Even though I relished my summers with my grandparents and their garden, I am a city girl at heart. I was definitely reminded of this when I decided to go strawberry picking. That said, I firmly believe that harvesting your own food that makes it that more special. Alas, faced with some free time and good weather, I left Sophia with her Grammie…and ran out to the local farm. Who wouldn’t want to start out their weekend with these views? …
… eats together. It just so happened that both hubby and I bought new cookbooks this past week. We hadn’t planned it and didn’t even talk about it with one another. Good timing though because my in-laws were coming in from out of town. We like to feed them with good food to ensure they’ll be back. Cooking, you see, is something that we both really enjoy especially when we can do so together. Two extra pairs of hands were of immense help with Sophia and allowed us to try something from each of our cookbooks. The results were quite delicious — and not very difficult either.
Then… while I relaxed for a few minutes, hubby made cumin beef from the same book. That, with plain white rice was a huge success even with the youngest diners. 🙂
My mother-in-law baked a delicious vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream for us for the occasion of our 5th wedding anniversary. She’s a pro at decorating and we’re pros at … well … cake consumption :-).
… this has become a tradition and follows the cake she baked when we secretly eloped Quaker style.
It was quite a bit of cake and so we froze the top heart-shaped layer with the big “5” on it. We’ve been sternly warned that she better not see THAT cake at Sophia’s 5th birthday celebration :-).
Just the three of us and just three days off. Memorial Day weekend came and went and I am here to report that we had a great time. First and foremost … as this dictates the fun-levels when hanging out around the house is weather. The rain held off as did the heat and the humidity. We spent hours outside at the playground, visiting the zoo, our local pool (we didn’t go in, but went to re-acquaint ourselves) and gardening. I finally planted those tomato and pepper plants and tried my best to fortify the garden to prevent little rabbits and chipmunks from snacking on our goodies. Sophia’s taken a keen interest in gardening and especially loves to smell all the herbs. She happily rips off a little mint leaf smells it and then urges hubby and me to follow suit. I hope this will help educate her that our veggies don’t grow shrink-wrapped in the supermarket.
We also tried some new recipes like this chicken curry from none other than Bon Appetit.
and these beignets
… getting a shower of cinnamon sugar
… and tada!
… they’re light and fluffy and even our youngest gourmand helped herself to one.
But as healthy good as those beignets were, there is nothing like a fresh radish and scallion salad with a touch of sour cream (you can also use yogurt to dress).
I grew up eating salads like this one, and it is just a refreshing and welcoming spring greeting much like the weekend itself.
Imagine my horror if I found out my child wasn’t an adventurous eater! Just thinking about it makes me anxious and I imagine my dining days filled with chicken nuggets and tater tots. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Anyway… since Sophia is now sporting 7.10 teeth (that’s seven and 1/10th :-)), we are working on expanding her culinary palette. The current requirements are that it is flavorful, but not too spicy (some spice is okay), and that it isn’t too dry, too crispy or too dense. May I present to you Orzo in shallot and lemon cream sauce with smoked salmon — Sophia’s dinner yesterday.
This Sunday morning happened to have also been Mother’s day; Left to our own devices – we let spontaneity rule and ended up having a glorious day. Sophia “wrote” me a Mother’s day card and so did my husband — her’s was a little more … abstract. While reading admiring her card, I couldn’t help but think about just how fortunate I am to have her in my life.
I have done quite a bit of thinking in the past few days on mothering, parenting, co-parenting, grand-parenting. On Mother’s Day in particular, I couldn’t help but think about the enormous responsibility it is to mother (not just be a mother). And then it happened — a small wish with an enormous meaning. My dad is not a man of many words. Though he is a colonel and appears stoic on the outside, he’s really a big teddy bear. He said to me yesterday that I was loved before, but am loved so much more, if that is even possible, because I gave him and my mom the ultimate gift (Sophia). Those words, so poignant, so touching helped me realize that Sophia is who she is, where she is and how she is BECAUSE of me and NOT DESPITE me. So take note, people. 🙂
When in Spain, we always manage to have a treat — curros con chocolate. They are typically enjoyed as a snack and/or a breakfast food.
Seeing as how we are clearly not in Spain but desperately craving being there, we decided that maybe churros would help scratch our itch so to speak. There are few things better in life than starting your Sunday with a freshly fried churro dipped in cinnamon sugar. If you’ve been to Spain, you already know that. If not, just believe me. I didn’t make the chocolate because I felt that was too luxurious and my waistline would never forgive me. They were wonderful with coffee and felt less of an indulgence.
We all know about Generations X and Y (the Millennials) and now, I present to you generation i. Generation iEverythingto be more precise. My daughter is our latest [and greatest] member of this generation. What makes her a member of the i generation? Quite simply put — the fact that she is not yet 18 months old and has figured out how to use our old iPhones and the iPad.
There is simply no tricking this kid. She can’t be confined to one 2-minute episode of “Elmo” (Sesame Street). As it finishes, she simply clicks “Back” and scrolls — that’s right, scrolls — down until she finds one she likes. She selects it on YouTube, presses play and happily sits back entertained by the little multicolored creatures as they sing.
I haven’t quite figured out if I should be terrified or pleased. On the one hand, that’s pretty great that she can set up her own entertainment. On the other hand, however, what does this teach her? That technology is everywhere, that she can have information on demand and patience and rewards or special things are overrated. I gather than parenting is altogether more difficult even though we have everything available for parents and children all the time.
I am reminded of a conversation I had with our pediatrician awhile back — probably Sophia’s 14th month appointment. We were talking about her diet and what she can and cannot eat. Our doctor is a strong proponent of trying everything with the exception of shellfish. Even nuts before 2 are back en vogue. I asked him about chocolate and he looked at me a little taken back and said: “Yes, she can have chocolate but as an extremely rare, special occasion treat”. I wonder if he would say the same thing if I asked him if she can have a hand-me-down iPhone?
What’s the one thing you remember from your Passover Seder? I remember the food, the aromas, the laughter and of course the family and friends who come together to celebrate.
I remember my mother’s matzo balls, gefilte fish, my sister’s brisket, my mother-in-law’s heavenly kosher for passover chocolate concoctions. Being married is difficult during the holidays; both our families host and we have to alternate who we celebrate with.
My husband’s Bubbie has hosted a dinner in the same place for as many years as I can remember. She makes chicken soup with matzo balls and gefilte fish … those are her special touches. We look forward to seeing her, hubby’s uncles, their families and being together.
On my side of the family, my mom and sister trade off hosting. They always help each other and sometimes [hubby and] I help as well.
Last year, we didn’t go anywhere since Sophia was so young and Seder fell on a weeknight. Hubby didn’t have enough vacation days at work, Sophia was very little and so we stayed home. I am not even sure we had matzo ball soup. We were disappointed and a little lonely, and vowed to celebrate with our family next (this) year.
First night of Passover fell on a Monday (yesterday) this year, and yet again, a trip up north to Delaware/Pennsylvania seemed rather difficult. Instead of missing out on the festivities, we decided to host here in Maryland. It was quite an undertaking and I was a little apprehensive about it. Since it was our first Seder in this house, we decided to have two other firsts: first time using our nice china and first time using silverware that Bubbie gifted us for the wedding.
The attendees were my parents, hubby’s parents and his two grandmothers and my sister, brother-in-law and nephew. The menu was a smorgasbord of jewish delicacies including my mother’s homemade gefilte fish, mother-in-laws flour-less chocolate cake, Bubbie’s brownies, my chicken soup with matzo balls and, of course, the brisket. It was a great time.
A lot of work, a lot of smiles, laughter, memories remembered from holidays past and new ones made. I am ready for a weekend … 🙂 too bad it is Tuesday. Will I do this again? yes, absolutely.
Per hubby’s [nonstop] requests, I have decided to start to learn some of the Russian dishes I’ve grown up enjoying. What better way to learn than to share it with those who haven’t tried before?! The first dish I’ve made was my mom’s layered vegetable salad. When finished, it looks like a pink cake because of the beets on top. Even my father-in-law, who is not a huge beet eater I gather, tried it (and liked it)! My mom boils the vegetables (potatoes, carrots, eggs and beets) while I baked the beets and carrots. I think it made a huge difference and was actually better. Sorry, Mom!
The next step is to add schmaltz herring to the salad and that would make it herring under a coat or селедка под шубой. That may be too adventurous for my father-in-law who already obliges hubby and me in our constant attempts to stretch his comfort zone in all things culinary delights.
That’s right, BIG MUSCLES MUSSELS. As mentioned before, we are not keen on the commercalised fiasco that has become Valentine’s Day. That said, we’ve still got to eat, right? So… in an effort to keep cooking time to a minimum, and yummy quotient to an absolute maximum, I bought some fresh New England mussels early this morning at our local market. They’re relative healthy as are high in protein, cook in 5-7 minutes or so and don’t require much attention. All in all, a romantic, easy dinner a deux in 15 minutes.
and ran out to the local farm. Who wouldn’t want to start out their weekend with these views? …
and head home with these…
only to turn some of them into this:
And that is Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream from my newly purchased ice cream cookbook.
