Instagram can be a dangerous place—especially when you’re hungry. Because that’s when strangely named foods can really catch your eye.
Meemaw Eats’ “Porcupine Balls.” Yes, they’re really a thing. (Photo courtesy of www.meemaweats.com)
For example, behold “Porcupine Balls,” pictured above. When food blogger, traveler, proud grandmother to seven perfect grandchildren, and bon vivant Meemaw of the popular foodie blog Meemaw Eats posted a photo on her Instagram account of this delicacy, well, we didn’t know what to think. It seemed like an odd life choice, but hey, who are we (the literal denizens of odd life choices) to judge?
We struck up a little Insta-chat to verify that, indeed, no porcupines were harmed in the making of said balls—which are actually made from rice and ground beef, giving them a prickly appearance (and Meemaw still has not shared her recipe with us…). The next thing you know, Meemaw and her chauffeur, Peepaw (pictured together at the top of this post), were including a stop at Bells Up on some upcoming plans to for a road trip to the Willamette Valley.
When Meemaw (aka Patty) proclaims her blog to be all about “Family, Food, and Fun,” it’s clear that her home on the web is very much like herself in person. We had a delightful visit with them, and talked mostly family, food and fun! The couple of hours we shared our wines with them flew by and it felt exactly like reconnecting with old friends.
Apparently the feeling was mutual. We were stunned when Meemaw and Peepaw’s visit here was posted to the Meemaw Eats blog in a lengthy feature story on October 6, 2016 (another happy 15th anniversary present to us!).
Oh, and by the way, as we were musing our way through the flight of Bells Up wines, trying to figure out which would pair best with some of Meemaw’s most popular recipes, we decided that the “Outstanding!” and Silver-Medal-Winning 2014 Titan Willamette Valley Pinot Noir would make a perfect pairing with the legendary Porcupine Balls—and best served with friends, both old and new.
Thank you Meemaw and Peepaw. We’re looking forward to seeing you again soon on your next visit to the Willamette Valley!
