Katie Thomas' Award Winning Meatballs

Obviously my little sister, Katie, is totally awesome, incredibly good looking, and brilliant in the kitchen because it is in our genes. She won a very prestigious award at her office this week and I had to wipe away tears of pride and tears because her office is in Philly and FedEX frowns on overnighting saucy meatballs. Enjoy!

I just started a new job and I was so excited to find some fellow foodies at work. One day during a philosophical discussion about the best way to make meatballs, we decided that the best way to decide was to have a “battle of the meatballs”. The contestants included: Vanessa Riggs, Chris Connelly, Sue Felton, Claudette Fonshell, Carol Kelly, Beth-Ann Schauer, Kevin Plews, Katie Thomas, and Joe Casciato. After much meatball smack-talking in the office, the day finally came.
The crock pots were broken out and the meatballs were presented.
All were delicious...I mean come on who doesn't like meatballs?! I was up until the wee hours slaving over my meatballs and tied with Vanessa for 1st place!
Our distinguished judges were Ron, Stacey and Neil:
So here you have it, the award-winning meatball recipe.

Katie Thomas' Award Winning Meatballs
Ingredients:
2/3 pound ground beef
2/3 pound ground veal
2/3 pound ground pork
1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage
1 tsp garlic powder cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
1 cup freshly grated Locatelli cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup olive oil

I would like to add the sidebar that I think the combination of 4 meats to make meatballs is perfection and I love it. Dino makes meatballs like this and they are fantastic, but I bet Katie's were better.
1. Combine first 11 ingredients in a large bowl
2. Caramelize onions in skillet with a small amount of the olive oil.
3. Allow to cool and add to the bowl.
4. Heat olive oil in a skillet.
5. Roll mixture into uniform sized balls.
6. Brown in the skillet, about 5 minutes on each side on medium heat.
7. Add sauce, heat through, and enjoy!
(You didn’t think I was going to give you my sauce recipe did you?!)