Crossed Out Meatballs

I dunno, it doesn’t look so bad to me.

Looks like a recipe for porcupines, which we’ve discussed a few times before (like here and here). Here’s a version from the March 14, 1971 edition of the Mansfield, Ohio News Journal:

Porcupine Meat Balls

 

1/2 cup raw rice
1/2 pound hamburg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons shortening
1 quart stewed tomatoes or 1 pint tomato soup

Mix rice with the hamburg, onion, and seasonings. Form into small balls, and brown on both sides in hot fat. Cover with soup and cook, covered, for 30 minutes or until rice is tender and meat balls double in size, with the rice sticking out of meat like porcupine bristles.

Mrs. Paul Dennis
Rt. 4, Box 178
Ashland, O.

 
In which case, then yes, raw rice is the correct option. But for cooking in the oven, I have a suggestion below.

From a notebook originally from somewhere in the general area of Sterling, Colorado from the 1930s.

This recipe is from the 34th page of the notebook; here’s the page in full (click to enlarge).

Click to expand a longer explanation...
In the words of the seller:
I acquired this book from the great granddaughter of the woman who wrote this book back in a small Nebraska town in the 30’s. She belonged to that generation of rural housewives who worked tirelessly to make ends meet and “keep body and soul together” for their families working the farms.

Later addendum:

[A]fter a conversation I had with a friend’s sister who used to live in North Eastern Colorado, given the type of recipes listed we decided it might be from a small town there, i.e., Sterling or Fort Morgan. Also North Platte or Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Even Cheyenne, Wyoming. If you Google a map of Sterling, Colorado and pull back, you will see all these little towns in that tri-state area.


Meat Ball — Mrs. [Baity?]

1-3/4 lbs. beef
1 c. raw cooked rice
2 eggs
Salt to taste

Form in balls.

Can tomatoes
2 onions

Put in oven–

[Recipe ends here and is crossed out.]

 

Yesterdish suggestion: Cook at 350 deg. for about an hour.


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