Monday, February 3, 2020

Pelmeni

When we took our cruise on the Volga River, my sister-in-law Katherine and I went to a cooking class and learned to make pelmeni, which are Russian dumplings.  The meat filling is wrapped in a thin, non-leavened dough.  As soon as we got back from our trip, I ordered a pelmeni mold but it has just been sitting in my cabinet for the last year and a half.

My excuse for breaking it out and actually making the pelmeni was Emma Larson's mission call to the Baltics Mission where she will be serving in Estonia.  I've known Emma since she was a cute little two year old and it was great getting to know grown-up, confident, talented and strong in the gospel Emma. Interestingly enough she will be the only missionary at the Mission Training Center learning Estonian.  It isn't a very big mission and there are only 6 sister missionaries there right now.  Another fun thing is that Emma has the voice of an angel and has been a standout in several choirs.  Guess what?  Estonians love choir!  Choir is a required course in all Estonian schools.  They are going to LOVE Emma!
 Since a lot of Estonian food is actually Russian food, pelmeni seemed like the perfect dinner to share with the Larson family.  
You make a fairly basic dough, roll it out very thin and then place it on the pelmeni mold and roll your rolling pin across it so that the shapes are distinctive.  The filling is a mixture of raw ground pork and beef with some grilled onions..
 After you have the filling placed on each shape, you put another thin sheet of dough on top, toll again until the shapes are definite. 

Then you just press them through,  crimp the edges, and boil. 
They can be topped with just about anything from catsup to sour cream to mushroom gravy.  We loved the gravy!






Sibling Questions

Mary recently did this survey on Facebook.  I decided that I should add my opinions as their mom.  Let's see if there is any disagreement.....

1. Who's the smartest academically? Matt
3. Most sensitive? Mary - definitely - she is the one who liked it when soccer games ended in a tie so that no one had to feel bad
4. Worst temper? Matt although Johnny isn't too far behind
5. Most social? Scott
6. Most stubborn? All are stubborn in their own ways - Mary is silently stubborn, Matt will argue with you forever, John is also a quiet stubborn, although not as quietly stubborn as Mary, and Scott is probably the least stubborn but he has stuck with being a vegetarian for 10 years and recently went vegan, I think that takes a special kind of stubborn.
7. Who was moms favorite? Love them all equally.... 
8. Most likely to fight someone? Matt (Matt does love a good argument...and I think he got that from me!)
9. Best cook? All 4 are good cooks
10. Most clothes and shoes? Shoes - definitely Matt and Scott; clothes....it is a tie between Mary, Matt and Scott....Johnny is much more of a minimalist 
11. Who was the bad kid? Matt
12. Who has the biggest heart? Me
13. Who's the quietest? Johnny
14. Who’s the worst driver?! Scott (I still remember him telling me not to worry that he always stayed  at 65 MPH on EAgle Road where the speed limit is 55 MPH!) But all 4 are actually good drivers
15. Who was born first? Mary
16. Who is the youngest? Scott
17. Who has the best hair? Johnny - loved his curls and the thick head of hair he has now!
18. Most kids? Mary - 2 
19. Coffee drinker Well Scott works at Starbucks so probably him...
20. Who is the loudest? All 4 are pretty quiet - except for during Barca and Madrid games
21. Most expensive taste in buying things? Probably Mary but they all like nice things! Johnny likes nice electronics but isn't too interested in clothes and shoes like the others.
22. Most likely to get arrested?  ðŸ™ˆ
23. Who was the cutest kid? Take it from me, they were all 4 adorable!
24. Who takes the most naps? Matt
25. Who has the most energy? Scott who gets up at an ungodly hour to be at Starbucks by 4:30 and Johnny who chases around and entertains a very active 4 year old!