Bailey Family
Sausage Balls
"It just wouldn't be
Christmas without
______________ " ?
(Big M, dog Kelsey, Kathy, Papaw, Mamaw,
D, T and Alexandra. Christmas 2002)
How would you complete this sentence? Maybe for you it "just wouldn't be Christmas" without.... snow, or grandpa's funny hat, or mom's special egg nog, or the 75% off, 5am, sales bonanza at the Ralph Lauren outlet.
For us, it just wouldn't be Christmas without.... Sausage Balls.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that we love sausage balls so much that we can't live without them. We are not sausage ball fanatics. We do not worship a Sausage Ball God or wave Sausage Ball flags. In fact, I tend to think they are more like a greasy, little fat pill than a viable food choice. No - the reason that "it just wouldn't be Christmas without Sausage Balls" is because someone has made them every Christmas eve for as long as I can remember so that they could fester in a crock pot placed near the tree on Christmas morning.
To our family, this means that the smell of Sausage Balls, the taste of Sausage Balls and the sight of Sausage Balls are as symomymous with Christmas as are Santa and the Baby Jesus.
Case in point: Christmas 2007.
For the first time ever, the whole family decided to celebrate Christmas at our Hilton Head Island home. This meant that all of our Logan, West Virginia, Detroit Michigan and Hampton Roads Virginia relatives were out of their comfort zones and displaced to a new world covered in golf course turf grass. As a result, it wasn't until late Christmas eve that we all realized we had forgotten to make the Sausage Balls. (And trust me - there was nothing with Jimmy Dean's name on it in my house.) It was soon after this discovery that the infamous '07 Christmas meltdown began. People were confused, anxious.... They started to get all itchy and scratchy at the thought that they might not get their Christmas morning sausage ball fix.
So.... , we got on the phone and started calling the grocery stores with the hopes that one, somewhere, would be opened. At 9pm on Christmas eve? Fat chance. This is, afterall, Hilton Head Island, land of the 'lowcountry lifestyle' (which basically means... stuff is closed). Next we called our friends. We started with the ones that own restaurants thinking that they MUST have sausage. No luck. (Sausage is not a big menu item at Scott and Maryanne's San Miguels).
Everyone was really losing sausage ball hope now. Should we just cancel Christmas this year? We considered it.....
Then... we got a break. A neighbor, and Hilton Head's "Number 1" dentist, had sausage! But not the Jimmy Dean roll of slightly spicy pork variety. Instead, they had sweet italian sausage, organically grown and gourmet sliced (again... remember... this is Hilton Head Island). Would that work? At this point, it didn't matter. But now we had a new problem..... We didn't have any cheese!
.... But, thanks to the Big M.
we did have beef jerky and a can of Cheese Whiz .....
In the end, we managed to make our sweet italian, Cheese Whiz, beef jerky sausage balls and, even though they were incredibly disgusting, Christmas went on and all was good with the world.
(The Big M. - aka - 'the clogger' )
BAILEY FAMILY SAUSAGE BALLS RECIPE
Ingredients:
1 lb. sausage (Jimmy Dean sausage will work)
8 oz. stick sharp cheddar cheese
3 c. Bisquick
Instructions:
Mix and roll in small balls.
With your hands, knead all the ingredients together in a bowl.
(This may take awhile to fully moisten the Bisquick and
the cheese.) You can add a little splash of milk to help moisten
Form mixture into 1-inch balls and place on a baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees until brown, about 15-20 minutes.
After removing from oven, place on paper towel to drain.
We like to put them in a slow cooker for serving.
It not only keeps them warm but also moist.
LEFT OVER SAUSAGE BALLS - TIPS
Left over sausage balls? Does such a thing exist? I've personally never seen a so called 'left over sausage ball' but if I ever do, I am prepared with the following tips:
Cover and refrigerate unbaked sausage balls up to 24 hours.
Bake as directed.
Cover and freeze unbaked sausage balls up to 1 month.
oven to 350ºF. Place frozen balls on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brown.
Bake as directed; cover and freeze up to 1 month.
Heat oven to 350ºF. Place frozen balls on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until heated through.
Bake as directed; cover and freeze up to 1 month.
Place 6 frozen sausage balls on microwavable plate.
Loosely cover with waxed paper.
Microwave on High 45 seconds to 1 minute
or until heated through.
______________________________________________________
The Christmas 2007 Sausage Ball Recipe
(Warning: Do NOT try this at home...)
7 slices of sweet italian organic sausage
1 can of Cheeze Whiz
3 c. Bisquick
1/2 c. shredded or chunked beef jerky
mix and roll in small balls. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and quickly discard to trashcan.