preserve the largest tract of native tall grass prairie left on earth in the link above.

               

                  

       
       

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I combined two recipes to make this dish. The meatball recipe came from an old Betty Crocker cookbook published in 1980 by Golden Press. That cookbook has a recipe for Sweet and Sour Meatballs but I actually like the sauce recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork in Betty Crocker's International Cookbook published by Random House in 1980 better. In that recipe, carrots are included and they are simmered in the liquid before thickening it. That brings a nice pickled flavor to the carrots. I've modified the recipe some to my family's liking, and we really like pineapple juice so this recipe includes more juice.

My daughter likes anything panda, and I found these adorable panda chopstick rests on Ebay for her.

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg

Mix ingredients; shape into small meatballs (about 3/4 inch diameter for bite size meatballs). Cook over medium heat in a skillet, turning occasionally, until brown, about 15 minutes. Set aside. 

Sweet and Sour

• 1 can (about 20 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained (reserve syrup/juice)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 2 carrots, cut diagonally into thin slices
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 green pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

The original recipes calls for adding enough water to the reserved pineapple juice to measure one cup. I use one full cup of pineapple juice and added 1/2 cup of water. Heat the syrup-water mixture, brown sugar, vinegar, carrots, soy sauce, salt and garlic to boiling in dutch oven; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until carrots are crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. 

In a separate pan, saute green pepper and onion slightly, about 5 minutes. Mix corn starch and water in small bowl and stir into sauce. Add meatballs, green pepper, onion and pineapple. Boil and stir 1 minutes until somewhat thickened. Serve with rice.