Those of us who watch Bob Ross know one of his most famous quotes is, “I love happy accidents!” While this has more to do with cooking than painting, the “happy accident” still applies. Things sometimes pop into my mind and I think it’s a great idea....at the time... and then I have a chance to think about it. Please bear with me as I review the steps that brought me to my “happy accident”....or to put it more accurately, the accident that turned out to be a happy one.
I often go on the internet to look up recipes....more often to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything than to look up something new. Well, last night I wanted to make shrimp scampi and happened to run across a recipe that called for the shrimp to be marinated in Italian dressing and then broiled. I didn’t follow that recipe but I thought it was a good idea and the Italian dressing stayed on my mind.
Today I’d planned to make meatballs and sauce. As I gathered together the ingredients, I impulsively grabbed the Italian dressing. “Why not?” I thought. “What could it hurt?” and not too generously (but generously enough) added it to my meatballs.
The sauce was bubbling along nicely and I decided to take a little break before cooking the meatballs. It was then it hit me! There’s vinegar in Italian dressing. Vinegar would make the sauce sour. Then what would I do? As far as I could figure out, the best solution would be to add brown sugar to counteract the vinegar so that’s exactly what I did. I don’t know how much I used. I never measure. But I made sure it would be enough. It was probably more than enough as it caused another problem.
The mixture was too wet to hold its shape. I added more bread crumbs hoping that would stiffen them up a bit but was leery about adding too much. I didn’t want the meatballs to be 50% bread crumbs. I tried them in the fry pan, hoping searing them would hold them together. It didn’t. As a last resort, I threw everything back in the bowl, re-mixed, re-shaped and baked them 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
They looked perfect when I took them out and put them gingerly in the sauce to continue cooking on simmer. A higher heat would have broken them apart. I was very conscious of their fragility. I can’t remember ever being so careful with a simple meatball. But these weren’t ordinary meatballs and there was a very great possibility of them ruining the large pot of sauce I’d made. I didn’t relish the thought of having to throw everything in the garbage. So I prayed.
Prayer was answered. For once, Mom didn’t tell me I’d given her too much and I enjoyed it enough for a second large helping....(which I’m sure I didn’t need). But let me tell you! That Italian dressing and brown sugar made the most delicious meatballs and sauce I’ve ever tasted. I may do it again sometime.....if I can remember how. The thing about “happy accidents” is....if I try to repeat it, it won’t be an accident and I have doubts about the “happy” part.
May our lives be full of “Happy Accidents”!!
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