Author Archives: Ellen

8 Random Things About My Kitchen ~ Meme

Hello everyone! We made it to Seattle at 12:30 A.M. this morning. 17 hours on the road. I’m brain dead but I had this little meme in my drafts and decided I needed to put something new to look at on my blog. Since the kitchen and cooking and eating and fellowship were the theme of the last 3 days I thought this was a good filler for the time being. Hope to get around soon and see what you are all up to! Blessings.

Here’s a little Meme about the Kitchen. List 8 random things about your kitchen. You can combine things about your kitchen with your cooking style…

1. My Kitchen in my home in Washington is also my Dining Room. It all happens in here….

2. I have a gas stove top that is separate from my electric double oven.

3. A center rectangular work area with cabinets and a section of bar seating doubles as a buffet service area.

4. My kitchen has loads of cabinets that were an Oak finish and Dear painted them for me in two shades of green with my walls an even darker shade of the same green tone.

5. We used to have fluorescent light fixtures in this space that we jokingly said we could do surgery under. Dear replaced them with recessed lighting and drop down pen lights over my Island and a light fixture over our table.

6. We have seated up to 16 people around our dining room table!

7. We like to cook classic comfort food and also experiment with the latest recipes we see on Food Network!

We clean up all the messes in this wonderful sink. It’s deep and wide and I can fit a cookie sheet in here and my large pots and pans.

8. We love to share our space and our food with no expectations of reciprocation…

If you’d like to participate in this meme please do and let me know if you do…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Tolstoy ~ Quote

 “All happy families resemble each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in it’s own way.”

~ Leo Tolstoy from Anna Karenina

Well I’m off and running getting everything put together for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night. All the shopping is done. I even managed to find a new dress to wear to the wedding in under an hour. Whoohoo! Pasta Salad is done. Chicken is marinating. Brisket is ready to go into the oven tomorrow bright and early. I’ve been to the airport once already today and got to get re-acquainted with my sweet little niece who is now 5 months old. I head back to pick up my daughter at 9:45 tonight. Tomorrow morning I have extra hands at the condo to assemble fruit skewers. When all is transported to the venue I hope to be able to get some photo time in between making sure everyone is fed and happy!

The wedding is Saturday evening and then we hit the road bright and early on Sunday morning for Seattle.

All this to say ellen b. will be back to bloggy world when she arrives in Seattle next week. Have a wonderful weekend y’all!

Pelemeny ~ Russian Ravioli

Pelemeny (Russian Version of Ravioli)

Filling:

1/2 lb. ground chicken
1/2 lb. ground veal, or lamb, or beef
1 medium onion grated
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Dough:

2 cups sifted flour
1 egg
1/3 cup water

Combine the two meats with onion. Add seasonings to taste and mix well and set aside.

Prepare Dough: In a small mixing bowl, sift the flour and a pinch of salt. Make a nest in the flour, add the egg which has been mixed with water. Work the flour into the egg and mix and then knead to a rather dry dough. Use more or less flour as needed. Roll dough very thin. We used a pelemeny mold/maker that my mom brought back on one of her trips to Russia so the pelemeny come out in a round shape. If you don’t have a mold cut the dough into 2″ circles. Put a small ball of filling (about 1/2 tsp) onto each circle and fold over and pinch edges making a half-moon shape. Then pinch each corner up together.

Boil in your choice of broth. Add the Pelemeny to the boiling broth. When they are done they will surface like doughnuts. You can serve them with the broth like a soup or you can have them plain with some sour cream. This recipe should feed 4-6 people.

The photo collages that I have shown are of my family making a huge batch of these for a family gathering we’re having. We made 648 of these.

It is very important to flour this mold really well each time you put the dough on to fill.

We found that a plastic teaspoon worked best to press the meat into each little hole.

You have to shake the completed Pelemeny out of the mold.

You can serve these with a lot of broth like a soup or just plain with sourcream.

Some people enjoy them with soy sauce.

Enjoy!

WFW ~ Psalm 104: 24-25

Psalm 104: 24-25 ~

“How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number-living things both large and small.”

 

For more Word Filled Wednesday click over to Amydeanne…

ABC Wednesday ~ W is for…

W is for Weather-vanes

 

 

When we are both in town and available Willow, from Willow’s Cottage, and I try to walk each day for an hour. We trade off walking in my neighborhood and hers. All of these weather-vane photos are from our walks in her neighborhood, except for this last one.

 

For more ABC Wednesday click on over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Ruby Tuesday

 

Yippee! I’m excited that I’ll get to see my daughter face to face instead of just talking on the phone this Thursday. There’s a family wedding in Southern California so my kids are flying down. Fun times.

For more Ruby Tuesday head over to Work of the Poet. WordPress is messing with our edit page again and I’m very frustrated because the page has a mind of it’s own and won’t leave things where I put them. Oye Vay!

Have a great week everyone…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Pishky ~ Russian Fry Bread

I’m posting two versions of my mother Nadia’s Pishky that my family grew up with. Mennonites call them Rollkuchen. There are some variations in the ingredients. I’m gathering more of our family heritage recipes on my blog.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 3 eggs (beaten)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • vegetable oil to fry the Pishky in

Method:

  1. Make well in center of flour. Mix sour cream, beaten eggs, salt, sugar, and orange juice.
  2.  First blend the soda in a tablespoon of hot water then add it to the wet ingredients. Mix into flour and knead the dough.
  3.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Cut in strips. Then cut strips on the diagonal about 4″ long and cut a slit in the center of the 4″ length.
  4. Fold the top of the piece through the hole and up again. Fry in oil until golden brown on both sides.
  5.  Before serving sprinkle with powdered sugar.

My kids loved to have these hot out of the pan when they would come in from playing in the snow.

These are great right out of the pan and for a few hours but after that, they aren’t as wonderful. Make small batches that you’ll gobble up quickly is my recommendation. The other thing you can do if you have more than you want to eat right away is to make a french toast casserole for breakfast with the leftovers.

This recipe is still easy to make and a nice treat similar to Rollkuchen.
I made a small batch using the following recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cups sifted flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 cup powdered sugar (frosting sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon soft butter
  • 1/2 tablespoon brandy
  • 2 eggs
  • vegetable oil for frying
  • powered sugar for dusting

Method:

  1. Sift flour, sugar and salt together. Cut in butter.
  2. Beat eggs and brandy together well.
  3. Add egg mixture to flour and mix well. Knead thoroughly.
  4. Divide into two portions keeping one portion covered while working on the first portion.
  5. Roll out thin.
  6. Cut strips approx. 2 inches wide and 3 inches long.
  7. Make a slit in the middle of each strip, pulling one end through the slit.
  8. Continue with the second portion and following the same steps.
  9. Fry in hot vegetable oil turning until both sides are light brown.
  10. Drain on paper towels.
  11. Dust with powdered sugar.

Yield: 20 Pishkey

 

Snapshot Tag ~

 

Flower has tagged me for a getting to know you meme called Snapshot. Here are some flowers for you, Flower! I added some to the meme. The meme asked for 5 places you’ve lived. I did that in two parts, 5 places before I was married and 5 places after I was married.

A. What were you doing 10 years ago?

That would be 1998 correct. I was substitute teaching in the State of Washington.

B. 5 things on my to do list.

1. Buy dress for wedding.
2. Make shopping list for Rehearsal Dinner we’re catering.
3. Shop for what’s on the shopping list.
4. Cook what I’m cooking ahead of time for the dinner.
5. Decide on whether to go to Disneyland on Thursday.

C. 5 snacks I enjoy.

1. Chips and Salsa
2. Nuts
3. Crackers and Cheese
4. Ice Cream
5. Hummus with pita bread

D. Things I’d do if I were a millionaire.

1. Pay off mortgages.
2. Give my children some money.
3. Donate more to some worthy organizations.
4. Take my kids to Great Britain and Ireland.
5. Put some money away so I can buy gasoline for my car :0)

E. Places I’ve lived {before I was married}

1. East Los Angeles, California
2. Pico Rivera, California
3. Montebello, California
4. Redlands, California (1 year at University of Redlands)
5. La Mirada, California

F. Places I’ve lived {since I’ve been married}

1. West Los Angeles, California
2. Huntington Beach, California (Josh and Dan born here)
3. Ventura, California (Katie born here)
4. Bothell, Kirkland, Kenmore,  Washington
5. Camarillo, California

So if you’d like to participate in this meme consider yourself tagged and let me know if you play…

Summer Suns Are Glowing ~ Hymn

Summer Suns Are Glowing

Summer suns are glowing over land and sea;
Happy light is flowing, bountiful and free;
Everything rejoices in the mellow rays;
Earth’s ten thousand voices swell the psalm of praise.

God’s free mercy streameth over all the world,
And His banner gleameth, by His church unfurled;
Broad and deep and glorious, as the heaven above,
Shines in might victorious His eternal love.

Lord, upon our blindness Thy pure radiance pour;
For Thy lovingkindness we would love Thee more;
And when clouds are drifting dark across the sky,
Then, the veil uplifting, Father, be Thou nigh.

We will never doubt Thee, though Thou veil Thy light;
Life is dark without Thee, death with Thee is bright;
Light of light, shine o’er us on our pilgrim way;
Go Thou still before us to the endless day.

words by William W. How (1871)