Friday Night Dinner . . .

 
Everything was chopped, sliced, boiling and ready for the moment my husband walked in the door from work. The pie was baked earlier in the day but was still a just-right warm for dessert.

Spider webs and sunshine . . .

 

I was heading out the door when I knew I had to run back for my camera and capture these spider webs on film. Hey, I don't mind spiders or spider webs . . . as long as they keep their distance from the house!

It seems like cooler weather than it is . . .

For some reason, apples were on sale today so it inspired me to bake an apple pie. The weather has been cooler and overcast in the mornings with it heating up to just beyong Spring weather by the afternoon. Close enough to being cool enough to turn on the oven and bake.

Also found some frozen fish on sale so our Friday meal isn't quite as penitential as usual. The fish along with a vegetable pasta toss and I think my husband will perk up when he comes in the door from work. He is on a 4/10 work schedule which is pretty wearing.

I go shopping prepared for increases in food prices but it is always another case of sticker shock, anyway. The three-pound bag of frozen salmon I used to splurge on when it was $15 is now $27! Needless to say, we don't have salmon these days. I can always tell how the dairy farm business is by the cost of butter. It hasn't gone done at all this year.

It is always interesting to hear various talk show hosts talking about how they have discovered healthy eating and everyone should really think about having salmon three or four times a week. Uh, I'm thinking these talk show hosts haven't had to worry about their cooks paying big bucks for salmon.

I don't dwell on these differences too often as I know we are blessed to have food on the table. I also like how the lack of some wanted foodstuffs has made me more creative with what we do have in the cupboard. We aren't starving and we always try and remember to count our blessings.

The cooler weather seems to be keeping the quilting efforts going. I am now almost done with two quilts with a lot of progress done on the third one. Nothing but hand sewing left on two of them. I try and get the sewing maching aspects done during the day so I can relax with the family in the evening but still keep my hands busy.

Hope everyone is looking forward to a good weekend. We will be busy but that is a blessing, too!

I've had some days where this didn't seem to apply . . .

Time is God's way of keeping everything from happening at once.

Anonymous

Recovering from European memories . . .

I've overdone the German cooking since I got home and we are all ready for something different and interesting from another cultural aspect. In going through my files today, I rediscovered a recipe I shared with my daughter and it got me to thinking about making Asian food this weekend. The nice thing about Asian cooking is that you really don't need any odd or unfamiliar ingredients to put a fun meal on the table. This is a family favorite. I like that it doesn't take much in the way of supplies so works great to impress your family between paydays!

Pot Sticker Dough

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cold water

3/4 cup boiling water

In 2 separate bowls, place 1 1/2 cups flour

Add cold water to one bowl and stir to form a soft dough. Add boiling water to second bowl and stir to form a dough. Combine two doughs and knead until smooth, about

15 minutes. Cover with a damp towel (use paper towel) and let rest 15 minutes.

Pot Sticker Dumplings

1 pound shredded cabbage (I usually look for the bagged cole slaw cabbage for this. It's in the produce section)

1/2 pound ground pork

2 scallions, mined

3 slices of fresh ginger, minced

1 teaspoon dry sherry (optional)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/2 salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Pot Sticker dough

Combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the 1/2 cup oil. You can roughly chop it or process it slightly. Refrigerate 30 minutes to meld the flavors.

Divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll each part into a long thin sausage about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut  each dough sausage into 12 pieces. Roll each piece

between palms to form a smooth ball. Sprinkle with flour and roll each one into a 3-inch round pancake. Place 1 teaspoon of filling on each pancake.

Dampen the edges slightly and gather towards the top to form a 'bag'.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium high heat. Place the dumplings into the skillet with just barely touching. Cook until bottoms

of dumplings are lightly browned, 1-2 minutes. All at once, add enough cold water to almost cover the dumplings. Cover pan and bring to a boil over high heat. cook until tops of dumplinga are waxy and cooked through,

about 5-8 minutes. Drain off the water, return to heat, and crisp bottoms about two minutes. Repeat if you had more dumpling than room the first time around.