Hamballs

As some of you may already know, Wade is 100% Dutch. This makes Amelia 50% Dutch. I am a mutt, so having culture/traditions for Amelia is something I look forward too: wooden shoes, Sinterclaus, saying "Eet Smakelijk!" before meals, and hamballs.

Most of Wade's family lives in the town Lynden, north of Bellingham. There you can buy hamloaf. Using the loaf and the recipe from the Eastside Market we make hamballs (like a sweet and sour meatball). We have enjoyed sharing the recipe with friends and family (when Lisa comes up she buys 5 loaves at a time). We have also enjoyed having guest from Holland over for it.

This past Monday, Sarah and Jake brought over their Dutch exchange students for dinner. Wade also invited his co-worker, Rutger. He is also from Holland. After dinner there wasn't a ball left. They all loved them...however, they said this was their first time eating them and they weren't from Holland. Hummm... I guess it is more of a Lynden thing then Dutch.

Here is the recipe:

1 hamloaf
1 can tomato soup
1 cup brown sugar
2 T vinegar
1 T dry mustard

Make loaf onto balls. Add soup, sugar, vinegar and mustard in saucepan. Cook until blended together. Pour mixture over balls. Cook at 350* for 1 hour. Rotate balls after 30 min.

We like to serve ours with cheesy potato casserole (thank you Lisa for that suggestion). YUMMY!