Russian Cooking Class

One of the things I love about traveling to different countries, besides meeting the people, is trying a variety of local foods. I love to eat! Recently Emma and I got to try some Russian food right here at home. Our friend who is from Belarus gave us a class in preparing what is one of her favorite foods.

Pelmeni is basically a dumpling that can be filled with several different foods. We put a mixture of ground beef and pork (with onions and seasoning) in ours. Here's the recipe for the dough:

Flour-700 g

Warm water-300g

butter-1 1/2 Tbsp

Combine ingredients and knead well until smooth. Roll out and cut circles (about 3inches in diameter). Place about a Tbsp of the raw meat mixture in the middle. Fold the dough over the meat and seal edges completely with fingers. To make it really pretty you can pinch the 2 ends together to make what I think looks like a tiny bonnet.

Place in boiling water that has been salted for about 8 minutes. Once the pelmeni is removed from the pot you can top with a generous amount of butter. :)

I was surprised at just how delicious this simple recipe is. Add a salad and you've got a very filling meal.

Grace is 12!

It seems like every time I turn around one of my girls is getting older. I miss them all being babies and toddlers but I'm really enjoying this season in our lives too. August is Grace's month. Our middle child who is quiet most of the time, very vocal at other times. :) She has the biggest most giving heart. Best of all she loves the Lord and daily seeks His wisdom. What a joy she is to me and the rest of the family. Happy birthday to my precious G-dog. Love you the world.

( Grace's friend-the pretty brunette on the left, has her birthday just 2 days after Grace's. I made them matching gifts in their favorite colors.)

(my first time to try making Petits Fours.)