Mom's Legacy

When I look at how my brothers and I turned out, I can't help but be amazed by the parenting we received. My parents were always active in our lives (as a teen I thought to much) and I am grateful for that. Looking back I can remember only one band/chorus concert, sporting event, scouting event, or other activity that at least one of my parents were not at. That was only because all three of us had a basketball game at a different location at the same time. I recall my parents sitting down with the three of us and trying to figure out how the two of them would decide which game they would go to. I know it broke their hearts to have to make this decision and leave one of their children out. Every important moment in our lives is documented on the vhs cassettes that now reside in my dad’s basement (with the exception of a couple of semi-embarrassing videos of me that I have taken possession of for security reasons).

Though she may not be physically with us anymore, Mom will continue to live through her children. All of which have graduated from college and are perusing master's degrees. None of which have had any serious legal issues.  Her sons are amazing fathers and husbands. Hopefully her daughter will be an awesome wife and mother in the future.  I think Mom would be pretty proud of how we turned out.

I feel blessed that I had 26 years of her teaching and guidance. I was talking to a friend who lost his mom at age 12. His regret was that he never learned to cook from his mom. But let's face it what 12-year-old boy wants to learn how to cook. Fortunately I spent many hours in the kitchen with my mom baking and cooking. Mom's signature recipe was Beef Stroganoff. The recipe is below along with a few secrets I learned from Mom.

Beef Stroganoff
1 lb cubed beef (round steak works best)
1 large onion sliced
1 large can of sliced mushrooms
1 stick of butter
2 cans of beef broth
1 (12oz?) tub of sour cream
Flour to thicken (no clue what the measurement is)

In a large pot slightly brown beef (over cooking the beef will make it tough)
Melt butter with beef and add onion and mushrooms
Sautee until onions are soft
Add beef broth and let simmer on low heat for about an hour (this will make the beef super tender and delicious)
Mix sour cream and flour. Mix into the beef mixture.
Increase temperature until bubbles start to form. You do not want it to boil 'cause that's bad.
If it does not thicken enough, mix more flour with water to form a runny paste-like concoction and pour into the stroganoff. Do not just add flour to the stroganoff unless you want a clumpy mess.

Serve over rice. That's right, rice! I know there are some crazy people out there that serve stroganoff over noodles, but I believe that is just wrong.

3-Day for the Cure Update:
I received my first donation (Thanks, Tami!)! Woohoo! The link to my donation page is on the right, if you would like to be my 2nd or 3rd or....
I have not started training yet. It is below zero here so outdoor walking is out of the question right now. I am planning on joining a gym next week so that will help. I hope to start soon so my body doesn't freak out when I ask it to walk 60 miles in 3 days.
I am attending a getting started meeting next week. Hopefully that will give me some ideas regarding training and fundraising.

Stay tuned for more on my progress.