The way to a man's heart...

Is through his stomach. And I must say that it is the way to mine as well. Kevin's favorite Russian food is something called pelmini. He made it for me once and, YUM, I've craved it ever since. The problem, we don't live in Russia and for some reason pelmini is about the only thing that isn't allowed to be imported to the states. The solution, I give it my best go. If I were still working this would not have happened. It's quite time consuming for a single meal. Maybe next time Kevin is off we will tackle it together and freeze some for comfort food down the road :). I documented my process as proof that I am finding productive ways to use my days.

The filling is simply a dump this and dump that process. It's the dough and folding of the little bite size morsels that is the pain. My belly made an appearance in the second picture. See it hanging over the counter. Too bad I'm tall and it can hang over the counter. If I were just a few inches shorter I would soon be unfit to be in the kitchen :).

This last step of frying the pelmini is Kevin's personal request. I like them straight from the pot just boiled (and that's how most Russian's eat them).

Then to top them off, sour creme and, of all things, ketchup. Weird but DELICIOUS!

I was inspired to make this Russian dish because this last weekend Kevin had a cousin come home from his mission. So we all went to the airport to welcome him home. It brought back all the fun memories from when I was at the airport with all of Kevin's family to welcome him home. That was June 1, 2006. We didn't know all that was in store for us then.

Now we have a little better picture :).

I Love You Kevin and I'm so happy you're HOME!!

This picture leads you to believe that Kevin was a giant in Russia. Although it is a well known fact that he is tall, he does not have 'giant status'. The others in the picture just happen to all be quite short.

Don't let all the sunny pictures fool you. Kevin can assure you that Russia was anything but. These pictures are from the very end of his mission in May, and he still managed to get a picture of snow!