My husband and I had a miscommunication. I said the cookout started at 1:00. He thought I said we’d leave the house at 1:00.The party was a two hour car ride away. At my request, H was making his delicious and popular barbecued meatballs to bring as an appetizer. They take four hours to cook in the slow cooker. He plugged the Crock Pot® in at 9:00am. This was not going to work.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could cook them in the car,” I said. The timing would be perfect. If we left at 11:00 they would be done when we got there.

“I had the same thought,” H said.

“Is it even possible?” I asked.

“Of course,” he said. “I just need to go buy an inverter.”

An inverter, apparently, is an outlet that gets power from the car’s battery. Who knew? Well, my husband, for one. He made sure the one he bought plugged into the car’s lighter socket.

The Crock Pot® got the floor of the passenger seat, in a milk crate to keep it stable. I sat in the back. The meatballs cooked on the way and were devoured when we got to the cookout.

For more information on car power inverters, check out this article:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-car-power-inverter-534721

And here’s my husband’s barbecued meatball recipe, should you want to try them:

Barbecued Meatballs

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 1/3 cups ketchup, divided
3 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
¾ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Diced bell peppers (optional)

PREHEAT oven to 350ºF. Combine ground beef, 1/3 cup ketchup, bread crumbs, egg, onion flakes, garlic salt and black pepper in medium bowl. Mix lightly but thoroughly; shape into 1-inch meatballs. Place meatballs in two 15×10-inch jelly-roll pans or shallow roasting pans. Bake 18 minutes or until browned. Transfer meatballs to slow cooker.

MIX remaining 1 cup ketchup, sugar, tomato paste, soy sauce, vinegar and hot pepper sauce in medium bowl. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cook on LOW 4 hours. Serve with cocktail picks. Garnish with bell peppers, if desired.

Makes about 4 dozen meatballs.

From 365 Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker Recipes & More, c 1998 Publications International, Ltd. Still available on Amazon.