Time warp yourself back to the 1950s and 1960s with this appetizer. You can serve it in a nice bowl or pot on a warming tray or do it like your Mom or Grandma did in a crock-pot.
Some snobs may turn their noses up at this mid-20th century classic, but I can almost guarantee that they'll end up scarfing it down by the end of the evening.
Mini-Meatballs
If you use frozen meatballs (e.g. from Costco or Trader Joes) you can skip all but the cooking oil.
2 oz cooking oil
1 lb ground beef or meatloaf mix
1 tbsp grated onion
1 tsp salt
1 egg
2 cloves garlic minced or ½ tsp garlic powder
Pineapple BBQ Sauce
The following amounts of ingredients are approximate. Adjust to suit your own tastes.
16 oz can of tomato sauce
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup black strap molasses
8 oz can of pineapple chunks in pineapple juice, drained, reserving the juice.
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
Etc.
1 lb mini-links, hot dogs, or kielbasa cut into bite sized pieces about ¾ inch long
Mini-Meatballs
Add the meat, onion, salt, garlic and egg to a medium bowl and mix thoroughly. Shape the mixture into ¾ inch meatballs.
Heat the oil to a large pan or dutch oven. Add the meatballs and cook until well browned and cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Pour off all but a tablespoon of any drippings and add the links or hot dogs and cook for a few minutes until they're just starting to brown, stirring occasionally.
Add all of the ingredients for Pineapple BBQ sauce and ¼ to ½ cup of the reserved pineapple juice, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add the meatballs and cook another 10 minutes.