Ten eleven twelve or (10-11-2012) just happened to be Sophia’s first birthday! On the one hand, I couldn’t wait for the day to come. To know that we’ve made it to this milestone and now I am a little bit wistful for all the precious moments of the previous year. A great day was head where we played [extra long] in bed, had a special pancake breakfast with buttermilk pancakes and maple syrup and finished the day with cake. There’s where our troubles began; I wasn’t nearly prepared for the immense sugar high Sophia was going to experience from even the smallest amount of cake and icing. She ran around like there was no tomorrow… really lived it up.
The picture is pre-cake, post afternoon nap and dressed in her hand-me-down dress-up clothes that we got from her cousins.
{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.
{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.
When in doubt… always check the urban dictionary. Hubby and I got away this past weekend; away from the cooking, cleaning, the baby and just away on our own. My parents agreed to watch Sophia over Friday night and we headed to the Big Apple for some needed R&R. We headed just as Sophia was going down for her morning nap and came back right after her afternoon nap the following day (Saturday). Looking back, the getaway felt like it lasted a New York Minute as we made the most of it cramming it with either rest or adventure. It was so short in fact, that we took no pictures and just decided to be in the moment rather than capturing the moment.
Hubby planned the majority of the destinations based on some of my requests. There was of course the much needed shopping in SoHo, a visit to a few galleries and a dinner out. First things first, I really enjoyed Apothecary NK and Jacques Torres Chocolate and a small Saturday new designer’s market in the Village. I also loved the Forbes Galleries which had a lovely Walter Stuempfig exhibit. Incidentally, the artist was born in Philadelphia and painted several landscapes that we recognized. We visited the Strand which was amazing; We spent a fair bit of time there mostly salivating over rare and out of print books that had that [amazing, old and worn, read many times by many hands] smell. Hubby was especially eyeing this book (a 1st edition copy) though after me asking him about it, he passionately maintains that he does not want it.
Our time in the city went by too fast. We didn’t even have enough time to see a play. This trip was a perfect reminder that we should go out more often, enjoy life and remember that children are happier when parents are satisfied and feel self-fulfilled even if it means a night away from mom and dad. Our New York Minute was just short enough to allow us to witness our daughter’s first steps.
Today is Yom Kippur and tomorrow happens to be my mom’s birthday. I decided to bake a cake as a surprise to augment her already fairly significant dessert table. I know it is going to be a reverse dinner (much more dessert than savory foods) when she announces a menu of strudel, sochinskoe (more on that in a minute), apple cake and another layered vanilla cake. I realized that she is making this delicious break-the-fast meal and yet tomorrow is her birthday and no one really made plans to celebrate. I decided to make a birthday cake fit for a Bubbie: a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and a rich chocolate frosting from here.
Sochinskoe by the way, is another dessert that my mother learned to bake while we were in Baku. It is really a sweet pastry filled with nuts and sugar and vanilla. It is utterly divine and remains one of the two desserts (the other one is her famous strudel) that I have yet to master. After a little bit of googling, I found a comparable recipe and read that it happens to be an Armenian dessert. I shouldn’t be too surprised as there were many Armenians living in Baku in the late 80ies before the Karabakh Conflict. I was there and lived to see too much for a child my age. In any event… it is heavenly and maybe I’ll make it one of these days.
But this post is really about the cake… so here it is in parts and as a finished masterpiece.
And Goodnight to all the yummy rich indulgences everywhere…
Alas… as Sophia nears her first birthday, I can divert my focus from making sure she has ample milk to making sure I transition to eating for one and not two. I have indulged for the last 11 months in eating pretty much anything I wanted and sometimes overindulging too. People are always so understanding when you’re a new mom. I realize that the “new” tag can only stick for so long; and something tells me that you’re not a “new” anything once your baby is 12+ months. I cannot say that I was a huge health fanatic before I had Sophia, but having her made me realize how I would want her to lead a healthy lifestyle and as such, will have to live to be an example.
A certain chill in the air has appeared and we crave bold, warm flavors. Last Friday night, I cooked up a chicken fricassee and warm, oozing polenta. So good… so so good. A part of me wants the summer to stay, but on some level, I can’t wait until the fall; Until the trees in our neighborhood turn to an array of burgundies, oranges and sunny yellows and I can make spiced cakes and rich stews, drink spiced apple cider and mulled wine.
{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.
This was Sophia’s first Rosh Hashanah. Unfortunately, the holiday fell on a Sunday night and we celebrated just the three of us. We did however partake in a traditional feast of strudel — a pastry shallow baked in oil filled with nuts, fruits and jams. It is delicious and something my family has baked for well over 100 years. I haven’t learned the recipe, but I know it is involved… so hopefully soon.
{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.