Growing Up Savvy

Published December 4, 2012 by Nadya

Just Breathe…

The holiday season is upon us. Every fall I wish for a calm, quiet holiday season. Every December 1st, I realize that my wish won’t come true. For one, the social calendar is once again packed with obligations (some pleasurable and some, well, obligations). Secondly, there is all that shopping to be done for presents. Thirdly, everyone else has similar thoughts to mine: all that shopping to be done.

Where there is shopping, there is traffic. Where there is traffic, there are bad tempers and impatience. Add in the D.C., metro area into the equation and you have an intolerable, unbearable situation that has driven me straight to my personal computing device for taking care of most of my gifting needs.

My early holiday resolution is to try to take it easy and be “done” with everything and ready to relax by December 21st. I’ve even contemplated taking a vacation day to get caught up on chores and todo’s. Is your holiday season busy? What do you dread the most?

Life

Published December 3, 2012 by Nadya

Celebratory Dinner

We decided on a low-key, home-made dinner for hubby’s birthday. After a long discussion, he ordered some sort of a stew, mashed potatoes and Tiramisu. I happily obliged. Warning: there is no finished picture of the Tiramisu as we devoured it, and my mother’s AMAZING apple cake before snapping any pictures. I assure you, they both were delicious.

Manly beef…

Seared for MAXIMUM flavor…

Accompanied with mashed potatoes and sweet snap peas.

Chased with dessert…

Cookery Culinary Adventures Dessert Flavors Life

Published December 2, 2012 by Nadya

The B-I-G 3-0

Hubby turned 30 yesterday. The B-I-G 3-0 as I like to refer to it. In reality, it isn’t so big and we celebrated low-key with my in-laws which is just like we wanted. We did start the weekend early, with an indulgent (in calories) dinner at home with the baby and continued the celebrations into his actual day.

… anyway. Back to Friday’s indulgent dinner. Nothing is more indulgent than … well, butter and heavy cream and carbs. So, Cacio e Pepe which literally means Cheese and Pepper it was — with luscious fettuccine. To reign in the calories and health factor, we went with olive oil and we added a little bit of meyer lemon zest into the sauce and juice when finishing. We also added arugula for the health factor. The kitchen lit up with that delicate, zingy lemon fresh smell as the essential oils in the zest infused the butter. Mmmm… good.

… and …

Cookery Flavors Hubby Cooks

Published December 2, 2012 by Nadya

Birthday Gifts…

What do you get for a man who has … well, everything? I don’t mean literally of course, but in reality, we’re very fortunate. We have a warm home, food, jobs and too many material possessions. I was seriously challenged in the gift department for hubby’s B-I-G 3-0. It finally dawned on me that perhaps at this stage in our life, the best gifts are experiences or gifts that enable experiences. Ephemeral gifts are often treasured because they are fleeting and we always treasure them just how we want to remember them in our minds.

I also realize that the most fortunate people in life, are those who can control their destinies by making their own choices. We may not always have all the information to make the perfect decision, but that’s part of life — making do with what you have.

So, the morning of his birthday, Sophia presented her papa with an envelope that contained a card and another envelope. The “other” envelope contained two envelopes. The rules of the present were this: you choose one envelope and return the other one to me. This way, he doesn’t get to see what he didn’t select. The first two envelopes were labeled “Romance” and “Adventure”. Inside “Romance” there was “Rustic” and “Luxe”. In “Rustic”, there was “Sticks” and “Stones” and in “Luxe” there were “Hot Pink” and “White”. In each of the Sticks, Stones, Hot Pink and White were destinations. The same went for Adventure. Stay tuned for what hubby ended up choosing…

Life Travel

Published November 30, 2012 by Nadya

Moment

{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.

Moments

Published November 24, 2012 by Nadya

Thanksgiving Re-hash

The perfection of even the simplest menu can be elusive. We celebrated Thanksgiving with our families which included both our sides of the family. I was responsible for the stuffing (plain and turkey sausage and apple) and stuffed mushrooms while my mom took on sweet and mashed potatoes and provided the raw bird. The rest of the delicious dishes came from my mother-in-law and sister. My mother-in-law brought amazing the cranberry sauce, a carrot cake and turkey-shaped cookies. My sister brought a sumptuous green bean casserole, a honey cake and a chocolate pie-cake (amazing thing-a-ma-bob). But the simplest dish of them all can quickly turn into dry, mealy, flavor-less disaster which we successfully avoided this year.

The day before Thanksgiving, we brined the turkey in sugar, salt, sage, rosemary, garlic and thyme. The day of, I made an herb butter which i slathered under the turkey’s skin and we baked it, first at 500*F and then at 350*F. Here are the before and after:

I know that slathering in herb butter sounds… well… luxurious but you should do it right, or go home. Sophia tried the feast and definitely approved!

Cookery Flavors Hubby Cooks Tiny Tastebuds

Published November 23, 2012 by Nadya

Moment

{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.

Moments

Published November 23, 2012 by Nadya

Giving Thanks

I am grateful for a lot of things in my life on a daily basis. I usually start my day thanking anyone and anything responsible for a non-terrible night with Sophia. (I am NOT thankful for that today… worst night EVER). I am then thankful for light traffic on the D.C. beltway as I make my way to work and thankful for having such great coworkers and friends with whom I work on newfangled inventions.

On Thanksgiving however, I always sit back and think about a comprehensive “especially thankful for” list. Counting down from *

8. The internet because I can shop without facing the angry mobs of the stores on Black ~~Thursday~~ Friday.

7. Celebrating thanksgiving with hubby’s family and mine; everyone together for Sophia and no driving on Turkey day.

6. A healthy, happy and civil (:)) family; especially on Thanksgiving.

5. Delicious food and family gatherings, laughter.

4. My sister and brother-in-law & sister-in-law and her boyfriend.

3. OUR parents who help out how they know best whether with amazing toys, books, videos, advice, blintzes, chicken soups and strudel.

2. My daughter and nephew who teach me to see the world from a beautiful, innocent, optimistic perspective.

1. My amazing husband who cooks, cleans, takes care of baby, loves me dolled up in ball-gowns, glamorous in spit-up and who gave me the best role of my life – Mama.

FriendsFamily Life

Published November 19, 2012 by Nadya

A Fresh Perspective

Sophia was up from 1 am until 3 am. It was obvious that she wanted to get to sleep, but alas between our creaky floors and whatever was bothering her, Zzzzs were evading her and thus, hubby and me. While she speaks a few words, she can’t quite tell me what is bothering her and we’re not keen on medicating her without a clear and obvious reason, so sleep has eluded us.

Most parents know what it is like to work after a few sleepless nights and come home to a child who is more like a gremlin. The alarm startled me out of my sleep this morning and I thought “surely this is all some sort of a joke and it is NOT 6:00 AM”. Oh but it was, and then serious frustration came over me. I came into the office, okay, stumbled into the office in my sleepless haze and promptly caffeinated myself enough to be cordial to coworkers and productive. While having a cup o’ Joe, I read up on the happenings of the world. I didn’t need my coffee after watching those pictures and reading what has been going on in Israel and Gaza. The images of children pulled out of the rubble on either side are now seared into my memory. I promise not to complain about my little gremlin Sophia so long as I am blessed to hug her every morning and night. Sometimes we loose perspective; I know I do.

Life

Published November 18, 2012 by Nadya

Perfect Parfait Por Favor

Sunday mornings are all about sleeping in, sumptuous breakfasts and a lazy day that follows. Sleeping in is a thing of the past in our house and so there is little energy left for sumptuous breakfasts too. Besides, we’re trying to be healthy this ~~week, month~~, now. Healthy doesn’t have to be bland! I present to you … the easy vanilla parfait with strawberry vanilla stew, and a vanilla almond granola.

The vanilla yogurt was low fat — I refuse to eat anything non-fat because fats help you stay sated & are good for you in moderation. The strawberry vanilla stew was whipped up in 5 minutes while making Sophia’s whole-milk oatmeal (yum) and the granola was Bear Naked!

Cookery Flavors

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