I decided to put the school books away for the day.  I put three chairs at the counter and sink and schooled my children in the kitchen.  It was a lot of fun.   Samuel read the recipes to us and he also practiced his fractions with measuring cups.

The first thing we made together was Cream Cheese-Olive Roll-ups

* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1-2 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
* 1/3 cup mayonnaise (do not use salad dressing)
* 1 (2 1/4 ounce) can pitted black olives, finely chopped
* 5-6 green onions, finely chopped
* 1/2-1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (might use more or less)
* 8 (10 inch)  flour tortillas

Directions

1. Hand-squeeze out as much excess moisture in the olives as possible before chopping, and make certain to chop finely.
2 In a bowl combine cream cheese with garlic, mayonnaise, green and black olives, green onions and black pepper; mix to combine well.
3. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture over each tortilla, then sprinkle a small amount cheddar cheese over the top of the cream cheese.
4.Roll up each tortilla as tightly as possible.
5.Place each tortilla onto a plate.
6.Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours or up to 24 hours (a longer chilling time will only improve on the flavor)
7.  Slice each tortilla into about 1-inch pieces.

I have been wanting to make these for a long time but I needed to wait to have company over since my husband won’t touch these roll-ups.  He hates mayo, cream cheese and olives!    The last thing I need is to make these and end up eating all of them!  Our company really liked them ( and so did Samuel and I ).

I just love Sophia’s little hands.  Often I look at them and kiss them and say to her, “I wonder what you will do for God with these hands!  Who will you help with these hands God has given you?”   One time she answered me and said, “I am going to rock my babies with these hands, Mommy.”   And I kissed her some more …

Yummy!  We are tripling this recipe and making them this weekend.  We are having 35 people at our house for a cookout!

The next thing we made:

Dreamsicle Jello Salad

* 2 (3 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding
* 1 (3 ounce) package orange Jell-O
* 1 1/2 cups boiling water
* 1 (22 ounce) can mandarin oranges (with juice)
* 1 (16 ounce) container Cool Whip

Directions

1.Combine the pudding, Jello and boiling water and dissolve completely.
2 Add the Mandarin Oranges (with juice).
3.Fold in the Cool Whip.

I had to make my own cool-whip … didn’t taste exactly like it but everyone liked it.  I tossed in some mini marshmallows that I had been saving and also some crushed pineapple.

For the main course we made Sweet and Sour Meatballs.  I made both rice and noodles for people to choose their preference.  I doubled this recipe and we had leftovers the next day.

* 3/4 lb ground pork
* 3/4 lb ground turkey or hamburger
* 1 tablespoon onion, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon parsley
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon garlic salt
* 2 eggs
* 1-1 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions

1.In a large mixing bowl add the meats and blend together with your hands.
2. Add the onion, parsley, pepper, and garlic salt. Mix again with your hands until all the seasonings are well blended with the meat.
3.In a bowl beat the eggs until well beaten. While mixing the egg into the meat mixture, add the bread crumbs 1/2 cup at a time until the meat begins to feel slightly firm.
4.Form the meat into 1 1/2″ balls with your hands.
5.Gently place in cooking pan so that the meatballs are close but not touching.
6.Cook in pre-heated oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until browned.
7.The meatballs will not be fully cooked yet.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

* 1 (14 ounce) jar chili sauce (like Heinz)
* 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 (32 ounce) jar grape jelly
* 1 (4 ounce) can chopped mild green chilies
* 3 tablespoons dried onion flakes
* 1 tablespoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon of your favorite curry powder, to taste
* 1/2 teaspoon dried ancho chile powder
* 1/4 teaspoon dried chipotle powder, to taste (optional)

Directions

1.Put all the ingredients but meatballs into the crockpot and mix well.
2.Add the meatballs and stir to coat well.
3.Put the crockpot on low and let cook for 4 hours on low.

These were a bit spicy but even my picky eater loved them!

The secret ingredient is grape jelly!!  Sounds strange, I know.  It is really good, though!

I noticed now that Sophia is the one in most of these pictures although all of the kids were in the kitchen with me.  Her favorite place to be is right at my side in the kitchen and if I let her, she would take over!  : )      I made an angel food cake, too, with strawberry whipped topping but didn’t get a picture.  I am pretty sure angel food cake is a pretty basic recipe.  ( Don’t substitute lemon juice for cream of tarter – I found out last month it does NOT work! )

God Bless!!

I just never know what is going to come out of my kids’ mouths!  It makes me nervous sometimes.  Last night Samuel brought out his Go Fish card game.  He said to Huang very enthusiastically, “Mr. Huang you should know how to play this game!!!”    Mr. Huang replied, “Why is that?”   Samuel says pointing to the back of the card game box, “Because it says RIGHT HERE that this game was made in China!! “   Huang burst out laughing, thankfully not offended.   What a fun moment!

This is Lisa.  She is such a sweet Christian young lady.  Sophia just loves her!  She sits with Lisa just about every Sunday.

One of our favorite ladies at our church in Minnesota, Grandma Srader ( as my children lovingly call her ) sent the girls some jewlery-making kits.  So, I pulled them out last night and we had a lot of fun making necklaces and bracelets.

Lisa went home with a couple necklaces and bracelets the kids made for her.

Yesterday also happened to be Independence Day here in Estonia.  The tradition is that everyone eats split pea soup for lunch and these pasteries for dessert.  My husband and at least two of my kids hate split pea soup so I decided not to go with that Estonian tradition.  I went to the grocery store around lunch time and there were about 40 people in line to get these pasteries.  So, I got what I needed and by that time, the line was down to about 6 people and so I got my couple of boxes of these pasteries, too.    They look pretty but Bob and I were trying to figure out what makes these so special??  They’re just a bread-type pastery with a glob of whipped topping and powdered sugar on top.    The day is also know as National Sledding Day – like a big outdoor festival.   I thought it was so neat to see all the people sledding down hills and cross-country skiing on the sidewalks.  It was really fun!