When Life Gives You Eggs

Sometimes you just gotta roll with it. This past weekend, we experienced our first major homeowner woe at Joe’s house. More on that coming… Once we have everything fixed. Let’s rewind a little first. We went on a snowmobile day trip Saturday and had an engine issue near Brainerd, MN. Luckily it was warm and we were near a highway and could get towed back to town pretty easily. And we met a few really nice people who stopped to help. One man did dog sled racing professionally!

Flash forward to later that night. To add salt to the wounded day, we get a phone call that the ceiling is leaking water. Not sure just how bad it was, we race home. To discover a huge ice dam on the roof. Water is currently leaking into the living room!

Reminder: Clear snow off your houses people.

Rollin’ Deep

What I planned to show you is this amazing egg roll factory that Joe’s roommates setup every month or so. Steve and Mai are egg roll masters! Well, Mai has the secret special Hmong recipe that she makes with her family. And now she has our whole house pitching in to make hundreds at a time. So here’s a quick look at a typical Sunday night of rolling.

I can’t give up all the secrets, but just know these are delicious. Start with a BUNCH of wonton wrappers.

The prep work actually takes up the most time. Mai and Steve chopped up cabbage, carrots, onion and ginger. And cooked noodles.

And it’ll cost ya. All of the ingredients were from an Asian market. Mai says the wraps are best.

Steve is fry master and puts the rolls into hot corn oil. Steve, you don’t look happy. You must be hungry.

This huge bowl isn’t even all of the batch! Joe and Mai had races for rolling. And then dip the corners in egg yolk to keep them together.

Steve and Joe after a few hours of assembly-line work.

Being goofs.

This is the secret ingredient right here. Dragonfly sauce. It’s similar to hoisin sauce.

And the final yield was over 100 egg rolls! They last forever and can be frozen and re-crisped.

So that’s one of the best things about roommates. They share dinners, recipes, resources, laughs, and a roof. Speaking of roof… More on that later.

At least we have egg rolls with friends for right now. Does anyone have traditions like this that they share with friends and family? Any roommate traditions?