Even during college, when I was all grown up and could take care of myself, my parents doted on me by serving up my favorite dishes. That hospitality was naturally extended to Evan when he would join our family on the weekends. The hospitality hasn’t abated. In fact, my Mom and Dad have taken great care to nurture us and the kids with the most amazing treats week in and week out. Having arrived home from our recent trip we were welcomed by the not-too-unexpected sight of a fully stocked fridge.
Such incredible generosity (and I don’t mean in terms of the cost of ingredients) has inspired me to want to give back, to somehow show that we are grateful. Inspiration hit me this Sunday to make a pie crust. Between trying to savor my latest read and waiting for new yarn for a knitting project, I had a few minutes to myself. Why a pie crust? I make it from scratch with my hands and working butter into flour is tough on your joins. My mom suffers from arthritis, has mentioned several times how much she loves my home-made pie crust, and my dad loves anything dessert. Pie is really a synch to make once you have the crust and the late-harvest peaches make the perfect filling. I wanted to, in my own way, show my gratitude for being so lucky to be doted on.
Going back to my [salad] roots after a gentle reminder from those Danes whose food we loved so much. What we have here is a German-style potato salad made with red bliss potatoes, a cup of parsley, dill, and mint all dressed with a red wine vinaigrette. Complimenting the potato salad is a lightly sautéed corn and tomato salad topped with chunks of avocado and a light lime-honey vinaigrette.
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.
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.
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.
For someone who did not grow up eating salads regularly, I spend an illogically significant amount of time trying new dressings and green combinations. I call it culinary curiosity. Before you jump to conclusions and think I somehow grew up on the white (rice, potatoes, bread and pasta) diet, rest assured that I grew up eating more vegetables and fruits and greens than is typical in even the healthiest of diets.
Our salads, and there were many, were not made up of lettuces, but vegetables and often dressed with delicious dairy-based dressings. They made for tangy and refreshing suppers in the spring and summer and for warming dishes in the cooler winter months. Among them are Vinegret, Olivie, Tomato and Cucumber Salad, Radish Salad, Herring Under a Fur Coat, and many, many others.
Evan has embraced my penchant for these beautiful dishes and in exchange, I have embraced his irrational love for green salads. As if rising to a challenge, he whips up an amazing salad from any combination of greens and vegetables with the grace of a master chef. This particular rendition is no exception. An arugula, spinach, and radicchio base is topped with pink radishes, tomatoes, and cucumbers. A tangy red wine vinaigrette brings together the sweet, salty, and bitter profiles. Oh… and of course crispy bacon and garlicky potato bread croutons for the much needed crunch. Perfection in a bowl in under 15 minutes.
Endlessly tired of heavy cookery where winey tomato sauces and long preparations abound, I suddenly remembered about pasta. Not the typical boxed stuff, but the handmade stuff. The kind your (grand)mother, Italian or otherwise, would make when you were little. Truth be told pasta, and the realization that I could sate hungry bellies of my cheery cohabitants with a few turns of my cherry-red pasta machine, was just the excuse I needed to continue procrastinating. Procrastinate against what? The much overdue cleaning out my closet. Despite procrastination, perfection is how I would describe its current state. I went in with surgical precision and nothing that doesn’t fit or I don’t quite love survived the cuts. An extremely satisfying process for someone who doesn’t like clutter and isn’t a hoarder.
This post, however is about pasta. I distinctly remember my mom making home-made egg noodle when I was little. Sometimes, the noodles graced a hearty bowl of chicken soup and other times, they were dressed with rich farmer’s cheese and sprinkled with sugar which is, to me, the ultimate comfort food. She rolled out and cut the dough by hand. It is then that I realized that homemade pasta is unlike anything you can buy at the store and many, many years had passed before I dared to make my own. My mom recalled her grandmother making homemade noodles, cutting, drying and storing them in a linen bag. Her story took me back to my grandparents home where my mom grew up. I could suddenly remember ever nook and cranny of the house and was determined to rekindle those memories for my mom.
In fact, my homemade pasta was so nice, I happened to make it twice in as many days. The first batch of pasta was destined to become delicate spaghetti for a carbonara sauce. The result was so successful that the kids fought for every last strand. I mean how can guanciale, eggs, cream, and parmesan laced across delicate handmade spaghetti be bad?
Feeling guilty about repeating the rich meal, I made linguini and Evan dressed it with a much lighter sautéed onion, mushrooms and spinach sauce. There may have been cream and parmesan, too. The mushrooms and parmesan provided such a meaty, umami flavor while the onions and spinach stand up quite well to the savoriness.
It would be very unfair to keep my full-proof pasta recipe to myself.
Serves 4:
Ingredients:
10 oz flour
3 large eggs (not jumbo, not extra large, just large)
2 tbs olive oil
Preparation:
Pulse the eggs and flour in the food processor until combined. Turn the food processor on and drizzle in olive oil. If you find the dough sticking to the walls of the bowl, add flour a teaspoon at a time until the dough looks like wet sand. Turn out onto the counter and knead lightly into a rectangle. Wrap in seran wrap and leave to rest at room temperature for an hour. Use your machine/attachment to roll/cut into spaghetti/linguini. Cook in boiling water until al-dente (2 minutes in our case) and dress in your favorite sauce. Enjoy!
It is difficult to attribute our newfound fully-booked social calendar to solely having moved back to Philadelphia where we can enjoy friends and family. Perhaps Sophia’s own social life in which we’re her dutiful chauffeur and chaperone is what keeps us busy. The real answer is that it must be a little bit of both and it is weekends like this that give me a clear picture of what my life will be like for the next few years.
Just like my parents, my in-laws offered to come into town and spend a Saturday evening with the girls so that we could go out. We’d be crazy to say no and even crazier to deny them the opportunity to spend time with their granddaughters. We’d NEVER say no. Especially on a Saturday night. We grabbed some pub fare just down the street from our place with some friends old and new and had the best time. Company was good, but strolling to dinner and back was spectacular; We missed that while living in Maryland.
Another first for us was taking both kids to a museum. We are members at the Please Touch Museum and Sophia adores going so we finally decided to take the both of them. I loved the museum just as much as I enjoyed it in its old location when we took my now 11 year old nephew.
Eliza was a very impatient shopper while Sophia was a thorough cashier. There was a bit of everything for everyone of every age including a pretty fantastic Alice in Wonderland exhibit.
Sophia loved being a doctor and practicing all sorts of medical procedures on anatomically correct babies. Maybe she will grow up and become a doctor. A mom can dream.
All the pretend play made everyone tired and hungry. I whipped up a batch of my sister’s fiesta salad while the kids decompressed at the crafts table. You needn’t be fooled, the kids don’t always (okay, almost never) craft this nicely. Eliza always wants whatever Sophia has and Sophia never wants to share anything even if she herself doesn’t need it this moment.
We topped our weekend off with a wee bit of kid bowling at a good friend’s son’s 3rd birthday. This was her first time bowling and Sophia had an absolute blast. She loved renting the shoes and pushing the ball down. There was more time outdoors and more delicious and homecooked eats but far too much to recap in one post. This is just a gist of our busy and fulfilling weekend.
I have to admit that the blogging has been a bit slow as of late because of, well, life, kids, Faberie. Busy, beautiful, bountiful life that has left not a lot of time for the documentation or retelling of all that living. Alas, having shed our winter coats we made space for our camera and endeavored to capture our everydayness.
Good weather brought us out for the majority of the weekend. First up, Sophia and I picked up on our tradition from last summer when Eliza was just a wee one and took a leisurely walk through the neighborhood to a coffee shop. Over her chocolate bar with a glass of water and my coffee we talked about everything and nothing in particular. We lounged, people watched, discussed the artwork on display, and planned the remainder of our time out. I cannot tell what it was exactly that relaxed and invigorated the both of us except that the fresh air, the quiet humdrum of our neighborhood and our conversation were just what we both needed. I am a firm believer in giving each child individual attention and uninterrupted time.
My parents, as has become the usual, offered to share their time this weekend with us. Giddy with excitement over the prospect of cleaning our entire house and cooking, we gladly accepted. Both Evan and I have grown accustomed to the fact that they offer to come and spend time with us and the kids and aren’t waiting to be invited.
Sunday was the first day since we’ve moved to Philadelphia that we had a chance to clean the entire house from top to bottom without interruptions. Those who know me, know that I like to have a clean home. I love the fresh scented and shiny floors, clean baseboards, polished appliances and sparking counters.
The warm weather helped usher in our spring culinary repertoire. We cooked light and delicious meals both new and old staples that pleased everyone’s tastes. First up were pan-fried eggplant topped with a garlic and dill dressing.
These evoke unbelievable memories. I remember the very smell of our kitchen in Baku, the sound they made as my mom fried them and the amazing garlic aroma that emanated as the cool garlicky dressing hit the hot eggplant slices. They’re so easy, so delicious and so … home for me.
I could have made an entire dinner from these but alas, our little diners weren’t as keen on a one-course meal so we added in a pasta course.
Simple and flavorful this dish took 15 minutes to make from start to finish and ten of those were inactive. Linguine, garlic zest, garlic juice, heavy cream, parmesan, olive oil and basil. Questo! The pasta wasn’t something that my mom cooked growing up, but maybe, one day my daughters will reminisce about playing by the kitchen and smelling the intoxicating lemon aroma while I finished the pasta in the sauce. Hopefully!
