Speaking of havens...

I love to cook. Like, looooooove to cook. And since Mr. A is building us a new coffee table (in progress picture below), he's been working really hard in the garage each night and not really finishing whatever stage until like 9pm. So it's been alot of sandwiches and wraps and hot dogs for us lately. (But did I tell you that I found hot dogs made of non-hormoned cows in the natural food section? Natural hot dogs, haha! Is that an oxymoron?)



But I decided on Saturday that we should have a proper meal, and we'd had cabbage rolls (two leaves of cabbage stuffed with ground meat, rice, onions, peppers, and garlic) after my grandpa's funeral, which Mr. A loved, so I gave them a try! They are a traditional slovak food- here they are all wrapped up in the dutch oven:



Also traditional is mashed potatoes, but those are not Mr. A's favorites (I know, I can't believe it either), so I made potato latkes instead. Also my first time making those, and I am going to have to make them again!!! The best part is that we had some left over for breakfast Sunday!! Here is Mr. A's plate (with a slice of my whole wheat bread):



Of course no nice dinner can be without a dessert, so I made a mixed berry pie, using OUR raspberries and organic blueberries and strawberries. As we were eating it, we were both wondering why I hadn't made this pie before, it was DELISH!!


I am so glad I can cook yummy things for us to eat, that aren't all pre-packaged and preservative-laden. I think it contributes to making our home whole and healthy and happy. While I know cooking can be laborious for some, it is very relaxing to me- I put on a movie or the tv or the radio and just go to town with my recipes! Throwing dinner parties was always one of my favorite things, before all (and by "all", I mean our few) friends went off and had kids. Need to have the neighbors over or something- I am dying to host a bunch of people again!!