There’s only a few days left to September, but there’s still time to squeeze in creating something in line with this month’s theme – bourbon. They make a great appetizer or a perfect snack for Monday night football. I made these bourbon meatballs back in May for the Kentucky Derby, and they were quite a hit. When it comes to making these, we didn’t go with anything off of our fairly extensive shelf. Definitely don’t recommend using the finest of anything to prep these. They’ll turn out just fine with less fancy stuff.

Meatball Ingredients

• 3/4 lb ground beef
• 3/4 lb ground pork
• 1/2 cup (1 sleeve, finely crushed) Ritz Cracker crumbs (you can use plain bread crumbs)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• lots of fresh cracked pepper
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (for browning the meatballs)

Bourbon Sauce Ingredients

• 1 jar apricot preserves (about a cup, give or take)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp hot chili sauce (use mild chili sauce if you can’t take the heat)
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/4 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350°. Place all of the meatball ingredients, except for the olive oil, in a large mixing bowl. You want to break up the meat as you add it in. Mix everything together with your finger tips so you won’t compact the meat as you mix. Form into 1″ small balls, and set to the side.

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