Susan Odell: I am Chef Susan Odell of foodell.

com. I am professional teaching Chef and a Graduate of Le Cordon Bleu. When it gets cold outside you want a quick appetizer something that everybody is going to love. It's great to have Meatballs on hand in your freezer, not the kind that you buy at the grocery store, those aren't very good, but the kind that make yourself. They are easy and you can make a whole bunch at one time. Let's have a look.

So for the meat, I like to use half beef and half pork. You could use turkey or chicken instead. For my ground beef I am using grass-fed beef it's nice and lean or you could use bison instead.

So to my meats, I have got 2 cloves of garlic I have just finely chopped those, we have got 2 tablespoons of finely chopped Italian parsley, that's the flat-leaf stuff not curly stuff, one 1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs, these are Japanese style bread crumbs, any unflavored bread crumb would work. We have got 2 eggs I have just lightly beaten them with a fork and I am going to season it up with a teaspoon of salt and a half a teaspoon of black pepper.

Now the best way to incorporate all of these ingredients is with your own two little hands. Just get your fingers in there and really get them dirty. This is kind of fun it brings you in touch with your food. There truly, it's the best way to incorporate all of those great seasonings with the meat. So just squeeze it and mix it up really, really well. Once all of your ingredients are really well incorporated, just cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for half an hour to an hour to get everything really cold. Don't forget to wash your hands.

Once your meat is nicely chilled, it's time to form the meat balls. First of all, I like to wet them just a little bit. It prevents the meat from sticking to your hands. I take about a walnut size piece of meat or chunk, roll it between my palms. It doesn't really matter what size your meat balls as long as they are all about the same size. Put it in your flour and roll it around. You want it to be nicely coated with the flour but you don't want a lot of excess on there, so just toss it around and get off the excess flour and place it on your baking tray.

So just keep going and forming meat balls until you are finished with the meat. I'm placing it about an inch apart on my baking tray. I'm going to bake these meatballs; a lot of meatballs are cooked on the stove top. This is a much cleaner and faster way to cook your meatballs.

Now my meatballs are ready to cook. You will notice I have them on parchment paper on my baking sheet, that's to prevent them from sticking. I'm going to bake them at 375 degrees for about 15-25 minutes. I want to get them nice and brown.

To ensure that your meatballs brown evenly, turn them over once during the cooking process. My meatballs cooked for 25 minutes, they are nice and brown and firm all the way around. Now, I can either toss them with my favorite sauce and eat them or freeze them. I like to freeze them just as they are on the tray and then as soon as they are frozen solid put them in a plastic bag, tightly sealed, they will last for good three months.

My favorite way to serve meatballs is in a fondue pot at a party. To great afternoon snack, just toss it with your favorite sauce, maybe a grill sauce or barbecue sauce, makes them super extra delicious.

Bon Apptit!