Egg Rolls -- Lazy Sunday

Over the years I, like most people I know, have picked up favorite recipes from friends and family.  For instance, there will never, in my humble opinion, be a better recipe for zucchini bread than the one with which my stepmother introduced me to this delicious bread.  I recall being iffy about tasting something so "odd" sounding, but, not wanting to be rude, I accepted the loaf of bread from her as I was heading out the door, returning to school.  However, when I took the plunge and tasted the moist, sweet, "bread" I was hooked for life.  Now summer is simply not complete without baking at least one such loaf using her recipe.

Another fond culinary memory I have is of my friend teaching me how to make egg rolls.  I honestly have no idea WHY we were making these, and I'll bet he doesn't even recall teaching me, but I certainly recall the ingredients, the process, and the delicious taste of the fresh-from-the-wok egg rolls.

When I moved to Virginia in November, 1988, I lived alone in the house we were in the process of buying, while my then-husband wrapped up our lives in Tallahassee, FL and then joined me with the children in Virginia. Before they arrived, since the house was completely empty, I had arranged for new carpet to be installed.  The carpet installers arrived to do the job one day before my family was to arrive from Florida.  As they installed the carpet, I was busy cooking up a batch of egg rolls for the following day.

Suffice to say, I had to go out and buy more ingredients after the carpet installation was complete.  As they worked, with Christmas carols from their "boom-box" filling the air, the aromas from the egg rolls made them hungry, and they eventually asked if they might try one.  I had made a full batch of twenty and there were only a few left when they had finished eating.  When they finished the installation, I wrapped the remaining egg rolls and gave them "carry-out."  The carpet installation was perfect, and I had plenty of time to make a fresh batch for the family.

It had been a VERY long time since I'd made egg rolls, but today I decided I was in the mood to have some of those yummy treats.  So, after church, while I was stocking up on the staples at the grocery store, I added to my basket the ingredients for the egg rolls.  Today was to be a lazy day, so I would be able to enjoy the afternoon cooking.

When I arrived home, Joe informed me that the weather people were predicting more snow and freezing weather in the immediate future, so, rather than simply kicking back and lounging around the place today, we'd really better secure more firewood for the wood stove.  And so we spent the afternoon cutting and stacking firewood.  We still have a fair amount of wood to split, but we should be able to get that done tomorrow, before the predicted snow and nastiness materializes.

Long Lengths to be Cut

First of 11 Shovels of Wood Cut

Judy Loading Shovel with Cut Wood

Don't Even Ask... I have NO Idea What I was doing!

Tonight, though I was pretty tired from stacking wood (Joe did all the hard work while I manned the camera and stacked the wood), I was determined to make those egg rolls. Now, there are some  constraints to my cooking in the garage apartment we have called "home" for nearly a year.  One such constraint is that I have no wok.  Another is that most of my cooking utensils are still packed in boxes, awaiting room to "spread out" in a real kitchen one day.  I have no stove or oven, and cook everything on a two burner electric hot plate, an electric griddle, a crock pot or an electric frying pan.  I opted for the electric frying pan for tonight's fare.

The egg rolls were NOT as good as usual, but they were still pretty great.  Joe, who, it turns out, is not a huge egg roll fan (perhaps I should have asked BEFORE I started cooking) declared they were really good, and proceeded to eat SEVEN of them.  I ate three, which is WAY more than I needed to eat, but they just tasted so good!  And, for another day, I put the remaining nine egg rolls into the freezer.

Sycamore and Blue Sky on a COLD Winter's Day

Talice, Eager to Play!

Happy Dog!

Buzzards.... are they trying to tell me something?

Buzzard...Many of them hanging around today

Today was a really nice day.  Despite the very cold temperatures (yes, I think teens and twenties are very cold), the sky was blue and the sun was shining.  Talice was excited to have us out there spending time in her presence, and she was eager to play.  The buzzards were circling as if they had an idea there would be something they could devour sometime soon, but we survived yet another day of wood stacking and cutting and defied those buzzards!  We are ready for the next wave of snow, if it should fall and, with that, another weekend has slipped away.  Mondays ALWAYS come too quickly!