"recipe search" news and stories

Last weekend (at this wedding I keep mentioning) I had, for the first time in my life, the opportunity to chow down on some ham balls (and having written that sentence, I now feel dirty). I've been something of a slow convert to ham, mostly owing to the fact that I didn't grow up eating pork products (I have a Jewish mother who isn't observant, but she still avoids the pig). So I didn't really start exploring the world of ham (and bacon. Oh, bacon!) until a few years ago.

But being the eater that I am, when someone is walks around with a tray of appetizers and offers me a ham ball, I am unable to say no. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the first bite was good and the second was even better. Sweet and savory, tender and totally addictive, I must have eaten eight or nine ham balls before they served dinner that night.

When I got home, I started searching and discovered that there's a whole world of ham ball recipes out there that I had never known about before. However now, stymied by such selection, I don't know where to start. Help me, Slashfood readers. Point me in the best ham ball direction!

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I got up this morning, picked up a friend and drove about 40 minutes into New Jersey to go blueberry picking. It's gotten sort of late in the season, so the picking was a little bit more challenging than it can be when the bushes heavy with fruit, but still managed to come away with a respectable amount of berries for an hour's worth of labor.

Just about every summer for the last 15, I have picked blueberries. Normally I do it in Portland with my parents, and my mom turns the bulk of the berries into jam. I've always been totally content with eating bowl after bowl of blueberries, as if they were popcorn, without a thought given to making something more refined or lasting with them. This time, since I have about 5 pounds of berries all to myself, I'm thinking I should try to incorporate them into a few recipes, because if I attempt to eat the full 5 pounds before they threaten to go bad, I may make myself sick.

So I'm asking you, knowledge Slashfood readers, what are your favorite blueberry recipes? Leave them in the comments, I will do my best to make one or two of them and let you know how they turn out.

photo by Marisa McClellan