Darlene Brouwer Jacobsen
December 30, 1935 – October 26, 2017

Today my Great Aunt Darlene is being laid to rest. She lived a long selfless life. I remember going to Brouwer Reunions and talking with my Great-Aunts. They really cared about me and wanted to know about my life. Great-Aunt Darlene would hobble over to the food table with her dish to share and I would ask if she was ok. She explained that she had a carpet cleaning business for a long time and was on her knees much of the time cleaning the floors. Even so, she was so caring, so loving, and sometimes a little brusque. (no snitching until we prayed) She demanded respect, but lived a life of earning that respect. In today’s culture, family is not as important as it once was, and I love that my parents made an effort to introduce us to our extended family.

The food was always amazing at these reunions! I remember the park in which I had my first taco salad- and loved it in spite of the tomatoes. My food horizon was expanding. Then when my eldest brother was to be married, my great aunts asked my mom if they could cook the meal for the Rehearsal supper. The menu that night was Aunt Darlene’s special recipe for BBQ Meatballs , mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables from their gardens. The food was amazing and my boyfriend at the time fell in love with the meatballs and Great-Aunt Darlene and Great- Aunt Maxine. A couple years later when that boyfriend asked me to marry him and when wedding plans were being made, he specifically requested Great-Aunt Darlene’s meatballs- she was happy to oblige.
Now, you have to understand that this recipe is a secret. Or it was. Until my wedding, when unwrapping our gift from Great-Aunt Darlene, we found we were given THE RECIPIE! I was pretty excited, I was very honored. Besides close family, I have honored her wish of it being a secret, but today I am going to Share the Recipe- In Honor of Great-Aunt Darlene– May she rest in peace, in the arms of her heavenly Father.
Meat Balls (written as by Great Aunt Darlene)
1# gr. beef
1 beaten egg
1/4 c onion
1 t salt
¼ t pepper
1/2 or 3/4 c bread crumb
Put the egg & onion in small blender jar. Just mix all ingredients real good. Make 12 small meat balls. Put on cookie sheet or 9 x 13 cake pan and brown in oven 20 to 25 mins at 350 deg. Put in casserole with gravy or bar-a-q sauce. Let Stew together in gravy for 45 min or the easy way to put in crock pot on low and forget about them until dinner time. Can be seasoned different for other flavor.

Bar-a-q Sauce (written as by Great-Aunt Darlene)
26oz. catsup
1/4 c br. sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t liquid smoke
1 t garlic salt
1/2 t tobacco sauce
Heat Slow- pour over meat
The left over sauce can be used a 2nd time- but that’s it- I freeze it between uses.