The aroma of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger from these tiny treasures always takes me back to Grama’s Christmas kitchen as a child. These wonderful smells remind me of the quiet dark snowy roads between the church and Grama’s as we took in all the Christmas lights and sang “Over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go…”.

Christmas Eve at Grama’s was the highlight of the celebration! In fact, one of my most favorite memories was seeing the frosty kitchen windows from the outside while taking small detours into the snowbanks alongside the driveway. I remember walking in her back door with my brothers after the Christmas Eve vigil and smelling Christmas!

We had a wonderful feast and then were finally allowed to run upstairs and start bringing down the gifts. Up and down we went gathering gifts and watching the piles under the tree grow larger and larger.

Grama was amazing at creating a magical Christmas. They’re my favorite memories in the whole world! I’m so excited to share a little piece of those memeories with you in this recipe. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

---

Grama Turnell’s Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef

1 egg

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup onion, pureed

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (or 3/4 cup almond flour for grain/gluten free)

2 tablespoons cinnamon

11/2 tablespoons ginger

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons thyme

2 teaspoon sea salt or Real salt

1 teaspoon pepper

beef broth (perferably bone broth)

---

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients together well. Add beef, egg, cream, and onion and mix together thoroughly.

Form into smal 3/4 inch balls and palce into large baking dish. Fill baking dish until 1 inch deep with broth. Sprinkle balls with salt and cinnamon. Bake until well browned.

Best served with lingonberry or raspberry jam!

These freeze really well so you can make ahead. Guaranteed to be a party favorite for any occasion (people literally flip out over them).

Merry Christmas!