Growing Up Savvy Posts
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.
Time flies when you are having a great time and we’ve really been enjoying being rallied around by our families this summer. We can’t thank them enough for their visits, and visits, and visits, and visits. That being sad, I always feel a little sad on Sunday mornings knowing that they are heading home and to their own busy lives. We had the best weekend with Evan’s parents this past Saturday and Sunday and so when they headed home and the dust settled, we needed something comforting for dinner to make up for their absence. What better meal than home-made spaghetti carbonara? We’ve never made carbonara at home and I’ve never ordered it outside of Italy and even there, maybe once or twice. It is a true caloric splurge—one of those dishes you should eat very rarely if you’d like to maintain your current dress size. And so, we looked up a recipe, whipped out some pancetta and made this oh so luxurious dish. Just four ingredients—pancetta, pecorino, garlic and pasta.
As good as it was, topped with basil from our garden, it didn’t make up for my in-laws’ departure but it offered temporary solace as any comfort food can.
Motherhood is a gift. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience this amazing gift twice and have only recently realized that each experience is extremely gratifying, unique and different from the other. I’ve always heard that each child is different but I never understood that each child molds you as a mother. What follows in the rest of this post are my own thoughts on motherhood, on mothering and on life as a mother.
It is true that when you become a mother, you relinquish your previous position as the center of your own universe to your child. I never thought of myself as a selfish person but admit to having an incredibly difficult time relinquishing my previous life. Perhaps I wasn’t ready to become a mother or perhaps some people never are. I don’t like the unknown and I don’t like change. You can’t describe motherhood to anyone until they themselves experience it. The truth, the scary truth is that you have to take that plunge, to trust yourself, your partner, your family, and embrace the unknown. There is never a right time either, you’ll never have your fill of vacations, of glasses of wine and of sleeping in on the weekend.
But I’ve come to realize that I don’t want my fill of any of those things if that means that I don’t get to see toothless smiles, morning cuddles and hear little feet stomping across the hall into my room on a Saturday morning.
As I said earlier in the post, each child is different and each child molds you as a mother. Bringing Sophia into our lives I can only describe as a jarring shock to all my senses. Who was this little being who cried day in and day out? She did nothing by the book and I remember baby blues hitting me like a pile of rocks. Fast forward almost three years and Sophia still doesn’t do anything by the book; she doesn’t sleep the night, she gets very motion sick, and she is not the best eater. But she talks, plays, sings, draws and dances. She is a little adult wrapped in a beautiful petite package.
In contrast, bringing Eliza into our lives was a much easier experience. For one, I no longer had to give up anything… I’d given it up three years prior. I am not sure what Eliza is really like, not yet anyways, but I am certain that she will be different and so will I. I am more relaxed, more in control and happy with where I am at this point in my life.
Children are a great equalizer; They help break down your life into the very basics. Every child should be wanted, loved and cherished despite or perhaps because of the lessons you learn as a result of rearing them.
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.
Before I tell you how to make this, let me just share that this is, for me, the best new dish of the summer. It is everything I expect from the season—light, vibrant, fresh, green and cooling.
My mom made this for us a few weeks ago and I triumphantly declared that it was the best thing she’s made in ages. That is really saying something especially if you know my mother’s cooking. It turns out that the recipe comes from a friend of hers who first learned about it while living in Israel.
The ingredients are few: zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and mayonnaise. The preparation is even simpler: slice the zucchini in into 4mm slices and sautée in a pan until fully cooked through and browned. Toss with tomatoes sliced into half-moons and of the same thickness. Add a handful of cilantro, a diced garlic clove and a tablespoon of mayo. It can be served immediately or refrigerated for a few hours.
I could easily picture myself sitting close to the surf in Cape Cod sipping a chilled Sauvignon Blanc or enjoying a leisurely tapas crawl in Barcelona. Alas, that’s all I can do at this point: picture! A five-week old infant hardly makes for a great travel companion especially paired with a rambunctious toddler, so while our wanderlust is at an all-time high, we remain home and are scratching our traveling itch through cooking.
I often plan a menu for the weekend and the week on Thursday afternoon, figure out a shopping list and shop on Friday and cook over the weekend. Most of the time, I am happy to make ready substitutions on the go while at the store if I see something that looks good. That was the case with lobster tails at Whole Foods on Friday and so I decided to take a chance on them having never cooked the crustacean at home before. We steamed them for just five minutes and served alongside an Israeli cous-cous salad with herbs. The herbs were whatever I found in my garden—basil, mint, scallion, parsley.
Since time is a precious commodity and the weather is too nice to stay home and labor all day at the stove, I went for a lean pork loin that took all of 5 minutes to marinade and another 15 to cook. I marinaded the loin while Evan cooked it off and made a sauce with the drippings.
I added some oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies into the weekend mix and had quite the helper, too.
Here’s Sophia “reading” the ingredients on a bag that used to house raisins … before they became part of an Israeli-style bulgur salad.