friday facts: random week

We all feeling much better around here, thanks for asking.  Fletcher is charming again, and Rowan isn't snoring like our bulldog anymore.  Our newest adventure is waiting to see if the government will shut down and Brian won't get paid.  Fun! 

And today is Friday.  Yay!  Now as a vegetarian, Lent doesn't pose such a problem when Friday rolls around.  I guess I should do something like not eat cheese on Friday, but no.  That would be insane.  My husband, the carnivore, is actually ok with vegetarian meals.  I mean, he's not cooking, right?  I think I make him a meat dish about 3 times a week.  Sometimes less.  And he goes and gets burgers at lunch, so it all evens out.  Anyway, Lent.  Last Friday I made an old standby, fried rice (with shrimp for Brian) and decided to try crab rangoons at home.  They were super easy and fun to make, and were pretty delicious.  I will share it here.  Oh, and yes, I eat these.  I'm not a strict vegetarian- I use chicken broth, etc.  And I wear leather shoes.  It's really just a personal preference in taste and texture.  Like Brian says, it is a fact that if a cow tasted like ice cream, I would totally be a carnivore.  Uh, where was I?  Oh, crab rangoon!

Take a block of softened cream cheese, some canned crab OR fresh crab OR that fake flake crab, about 3 green onions, a couple splashes of soy sauce and worcestershire sauce, a smashed clove or two of garlic and stir it all together.

Then grab one of those little wonton wrappers and put a little bit on it.

And now swipe water on two sides of the square in order to seal it up.

You could use your finger for this, but I found it messy.  This is me doing it lefty while taking the pictures.  Talent!  Ok, now fold it corner to corner, and seal the sides.  You could leave it like this, and it will still turn out great.  But if you want that authentic Chinese restaurant look, you gotsta fold it fancy.

Cute!  Now is the time to decide how healthy you'd like to be.  I'm not a fan of frying anything.  I'm more of a baker with stuff.  So I sprayed the pan VERY well with cooking spray, and then sprayed the tops of the rangoons once I had them on the pan.  You could dunk them in scalding oil and they would admittedly turn out more crunchy and crispy.  Cook em' at 350 for about 8- 10 min.  Your decision, no judging here.  Oh, this uses half the pack of wontons.  Save the other half for next Friday!

Eat up.  They turn out crispy in some areas and still soft in others when you do them in the oven, but trust me, they are still just as addictive.  Yum!  I'm not much for exact measurements (obviously) so if you need them, just google it.  There are a billion different recipes of these out there.

Ok, the kitchen is closed.  Last November I went out in the garden and planted 80, yes *EIGHTY* bulbs.  Tulips (my fav) crocus, and hyacinth.  I did it in an hour using a power drill!  It pays to be married to the handy man.  But, boo.  It seems the crocus decided not to show.  But, I think these are the tulips coming up.

And I know these are tulips.  They are from the bulbs that Brian and I brought back from our honeymoon in Holland and France.  We did not have a house at the time, and have since lived in about 4 different places, but we gave the bulbs to our parents to plant.  My mother in law dug some of hers up to give to us for our house.  These are particularly beautiful when they bloom.  I'll post a picture then, too.

No word from the hyacinth yet, and it seems that my daffodils might stage a flower protest like they did last year, too.  I do not have a green thumb, people.  But spring is here!  Yay!  Soon these trees will have leaves and winter will seem eons away. 



And just to add a little more random to this post, here is a picture of our "organized" back entryway.  Brian asked me not to post the picture because it's embarrassing.  But I'm going to tackle it and hopefully have an "after" picture next Friday!  Sorry, Brian.  Don't be embarrassed.  It's mostly my fault.

Uh, I guess we like toilet paper?  I don't know.  I think I need to pick up a bin for that bag of dog food. 

p.s. How did I get out an entire post without pictures of the littles?  Weird.