Hello, and another gorgeous fall afternoon to all.
I was upstate briefly this week, and when I tell you I haven’t seen a fall foliage display like that in my whole lifetime, I mean it. Get up there (specifically, the western Catskills) while you can, before the leaves all fall. Visit First Bloom while you’re at it, and have dinner at Brushland Eating House—the food’s never been better. If you’re looking for places to stay, this place and this place are two of my favorite Airbnbs, but lots of good options in the area.
Last week, Charlie had his first swim lesson—it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. He loves water (baths, pools, oceans, lakes, you name it), but hates structured play (who among us), so you can imagine the rollercoaster of emotions we experienced in those brief 28 minutes. He’s just over twenty months which, yes, makes me the type of person I said I would never be: someone who measures their child's age in months. In any case, he’s at a point where he has opinions but can not express them clearly, a desire for physical autonomy but an inability to protect himself from bodily harm and, yes, the knowledge that screaming is *A* way to get attention (if not one preferred by me). He is fiercely independent, and this week it was confirmed that our triple earth sign is focused and determined (to not follow the rules). Wish me luck this week.
At twenty months, he’s starting to eat a lot more, both in volume and in variety. He also is starting to form opinions about food, and these opinions change constantly. He loves fried eggs, except when he prefers scrambled, and when he prefers a scramble, it’s always got to be a firmer scramble (except when he likes it soft). All to say, I have no idea what he likes right now and every meal time is a sort of guess or gamble, and if he’s going to eat one thing that day (and sometimes it’s one thing), then there should be something of nutritional value inside it. Not to say there aren’t days he just eats hunks of days-old baguette (his wish!), but when I can, I try to make sure there’s something resembling fiber and/or protein in whatever he’s eating.
This has got me thinking lately about my own style of eating, which I’d say is and always has been a blend of “intuitive eating” (I naturally gravitate towards dark, leafy greens, genuinely love vegetables, often prefer chicken to red meat, don’t eat all that much dairy) and “pleasure seeking” (I am completely unconcerned with the nutritional value of what I’m eating so long as it brings me pleasure). But, now that I’m cooking for this tiny person, I’m suddenly wondering if I can use oats instead of bread crumbs, pushing the limits of how much kale I can fit into something, and swapping maple syrup for sugar in any and all sweet treats. The other day, I texted a friend to say that I was inexplicably thinking about making “chia seed waffles” even though I myself have never had one. While I am absolutely the type of person who believes food is medicine, I haven’t always applied that concept when cooking for myself. These days, I find myself wishing I took as good care of myself as I do of my toddler—a common experience for new parents, I’m guessing.
These meatballs are a modified version of my Goodbye Meatballs (still the best meatballs I know), stealthily including more protein, greens and fiber, optimized for a person who might just eat these and only these all day. They are shockingly good, even more so when you consider that half the meat has been replaced with a vegetable and that cottage cheese is standing in for ricotta. I find myself snacking on them every time there’s a sheet pan of them sitting out, never even wishing there was a sauce (though of course they’d be great with sauce).
Thank you to Piccalio for sponsoring this week's newsletter—a brand I love and use and would even if they didn’t! While we have a few items from Piccalio, the Toddler Tower is our favorite and the most useful. Charlie stands on it to eat breakfast, to ask for water and snacks, to watch me cook (not so much helping going on just yet, but I’m sure it’s just around the corner). The new walnut colorway matches our kitchen furniture, which is good since we never put it away. You can see more on Piccalio.com.
These meatballs are a variation on my Goodbye Meatballs, tailored to pack in more protein and vegetables. While I still believe that meatballs should be seared if they’re going to be simmered with red sauce (the browned bits really make it), I bake these meatballs because it’s quicker and easier (I’m making them so often, I really need them to be quicker and easier) and I’m not building a sauce around them. I’ve done pretty much every variation you see below and they all work. While differences between batches are minimal (use yogurt and zucchini and the meatball mixture might be looser; use chicken, cottage cheese and cauliflower and they’ll be a funny sort of white color) it does keep things interesting. If you’re able to get your hands on some excellent dark meat ground turkey, or an “ancestral blend” (light and dark meat chicken ground with the liver, gizzards, etc.), that’s actually my preference here.
DO AHEAD: Meatball mixture can be made 1 day ahead, kept wrapped and refrigerated. Meatballs can be baked and refrigerated 5 days ahead or frozen 3 months ahead.