Cooking Lessons

I have this friend named Randi. She and her husband just moved here from Washington last summer. She was put in my Visiting Teaching Group and we have had a great time getting to know each other. All I can't think of when I think of her is that we laugh all the time. It's been so fun becoming friends with her and Brent. They just had their first baby a week and a half ago and they are LOVING it.

They are also great with the girls. They just became their Sunday School teachers and now the girls actually really like going to church. I really hope that they are good for Brent and Randi during class, unlike the 13 other rowdy kids in there. (It's crazy. I really can't believe they haven't split that class).

So, you all pretty much know the twins. They SOMETIMES are shy, but for the most part, whne they get to know you, they're very "outgoing" (is that a nice way of saying it?). Well, one week, they came running to me after church and said, "Mom, we're going to Brent and Randi's house. They want us to come over." I just tipped my head and gave them the "seriously?" look. They knew what I saying cuz they replied with, "I promise. They said it was okay!" Which my reply became, "Ya, I'm sure they said it was okay...after you guys invited yourselves over! Do they WANT you to come over?" "Ya mom! They do. Promise!"

So, even though I prodded Brent and Randi, they never gave in and admitted that they were appalled that the girls invited themselves over. They were so gracious to let them over...playing board games, watching shows and letting them help cook dinner. The girls were in heaven.


And I'll admit...so was I. It was back in January during one of Brian's trips. I was super worn out doing it alone (I can't remember, but Spencer might have also been sick). So it was great for me. I just felt a little guilty (we weren't super good friends by that point. Just "pretty good" friends. Not good enough to feel comfortable knowing if they were cool with it. hehe.)

So, this next post I'm stealing from Randi's blog. I thought the pictures were so cute and knew you guys would love to see them. Here ya go! (Oh and by the way, as a side note, she lived in Germany for a year, which would explain why she knows so much about German food).

Cooking Lessons
Last Sunday we "borrowed" my friend Christy's daughters for the day. The girls wanted to come over to our house and I thought, "why not...they can cook dinner for us." I guess that is half joke half serious. We got to the house, had lunch, played a game and then watched 3 movies. I have never watch so many movies in one day before. After that I told the girls I would teach them to cook German food. Their stepdad is in Germany for the month for work and I thought it would be fun for them to learn how to cook something from Germany. My favorite thing is Schnitzle (breaded pork) and fried spaetzle (small dumpling-like noodles). The girls did every step from start to finish. I was impressed at how brave they were to jump in and do the breading on the pork. One of them commented that she had never touched that kind of meat before. They made the homemade spaetzle, the sauce, salad, drink, and the meat.Here is Xanthe frying the schnitzle. She did a nice job of not burning herself and got the pork the perfect golden brown color. Honestly, I didn't ever have the tongs in my hands. I told her what to do and she went for it.Xoe frying the spaetzle. She was so excited that she made homemade noodles. I told her that the most important part of cooking was for the chef to have a taste test. She liked that part and the taste of what she had made.Here they are with their homemade feast. I was very impressed at how well they did and it tasted great. We invited Christy over to have dinner with us that night so the girls could show their mom what they had worked so hard on. I think it is safe to say that we all enjoyed Xoe and Xanthe's cooking. I told the girls they could come over and cook for us any time they wanted to.