I wish I could tell you that there was plenty of cooking going on this weekend, but there wasn’t. In fact, the only cooking that went on was an easy chocolate cake and some dandelion greens. We did this on purpose because we needed a weekend where we could just relax. Right before our every meal Evan or I pulled something out of the fridge and just heated it up. Don’t get me wrong… there wasn’t any takeout this weekend; everything was done ahead of time. We cooked on Friday and admit that I was dog-tired for it, too. But that’s fine because it afforded us a blissful weekend. Among the three things prepared on Friday was a take on a dessert I grew up with as a child — a sort of a bar with a shortbread crust and a nutty filling. The dessert I grew up with is called sochinskoe and it had a walnut filling, but mine has a sweet pecan filling punctuated with tangy, fresh apricots. It is stone fruit season after all and I think there are few things better than perfectly ripe stonefruits. I also made this chicken with cardamom rice and barberries. It was just delicious and I still have leftovers. This recipe is becoming an easy staple at our house. So … what do I consider to be a blissful weekend? One where I got a chance to relax, to unwind and even make a trip to the mall. These are a busy few months for us because we have quite a few family events coming up including the wedding of Evan’s sister. I feel like we have to rest up ahead of time.
Why is the weather always great during the week and the weekend gets washed out with rain? Either way, even rain and thunderstorms couldn’t keep my in-laws away. They visited with us and really lent a lending hand. We were thrilled to have adult company and adult conversations and Sophia was thrilled beyond words to have their undivided attention. Don’t get me wrong, Eliza received plenty of attention as well, but she is not nearly as demanding for it.
these pictures courtesy of my in-laws
Sophia’s been a busy bee what with all that attention from Grammie and Pop. Saturday, they took her to our local park (Cabin John) and she got to ride a train through the park and climb to her heart’s content on all the playgrounds. Sunday, they headed to Bethesda’s Imagination Stage for a performance of Mouse on the Move.
While Sophia was busy exploring and enjoying her special time, Evan and I spent some time relaxing … with Eliza and in the kitchen. We managed to grill during a break in the rain and I baked a flour-less chocolate cake in honor of my father-in-law’s birthday.
Grilled shishito peppers (Evan’s impulse buy) to satisfy our wanderlust for Japan. The peppers were grilled over charcoal and finished off with Maldon salt. These were a welcome accompaniment to home-made Korean BBQ wrapped in shiso leaves from our own garden.
This picture needs no description… it was death by chocolate and so very easy to bake. You can find the recipe here. I used Scharffen Berger’s 55% cocoa solids chocolate. As good as the BBQ and cake were, it was still all about spending time together as a family knowing we are very fortunate to have such wonderful parents in our lives who make time for us.
… it was always a matter of time before I could sit down and have a conversation with Sophia over coffee. Okay, maybe over steamed milk, madeleines and a sparkling water (for me). I have really enjoyed getting to know Sophia better while home on leave. It probably sounds a little bit odd hearing a mom say that she is getting to know her own child, but I haven’t had such an opportunity while working and especially while working and pregnant. Moreover, she is ready to discover the world and takes everything in. Also, having a new sibling at home makes our Just Mommy and Me time that much more enjoyable and necessary for us both.
We’ve taken a few classes together at our local children’s gym and gone on a few excursions to the local mall on rainy days, but this, this was just perfect. I don’t hold a special affinity to Starbucks and in fact, would rather offer my patronage to a local shop or, better yet, to La Colombe. But we were nearby and it really didn’t matter where—just that we could share in the experience. We walked in, discussed what we were going to get, ordered, waited and sat outside enjoying each other’s company and our snack. We talked about spending time and Sophia asked about where all the other people were going. She doesn’t realize that people go to work, that they are running busily about their days from one place to another. Her innocence is refreshing. I couldn’t ask for a better half and hour than this.
Did you know that the blackberry season has finally arrived? There is something magical about picking your own fruits and vegetables and when you throw in a few farm animals and a llama into the mix, well, the pull to go to the farm becomes irresistible. Sophia was so excited to go to the farm that she rushed through breakfast and barely let us finish ours before dragging myself, Evan, Eliza and my parents to Poolsville, Maryland where we went blackberry fishing. When I say we, I really mean Baba and Deda, Evan and Sophia (after she fed the goats and looked at the chickens and pigs, of course). I wish I had pictures of our time there but manning little Eliza was keeping my hands plenty busy. After picking well over ten pounds of blackberries and feeding the animals—again—we finally headed home.
We decided to share our pickings with my parents and my sister and eat our portion out of hand. The fruit is just so ripe, so perfect that I don’t see any need to add extra sugar and cook with it. Speaking of not cooking with fruit; I am finally able to eat moldy, unpasteurized, and stinky cheeses again—now that I am no longer pregnant. I don’t think you can understand my irrational love for these unctuous, luscious morsels of… goodness. I also don’t understand why it took me a month to realize and remember that they need to be added to my shopping list. Worry not, once I did, a Gorgonzola Dolce made it on the list and so did figs for this simple crostini with fresh fig and the gorgonzola atop toasted sourdough. mmm… try it for yourself, there is no recipe but you just put a bit of cheese, top with a bit of fig and you can also sprinkle with honey. Serve with a crisp white wine and a midday snack.
We didn’t just snack on crostini all weekend long. We benefitted from Baba and Deda’s culinary delights but managed to add our own such as this home-spun Cioppino with fennel and cod. The secret to the rich stock was potatoes and anchovies. I don’t follow a recipe per se, just a set of principles such as using vermouth to deglaze the shallots and fennel, adding anchovies to the olive oil and cooking the fish very little at the very end.
I also added a home-made tomato soup from Sprouted Kitchen and it won high praise from the diners. I suppose when you add a toast with melted, fresh mozzarella on top, almost anything will win high praise :-).
And saving the last for best … I got my hands untied for a little bit and it was glorious. Even though Eliza is not my first baby, I still learn plenty from those who’ve done this long before me and for much longer than I have.
This … this right here was simply the best. Sophia and my mom having “tea for two”. If you look carefully, you’ll notice they even decorated their table with a flower in a vase. Attention to details. Perfection. I just wish my parents lived closer and we could visit them and the rest of our family more often. Then, we wouldn’t miss on fun events like our cousin’s 8th birthday bash :(.
Things are super busy around here. Some of us are learning how to build vertically and put together 4-6 piece puzzles while others are working on recognizing patterns and colors. Since little ones change so quickly, I thought I’d post a brief, mid-week fix.
It wouldn’t have been a nice and easy weekend if my Mother-In-Law (MIL) hadn’t offered to come and visit us for 22 hours. Yes, I counted and I was savoring every one of those and wished there were more. This would have been the first weekend we were left to our own devices with two children or 2×2 as I like to call it. The 2×2 situation is no joke—it is infinitely more difficult than having just one child.
The key to surviving and even enjoying the chaos is keeping your older child occupied with new and fun activities. My MIL is great at that and here is Sophia enjoying some painting. I try to pay attention at how she organizes Sophia’s activities and learn so that I can hopefully reproduce. I am sure valiant attempts lack the finesse with which Evan’s mom manages her time with a toddler.
Anticipating a 2×2 weekend, I’d designed an easy menu consisting of a new chicken wing recipe paired with boiled potatoes dressed with dill, sour cream and garlic.
The potato recipe is a Russian oldie but goodie. We continued our chicken themed cooking with Green Goddess Chicken served with basmati rice and a side of Dandelion greens Evan picked up at the grocery story. I am sure going to stop writing “something green for a vegetable” in his shopping list because he can get quite creative with his choices. I was hoping he’d get peas or broccoli and he comes home with Dandelion greens. I am not sure I’ve ever had them before and we’ve certainly never cooked them until Saturday. Since he chose these weeds, he got the privilege of cooking them and I wasn’t disappointed with the results.
You can pretty much bet that anything will taste great when cooked with soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Perhaps I’ll throw down a cooking challenge Evan’s way to acquire a stinging nettle next time and make a traditional Ukrainian borscht with it?!
All cooking aside, we were able to enjoy being out of the house. Eliza is just three weeks old and my cabin fever is at an all-time high. Shortly after my MIL headed home (sigh), we headed out to our first post-Eliza soiree—a birthday party for our friends’ little girl. We really had a great time having visited with our friends and Sophia enjoyed playing with other kids. For her, visiting with so many little kids is quite a luxury since she doesn’t attend nursery school yet. We came home yesterday with a cranky Eliza and a tired but thrilled Sophia. As for ourselves, the company of other adults can do wonders for one’s cabin fever and spirits. Seeing all those reasonably relaxed parents with two or more children running around gave me great hope that I too one day shall manage as well as they have learned to.
Being heavily pregnant and having a toddler running around was definitely not enough to occupy our lives and so we decided to throw some home renovations into the mix. I mean why not? One you’re infinitely busy, adding any extra business will still make you infinitely busy. After all, mathematics states that infinity plus anything is still, well, infinity. We’d never really done renovations or construction in our home save for window replacements and gutters and the likes. I was very worried about the noise/dust/dirt factor and also about finding a good contractor. So to start small and slow, we decided to renovate an upstairs hall bath that is used by the girls. We interviewed a few contractors and decided to give a reasonably unknown company a chance. We’re very happy with the result. Before I show you the pictures, let me tell you that it was loud, and dusty and a long four last weeks of my pregnancy and a week or so once I was just home from the hospital. That being said, I found the design and finish selection to be very rewarding albeit daunting at first.
Some design considerations that we made:
Chose a gray and blue tile palette
Designed and ordered a custom vanity cabinet that was actually more reasonably priced than ready-made and made of solid wood
Replaced the shower curtain look with a glass door that swivels
Chose a shower fixture with an additional removable hand shower that is height adjustable to make showering easier for children
Because the bathroom will be used by children, we decided to go with faucets that do not have separate hot/cold adjusters as children can get burned with turning on just the hot water. I am especially proud of our cabinet design which we came up with on our own. We designed the cabinet with two, 5 inch pullout step stools that also have built in storage in them, too.
And lastly, speaking of bathrooms, they are for bath-time! Eliza’s first bath!
Can you believe it is already past the 4th of July? No? Well, neither can I. Time flies especially at times like today, when I bid a somewhat sad goodbye to my parents, after a long weekend that seemed too short. I wish time stood still or I had just a little more of it with them. On the other hand, I wish time would fly by and I could finally bid diapers and bottles a cheery adieu. I can’t have it all, so I’ll settle for whatever time I am afforded with those whom I love most and a great celebration—whatever the reason.
We’ve been loved on by our families with attention and delectable edibles so much that we’ve both missed being in the kitchen. My parents provided us just that when they visited and took the girls off our hands. I can’t really get used to saying it … the girlS.Admittedly, as I am still the sole food supply for Eliza, Evan did more cooking but I contributed in selecting the recipes and making some sides and desserts. July, as you should know, is the national ice cream month and so we have home-made vanilla ice cream and a lovely berry crostata.
I also continued to slowly make headway into Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook and made this amazing Chermoula Eggplant.
It was simply spectacular and very easy to make. While I focused on all things sweet and vegetarian, Evan made rockfish simmered in dashi finished with a Chinese hot oil/herb dressing.
He also made korean BBQ from a Cooks Illustrated recipe I discovered while perusing their magazines that we have from when we used to subscribe. It was delicious and I’ll post a slightly updated recipe shortly.
The weekend was here at last. Funny how I still look forward to the weekend even though I am on leave. I sometimes wonder if I will loose perspective by the end of my 12 week vacation and every day will be the weekend at that point. I suppose having Evan at home and visits from our family make the weekend exceptional. Maternity leave is certainly not a vacation, though it is incredibly rewarding!
As expected, our families came to visit and meet the new addition bringing with them able hands to play with Sophia and delicious dishes for us to enjoy. As most parents know, cooking when you’ve just welcomed a new addition can be difficult and we haven’t dabbled into much cooking since Eliza’s birth. Evan did however wing an amazing beef recipe that we had two different ways over the last week and felt it was good enough to share. It is a hands off recipe that can be enjoyed in a tortilla with fixings in a Tex-Mex sort of way and also with simple Marinara sauce and pasta in an Italian style. The recipe is here and here’s how we enjoyed it:
Changes are almost never easy. I suppose the attitude with which you face transitions makes all the difference in how you perceive your experience in hindsight. This isn’t about our transition to a family of four, though I must admit that I must have forgotten how sleep deprivation can hit you like a wall of bricks. Nature works magic to make you forget about those early weeks on purpose or else everyone would have just one child.
I am fascinated by seeing how Sophia is adjusting and transition from being an only child to a being an older sister. While I am not an early childhood expert, I do understand that having time to yourself and mimicking certain new behaviors at home can help. And so, there was no better time than today to finally unpack a doll’s stroller Sophia received from my aunt for her 2nd birthday.
I also made this chicken with cardamom rice and barberries. It was just delicious and I still have leftovers. This recipe is becoming an easy staple at our house. 
So … what do I consider to be a blissful weekend? One where I got a chance to relax, to unwind and even make a trip to the mall. These are a busy few months for us because we have quite a few family events coming up including the wedding of Evan’s sister. I feel like we have to rest up ahead of time.
