Even though Sophia calls my mother Baba, we’re moving toward Babushka which is a very lovely and endearing term for a grandmother. She can alternatively go with Bubbie.
Anyway, Friday was our Babushka’s birthday and even though we didn’t get to spend her birthday day with her, we did get the weekend. We all know that birthdays are monumental excuses for cake and indulgence. I took this as an opportunity to indulge and bake a cake. This cake, a new one for me, was a caramel banana cake layered with caramel buttercream.
I’ve updated our Recipes page by organizing the recipes by type of dish and adding new ones including those we cooked last weekend. Feel free to make any of the above and leave comments letting me know which dishes you liked, didn’t like and what other dishes you would like me share recipes for.
I have openly admitted that I do not cook a lot of Russian food. There are a variety of reasons and excuses for this choice. For whatever reason, likely insanity, I decided to embrace my Russian self and cook something Russian. The fall is all but here and we all know Russian food is rich in variety — meat and potatoes one day, and potatoes and meat the next day… kidding.
Anyway, most cultures have some sort of a dumpling as part of their cuisine — the latin countries have the likes of empanadas, while the Asian continent is rich with dumplings and the Italians have their raviolis and other stuffed pastas. Russia (or more specifically all of the former republics of the former Soviet Union) have the pirozhki and varenniki. The latter is exactly what I decided to make … on a weeknight no less. Crazy, right? I did split the labor into two evenings. I made the mashed potato and sautéed onion filling on Monday evening and the dough yesterday. Here they are in all their glory. I had quite a happy customer (Evan) in the kitchen yesterday.
Sitting pretty while waiting for a dip in the hot water
Fresh out of the pot bathed in more sautéed onions and salt … steaming and delicious.
Reluctantly, I acknowledge that although I made these after a long workday and was tired, I enjoyed the process. There is something soothing and calming in a repetitive hands-on activity. There is also immense pleasure in seeing Evan enjoy them … Sophia hates and I do mean hates mashed potatoes, so these were not a win for her.
I don’t want to it to be September. I am not ready for the fall and if I pretend that it isn’t coming, I am sure it won’t get here. So… how did I pretend fall isn’t coming? Evan and I cooked all the things that are just right in the summer. Also, we didn’t have to work too hard to pretend because the weather was sweltering.
Heirloom tomato and mango salad dressed with lime, olive oil and red onion. Fresh and summery.
Fried eggplant dressed with a cool sour cream-dill-garlic topping. I haven’t made this dish all summer long but I wouldn’t finish out the season without it.
Old-school Russian tomato and cucumber salad dressed with dill, red onion and sour cream served with a side of roasted red pepper hummus and naan. The ideal hot summer’s day lunch!
This upside down plum cake was a new venture since I’ve not worked with caramels before. The plums were a petite Italian variety that were just like the ones my Baba had in her garden.
Despite my conviction that Labor day weekend was too short, I did get to knit (this, I will show off when I put the finishing touches on it) and we were able to join some friends for an BBQ. All in all a big success.
You didn’t think that we’d hold off on dessert after yesterday’s tantalizingly flavorful dinner, did you?
Presenting… biskvit. Otherwise known as a Russian sponge-cake. I grew up eating this plain and with filling (as you see here). I am not sure you will find a single Russian person who doesn’t know about this simple cake. Even though I had it when I was little, I never made it myself and finally decided to give it a go yesterday. In truth, I made it because I was faced with four eggs that had to be used – since I cracked them by accident.
We tend to share household responsibilities 50/50 and since Evan cooked his famous shrimp, I thought I’d bake him and Sophia with a simple but delicious dessert. Besides, you can even eat this for breakfast — plain, definitely and like this if you feel like indulging.
Speaking of being an egalitarian family — our nanny has the plague flu and so Evan and I are splitting care-taking duties 50/50. On the positive, this means extra time with Sophia — can’t beat that.
Where did our weekend go? “Poof… all gone” as Sophia would say.
We had quite a busy weekend and are facing quite a busy September and October. First things first… inevitably (as this was really a matter of time), Sophia’s social calendar has eclipsed ours. Saturday afternoon marked a first birthday for her friend Anya whose parents hosted a soiree with one of the most delicious spreads I’ve seen in quite a long time. The Georgetown cupcakes didn’t detract from the delicious-ness, either.
Sophia’s daily outfitting consists of pants and a t-shirt, so this dress was quite fancy, fancy and I must say, my to much secret delight, she loved her girly outfit.
We continued our general business with an outing to Bethesda Row … where I was inspired to cook a gourmet dinner.
Let’s not kid ourselves, it looks a little monotone. However, it is anything but monotone in the mouth. Hubby’s famous pan-seared shrimp and my Israeli couscous with Dates, Pistachios, Cardamom and Ginger. A whole weekend, lots of fun, lots of yummy food and new experience with new friends — what else can you ask for?
Why is it that weekends and summer in general, seem to be running by faster than I can ever remember? My parents visited this past weekend and (thankfully) offered some much needed help with Sophia. We seem to have settled into a routine with them — my mom cooks and brings over a cooler-full of some of our favorite dishes and we cook some of our own for my parents to enjoy with us. Grateful to have our hands untied, Evan and I got busy with preparing a healthy/fresh/delicious Saturday dinner. That started off with
a fresh summer fig and Gorgonzola dolce crostini
Because the crostini was clearly a luscious indulgence, we decided to go light and switch to Asian flavors with Evan’s famous (at least in our family) steamed rockfish with perfumed scallions, serrano and ginger.
Finishing off the meal with something that’s decidedly summer…
A homemade ice-cream trio. The chocolate on the left, vanilla on the right and fresh, local peach front and center.
I am pretty sure my dad is ready to move in with us just for the ice-creams.
Weekending is back or rather having a weekend at home and to ourselves is back. First things first… we just had to get to the farm to feed farm animals and, of course, pick fresh blackberries and peaches. Everybody helped!
Okay, I admit: I didn’t help feeding the barnyard animals. I was on a mission to pick blackberries while everyone else was feeding grass to the llama and its friend, the goat.
After a much-needed rest from the morning’s exertions, we renewed ourselves with guacamole and went on to cooking dinner. Big on resting and not cooking every weekday, we are into one-pot wonders these days.
We make a new dish every evening of the weekend and have leftovers for the first few days of the week. Saturday night’s feast was Lemon-Braised Chicken and Beans with Mint Pesto — except that I substituted pine nuts for almonds with Sophia in mind. She has had some tree nuts before and I wouldn’t mind giving her more, but didn’t want to just go ahead and put so much into the refreshing and cooling pesto.
Yum!
Speaking of barnyard-y … the heavy cream we source is local from cows who graze on open fields and is distinctly richer and more … well … barnyard-y. It made a mean custard-based vanilla ice-cream from my recently acquired ice cream book.
It has been hot, humid and raining cats and dogs here. The risk of yet anotherderecho has kept my mind busy with worries. The weather has been quite good for our little garden which has had to fare on its own and is rather overrun by weeds. Who can possibly weed in 90*F weather when the humidity is also 100%? I thought you might like to see what’s going on there after all that rain.
Flowering tomato plants. Let us start chanting the “don’t eat my tomatoes” mantra.
The peppers are about to flower. I forgot what kind we bought — I like plant surprises.
My peas gave up on me helping them grow vertically and literally now hold one another up as they climb a loose trellis.
The herb garden looks delectable and like I need to use that parsley a little bit more. Maybe a chimichurry sauce for this weekend.
That’s all arugula and mesclun greens. Help! They’re overgrowing and something is also eating them with vigor.
That’s why the arugula had to become this salad. The Chinese chives are also running wild and rampant in our garden right along the mint. I am pretty sure there is a plant war going on there and the mint maybe winning. Time to help the chives and make a few mojitos.
… falling off the wagon. Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine’s boyfriend accidentally fell off the wagon? I have no weaknesses when it comes to liquor, but chocolates and nuts are a different story. A little over a week ago, my mother-in-law introduced little Sophia to Graham crackers or Grammie crackers as she called them. Who doesn’t like graham crackers? Rich with vanilla and cinnamon notes (can you believe I just said notes?), they are delicious. They are simply sublime with a little bit of peanut butter and if you really want to splurge, top with a thin slice of a banana.
I remembered what I had been missing all these years after sitting down little Sophia for an afternoon snack and a spot of mint tea. Really, who do you know, who loves sweets as much as I do, would be able to sit and watch such deliciousness devoured and not try a little bit? Besides, her latest schtick is to share her delicious morsels with those around her. She eats and then decides to offer for a taste loudly declaring “Maaamaaa, maaamaaa, eat”. Sophia then promptly deposits a little piece of whatever edible item (sometimes once she licks it… making sure it is good for you to eat) on the edge of her tray and says “‘Dere [there] you go!”
You can’t say no to that… and you can’t say no to peanut butter, graham crackers and bananas — on their own or together in a perfect little tapa. Now… if only I couldn’t say no to a 5 am wakeup and a trip to the gym. Alas… I don’t have a weakness for exercise equipment.
Here’s what happens after we share Grammie crackers with peanut butter, banana and a cup of tea…
