"I love it when we are all together at your house, Grammer!"

It's Sunday, and I am at my mom and dad's house in Abilene, Kansas.  The whole fam damily is here.  

Shawn, (that's me), Meriam and her husband Tate, their three kids, Hogan, Jadyn, and Tiger, Mom and Dad, Nancy and her son Keil, (Kolby her oldest was in Wichita, and Kane the middle one was in Kearney), Heather  and her husband Kevin, and their three kids, Malorie, Audrey, and Miller were present and accounted for.  

The night before we had decided on Beef Stroganoff for dinner.  I could eat this with a spoon, a fork, a knife, or any implement you have.  I love (that is not too strong a word) my mother's beef stroganoff.

Recipe:  (Although, it never tastes as good as when my mother makes it.)

This recipe is for 15 people with hearty appetites and very few leftovers.

4 lbs of tenderized top round.  Cut this into strips, and dredge it with flour that has been mixed with salt and pepper.  Brown this in canola oil in the largest skillet you have.  Don't crowd the meat, or you will get gray meat instead of that carmel brown color you want.   Take the meat out, but don't get rid of the oil.  

Slice three large onions and add them to the canola oil.  Cook until tender and then add the meat back into the skillet,  add 3 cups of water and 3 tsps of beef bullion granules and let come to a boil.  Back the heat down to a simmer and let cook until the meet is so tender you can cut it with a fork.   

Now not all of my family likes mushrooms, so we cook them separately and people add them when they are getting ready to eat.  

Some people serve Stroganoff over egg noodles, not here, we are rice people, and we serve it over a big bed of white fluffy rice.  5 cups cooked with 10 cups of water for this big group.  

The vegetable was a big bowl of steamed broccoli and we had Garlic bread to sop up whatever stroganoff gravy that was left on the plate.  

Dessert was Nanaimo Bars with Vanilla Ice Cream.  The recipe for these luscious bars can be found at the Food52.  

The most excellent thing about the whole day was that we were together and having a great time.  My dad, who has Alzheimer's was chasing the kids around the house and actually remembering their names.  He had a super time, even though it is hard for him to keep everybody straight.  My niece Malorie who is 16 told me that she loved spending time at Grammer and Papa's house.  It was a great day.  Full of laughter and fun.  

Family

I went to visit my family in Abilene this week.  It has been a week of awesome days and challenging ones too.  I showed up last Friday at my parents' house.  When I got there Mom had made the classic pot roast, carrots and potatoes.  I love this meal. It's totally comfort food.  

Saturday was when the festivities began.  My sister Meriam, her husband Tate and their three kids got to Abilene Friday night as well, and we all decided to meet up to plan the meal for Saturday.  We had gone over to Heather and Kevin's, that's my other sister and  her husband to greet them.  Saturday's menu consisted of corned beef sandwiches on rye  bread, with swiss and homemade sauerkraut that my sister Heather made.  

(insert picture of rueben sandwich right here. )

It may sound crazy, but we don't worry about what we have for a meal, it may not sound like it goes together, but usually it is awesome.  My sister Meriam makes these wonderful egg rolls.  Usually, she makes them with pork, but since I don't eat pork, she made them with shredded chicken.  

Meriam's Egg Rolls

1 package of egg roll wrappers

1 package of pre-shredded coleslaw mix, without the dressing

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

garlic salt

onion powder

salt and pepper

soy sauce

mirin ( japanese rice wine vinegar)

and a dash of hoisin sauce

Mix the coleslaw mix, the chicken and all the seasonings together to form the filling.  

Wrap the mix in an egg roll wrapper and there you have it.  Awesomeness!  

Fry the egg rolls in canola or peanut oil that has been heated to 350 degrees.  When they are golden brown they are ready.  

So dinner Saturday consisted of Grilled Rueben Sandwiches, Meriam's Egg Rolls, Potato Chips, Welton Onion Dip, (1 container sour cream, 1 packet of dried onion soup mix, and 1 tsp of  worstershire sauce), and wilted lettuce salad.  My mom puts green lettuce leaves from two heads of lettuce and 1/2  cup of chopped green onions in a bowl, she  cooks up about  10 slices of bacon, leaving the fat in the frying pan.  She  breaks up the bacon and adds it to the salad, and then in the grease, she adds 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinegar, along with 1 tbs of sugar  and it sizzles in the bacon fat, and then she adds the whole shebang to the salad.  It wilts the lettuce and makes a great dressing.  

We had Blackberry cobbler and ice cream for dessert.  The cobbler was made with two of my mom's pie crusts (2 cups flour, 1 cup shortening cut to resemble small peas, add 5 - 6 tbs of water and mix with a fork.  Divide into two disks and put in fridge to chill.  Roll out and use. )  I put one crust in the bottom and another over the blackberries ( 3 pints of blackberries, rinsed, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tbs cornstarch.)  Sprinkle the top with sugar and bake until the berries have released their juice and the cobbler is bubbling.  

Well, It Wasn't Really Dinner

The night before last, I cooked some of the venison that Rob had shot in the fall. It was the really tender blackstrap and we had decided to slice it rather thinly before we froze it. You have to be careful with venison because it is so lean it will dry out into leather very quickly. Because of this I have taken to marinating it with all kinds of wonderful spices, oils, and acids. I drizzled this batch of meat in olive oil, garlic, a seasoning mix called 21 season salute that you get from Trader Joe's, and the juice of a lemon, this was probably a pound of meat. I let it sit for a while and then put it on the grill. You have to watch it very carefully so it doesn't burn or dry out. 

 The meat was amazing! It had great flavor and I served it with sautéed onions and zucchini. So I had leftovers for my lunch the next day. I hate eating leftovers the same way twice so this is what I came up with. 

 A VENISON TACO

 This makes four tacos, enough for two people. 

 4 ounces of the cooked marinated blackstrap, this is the primo part of a deer.  The piece that is so tender you can cut it with a fork.  

1 very small zucchini

1/4 onion.  I had sautéed these with some garlic the day before.  

1/4 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp cumin

1 very thin lice of brie per taco

4 corn tortillas

and 1/4 tsp salt.

Cook the meat and the zucchini just to the point they are hot.  Remember they were cooked yesterday.  If you are not using leftovers, sauté them and cook the venison on the grill until pink in the middle.  

Pile it on a corn tortilla that has been grilled, or cooked in a little olive oil in a frying pan.  Add the brie, fold the taco and enjoy.