Share A Spoon - Appetizers - Hot Crabmeat Dip and Cocktail Meatballs

This week Miss B let me have the honor of choosing what the theme of Share A Spoon would be. I'm an appetizer eatin' fool. If there are appetizers involved...chances are, I'll be there lol. 
Now I'll be the first person to tell you that I do NOT like seafood. (Yeah, I'm Cajun and I don't like seafood!!) Fried shrimp is about the only seafood I'll eat and honestly, the last few times I've had it I wasn't all that thrilled with it. 
Anyappetizers, I didn't like crab meat, at all. Even now, if it has a strong "odor" to it...I wont go near it. But this dip is so effin' good. Seriously...yummy! 

 (image courtesy of Google images)
Hot Crabmeat Dip
1/2 stick butter2 stalks celery, diced2 cloves garlic, diced8 oz cream cheese, cubed8 oz processed cheese (Velveeta), cubed1 tbsp milk1 tsp cayenne pepper1 bunch green onions, chopped1 lb lump or jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells Shredded cheddar to sprinkle on top
In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add celery and garlic. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add cream cheese and processed cheese - lower heat, and stir constantly until melted. Add milk and mix well. Add peppers and green onions, blending well. Fold in crabmeat. Pour into oven safe ramekin, sprinkle cheddar on top and bake at 350 until cheese on top is melted and bubbling.  Serve warm with crackers or toast rounds.

I love cocktail meatballs! And I make really good meatballs...if I may say so myself!! This recipe is super easy too and you'll be surprised to know that the sauce is made out of two things...grape jelly and chili sauce (besides seasonings)! That's it. Usually all I do is season the ground beef like I normally would for burgers. I don't add eggs or bread crumbs or anything like that. I Roll out the meatballs, and then I throw them in the oven to cook them, I'm too lazy to stand there and fry them (lol) and they usually end up falling apart on me when I fry them. Once they're done baking (at 350) I take them out of the oven and place them on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels to drain off any grease. While they're draining I put 12 oz of chili sauce for every 1 1/4 cup grape jelly into my crockpot. Honestly, I don't really even measure it anymore. Usually when I make them I use two 12 oz jars of chili sauce and about a half of a small jar of grape jelly. I put the crock pot on high until the jelly is dissolved, stirring frequently. Once the jelly is dissolved, put the cock pot on low and add the meatballs. I'm going to give you the recipe that I first used though. Cocktail Meatballs 1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley
1/3 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup shortening
1 (12 ounce) bottle chile sauce
1 1/4 cups grape jelly
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, dry bread crumbs and milk. Blend in ground pepper, parsley, onion, salt, egg and Worcestershire sauce. Mix thoroughly.
Shape the beef mixture into 1 inch meatballs. In a large skillet, melt the shortening over medium heat and brown the meatballs.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, mix the chile sauce and grape jelly over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until jelly is melted.
Pour the sauce over the browning meatballs and simmer for 30 minutes, or until meatballs are thoroughly cooked.