Family, Food and Fun!

I've been (for the most part) enjoying having our niece living here! She enjoys a lot of the same things I do so we get along pretty good. Don't get me wrong, there have been a few times I've gotten a bit irritated...(remember I'm kinda hard to live with at times LOL) and I'm sure she can say the same, *giggle* but thats the way it goes when you are living with someone, no matter who it is. We still love each other and as long as we are willing to talk about our problems...things will be just fine!

Abbie is one of the only people (women anyway) who I can stand to be in the kitchen with! My Mom is probably about the only other one LOL. I've always prefered to cook on my own for the most part...not that I don't like having help on the BIG family meals, but for the most part I'm happy being alone with my cooking. In fact, I at times prefer to have the whole house to myself...not just my kitchen. DH doesn't bother me, although I tend to get more motivated to cook if he is outside  busy with his own thing, but that's just probably cause I know he is busy so I should be too...and if he is being lazy, we can be lazy together. *giggle*

Anyway, I'm not really compatible in the kitchen with most people, but Abbie and I are doing quite well together, even having FUN being in the kitchen together at times! We don't even have to be working on the same thing and still haven't gotten in each others way...least so far...even though the kitchen isn't real huge. (Well...she didn't get in mine anyway...don't know if I got in hers. LOL) That's a big surprise actually to me, cause although I know we've cooked together before...and been around each other, it's not something we've done a LOT of...so I didn't know how it would be with her living here, knowing how I tend to have "loner" days where I want that alone time.

I have to say it's almost like having a daughter come home, cause we finish each others sentences...can interpret each others sign language when one of us can't think of the word we are looking for...and have a lot of fun together when we are both feeling good. Seriously we can have a blast together at times...and talk and talk and talk. Course, it's not a never ending chat fest...we both like our quiet times...but when we ARE in a talkative mood look out! LOL We both can be shy...but not with each other. It's so GOOD to be an AUNT sometimes!! ;-))

The other day Abbie wanted to make homemade Runza's. In Nebraska there is a fast food resturant that serves Runza's that Abbie and DH LOVED. I've never been fond of them cause I didn't like the cabbage in them. However, knowing how they both liked them, I agreed to get out some hamburger (which I'm a little stingy with...one package, which is two pounds, of beef and one package of deer burger a week is all I've been allowing...cause I wanted it to last till we butcher again if possible since the store bought burger just isn't agreeing with me to well.) Abbie mixed up the dough recipe I pulled out that I usually use for dinner rolls...I got it from my Aunt Betty, and it's the BEST!...then fried up the meat mixture for the middle. She even made a pan of it especially for me, without cabbage!

While we need practice rolling them and getting them the right size, they really turned out YUMMY! We are for SURE going to have to make them again sometime...maybe enough to freeze some, for easy lunches. DH and Abbie said they were pretty close to the "real" thing...and I thought they were WAY better, cause mine didn't have that nasty cabbage that I didn't like in the "real" ones in Nebraska. LOL

The photo above was an after thought...I stole Abbie's plate, after she got done taking a photo to send to her fiance, and snapped my own photo of it, so I could share our success story with making Runza's. (although it was mostly Abbie's success story...I just supplied the dough recipe and a little help with rolling them...oh and my companionship for the afternoon of baking.  LOL)  Needless to say, I really can't wait to have them again...cause they really ARE good!  :-))

It's been a hotter week here...a little rain, not as much as "they" were saying we might get, but that figures.  LOL  It's been peaceful for the most part.  Abbie's been working on a late garden...she likes to garden, silly girl... she hasn't done it for a while, so doesn't know if it will produce anything, but least she can get her feet wet (or muddy) this summer and see how it goes. I finally got some salve made, and more started...and need to get back to making soap, but that's for another week I guess cause this week is almost gone.  Strawberry season is finally over...next week we may get a few black raspberries (not enough, thanks to the hail storm we had a few weeks ago *cry*) but least we are done with the first wave of fruit for this year!  Hubby has been running around doing his own thing...I never can remember all he's doing during the week.  All in all I'd have to say it's been a pretty good week.

Praise God for the wonderful gifts of love, family, and food God has blessed us with this week!  :-))