Put Jelly in the What Now?

I like to pretend that I am in the know when it comes to what makes for a delicious dish and what makes for a dish worth open-hand throwing across the room.  If someone told me that the secret to killer crockpot meatballs was a jar of grape jelly, I’d probably spit out my filet mignon and make a mental note to never trust a single recommendation that person ever made.  And yet!  And yet!  Turns out those cocktail meatballs that I swooned over at every single potluck and holiday party were made with (you guessed it) grape ‘effin jelly.  That same vile stuff that I eschewed as the evil mistress of peanut butter in the PB and J.  And yes, I hate PB and J, but that’s for another day.

After a little research on the infamous grape jelly crockpot meatball, I learned that the classic combination of the purple gelatinous action with some Heinz chili sauce was literally all that was added to the mix to make the perfect blend of sweet, spicy and savory.  Not one to mess with success, I decided to stick to the traditional mix and jelly and chili, but after a trip to the store, my mind started to wander.  What about this Thai Kitchen Chili and Ginger sauce?  And how about some Adobo seasoning?  And what about a shot of Worchestershire?  Well, my darlings, my culinary tinkering was a path to success, even though the ingredient list read like a nightmarishly gross recipe for disaster.  But I can’t be bothered with that.  I’m too busy feasting on these glorious little orbs of goodness, fully believing that every weird ingredient combo deserves a chance.