You Got Served ... Literally!
June 3^rd, 2004
2:24 P. M.

Have you ever been directly challenged to do something you've never done before? That happened to me last night (technically this morning.) I don't even recall how we got on this subject, but a friend and I were talking about Chinese food last night. She and I both absolutely love crab rangoons.

"I wonder where you can get the things they wrap the crab stuff in?" She asked.

I knew. "I know," I said, "My dad used to make egg rolls at home about twenty years ago. You can get them in the produce department at Kroger's."

Those were the first two lines of that conversation last ... mmm ... This morning that led to me feeling as if I'd received a culinary challenge. I left work at about two thirty this morning and rounded up some cream cheese, (imitation) crab meat, the pasta wraps for egg rolls/rangoons, and a gallon of olive oil (its unit price is muuuuuch cheaper if you buy it that way.) After I rounded that stuff up, my friend wanted me to bring the wraps back so she would know what to look for (and where) when she wanted to make the rangoons herself. I did just that and told her I would make some and bring them in "tomorrow", then went home. I had a little trouble getting to sleep last night ... I was so looking forward to facing the challenge.

I have, in fact, six rangoons ready to go (it used to be nine, but you know what it can be like when you're cooking), and I'm looking forward to serving them at work tonight!

In case you're wondering, I have no real recipe to follow. I improvised with no measuring devices involved. But, I took a forkful of the (imitation) crab meat, two forkfuls of cream cheese and mashed them around until the meat was in small pieces ... I basically stopped when I felt like the meat was in small enough pieces to suit me, so I don't even know how to describe the size. I did this twice to make the six (nine) rangoons.

I took a small (maybe two quart) pan and filled it three quarters of the way with olive oil and set it on medium high heat. That was too high, the first three I made (the ones I ate) cooked too quickly and turned a little darker brown than I would have liked. But, I could see that being a matter of taste. I turned the heat back and cooked the rest a little longer. Those came out perfectly, in my opinion.

On the subject of the culinary arts, I saw this story on AOL as I logged on this afternoon. Tearless onion cutting? Who'd have thought?