This Sunday Roast we are celebrating my son’s birthday (January 27th). We talked about it all week and finally decided to go to a Chinese buffet for lunch. Since we were having such a big meal for lunch we decided to do a “lighter” dinner. After again going back and forth, he decided on a childhood favorite that he doesn’t get very often… Swedish meatballs.
My Swedish meatballs are neither complicated nor from scratch but have always been a hit with the kids. Frozen ready-made meatballs, three cans of cream of mushroom soup, some milk, one whole onion chopped in med-sized chunks, one packet of dry onion soup mix. That’s pretty much it although I have added fresh mushrooms in the past but my daughter doesn’t like mushrooms so I generally don’t. I basically throw Everything into a crockpot and let it cook all day on high – this cooked for about 5 hours and was perfect. I did add about 1/2c of port, which was a nice addition – I think I might add more the next time I make it. I have served this dish on both egg noodles and rice, my son’s preference is rice. I would also normally serve it with green beans but we were all still pretty stuffed from lunch so we had small bowls of meatballs and rice for dinner with no veg. There are lots of leftovers for lunches this week – this recipe microwaves very nicely!
Dessert was another recipe harkening back to my son’s childhood and one dessert that I actually make. Dump Cake was a recipe my stepmother gave me, probably in the 70’s. Talk about a no-brainer! 2 cans of pie filling (your choice of flavor… my preference is cherry – my son choose raspberry & blackberry) – one box of the cheapest yellow cake mix you can buy, sprinkled over the pie filling, breaking up any large clumps – one stick of butter cut into pats. I did add a bit of Southern Comfort to the berries… well, what is dessert in our family without a little liquor?
Bake in a 350-degree oven until golden brown, about 45-50 minutes. Serve with ice cream, cool whip, or whipped cream – your choice. All and all… a very homey birthday dinner. YUM!