Dessert – Page 3 – Growing Up Savvy

Published July 6, 2015 by Nadya

Tra-la-la

Let me state right up front that the 4:40 AM train I was on bound for Washington D.C., this morning is quite an experience. Having to wake up at an uncivil hour of 3:45 AM sparked thoughts of changing my day job to that of a stay-at-home mom. I was fortunate that I could wake up as close because the trip to the train station takes me 10 minutes vice 30+ minutes from the suburbs.

I could have taken the train yesterday or even late at night but I didn’t want our wonderful weekend to end. Independence Day was July 4th and most everyone, myself included, had a 3-day weekend. We took advantage of the luxury that is a long weekend and spent time with family in the country. We visited Evan’s family on Friday where the kids played and splashed in the still-too-cold pool and the adults doted on them.

Saturday brought a visit with my family where we celebrated my sister’s birthday. Though the celebratory dinner was in the evening, we headed there early to spend as much time with my family as possible. My parents set up a corner for the kids with crates of toys and games that were once Alex’s (my nephew). In addition to the toys and games, there were crafts (Sophia’s favorite). Sophia played so beautifully on her own. She explored each crate and made sure to put its contents back before moving on to another activity. Eliza made use of her not-so-new walking skill to explore the house and run around in the yard. Both the girls spent some time exploring my mom’s vegetable garden and ate its bounty at dinner.

Not believing that anyone should bake a cake for their own birthday, I baked peach cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese icing in honor of my sister. My brother in-law is not a fan of chocolate and these were perfect since they were light, not chocolate, and incorporated peaches which are finally in-season.

We headed home rested and relaxed, and with lots (and LOTS) of delicious eats packed to-go. I mean really, who would say no to home-made blintzes, apple cake, and the likes?

We couldn’t think of a better way to round out the weekend than a trip to a playground and the farmer’s market. I was sad to see the weekend come to an end especially since I had an awful early train, but I know the next weekend is just five days away.

Dessert Life Moments

birthdays cream cheese frosting peach cupcakes time with family Weekending

Published July 1, 2015 by Nadya

Summer Eats

Summer is here. I mean, really, it is finally here to stay. Beautiful, bountiful, baskets of fresh fruit and vegetables call out to me at our local Farmer’s market. I couldn’t resist. This weekend was not unlike most other weekends which involve a bit of cooking, some meal prep for the week ahead and good company, too.

Cherry Pie. With a “Go Big or Go Home” attitude, I passed on the typical 8-inch pie dish and made a slab pie. The ingredient list for both the pie was short and sweet. Sour cherries, flour, butter, salt, sugar and cornstarch and that is how it should be. A homemade, all-butter pie crust can’t be beat for taste.

And while the pie was cooling, I managed a few snacks that would hold everyone over until dinner and … pie.

Toasted bread with cream cheese and macerated strawberries topped with basil and a few cracks of black pepper. Surprisingly savory and a perfect bite with a light white wine before dinner.

Grilled peaches topped with burrata, drizzled with balsamic, and served with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc—a little mid-afternoon bite while cooking #saturdaysatourhouse #growingupsavvy #delicious

A photo posted by Nadya (@growingupsavvy) on Jun 27, 2015 at 4:25pm PDT

And then there was dinner.

Fish stew for a rainy summer’s day #growingupsavvy #delicious #itswhattsfordinner

A photo posted by Nadya (@growingupsavvy) on Jun 27, 2015 at 4:20pm PDT

Cookery Culinary Adventures Delicious Dessert Flavors Life

cherry pie drinks and bites pies slab pie summer

Published June 2, 2015 by Nadya

The Yum Yum Days

Not particularly different from any other days other than the fact that Evan and I actually captured our culinary output on camera while running after the kids, enjoying Philadelphia, and much-deserved time with my parents. Cookbooks, blogs, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter are full of single shots of delicious eats but they don’t often give us a glimpse into a full day in the kitchen. I am going further and sharing a weekend. The farmer’s markets brimming with strawberries and vegetables have inspired me in the kitchen. Our local HeadHouse Square farmer’s market looked like an explosion of bright red and green. Had we not been limited by the one tote we brought with us, I would have bought every radish and green in sight.

So here goes… two days in our culinary life:

Tomatoes aren’t really in season yet but parsley, young red onions, and garlic are bountiful. I roasted the tomatoes in the oven until they were bursting with sweet-sour flavor and dressed in an herbaceous vinaigrette. It was sunny bright.

Earthy and flavorful is this deep-roasted broccoli with oven-fried garlic. Some florets are verdant green while others are crispy-baked. A perfect side served room temperature and just as good cold in the evening. Healthy, too.

Speaking of healthy but more importantly, absolutely delicious. This is the one dish I did not cook. My mom made this gorgeous, chilled borscht topped with sour cream, grated egg, scallion, cucumber and dill. Mouthwateringly delicious and perfect on a hot summer’s day.

Some go goo-goo for pasta salads but I find them to be too rich, too heavy and laden with cheese and unbalanced vegetables. Instead, I opt for a quinoa salad. Same principle… herbs, veggies if you’d like, and a light olive oil vinaigrette. This one has lightly pickled onions, garlic, and some herbs.
These easy oven-baked chicken thighs have made regular appearances at our dinner table the last few weeks and for good reason, too. They are so very delicious, a synch to make, and fill the house with the most beautiful aroma.

Corn chowder, to me, is a summer affair. This one is a very light version of Corn Chowder sans bacon and with part-skim milk. Light and refreshing it pleased even the tiniest of taste buds.

Eggplant is such a favorite at our house. Baked, sautéed, stewed, stuffed and even steamed, we eat it year-round and I cook it in the Italian, Turkish, Japanese, Indian and Azeri styles. Every which way it is unforgettable. This is pan-fried eggplant topped with a dill and garlic crema. It is my most favorite preparation because that’s how I grew up eating it.

And since hot weather, margaritas, happy hours, and siestas are upon us, we make guacamole. Simple. Avocados, red onions, and limes. A favorite snack for everyone … even Eliza.

And if you know me, you know that I am someone who does not like to make dessert optional. The rhubarb season is brief and it is one of the earliest spring plants. Rhubarb is best friends with strawberries but I thought it is special enough to be the star of a sweet ending. Here’s a rhubarb snacking cake. Yum.

Maybe I shouldn’t tell you that completing this culinary line-up are homemade strawberry-creme-fresh and chocolate ice creams. Well, the least I could do is not taunt with pictures. They are mind-blowing.

Whew. That was quite a lineup, wasn’t it. Well, all that cooking didn’t preclude us from enjoying our weekend outside the kitchen. We visited a farmer’s market, the Three Bears Park, and partook in the happenings of Old City. We also went to Spruce Street Harbor Park which has been open for a week, and Sophia has her eyes set on the skating rink at Blue Cross Summerfest. Sophia may be eyeing skating, but I am eyeing those hammocks and beer at Spruce Street Park.

Quality time with Baba and Deda were huge hits for us and the girls. Played out and fed with all sorts of delicious, the girls played with Legos together. Future engineers? I can only hope.

Cookery Culinary Adventures Delicious Dessert Flavors Hubby Cooks Life Sophia Cooks

corn chowder easy chicken thighs fried eggplant guacamole homemade spring dishes oven-fried broccoli playtime quinoa rhubarb snacking cake roasted tomatoes spring

Published March 9, 2015 by Nadya

Weekending: With Floral Flair

For the first time in what seems like forever, the weather forecast shows that we are not expected to freeze for the next few days and that alone gives me hope that spring may arrive yet. Another sure sign that winter has departed is the arrival (and departure) of the Philadelphia Flower Show. The show is a big event drawing crowds from near and far and reducing the convention center area to a standstill, especially on a weekend when the Reading Terminal Market is in full swing. Having been away for a few years, we decided to partake in what used to be our yearly tradition of visiting the flower show. Sophia went as well, though earlier in the day on Sunday and with my in-laws. This year’s theme was Disney and she was dressed in, according to my mother-in-law, a mandatory princess dress. She put the princess dress on later in the evening and now our entire house (including the toilet seat and now our bums) is covered in glitter. Needless to say, we will be retiring her royal wardrobe as a cost cutting measure since our “palace”, unlike Buckingham, does not employ an extensive cleaning staff. But I digress…

As per usual, there was quite a bit of cooking since we had on-hand help from both sets of grandparents. I made this vanilla-bean raspberry swirl cheesecake that is was divine and so very beautiful. Alas, Sophia has decided that she doesn’t like cheese and even adding cake to the name wouldn’t sway her. Except that she eats mozzarella and cheese ravioli (though we call that just ravioli). Oh well, more for the rest of us.

And when we weren’t visiting the flower show, baking a cheesecake and getting treats from our local ice cream and candy shops trying to soak up every warm ray of sunshine outdoors, we were … living and enjoying.

This move, our life is more than ever crazy, busy, and exhausting. Still, it is thrilling, wonderful and I wouldn’t trade it for all the sand in the Sahara.

Cookery Delicious Dessert Flavors FriendsFamily Life

cheesecake family flower show growingupsavvy philadelphia raspberry cheesecake spring

Published January 5, 2015 by Nadya

Sneaky Business

I gather you’ve seen that Growing Up Savvy has been a bit quiet as of late. It isn’t because I’ve tired of the blog or was out of thoughts to share, rather because we snuck away on a getaway to somewhere sunny and warm. I sound just like everyone when I say that we really needed to get away, but we really just needed to get away. We haven’t been on a proper vacation since December of 2013 and since then we had a baby, renovated a bathroom, moved, changed nannies and listed our house for sale. It has been a busy year and not just my body, but my soul needed a change of scenery to recharge to. And what a change of scenery it was! Azure and green waters, a light wind blowing the salty air onto the shore and sand between my feet. I have to say that packing and airline travel with two kids is nothing short of a military operation that we approached with the appropriate strategic plan. Alas, we’re back and recovering from the stunning scenery.

This recovery will take a while but I’ve decided to ease the process by whipping up a delicious milkshake that I had while on vacation. It sounds simple enough, just four ingredients that I always have in my pantry and fridge but just haven’t thought to use that way. And so I present to you a cinnamon-banana milk shake which is just a banana milkshake with a bit of island spice added to it.

Light, foamy and refreshing, this shake takes mere minutes to whip up and satisfies everyone in the family. My shake in hand, I can now look through the rest of the pictures from our recent getaway just to ease the symptoms of vacation withdrawal.

Cookery Dessert Flavors Life Sophia Cooks

Published November 25, 2014 by Nadya

Weekending: Lights and Chocolate Babka

Quite an eventful weekend around here. In addition to some great quality time with our nephew, we treated Eliza to a glamor shoot in honor of her recently passed 5th month birthday and spent some time outdoors. We took advantage of a mild Sunday to walk to Head House Square and peruse a Farmer’s Market. Turnips, berries, apples, pears, local cheeses, breads and even mmmm… chocolates were all on display looking vibrant and keeping the usually more subdued, at least on a Sunday, square quite lively. Later that evening, we walked to Franklin Square and enjoyed a light and music show which Sophia absolutely loved. And even though we don’t celebrate Christmas, it is hard not to get into the spirit of the season when everything is lit up and looks so festive.

Eliza napped through the festivities which was just as well. We were able to focus on Sophia and enjoy her excitement.

Having been quite absent from the kitchen the last two days, I decided to warm up our kitchen and home by making the dough for a chocolate babka. The recipe isn’t particularly difficult, but it does present one challenge for me personally—having to wait overnight for the dough to rise. If you know me at all, you will know that I am not patient in general and even less so when it comes to desserts and chocolate in particular. Patience I lack but not will power and so Sophia and I collaborated on the dough and waited for it to rise overnight. We made the filling and baked them off on Monday evening. The result is … well, judge for yourself.

Dessert Flavors Life Sophia Cooks

Published August 11, 2014 by Nadya

Weekending: Easy Does It

I wish I could tell you that there was plenty of cooking going on this weekend, but there wasn’t. In fact, the only cooking that went on was an easy chocolate cake and some dandelion greens. We did this on purpose because we needed a weekend where we could just relax. Right before our every meal Evan or I pulled something out of the fridge and just heated it up. Don’t get me wrong… there wasn’t any takeout this weekend; everything was done ahead of time. We cooked on Friday and admit that I was dog-tired for it, too. But that’s fine because it afforded us a blissful weekend. Among the three things prepared on Friday was a take on a dessert I grew up with as a child — a sort of a bar with a shortbread crust and a nutty filling. The dessert I grew up with is called sochinskoe and it had a walnut filling, but mine has a sweet pecan filling punctuated with tangy, fresh apricots. It is stone fruit season after all and I think there are few things better than perfectly ripe stonefruits. I also made this chicken with cardamom rice and barberries. It was just delicious and I still have leftovers. This recipe is becoming an easy staple at our house. So … what do I consider to be a blissful weekend? One where I got a chance to relax, to unwind and even make a trip to the mall. These are a busy few months for us because we have quite a few family events coming up including the wedding of Evan’s sister. I feel like we have to rest up ahead of time.

Cookery Dessert Flavors Hubby Cooks Life

Published August 4, 2014 by Nadya

Weekending: Celebrating

Why is the weather always great during the week and the weekend gets washed out with rain? Either way, even rain and thunderstorms couldn’t keep my in-laws away. They visited with us and really lent a lending hand. We were thrilled to have adult company and adult conversations and Sophia was thrilled beyond words to have their undivided attention. Don’t get me wrong, Eliza received plenty of attention as well, but she is not nearly as demanding for it.

these pictures courtesy of my in-laws

Sophia’s been a busy bee what with all that attention from Grammie and Pop. Saturday, they took her to our local park (Cabin John) and she got to ride a train through the park and climb to her heart’s content on all the playgrounds. Sunday, they headed to Bethesda’s Imagination Stage for a performance of Mouse on the Move.

While Sophia was busy exploring and enjoying her special time, Evan and I spent some time relaxing … with Eliza and in the kitchen. We managed to grill during a break in the rain and I baked a flour-less chocolate cake in honor of my father-in-law’s birthday.

Grilled shishito peppers (Evan’s impulse buy) to satisfy our wanderlust for Japan. The peppers were grilled over charcoal and finished off with Maldon salt. These were a welcome accompaniment to home-made Korean BBQ wrapped in shiso leaves from our own garden.

This picture needs no description… it was death by chocolate and so very easy to bake. You can find the recipe here. I used Scharffen Berger’s 55% cocoa solids chocolate. As good as the BBQ and cake were, it was still all about spending time together as a family knowing we are very fortunate to have such wonderful parents in our lives who make time for us.

Cookery Dessert Flavors Hubby Cooks Life Moments

Published July 7, 2014 by Nadya

Weekending: We’re Back

Can you believe it is already past the 4th of July? No? Well, neither can I. Time flies especially at times like today, when I bid a somewhat sad goodbye to my parents, after a long weekend that seemed too short. I wish time stood still or I had just a little more of it with them. On the other hand, I wish time would fly by and I could finally bid diapers and bottles a cheery adieu. I can’t have it all, so I’ll settle for whatever time I am afforded with those whom I love most and a great celebration—whatever the reason.

We’ve been loved on by our families with attention and delectable edibles so much that we’ve both missed being in the kitchen. My parents provided us just that when they visited and took the girls off our hands. I can’t really get used to saying it … the girlS. Admittedly, as I am still the sole food supply for Eliza, Evan did more cooking but I contributed in selecting the recipes and making some sides and desserts. July, as you should know, is the national ice cream month and so we have home-made vanilla ice cream and a lovely berry crostata.

I also continued to slowly make headway into Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook and made this amazing Chermoula Eggplant.

It was simply spectacular and very easy to make. While I focused on all things sweet and vegetarian, Evan made rockfish simmered in dashi finished with a Chinese hot oil/herb dressing.

He also made korean BBQ from a Cooks Illustrated recipe I discovered while perusing their magazines that we have from when we used to subscribe. It was delicious and I’ll post a slightly updated recipe shortly.

Cookery Dessert Flavors Hubby Cooks Life Moments

Published June 18, 2014 by Nadya

Things are Nuts Around Here

There is nothing like the vibrancy of summer to kickstart my desire to get into the kitchen and turn out something delicious. I’ve been on quite the baking binge lately including loaves, brownies, sour cherry slab pie and now this walnut-pecan coffee cake.

Thank goodness we’ve had visitors so that they can help out with consumption or else I fear I would bake and cook faster than we can consume and my svelte figure would surely suffer. 🙂 I’ve taken a liking to reading cookbooks. There are wonderful ones out there that are not packed with just recipes but personal stories and perspectives that highlight the rationale behind the author’s culinary style. David Lebovitz and Yottam Ottolenghi both do a wonderful job of luring the reader into their books. All that reading and the amazing pictures in their cookbooks has now resulted in a queue of things I’ll be cooking including roasted banana ice cream and fattoush.

Looks like I am not the only busy bee at our house …

Dessert Life

Category: <span>Dessert</span>

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