Growing Up Savvy

Published May 27, 2014 by Nadya

Weekending: Memorial Day

Lets pretend that it is the middle of July and we are in the Amalfi coast enjoying a Caprese salad in the not-so-quiet-any-longer seaside town of Sorrento.

You can almost believe that we were there this weekend from this picture… but alas, the basil is from our garden, the tomatoes are sadly hothouse, but the mozzarella, authentic. This salad dressed in balsamic and a great olive oil from Napa was just enough to transport Evan and me to June 2009 when we visited the Amalfi coast on our way from Rome to Sicily.

A long weekend is just what was needed at our house. A long, leisurely weekend where we could stay-cation knowing that there would be nowhere to rush to and no traffic jams to be stuck in. We prepared well by stocking up on groceries and to-do lists, inviting my parents down for a few days to help with Sophia while we got a handle on spring cleaning. My eyes dance with pleasure every time I walk into my closet now — the shoes all organized, the purses neatly stacked away in their cloth cases.

The weather, too, did not disappoint holding the temperature steady in the mid 70ies most of the time. That in itself is surprising for this area given the time of year. We re-introduced Sophia to gardening this year and she planted her own flowers and a few pea plants. She’s been diligently watering them and everything in the yard every chance she gets.

We also broke out our new sandbox — well, new to us. I can’t say that I am a huge fan of sand boxes, but I know Sophia enjoys playing in one and so we finally got some sand and she had a great time.

The spring cleaning and all that time outdoors surely whetted our appetites for something delicious and Evan didn’t disappoint with his stir fried beef with black bean sauce and fried rice.

The days off flew by too quickly but the end of Memorial Day signifies the semi-official beginning of summer, of great weather, great produce and more time outdoors.

Cookery Gardening Hubby Cooks Life

Published May 25, 2014 by Nadya

Moment

Moments

Published May 20, 2014 by Nadya

Weekending: With Nuts!

… and not just any nuts, but pistachios and not your average pistachios but ones that come from Sicily. What were we doing with nuts? Making pistachio ice cream of course. The season and everything else going on around here hasn’t slowed down the pace at which we are churning out (literally) delicious goodies.

I used this recipe for the ice cream and ended up shelling the big bucks for the pistachio crema. It makes sense to go to Sicily just to stock up on the pistachio products alone.

We have also embraced seasonality and so Evan whipped up an amazing fish en papillote from a local catch. What could be better than ginger, lemon, scallion and herbs from our very own garden?

All of them steamed with fish in a pocket and topped with asparagus of course.

Delicious as that is… nothing beats time with Grammie and water-play!

There was of course more cooking that this … but most of the other culinary delectables were repeats from our past favorites and I won’t ~~tantalize~~ bore you with pictures.

Cookery Culinary Adventures Dessert Flavors FriendsFamily Hubby Cooks

Published May 17, 2014 by Nadya

Weekend Reading

Once in a while, I compile a list of a few articles/blogs I find interesting and share them. They compose my “food for thought” reading and it is nice to share that.

From the source – a photography project aimed at highlighting small, local, organic produce and products. Especially important for families with kids who are trying to educate their children about where food comes from.

Orangette – a blog about food, adventures… everything that is well written.

Sex at Dawn – my current read — fascinating. I’ve always enjoyed social sciences and especially the topics where they intersect. A very good read.

Food Blog Goodness – I did say goodness, not necessary low calorie-ness. This blog has delicious eats on it …

Uncategorized

Published May 16, 2014 by Nadya

Moment

Moments

Published May 12, 2014 by Nadya

Weekending: To Have or Not To Have … Popcorn

Whew… and what a busy and delicious weekend it was. I guess we missed being home over the weekend having been gone for the past two and so we both rushed home from work with bags full of groceries and had every plan to stay, relax and cook. The weather has been beautiful and that has influenced both our time outdoors and our menu.

Before I tell you about the menu and all the fun things we did, I cannot in good faith hold back the fact that Evan has officially indoctrinated Sophia into the club of Popcorn Connoisseurs.

As you can see, she is deliberating on whether she should have yet another perfectly popped corn morsel. Not just any popcorn, but Evan’s special, home-made popcorn too. It was a huge hit and I am glad that they have yet another thing they can share. In fact, I am not sure who was more excited about the popcorn, Evan or Sophia. In the end, I am sure her love of this snack was always a foregone conclusion. She is so much like him, it was only a matter of time!

As for what we did the rest of the time? There was fun at the big playground with a castle, a pirate’s boat and an adventure course. There was also a trip to the nursery to get some tomato, pepper and herb plants which was followed first by fervent planting and then serious groans from some sore backs (actually, just mine, but for good reason!). This year, Sophia has really embraced gardening and was so very happy to plant each and every lettuce and snap peas.

While not planting or running around the playgrounds, we stayed home, watched Cinderella and cooked. There were Evan’s obligatory asian-style, barely cooked snow peas,

and an old-fashioned burger that we made by grinding the meat ourselves (yes, it does make a difference) … with some oven fries.

They were chased by homemade rhubarb and raspberry frozen yogurt

and … because I already had the ice cream machine plugged in, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to add a little variety; I made a Mango cardamom frozen yogurt, too.

That is topped with basil flowers, of course!

These are farmer’s cheese shortbread cookies that I used to love as a child. I had these vivid memories of my mom making them and since this weekend we celebrate Mothers, I thought it appropriate to make something that brings me such warm memories of my own mom.

Are you with me? Oh yes, moving on from sweet and Russian-themed to spicy and Mexican to Breakfast Burritos we made for lunch …

… and finishing off with these amazing chicken fajitas…

topped with roasted peppers and onions and garlicky, cilantro dressing, sour cream and guacamole.

This weekend was absolutely splendid and oh-so-delicious. I just we didn’t live so far away from our families and could share the spread with them.

Cookery Dessert Flavors Gardening Hubby Cooks Life Mom's Cooking

Published May 11, 2014 by Nadya

Mom

Just like that poem by Elizabeth Browning says, let me count the ways in which I love a very special person: my mom. I love my mom to the moon and back a thousand times over. I love her because she is there, because she is constant and it will always be that way. I love her because she is tough, because she is determined, because she gives and doesn’t expect anything in return. I love her because she makes me feel special through all the little things she does that I always notice. I love her because she made my childhood spectacular and I have great memories. I love her the most because I can see how much she loves what I love. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom and to all the other mom’s out there.

Food For Thought

Published May 10, 2014 by Nadya

On Mothering… A state of mind

Robert Heinlein was right when he observed that “being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation.” Each year, on Mother’s day, I thank my lucky stars for my sister, my other mother. There is no one better, no one who loves and cares for me just like my mom. I knew this when I was little and she would take care of me and I am even more certain of it now. The best thing about having my sister is knowing that not only does she celebrate my happiest moments as much as I do, she’s there when I need support. I hit the sibling jackpot and I’ll admit this every day until my last day.

Food For Thought

Published May 9, 2014 by Nadya

Moment

Moments

Published May 6, 2014 by Nadya

I am NEVER disappointed in YOU

Effective communication skills are critical to achieving success in our every day lives. The ability to express yourself clearly can make the difference between a successful outcome and one that is less so. The same principles apply not just in our professional relationships, but in our personal ones including parenting.

Sophia has recently ushered herself into the age of terrible two’s or trying threes or whatever you’d like to call it. As such, we’ve had to adjust our discipline strategies to address and cope with this age. We have introduced the words “upset” and “disappointed” to convey our displeasure. Though, as my mother-in-law pointed out, we cannot or rather should not say that we’re upset with her or disappointed in her. Instead, we are disappointed in her behavior and upset with her behavior. It seemed obvious that this is our sentiment, but we have to make sure that we communicate ourselves clearly and that we do not lead her to believe that we are disappointed in her.

Children’s emotional well-being is and should be of the utmost importance and accurate communication is the key to achieving that. I am very glad that my mother-in-law is perceptive enough to pick up on that and help us navigate the sometimes confusing world of disciplining your child. We are not keen on placing children into time outs. In fact, I don’t think we have placed Sophia into a single time out and view the practice as more of a time-out for the parent rather than the child. Instead, we prefer to get down to the child’s eye level and try to talk to them. Sometimes, that works, and sometimes it doesn’t.

And speaking of never being disappointed, though on a completely different topic — here’s the long-missed picture of Evan’s chicken schnitzel he made last weekend after we came back from our weekend away.

Cookery Food For Thought Hubby Cooks

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