Still Here!

Ah, the Merry Month of May! 

 It started out with hosting the Garden Exchange here, in the midst of the Monsoon of Mitchell.  Probably the first meeting to not even visit a garden.  We contented ourselves by the fireside as the temps dropped and the water was wade worthy around here.....A yummy dinner diverted our attention and a good visit with other rabid gardeners rounded out the evening...

 It was most important to visit Eldest Son and Lovely Wife, on this the first Mother's Day that she has the privilege of nourishing and nurturing their firstborn, due in August!

Unlike other expecting mamas, Lovely Wife has eschewed her usual sweet cravings for a much healthier diet. 

 After a full day of gardening and visiting and catching up with each other's lives, these two most hospitable of host/hostess, produced the most lovely of Mother's Day/Birthday Boy Supper: Grilled Salmon, Steamed Broccoli with Beau Monde sauce, Rice and a most hearty salad...Yummmm...

 After church that Sunday morning, we headed more north, to visit with BG/BG and Her Hubby/Daddy so that we could help them move....But before that pesky task(which didn't actually happen) we needed to check out their favorite Middle Eastern restaurant for some authentic Mideastern cuisine....Yummmmmm

Plans can change for grad students and we found ourselves driving home that evening so to prepare for BG's arrival at our home, for A TWO WEEK VISIT!

 Mimi Nirvana....

Peonies welcomed them home....The blooms began and continued during their visit, adding so much. My favorite cutting flowers; showy and fragrant, why can't they be more available than the quick weeks in May?

Math Friend came by during the first week of the visit for homework help.  Do you know that her math book contains a most pleasing Chocolate Cake recipe?  Well, we really needed that one made quickly!  Yummmmy and full of measures for us Math Seekers.  Wonderful to start the week....

Which turned out to be a highlight....A blight of the most tenacious kind, managed to attack all in the house and outer bounds...Days and nights of sneezing, hacking, coughing, sneezing.  Tissues became an accessory to everyone in the  house.....except moi.....BG, her BG, Her Hubby, My Hubby and Youngest Son, all fell victim to the late season plague.

Some days, it was all we could manage was good eats and a good fire, for the weather joined us in feeling icky.....

Little Lady managed some major growth rings while at Mimi's.....She played and played and bounced and sang...She found out that her little knees and strong arms can move her around quite well, thank you....Her sweet little dimpled smiles made all the phlegm being coughed up around the house, quite manageable......

While on the porch, in between seasonal changes from frigid to tropical, I chanced to study the most lovely pink center on this fading peony....Love the pinky/salmony shade.

Towards the end of the visit, BG felt well enough to work some magic in the kitchen.  The most Yummmmmmy pizza....Fresh dough, sauteed spinach, garlic, italian sausage...No sauce; just the vegetabley goodness...Wow!  Thank you BG!

One last food request from BG: mama's Homemade Eggrolls...!  Hadn't made them in a month of Sundays so it was indeed time!  Utilized Sunday Dinner's roast beef and veggies and some additional items to create some pretty Yummmy eggyrolls....

Frozen Novelties on the Porch always round out a summer supper around here...But not Sunday night! Bugs intent to drive us to lunacy, decided to add to our lists of  ourTwo Week Visitor Challenge...We did NOT want buggys in our 7-up sherbet floats!

And since I have kept you waiting ever so long and since this post is full of food centered reports, I figured you are probably hungry right now and need a basic egg roll recipe.  I fashioned mine from a recipe given to me  30 years ago from a bible study friend.  I have altered and adapted it for almost any meat or vegetable...Let's hope your version is just, well, dare I say it?.....YUMMY!!!!!  

Bon Appetit!!

Mama's Authentic Egg Rolls:

2 pkg of egg roll skins

1 1/2 cup of cooked meat; chicken, pork, beef (or leave it out and add more veggies)

2 cups of assorted vegetables; shredded cabbage, onions of all kinds, leftover steamed vegetables, shredded or cooked carrots, leftover rice, whatever can be minced and mixes well together...

1/4 cup of wheat germ

1 can water chestnuts or bamboo shoots

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 egg

2 tsp garlic powder

Add all your ingredients together in a food processor on shred, till fine consistency.

Add two tablespoons of mixture in the center of one egg roll skin.  Starting on the diagonal, flop one corner on the mixture, then the two opposite sides, tucked in, then with a small bowl of water and a bit of cornstarch, wet the last corner of the skin before the final roll.  Set aside while 1/4 cup of canola oil is heated in a heavy, high sided skillet.  Cook egg rolls till golden brown, turning them as needed...Drain on paper toweling. Serve with your favorite sauce: sweet and sour, hoisin, brown mustard, horseradish, soy sauce etc.....