Biblical BBQ – How Did They Do It?

Do you ever wonder how they did it? You know, the women of the Bible, and how they “quickly” prepared a fatted calf…

The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it; and she took flour, kneaded it and baked unleavened bread from it. 1 Samuel 28:24 NASB

Now, I’m no kitchen queen, but it seems to me that even if you quickly slaughter a calf, it would take some time. Not to mention kneading the flour and baking bread. And we aren’t talking convection oven here. We are talking open fire, or possibly a brick oven.

My husband’s lucky if he gets Ragu spaghetti and a frozen vegetable most nights. It’s hard to make a wonderful, home cooked meal when you’ve got an 8 – 5 job.

What an awesome wife Sarah was to Abraham. He rushes in and says “Quick, make bread cakes!” I might’ve mouthed off to Abe at that point.

“Honey, you KNOW how long it takes to make a good batch of bread cakes! Well, at least you have the servant preparing the meat…”

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes.” Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. Genesis 18:6–7 (NASB) (a measure = approx 7 liters)

And look at Abigail! TWO HUNDRED LOAVES of bread?? Five sheep, already prepared?!? TWO HUNDRED cakes of figs. And then she loads it all on the donkeys!?! No SUV for Abbey, no sir! What a woman!

Don’t get me wrong, I so enjoy cooking on the weekends, when there is time to properly prepare everything. Ok, ok: I so enjoy when John barbecues on the weekend, and I make the potato salad.

But I am thankful that we have things that can be thrown together quickly, or prepared ahead and frozen.

Here’s a quick, easy little recipe for Grape Jelly Meatballs. They are perfect for bridal or baby showers, or as an appetizer when you have company, or just because!

The hardest thing about the recipe is the meatballs. HA! Nope I’m joking! All you have to do is buy the frozen, prepared meatballs. They are perfect for this!

Ok, so after you make the meatballs (easy, huh?), you need to make your grape jelly sauce. For this, you will need jelly, chili sauce and seasonings to taste. If you can’t find chili sauce (usually near the BBQ sauces in the grocery aisle), you can mix catsup and horseradish.

Here’s the recipe:
1 – 32 oz. Jar grape jelly
2 – 12 oz. Bottles tomato based chili sauce (Heinz is good)
Hot sauce to taste
1 – 2 bags frozen cocktail meatballs
Combine grape jelly, chili sauce, and hot sauce in a saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until warm, 5 to 10 minutes.
Place meatballs in a slow cooker and top with grape jelly mixture.
Cook on Low for 3 to 4 hours. Click here (Grape Jelly Meatball) for a PDF version of this recipe.

Voila! You have an appetizer! And, if you need a main dish for supper, just use an envelope of brown gravy mix and whisk up a brown sauce, instead of using grape jelly sauce. Serve over rice or noodles. Yum!

Grace be with you!