This month my book group read the book “Miriam’s Kitchen” by Elizabeth Ehrlich. It is a memoir by a woman who came to know her mother-in-law by learning to cook old time Jewish recipes. We had a potluck dinner for which each of us brought a dish that made memories--either something from our family, or something we make for our families and friends. One of the women brought a dish she called “unstuffed cabbage”-- sweet and sour cabbage with meatballs. It was amazing, and I ate way too much of it. Her recipe called for meatballs that you bake in the oven while you make a sauce of shredded cabbage, jellied cranberry sauce, and something called Chef Emilio’s tomato sauce (which she said was really hard to find). I wanted to re-create it with fresh ingredients. (In case you were wondering, I did find Chef Emilio’s tomato sauce and I think the main ingredient is MSG--it has 560 mg of sodium in a 3 ounce can.) <br /> <br />This is a stew so it gets better as it sits. You could make it in a slow cooker. I formed the meatballs in the morning and refrigerated them, and made the sauce and let it simmer on the stove for about an hour. Then I browned the meatballs and added them to the sauce and let it all cook together for another hour or so. You can change the amounts of sugar and add vinegar to your taste--just add a little at a time. <br />

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