{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
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We are finally home, a full six days after our weather-related ordeal began. We drove down from Wilmington, Delaware during Sophia’s afternoon nap. Our home was thankfully cooled and the fridge didn’t smell (I keep a box of baking soda there always). I threw everything out, washed the fridge and ran to the grocery store. The lights were still flickering on and off, so I didn’t exactly go crazy at the supermarket.
It turns out that the scary storm was a derecho. It was so severe in fact, that it now has its very own wikipedia page. The weekend is thankfully around the corner and I am looking forward to some serious lounging and relaxation (as much as is possible with an almost 9-month old). There will of course (electricity permitting) be serious cooking too. Stay tuned for some more culinary adventures.
The hubby played with Sophia while I downloaded all our new pictures from our camera; I was readying them for their grand debut on the blog and on our family albums. I closed down shop right before Sophia’s bath and thought I’d finish during her morning nap on Saturday.
We awoke that evening at 10:30 PM (Yes, we go to bed early since our child only sleeps in 3 hour increments at night, STILL… at almost 9 months) to thunder and flickering lights. At first, we didn’t think much of it but changed our minds instantly when we saw tree limbs the size of my car flying around our house. You see, our house is in a beautiful, wooded neighborhood where the association does not permit tree removal unless the tree is dead. In any event, it is shaded, beautiful and green in the spring and summer and gorgeous with bright oranges and reds in the fall. However, because these trees are easily 50ft tall, they tend to fall, split and cause serious damage when there are high winds. Last year, when I was 9 months pregnant with Sophia, a huge limb fell on our roof and broke 2 skylights.
All I remember from this past Friday is running into the nursery and grabbing Sophia out very fast and running downstairs into the family room. The storm was vicious and once the winds died down, the rain came. It poured for 45 minutes and then quieted down. We thought that the power which was already out would come back by the next morning. But after walking Sophia through the neighborhood and seeing two houses split in half by HUGE trees that fell, we realized that maybe this was bigger than we thought. We found out that reached 80 mph from reading news reports while driving up to Delaware.
Before running off to DE, we went to try and gas up my car which took 4 attempts since power was down and stations without generators couldn’t pump. The one or two that could pump had huge queues outside that spilled onto the roads and after waiting for 45 minute to get gas, we were ready to buy a cooler, throw in my stash of frozen breast milk and RUN to cooler places.
So, that’s where we are: at my parents’ house waiting out the heat and hoping that our electricity is restored sometime soon. It has been out since Friday, and the electric company estimates that it’ll be on by Friday. I’d like to remind that 4th of July is Wednesday and that the power company’s estimate is a cool SEVEN days to full restoration.
I probably should have written about this earlier, but time flies when spent outside in the warm summer days… Pancakes are a sure favorite around our house. In fact, there are few things that are better than feather light buttermilk pancakes doused in sweet maple syrup except maybe spicy breakfast burritos. Hubby and I cook these up once in a while for a special occasion breakfast/lunch –> brunch. My in-laws were visiting us on the way back from a trip two weekends ago and we decided that was reason enough to whip out an old favorite. In a nutshell: a tortilla filled with an egg omelet, guacamole, cheese, pico de gallo and small fried potatoes. In reality, it is the perfect food as it contains sweet, savory, spicy and crispy components. It is a special occasion food because it requires a fair amount of dicing and once everything is cut, cooked and served, it disappears off the table faster than you can blink. That also explains why we didn’t even snap a finished wrapped tortilla product.
As Sophia is still too little to really enable us to travel to far and exotic destinations, but a vacation was an absolute must, we decided to have a stay-cation. That is, we planned not to go anywhere (far) and enjoyed just being out and about locally. My parents offered for us to come up so that they could babysit in the evenings and we could go out and catch up with friends. We accepted without hesitation. The Friday before we left, I got an email that my local farm opened with pick-your-own strawberries and tart cherries. I happily ran over to pick some for the road and as a hostess gift for my parents. Ten pounds of strawberries later (with obvious signs of heat exhaustion not to mention sunburn, I opted for the pre-picked tart cherries).
Tart cherries hold a special place in my heart. My mother’s mother had a beautiful fruit and vegetable garden. Aside from apples, pears, apricots, peaches, strawberries, red and black currants, rhubarb, gooseberries, and rasberries, she also grew tart cherries. Tart cherry season meant one thing when I was little: Tart Cherry Vareniki. Hot out of the water, tart, sweet, oozing with syrup — there are very few dishes that are better in the early summer. We used to pick them ourselves, gallons of cherries, their red juice squirting everywhere in our little hands. They were probably a little worse for the wear and fewer in numbers by the time they got to the house when we picked them as kids, but that made them perfect for varenniki.
Anyway, apparently tart cherries aren’t as available here. In fact, I’ve only seen them at farmer’s markets in Philadelphia and at the local farm. We’ve begged my mom to make the varenniki with them for years and even used hubby as a ploy. My sister, her husband, my dad and I would say “Come on mom, E. hasn’t had these, EVER…. don’t you want to show off your culinary prowess with dumplings?” She would always say “Get me real tart cherries, come help and I will do it”. Well, the day had finally come. Too hot, tired and dirty from a very wet strawberry field, I picked up two quarts of cherries and ran quickly to my car as if the cashier at the farm was going to demand her cherries back. To excited, I called my mom and told her of my acquisition. She was in disbelief and probably slightly disgruntled but very much up to the challenge. So, in true multi-cultural fashion, we decided to make them for Memorial Day to supplement the remainder of our pretty typical BBQ menu. Since I acquired the cherries and essentially was the cause of this, I volunteered to pit the cherries. Two hours later (my mother was so sure she would NEVER make these here in the States that she does not own a cherry pitter), I was done albeit already ready to be done with cooking. I helped make the dough and learned how to form them. You’ll see in the pictures that mine are the much uglier and misshapen and my mom’s are beautiful and uniform. Nonetheless, they were D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S and hubby declared that they were amazing and worth waiting for. All in all, not too difficult to make, but they disappear into hungry bellies much faster than it takes to make them. I’ll make them again, and again and always remember my childhood summer memories as I cook them. When she is older, I’ll tell Sophia the stories of my childhood over a plate of varenniki.
This blog was started on the premise that we shall document our travel and culinary adventures with little Sophia. Alas, we have ventured outside the comfort zone of visiting our parents and straight into the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. The weekend was booked solid with a good friend’s wedding where hubby was supporting the groom as his best man. The details were revealed to us months in advance and our plan was hatched soon thereafter. The wedding itself took place on Saturday. There of course was plenty of rehearsing and a dinner on Friday to welcome everyone to the wedding weekend. As we live in Maryland (very close to Washington D.C.,), we needed TWO days to get to NYC. This wasn’t because our mode of transportation was a horse and buggy, but because one of our passengers (little Sophia) only travels well while napping and her nap happens to last two hours (if we’re lucky).
My husband’s parents were also invited to the wedding, so we reached out to my folks to travel with us to babysit while we were out celebrating. We started off by traveling to Wilmington, Delaware on Thursday afternoon for the first leg of our journey. Sophia slept in the car and we arrived two hours after departing without much incident. Friday morning, we repacked the car and traveled with my parents in tow to Manhattan. The drive itself was fine, although Sophia woke up after a 1 hr nap and decided she needed to be entertained the rest of the way. She finally had had enough and started to seriously protest while we were stuck in traffic coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel.
After dropping off the hubby by the gorgeous St. Thomas Church, we proceeded to the Yale Club where the wedding would be held on Saturday. Check-in was swift and we even got a little fridge and a crib in our room. All was fine except Sophia refused to take an evening bottle from my mother. Saturday was a whirlwind with running around the city and my parents and in-laws were saints for taking care of Sophia while we got ready. The wedding went off without a hitch and great fun was had by all. Sophia is a bit overwhelmed and tired after all the festivities and time away from home. On the upside, all her toys at home are brand new (to her) and she is rediscovering them all over again.
Lessons learned: bathtime in an unfamiliar environment is not nearly as relaxing, habits are hard to break for little ones and city noise is impossible to sleep through unless you are bred, born and raised in the city.
Will we travel again? Absolutely, soon and even further if we can.
Things have been rather quiet here on this blog. We of course aren’t going hungry… but instead are becoming a traveling family of three. This past week we were off to my in-laws in Lansdale, PA and my parents in Wilmington, DE. As you can imagine, all this family time means a lot of delicious food (cooked by our families) and lots of help with Sophia. We will resume our own cooking and sharing shortly. Stay tuned!
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
At last, we have consistently warm temperatures around here. We even had to mow the lawn the other day and got most of our landscaping done. The yard still needs a lot of work, but at least we got rid of some 40 year old shrubs that were most definitely showing their age. And now… the big reveal of all the fauna we are enjoying thanks to living in the woods. We will pay back for these glorious bursts of color when mosquito season sets in.
My sister, her husband and my adorable nephew came to visit us this past weekend. They planned to take in the museums and sights of D.C. and we provided the perfect lodging facility complete with a MAP dining plan. Their plan was to arrive late Thursday, wake up Friday and take the Spy Museum by force. Saturday, they visited the National Museum of American History and the brand spankin’ new National Air and Space Museum Udvar Hazy Center was on tap for Sunday. Although some may find the thought of entertaining guests with a 6 month old at home daunting, I was up for the challenge. I promised myself that not only that I will succeed, but I will do so with grace. And so I did. Hubby and I enjoyed my sister and her family immencely and feel refreshed coming back to work. I planned simple, easy to make breakfasts and dinners. For example, Saturday’s breakfast was an easy, make-ahead Berry Bread Pudding while we enjoyed Buttermilk Pancakes for breakfast on Friday. Friday’s dinner (grilled veggies and meats) was transformed into Sunday’s brunch with the addition of an omlette expertly made by the hubby. All in all, this just shows that you don’t have to be daunted at the thought of having to entertain guests. It is all possible and even very much enjoyable if you plan right. I look forward to more hosting and entertaining especially since spring has sprung and we can grill, relax and lounge the outdoors for the brief few months before the D.C. humidity and heat drive everyone back inside.