Mom's German Meatballs

-BARB DAY
- 2 lb Ground beef

2 ts -Salt

1 t Celery seed -- whole

3 tb Catsup

1/2 md Onion -- small dice

-Flour -- 2 Eggs

1 tb Mustard seed

1/2 ts -Pepper

2 Garlic cloves -- sliced

-Boiling water -Fat; for cooking
-FOR SAUCE
- 1 qt -Water

1 tb -Flour

1 tb Vinegar

1 t -Salt

-Water -- to make thin cream 1 c Catsup

4 tb Cornstartch

1 tb Sugar

-Pepper -- to taste

This is a bit of a task to prepare, but well worth the effort. The recipe was passed down for many generations in my husbands family who immigrated here from Russia (being Russian Jews) so, I have no idea why they called it 'German' meatballs, but a meatball by any other name...I guess! Put the garlic into a water glass and pour 2 T boiling water over it. Mash the garlic well, then add 2 T. more boiling water. Strain through a kitchen towel, saving the liquid only. Mix together all the ingredients, including garlic liquid then shape into balls about the size of a large egg. Roll the balls in the flour until well coated. Melt enough fat to make about 1/2" in a heavy skillet or cast iron cooking pot. Brown the meat balls in the fat. Remove the meatballs and pour off all but 4 T. of the fat. SAUCE: Add the qt. of water to the

reserved fat along with thecatsup. Make a paste of the sauce ingredients, stirring in the water to get a consistency of a thin cream. After the water-catsup mixture is warm, slowly add this mixture, stirring constantly to avoid lumping, until the mixture has been well absorbed into the liquid. Cook gently until the sauce is slightly thickened. Place meatball in the pan, or in an oven-proof roaster and make sure they are covered with the sauce. Cover pan and bake in hot oven for 1 hour. Serve with mashed potatoes. (My friends also love it with pasta or rice!)