Swedish Meat Balls

     We both have a Scandinavian heritage, Norwegian to be precise.  Byron's mother descended from the royal baker for the king of Norway and Gail is pure Norwegian.  Every Christmas we get together with Scandinavian friends for a special dinner with all of our favorite Scandinavian foods.  We finish the evening by singing Christmas carols in Swedish. 
     One of the dishes we bring every year is Swedish Meatballs.   We got our particular recipe from a friend, Lois Andrusko, who was born and raised in the Scandinavian nation of  Minneapolis-St. Paul.  She now lives in exile in a distant foreign land:  Texas.
     Lois is actually Danish.  Denmark spawned a famous philosopher:  Soren Kierkegaard.  Some believe Kierkegaard epitomizes the Danish spirit:  the dark night of the soul, isolation, fear and trembling, despair, angst, sickness unto death, the irrational, the leap of faith, and so forth.  While Kierkegaard believed in the Incarnation, he did not believe in Santa Claus.  In fact, when asked about Santa Claus, he is reputed to have said, "Bah, humbug!"  In Danish, it was actually, "Bah, humbug!!"  However, if Kierkegaard had been Norwegian, he would have ignored Hegel, married his childhood sweetheart, Regina, become a pastor, and fathered 12 children.  He then would have appeared as Santa Claus at the school's Christmas assembly to hand out candy.
     However, that would have just left Nietzsche to become the father of existentialism, which is probably not a good idea.  So, all things considered, it is probably best Kierkegaard was Danish.
     Lois, aware of Kierkegaard's spirit and not wanting to put a damper on our Christmas celebration, calls her dish not "Danish" Meat Balls, but "Swedish" Meat Balls.  Regardless of the name, they are delicious.  We not only bring them to the Scandinavian dinner with friends, we serve them every Christmas Eve at our home.
     From all of us at cookswares.com, Merry Christmas! 
   
Ingredients for Lois Andrusko's "Swedish" Meal Balls:

4 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 cup of bread crumbs
1 cup of finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons of oil
2 lbs. of ground beef
1 lbs. of ground pork
salt
1/2 teaspoon of dried dill
1/4 teaspoon of allspice
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cardamom
1/2 cup of flour
1/4  teaspoon of pepper
2 cans of beef bouillon, 10.5 ounces each
1 cup of half-and-half
1 teaspoon of dill weed

    In a large bowl, combine 4 eggs, 1 cup of milk, and 1 cup of bread crumbs.
    Sauté 1 cup of finely chopped onion in 2 tablespoons of oil.   Remove the onions from the oil and stir it into the egg mixture with 2 pounds of ground beef and 1 pound of ground pork, a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of dried dill, 1/4 teaspoon each of allspice, nutmeg, ground cardamom.  Mix well and then refrigerate for one hour.
    Form the meat mixture into meat balls and brown them in a skillet.
    Remove them to a casserole.
    Pour off all but 1/2 cup of drippings.  Stir in 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Gradually pour in two 10.5 ounce cans of beef bouillon.  Cook until thickened.  Add 1 cup of half-and-half, and 1 teaspoon of dried dill weed.  Pour over the meatballs in the casserole.
    Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.