Where Is My Dinner

New Video on Youtube :)

2009-07-10T12:47:00.002-04:00

It's been a while, but I finally got around to posting a new video on Youtube.

Now that my little one started preschool (time flyes!) I finally goot some time to sit down and play :)

Meet my New Friend -- Mascara

2009-03-30T17:13:00.000-04:00

Lately I have been obsessing a lot about makeup. With the kids getting older and more independent I finally get a chance to get out of the house now and then. And suddenly I want to look good again.

I’ve never been much into makeup when I was a teen. I was probably one of the very few girls in my class who sported the not-so-fashionable-for-teens natural look. I carried that into my jobs as well. My official line was always that I just don’t care. The truth is that I was a bit too lazy. The drag of having to put on makeup every morning and then wash it off at night just didn’t go well with me. Not to mention that I had (and still do have) incredibly sensitive skin and finding things that won’t irritate it was next to impossible.

But something changed lately. Now that I entered my thirties, I suddenly crave things like mascara. I think it’s the best option for the lazy me. It’s quick and easy to put on and take off. It can look natural or funky. And it’s easy to find a non-irritating type. It’s as if I’ve finally got into the teenagehood and want to experiment… Though, at this point I don’t venture beyond mascara and a bit of eyebrow pencil.

But I’m having fun. I feel like a girl again. I feel younger now than I did five years ago. And boy do I enjoy those long-volumized-separated-curled-huge lashes.

I guess, better late than never :)

The little girl inside is looking for coloring pages

2008-11-30T18:57:00.005-05:00

For whatever reason I've been a bit melancholy lately and feeling like a kid. And wanting to be one. So I've been browsing for things like online games, reading books from my childhood, looking for coloring pages of my once favorite doll (that's coloring Barbie pictures, in case you didn't guess).

Really weird. I'm weirded out. At this rate next thing you know I'll get into coloring Bratz or something. Though those dolls look a bit weird. I guess the heads got bigger since I was a kid. Back then we used to color normal looking princess, and coloring pages of princesses looked more like the bottom set on November 29th entry.

The world must be changing. But sometimes I don't feel too ready. I want to be a little girl again... with someone else doing all the big people jobs, while I'm sitting with my crayons somewhere in the corner and dream of beautiful princesses... But no, I got to be all responsible and mature now. And clean, and cook, and feel more like Cinderella before her makeover.

Must be the winter blues...

A Change Of Direction

2008-10-08T18:10:00.003-04:00

I am going to remove the pictures of my kids that are on this site. My life has changed and reorgonized, and I just don't feel comfortable leaving them online. But I decided that I'll continue using this blog. It probably won't be about life and food. I'm now trying out other things.

To tell you the truth, I have some financial motivation for the changes. I've been under some serious financial stress lately. So I've been searching all over the net for ideas on how to make money online. And found some ideas that I want to try out. I'll probably use this site as a lauch pad. So please excuse the change of direction, but what can I do -- life is just not static...

Cheers

Wall-e Coming Soon!

2008-06-13T15:50:00.002-04:00

Ok... here is a confession: I’m absolutely in love with all Pixar cartoons… All of them.

I just can’t believe how good these guys are. I love them so much, that when last year I had a very good opportunity to get the Ratatouille DVD for free, I chose to go out and buy it at a regular price, because I wanted the guys who worked on it to get something out of my purchase.

Because they deserve it.

Really, who else can you depend on for coming out with quality product on a regular basis? I can’t even remember when I last went to a movie cinema and wasn’t disappointed… It would have to be Ratatouille…

Why am I writing this? Cause I can’t contain my excitement. A new cartoon is coming out in about two weeks. Wall-e. And if he’s even half as adorable as the trailers led me to believe, it’s going to be my favourite Pixar cartoon yet.

And I’m also hoping to shift my son’s obsession from Cars (another Pixar wonder) to Wall-e. Just for variety sake. So I started printing out coloring pages for him. (You can get very nice Wall-e coloring pages here ). I don’t think I’ll take him to the cinema yet, though. Cause if our last trip is any indication, I’ll have to leave the movie ten minutes into it, which simply cannot be allowed…

But I’m sure by the time the DVD rolls out, it will be his favourite cartoon ever.

It’ll have to, after watching mommy watch it a hundred times in a row :)

PS: Oh, and if you are looking for cool coloring pages for a girl, there is a similar type site available with coloring pages of princesses.

That Went Well...

2008-05-12T21:55:00.003-04:00

Ok, that didn't go too bad at all! I'm really happy about the reaction I've been getting. I can't believe it, but my Youtube counter is already at over sixteen hundred views!

Thanks everyone for support and nice comments. You guys are the best!

I was so nervous before I posted. There is something really strange about unveiling your little pet project. When no one knows about it, it's mine, and I can do anything I want with it. But when it's out, it's totally out of my control. I don't know where it's gonna go. I don't know who'll see/listen. I don't know what they will think.

But it is also liberating. It's like letting a bird out of a cage.

Birds are not meant to be in a cage. Song's are not meant to be hiding on hard drives.

I'm glad I did it.

And now I'm gonna go back to the drawing board, and work on the next one :-)

Cheers!

The Big Reveal:

2008-04-29T10:47:00.003-04:00

Well, I’ve been talking about my “secret project” for a while. And some of you, notable Alexys came pretty close at guessing what I’ve been up to.

I’ve been writing and producing some songs.

Yes.

I’ve loved music all my life. And I’ve always wanted to be a songwriter. I’ve been writing since I was 12. But life kept interfering. There was a point where I thought – well, I’m too old now, why bother. But I couldn’t stop writing. It’s a passion that’s out of control. So I kept writing through busy, pregnant, sick…

And now, for the first time in my life, I’m actually sharing my passion with people outside my family. I’m horribly nervous, but I feel like I got to take this step.

This is a lullaby I wrote for my sons. I’ve scouted all over the net and flickr to find pictures of sleeping babies to put in the videos. I was amazed at the great response I got from parents.

So, without further ado, here is my first “official” video. Hope you like it.

You can also go directly to the YouTube link and leave me a nice comment or a rating :-) This is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHcockAgFN8

And thank you all for the support and encouragement you’ve given me.

Cheers...

The secret project is to be revealed... soon... partially :-)

2008-04-05T15:34:00.002-04:00

I’m not really blogging anymore. But it’s quite a difficult habit to break. I really would be online all day long… If I could. But my kids don’t think so. They rule my life. They control all I do. They control when I sleep and if I sleep. When I eat, and if I eat. They deemed that time for myself is an unnecessary waste. Unless I want to be up all night. Which falls into the “if I sleep” category. So I figured not blogging is better than occasional diving in. But then sometimes I can’t help it. So that’s why I’m here now. Even though I thought I never would be.

The baby has just turned one year old. (He did? Didn’t I just wonder if he’ll ever come out?). The older is three tomorrow. Time’s flying…

But, I do have a little something I’m still doing. Any time I get to myself, I work on that secret project. Which I really have neglected for months. But now I get about an hour a week for it :-)

And I decided to share some of it.

Yes.

It’s almost not a secret anymore.

In fact, I expect to reveal it here within the next two weeks.

You thought I’d tell you now? Nah… I want to finish up a bit. But I promise I’ll eventually tell you.

In fact, here is a hint: I’ll be posting some of it on Youtube.

Can’t wait.

And now naptime’s over. And so is my daily ration of time for myself.

Bye then.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T22:41:00.000-05:00

Thank you everyone for warm Happy New Years wishes. Slightly belated, but still very heartfelt best wishes to you too…

Yes, this was yet another New Year.

Yes, I’m still Russian, so it was still a big deal (see last year's entry for details on the bigness of it :-) ). Same movie. Family surrounding. Big dinner.

The difference – a completely vegetarian dinner. And the concept was so shocking to some, that they showed up with their own food… (My parents). But we were purely veggie. And there was tons of healthy veggie food. But by the time I thought of snapping a picture, most was already gone. So no pictures of the stuffed cabbage (I should’ve taken it… it was so impressive…). Or mock “shuba”. Or mayonnaiseless potato salad. Or layered baked veggies terrin. You’ll just have to believe me it was good :-)

I have to say though -- this holiday season has been exhausting. First of all, two kids… Secondly, one of them understanding about Santa. So, obviously, doing all Santa’s work, and getting zero credit. Then there was trying to figure out how to explain that Santa comes on Christmas, and Grandpa Frost, who’s sort of Santa, comes on New Years. We haven’t worked out the kinks in the system yet. And I just can’t give up on good old Grandpa. Not to mention that he’s the one in all the Russian cartoons and programs saturating our holiday TV menu… We better figure it out by next year, or the kids will need therapy…

And now, all I really want to do is sleep. One day of peace, quiet and snooze. No cooking. No cleaning. No gift shopping/wrapping/thinking/planning/paying. No decorating/undecorating. Nothing. I want life to be normal, boring and routine. For at least a couple of days. So I can catch my breath and regain the rhythm. This is not real me talking. This is the zombied out exhausted version the day after New Years’ events. Cause when you have kids, even though you stay up late to celebrate – you still get up on their schedule. Somehow I sort of forgot about that.

But I still love the holiday season. Reminds me to rekindle the kid inside. I love reading cards. And getting gifts. And putting up the lights on the Christmas tree. And now seeing the excitement on my son’s face when he finds out that Santa ate the cookie and left him gifts. He believes in magic without even realizing it. Magic is so normal to children, that it makes me wonder if we, the adults, are the ones who got it all wrong.

So, even though belatedly, allow me to wish that this year brings you all the magic in the world. And that the kid inside you, that very kid that still believes in it, always shines through your eyes.

Cheers!

Vasilisa

I wish you a merry cold shower (or a bucket)…

2007-12-22T00:45:00.000-05:00

By now I have accepted that I’m just not that consistent at writing. Or reporting. I find it hard to write when I’m figuring something out. And almost impossible to explain it, once I have figured it out.

But let me try and give you some updates.

Especially for those of you who want to lose weight.

Or get younger.

Or get energy.

Cause I’ve lost almost 20 pounds. In less then two months. Healthfully. And I’m jumping again. Really jumping. Up in the air. With my kids :-)

So gals (and guys), it’s possible! I’m writing just to let you know that. Maybe you’ll get inspired :-)

I thought I’ll never have this feeling again. I bought into the “getting older”, “weaker joints”, etc…

But it was all a lie. I’m now feeling younger by the day. And I’m implementing more and more healthy habits into my and my family’s life. It’s no longer overwhelming. It is still a journey, and it’s still a learning process, but it is slowly forming into a system. And it is paying of.

One of the latest destinations this journey has taken me is back to my past. I suddenly remembered (not that I really forgot, but I certainly avoided it :-) ) that between the ages of 13 and 18 I was very fit, skinny and healthy. I hardly ever got sick. I had all the energy in the world. And there was this one thing I did (on top of eating better) that I stopped for a reason I now can’t think of. I used to pour a bucket of freezing cold water over myself every single morning.

You see, it’s a quite common knowledge in Russia that cold water has tons of positive effects. Among other things it improves blood circulation, gives you energy, prevents from catching colds, destroys viruses and ailments inside you, etc… Russians are notorious for taking steaming hot baths and then running out into the snow. Or skinny dipping in the dead of winter. There is much scientific research done to prove the effectiveness of such body tempering (I really can’t find a better word – there doesn’t seem to be an English translation for the concept.). There is not too much information about the concept in English, but if you check this link
Anyways, I can attest to the fact that the cold water thing works. It worked for me then. And I decided to do it again. Unfortunately over these past years I’ve become very pampered and was too scared to do a freezing bucket out of the blue. So I decided to do it in stages. Every day at the end of my shower I switch the dial to cooler and cooler temperatures and take on that cold water for a few seconds. I feel so refreshed after! I’m proud to announce that I feel ready for the bucket again. In fact, it’s already on my “to buy” list. (As soon as I’m out of “Christmas debt”).

So, if you are brave enough, and want to feel a jolt of energy you’ve never thought possible – give it a shot. Take your shower, as usual, and then at the end, take a breath in (cause the first time the shock might leave you breathless) and shift the water dial to cool (or as cold as you are brave enough to try). As the water pours on you, feel free to jump, scream and twist. It’s fun! Do that for a few seconds, and then right after dry yourself vigorously with a towel.

No cup of coffee in the morning will ever get you this alert.

(Disclaimer – naturally I’m not a doctor, and you’d be doing it at your own risk… )

I’m thinking that these showers are responsible for a turnaround in my attitude. And in the way I feel. I’m no longer feeling oppressed by all these changes. I welcome them. Cause I feel like finally the real “me” is being resurrected.

And that’s a darn good thing.

And I wish you the same.

PS: You think loosing 20 pounds is nothing? Well, that’s 20 pounds in two months. But I actually lost over 40 since I came home with the baby. It’s just that these last 20 were much easier and sort of melted off without me even focusing on them :-)

Will the insanity ever end?

2007-12-15T22:37:00.000-05:00

I have been cooking every single day… Breakfast, lunch and dinner… I can’t believe it’s me. I didn’t even know that it’s possible to spend so much time thinking about food.

I read about it, I talk about it, I make it, I eat it. It has become the absolutely dominating part of life.

And I’m trying to figure out the best formula for “healthy”. Cause, amazingly enough, nobody seems to agree about anything. Not even the “health crusaders”. Some say that you should eat all raw, others that you need grains. Some offer a diet that is about 80 percent fruit, others say that you should go easy on fruit cause of sugar content. Analyzing all this information (and there is no way around that – I gotta eat something) sometimes leaves me frustrated and scared to put anything in my mouth.

There are, naturally, common threads. Eat your veggies. Lots of them. As much of it raw as possible. Avoid meat and dairy if you can, or go really easy on them if you can’t.

And so I’m making a lot of salads. And wraps. And soups. (Nobody actually recommends soups, but I figured that they are all veggies, homemade, and will do no harm. I can’t quit soup cold turkey. That’s just too much to ask.)

I have now become a queen of salad dressings and spreads. And the gadget that gets the most mileage in my kitchen? Magic Bullet blender. Yes, the one from infomercials. I bought it couple of years ago and I still think it’s one of the most useful things ever. Because whenever I don’t know what to do, I just put whatever I find into that little cup and shred it into oblivion – voila, a spread/sauce! (It’s also heaven-sent for mashing baby food). And I can make really tiny quantities of things in it.

Here’s an example of a recent all raw and fully healthy hummus-like spread I envented a few days ago:

1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Grind all these together in a coffee grinder or any other Magic Bullet type device that grinds dry items.
Then add:
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons or more finely chopped dill
Sea salt or salt substitute to taste
About 2 tablespoons of water (depending on how thick/thin you want the consistency to be)
Mix or blend everything.
Voila – a nice healthy spread. Goes well with veggies or on cracker. Or even on a sandwich instead of my old staples (ahm… mayo…)

I made it a few times already. But it never survives long enough to make it into my photo album. Somehow it just disappears, before I can say “cheese”. That’s how yummy it is :-)

Oh, and I’m officially a smoothie queen. Something about blending fruits and sipping them through a straw gets everyone excited. I guess it makes us feel like we are relaxing somewhere in a Caribbean. It’s so relaxing not to even have to chew your food. People are really lazy around here…

That’s about it for now. What else could I say. Christmas is coming, and I have a toddler. So I have to live up to Santa Claus expectations. I.e. – I’m busy, stressed and dream about those helping elves. Santa really got it easy – elves do all the work, reindeers do all the driving, and all he has to do is drop a toy to get his milk and cookies – now that’s a job I want!

Sorry Santa – no milk and cookies in this house. But you better work yourself down this chimney or else there’ll be no lettuce wrap for you. I can see you drooling already…

A tale of an evil mother and spinachy beans...

2007-12-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

Let’s begin this report by reporting about a very bad mother (grammatical perfection, as usual…). An evil mother that is so selfish that she thinks that some soy spray in her soup is OK even though she’s specifically been warned that her kid is probably allergic to soy… A squirt of darn soy spray per gallon of soup which she doesn’t actually give to the baby, but consumes herself in a pretty small bowl.

And then her baby has a major rush on his behind. A hive-looking one.

I feel so guilty, I could die.

Bad, bad mother…

But honestly, I thought: it’s not like I’m giving it to him. I sprayed 1/10th of a teaspoon into a whole soup pot, and I’m the one who had SOME soup, and not him, and somehow whatever got to the milk gave him a rush (at least that's what I think happened)…

I feel like guilt is crawling up my knuckles and raising every tiny hair on my evil selfish arms…

And I am even more paranoid now

Did you know that they put soy in chocolate? In bread? In cookies? In PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING?

Those delicious nutritious Ezekiel’s wraps? They have soy…

Those carrot muffins? They have soy oil...

That organic fresh raspberry pastry? Why the heck does it have soy? What does soy have to do with organic raspberry pastry?

Why does black bitter chocolate have soy? WHY? What does soy have to do with bitter organic chocolate? Am I missing something?

What is wrong with this world?

And if you are very careful and buy sprouted bread that doesn’t have soy, then when you thaw it you’ll get this:

You probably can’t see the moisty part. The sweet-gooey-moisty part. Let me just tell you, nowhere in the ingredients does it say that it supposed to contain moisty-gooey-sweet (rotten) part.

That’s what you get when you can’t be like normal people and buy sprouted bread that contains soy.

Ah… Life is like shopping in a freezer section of a health food store -- You never know what's it gonna thaw into…

On the bright side:

I found goat butter. Yes, butter. Yummy real butter that is organic and goat milk based. And it is delicious. And has no salt.

I guess there is some food at the end of the rainbow.

But enough about that. Let’s get down to business. Lets discuss actual eatable food… Because today I had some serious munchies. And lettuce just wasn’t doing for me. So I had to come up with a seriously filling dinner. Without meat, fish, soy or nuts… (I know, I know… Enough already… But I still can’t get over it! What else is there?)

So, I made beans with buckwheat and salad.

Very alkalizing. Very green. And pretty. What more can a girl want? Allow me to share the recipe:

Any normal person can use good quality canned beans (of their favorite type). However, being on this whole home-cooked wave (and masochistically enjoying making my life more difficult) I cooked some black-eyed-peas (which are actually beans, why do they call them peas? I think they are conspiring just to confuse me…) from scratch. Basically, I soaked them, and then cooked in water with some cumin seeds and a couple of bay leafs.

Separately, in a blender (or a food processor) mix till chunky:

A bunch of cilantro
2 medium tomatoes
Roughly a bunch of spinach (really, that’s just a guideline -- however much you have is just fine…)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds (I adore cumin seeds. You can probably use less, if you don’t share the fascination.)
1 and half teaspoons fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Salt or salt substitute of your choice to your taste. Being desperate to invent a salt without salt or soy sauce I put in 2 tablespoons of soaked wakame. I was being creative. Luckily it worked out just fine.
Liquid from cooking the beans (or water, or stock) to the extent of how watery you like the sauce to be. I used about a cup.

All that goes into the blender (my wonderful-wonderful blender, which Alma so aptly called “a blender with a car motor”!) or food processor. Process till chunky. Pour over the beans, bring to boil and turn off the stove. Leave it covered for a while to let the flavours blend. (Alternatively you can let it simmer for five minutes if you don't mind cooking veggies. Or don't bring all the way to boil, if you are trying to do it mostly raw. The beans are cooked though -- I don't know a way around that.)

Serve over rice, quinoa, buckwheat or anything you like. (I haven’t figured out all the rules and reasons behind food combining, so I’m promptly ignoring them for now -- But I think beans over buckwheat are ok, cause I seem to recall that buckwheat is actually some sort of bean disguised as a grain… No idea why I think that… )

Serve with big salad.

By the way, the salad dressing today also worked out quite well. Olive oil/lemon/garlic and some water (to thin) blended with dill. The dill makes it green and it tastes very much like ranch dressing. Give it a shot. Quite easy, creamy and yummy.

Bon appetite everyone!

Zucchini spaghetti extravaganza…

2007-12-07T00:31:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen. Allow me to actually share a pretty delicious/nutritious (and raw! So should it be classified as a salad?) recipe with you. This is what we had for dinner yesterday.

Isn’t it pretty?

Yes it’s spaghetti with tomato sauce and avocado slices… But get this – the spaghetti is organic zucchini! Not even cooked one! Sliced with this Saladacco thingy I got at a trade show:

Pretty neat, eh?

It looks like angel pasta. And it tastes pretty good too. And your eyes and fork are totally fooled into thinking that you are eating spaghetti. And taste buds are not rebelling either. Provided they also get this tomato sauce. A home made one.

I don’t usually measure ingredients, but I’ll try to give you a basic direction of the sauce:

2 medium tomatoes
1/2 green bell pepper (or red one)
couple of teaspoons of Dulse flakes (that’s cause we’re avoiding salt and soy. Sea Salt or some kind of natural soy sauce to taste would probably be OK for people who are not as strict)
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dry thyme flakes
1/3 cups – 1/2 cups sun-dried tomatoes
squeezed juice of about half medium lemon
some olive oil (about a tablespoon)
optional amount of water to desired liquidness (I probably added 1/4 cup or less)

Put everything in the blender (or food processor) and blend till just a bit chunky. In order to get it more uniform, pre-chop the tomatoes and peppers before putting them in the processor. (Not anything major, just cut into 4 - 6 pieces each veg...)

You can then warm the whole thing in a skillet till just about luke-warm. Enzymes start deteriorating at about 106 degrees F, so if you want the most out of your food, keep it as cool as you can. Of course, if you are not into the whole raw/enzyme preservation, you can heat it up all the way and even simmer for a while. It's all up to you :-) I just warmed it a bit and it was totally delicious...

Pour over the spaghetti and enjoy!

PS: I got my magic blender! Yes! I want to kiss it, and dance with it, and use it, and eat it… And I need a new kitchen, cause it’s just not fitting under my cupboards, the buggar is too tall… Darn… Honestly, where is that perfect world?

Rawring, rawring, but not quite raw, though…

2007-12-04T22:35:00.000-05:00

Just to clarify – I am not on a raw food diet. I aspire towards it, but I'm not there yet. Not by a long shot. I totally believe in it’s healing powers and it's energy (I mean seriously, check out these pics!), but I’m just not physically or emotionally ready for that. But 70 – 80% is quite an achievable goal. And not eating junk. My credo now is to alkalize our diet as much as possible and to eat as natural products as I can get. So if I’m making a “stir fry” I basically steam veggies for shortest time possible and add some olive oil after cooking. Or if I’m making a soup (Come on! It’s winter in Canada – can’t really last on salads…) I cook it for less than half an hour (as opposed to over an hour in the past). And if I make a sandwich, it’s some hummus with heaps of veggies, as opposed to butter and cheese (my favorite former staple…)

But there is always a green drink. And a salad. Those are a must.

All these changes remind me of the time I became vegetarian. At the beginning I simply had no idea what to eat. When the stake and the chicken left my plate, there was this daunting empty space that was driving me insane. I thought I’ll never enjoy food again. But then I learned better. And discovered delicious new foods, and new ways to look at dinner.

Now I’m back there again. The empty space in my head under the heading “dinner”. Over and over again I stand in the kitchen, and my old staples come to mind. Followed by a list of reasons why I can’t have them (too processed, too much salt, contains soy, or nuts, or fish…) and there are moments of desperation, with fists banging the counter top, screaming: “So what do I cook for you, people?” But inevitably something gets figured out. Not always a culinary champion entry, but eatable :-)… It is a learning curve… Some day I might become a master health-food chef. But for now I’m just a struggling apprentice.

However, I shouldn't dwell on the obstacles so much. Because there are positive things about our new diet. Like learning about all the products I’ve never heard about. For example, it turns out there are tons of grains out there! Grains that are not rice and are actually delicious. Like buckwheat, quinoa (my new favorite), millet (OK, I haven’t tried that one yet, but am about to) and spelt (honestly, sprouted spelt bread? Best thing ever, and they sell it sliced!)…

Or have you heard about the wonders of avocados? Wow. Those things are loaded with nutrients, potassium, healthy fats etc. And being low on sugar, they are much better than bananas for that natural energy kick. (Pricey though – but the world is just not perfect yet…)

And I always thought that there is only one type of sea vegetable. The one they wrap around sushi. Imagine my surprise when I was confronted with no less than six eatable varieties in my local health food store! Not that I know what to do with them yet, but so far I’ve tried Kombu and it’s delicious!

I could go on and on. Recent trips to the health-food stores have opened my eyes and emptied my wallet into oblivion... I am suffering from an information and opinion overload. And all the accompanying highs and lows. "Yes, I love goji berries! Wow, they do all that? At once? And I'll never need any other food again? How much did you say they are? Really? It was very nice to meet you..."

If I was rich, had unlimited resources, great weather (and not snowed-in freezing rain conditions) and a health food store closer than an hour away, I'd probably go completely raw right away. But it too hard right now. I can't. I need my comfort warm food. And I haven't figured out the way around it...

I need things like this:

A soup! Homemade, organic and no salt, but cooked and very warm…

To be raw fair, though, this is what I made for breakfast:

A completely raw and healthy coleslaw, consisting of shredded red cabbage, a shredded carrot and a shredded apple. All organic. A great salad that works like a broom through the intestines. Extraordinarily effective :-)

And there was a salad for dinner too. (Trying to keep that 80/20 ratio going. Though failing miserably, cause the soup was just way too good...)

An exotic take on stuff found on the fridge: tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, avocado and baby lettuce, tossed with cilantro, lemon juice and olive oil. Oh, and some Dulse flakes for saltiness. (Those flakes are one of those sea-vegetable things I just found out about. Quite eatable -- though not all that salty...)

So, as you can see, lots of changes, lots of cooking and lots of veggies… It's a learning and adapting process. But it's very much worth it.

Though I do miss my bread-butter-cheese sandwich...

Life as we’ve never expected it…

2007-12-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

Well… Guess what we had for snacks?

Yes.

You guessed it.

Lettuce leaves… With pumpkin seed paste, but lettuce nevertheless…

Oh, and take a look at this fridge:

I dare you to find something unhealthy and processed. (Hemp milk doesn't count. It's quite organic. And so hippie :-) I feel like a flower child...)

And it looks empty because all these healthy things – they run out almost as soon as they are bought. No longevity what so ever. So it’s shopping every two days or so. (Besides, I've got a pretty huge fridge...)

For those curious, I am trying to operate a diet that takes some concepts from the "Ph Miracle Diet", and some general raw food ideas, with my favorite book so far being “The Raw Food Detox Diet”.

Lot’s of great ideas there, except for the fact that some form of nuts is present in almost all the recipes… But I’m adapting. It just occurred to me that nuts can be substituted with seeds (like sunflower seeds) and almond/soy milk with hemp milk. So I’m feeling much more optimistic now.

No, we haven’t gone all raw yet. It’s way to hard. But we’ve certainly changed our diet.

And guess what this is?

Yup, it’s a very fancy-shmancy juicer. (I'd take a picture of my own, but it's all disassembled at the moment. Besides, this one looks much juicier with the whole pineapple theme they've got going...) We use it for juicing green veggies first thing in the morning, to get all those good vibes and enzymes. Cause juicing makes these enzymes go straight into the blood and do their miracle there, for there is no effort wasted on digestion. The drink is now our daily energy shot…

See, I’ve told you we’ve gone wacky…

Yes, we juice wheat grass too… No it’s not disgusting… Sort of an acquired taste by now.

What else? Let’s see, we got a spiralizer (Saladacco) for making veggie pasta. (I already tried it once, and my zucchini pasta was just fine, thank you very much.)

And we ordered a very fancy blender. It’s not here yet, but when it gets here I can just imagine my life getting better. (It better, considering how much we’ve paid…)

We’ve emptied the entire pantry and got rid of everything that had salt. Read – donated two huge boxes of cans to food bank.

We collected and are about to donate all stuffed toys in the house. Dust mites, you know. Not good for the baby. (Sniff, sniff, the cute little bears…)

We now buy sprouted bread. Spelt sprouted bread… And wraps… No more Dempster toasts…

I seem to cook endlessly. I’m making sauces from scratch, hummus from scratch, pastes from scratch, baby food from scratch…

Yah… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

On a positive side – did I tell you I lost 15 pounds this month? Hmmm… I actually weight less now than I did in about 8 years. Not quite my first year university shape yet (another 10 – 15 pounds to go), but way closer to that goal than in ages. And it’s not like I’m not eating. I’m eating all these healthy things till I feel like celery is growing out of my ears, and I’m still loosing weight!

And hubby lost 20 POUNDS! In a month! Doing absolutely nothing to achieve that, other than eating healthy foods instead of the garbage/junk he used to get for himself. Seriously, that’s an argument for healthy diet in itself.

You know, I do get emotional about all these changes, cause they are quite overwhelming. But they are manageable. And they definitely have positive results. And we do eat. I spend more time cooking and thinking about cooking, but I’m sure that I’ll figure my way around it eventually. It’s not like the diet is so difficult, it’s just being thrust into it so suddenly makes it challenging. No real transition. No time to plan and figure it out. Instead going from one day with a stocked pantry and fridge to being back at square one and having to start everything all over.

But it’s a challenge that is worth it. My family is worth it. Our health is worth it.

I just need to figure out a way to sit down and get my brain together, so that all the little pieces don’t run away from me. And then it’ll be a breeze.

I’ll try to keep you posted :-)

PS: don’t worry, we didn’t just eat lettuce today. We also had sandwiches, fruit and even some chocolate. And kids had completely normal dinners of chicken and grains. At grandma’s home. (How else would I get all this time for blogging?)

Where is my dinner?

2007-12-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

When I first named my blog I thought that this was a cute name. I thought it was a temporary question that I would only really worry about while pregnant and struggling with morning sickness. A pretty severe one, but I was sure it will pass… Little did I know how streneous that question would become. How much it would be affecting my life all the time.

Skip a little over a year ahead, and here I am. Pondering that question again. Pondering it so much, that even though I’ve had absolutely no time for a while to get to my computer (hence the long absence, and I know most of you already forgotten me, and I’ve been very neglectful of the blog – I’m truly sorry, but with a toddler and a baby I barely find time to take a shower, and I have immense respect for all the women who manage to have kids and blogs and jobs and have a life – I have no idea how they do it…) I needed to write a bit, as a form of therapy, cause I’m going insane.

It all started with a health scare related to my husband. I won’t go into details, but it was sufficiently nasty that we had to make immediate changes and cut out all junk, salt, sugar, coffee, and the like things from our diet.

And just as I was figuring my way around the new kitchen, I found out that my baby (the one who’s already eight months old – time flies!) is allergic to fish, peanuts, tree nuts and soy. And that I should also stay away from those things while nursing.

Which begs a question –have you ever seen a food in a store that doesn’t contain those ingredients? Me neither…

Today I bought tea. It said on the package – “raspberry tea”. I brought it home. I brewed it. Just before drinking I glanced at the ingredients. I was expecting to read “raspberry”. Instead it read “contains soy”.

Ha?

So the tea went down the drain. And the tears streamed down like a waterfall.

I’m now living in a new lala-land where all I do is try to cook something that is healthy, not salty, organic, vegetarian, has no nuts/soy/fish, not processed and tons of other “nots” that even I’m loosing track of.

If I manage to create something other than a lettuce leaf on a plate, I’ll be posting the results. If I can restrain the kids long enough.

This sure is not where I thought I would be right now.

But that’s our new life.

Welcome to the new healthy eating plan for crazy over-board people. Plenty of fresh air to go around.

No wait, isn’t the air all polluted anyways?

I guess this is where imagination comes in handy…

Getting Impatient

2007-08-03T14:20:00.000-04:00

You know how sometimes you want something so much and you work your butt off to get it and it’s coming closer, but just not there yet and it MAKES YOU WANT TO SCREAM! Cause it’s so frustrating…. It’s almost there, but just can’t seem to wrap it up…

I’m talking bout that secret project of mine. I’ve been trying to do that for soooo long now. And with two kids, finding time is so much harder. Every time I think it’s almost done, something comes up and stalls the process.

Not to mention that I’m one of those scared/pessimistic people who always imagines the worst possible scenario – like, what if when I’m done, it’ll go nowhere? Really, what am I gonna do next?

Which really is also the reason why I’m doing all this now, and not some ten years ago, when I had way more free time. Cause it took me that long to realize that if I don’t at least try, I’ll always regret it. (Time, and some Tony Robbins CDs to make me feel like a complete looser for never trying…)

So here I am. Trying. Very hard. Hoping that Universe will line itself up and help me. Cause It’s not supposed to give you a major wish and no hope of getting to it.

At least that’s what I’m betting on.

Out and about...

2007-07-18T17:48:00.000-04:00

Did I ever tell you that I live in Canada? You know, the Great White North? I bet you wanna know what it’s like here…

Well…

This is the view we get through our windshields:

And this:

And this is a typical parking lot:

Cause, you know, we drive elephants over here…

…
…

Ok, ok, just kidding. We took the kids to the African Lion Safari. Our first family outing, which, I’m proud to announce, I’ve survived in one piece. The highlights? Oh, there was a train. I think the point of the train was sightseeing, but that point was totally lost on my son, cause HE WAS ON THE TRAIN! Honestly, train versus some kind of pink bird? Train wins anytime.

We also saw a broken tree, a bus, a car without roof, a bicycle and a boat… I think there was a lion, but it got lost somewhere in the mix.

In fact, most animals did.

Except this one:

Yup…

Now feel free to convince my son that we don’t drive elephants…

Musings of a domestic-diva-wannabe…

2007-07-15T18:28:00.000-04:00

I’ve always admired people who have self-discipline. Who can push themselves just cause they choose to. Who wake up early cause they decided to and not cause the dog is barking or the kid is crying. Who clean their houses before it gets messy and definitely not just because someone is coming over.

I want to be like that. I want to have discipline. Despite all appearances to the contrary (like my new-age philosophy fascination, artistic aspirations and complete luck of the above mentioned discipline) I full-heartedly believe in schedules, plans and discipline. I just can’t seem to get it going. I always fall off track. Even the simplest things, like cooking dinner for my family, seem like a gigantomontous task to me. Why can’t I just plan it ahead and then cook everyday? Why is it such a chore? And why can’t I keep my house together?

Sometimes I feel like I’m failing at being an adult. It’s so much easier to be a kid. Someone always does things for you. But now, with kids of my own, I have finally realized that I’m that someone. I’m the only one who can get this chaos in order. And if I don’t – it just won’t happen.

And so, I’m trying my best to enforce some discipline onto myself and make myself do things just cause I said so. And I’ve made some progress. Really. I feel so great about myself cause I’ve actually cooked dinners for a few weeks in a row (I know you don’t think it’s much, but believe me – that’s a first for me). And I have been mostly on top of the laundry situation (but that’s really thanks to my super-duper machine that is just so amazing I have no words that will do it justice).

And I feel almost proud…

Until I open the fridge and find my lovely Rubbermaid container with pineapple juice… And there is fungus floating in it…

Great going…

Thank God the kids are not old enough to grab their own drinks…

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

2007-07-08T17:34:00.000-04:00

You know how that last post had that nice little plate with an annoyingly healthy amount of veggies and barely there serving of anything else? That’s cause I was so trying to be on a diet. And because it was a dinner the day before my birthday. The day before I so thunderously fell of the wagon, I don’t even want to think about. The day before the cake/mayo/ice-cream binge that has already lasted half a week and which I’m so ashamed off I just have to have another ice-cream to feel better…

Yah… I’m sooo really serious about loosing those 30 pounds. Sure…

But seriously…

I can’t stand looking in the mirror right now. I’m way too desperate to fit into my old clothes. Those nice fashionable pants I got a couple of summers ago. Instead of these stretchy track pants that make me look like I’m just trying too hard… Which I’m totally aware of. But I’m not gonna go shopping for anything to fit this current behind. I don’t care what those “What not to wear” people say. This rear end will not look good in anything. And there is no point in trying to camouflage it.

I’m just gonna stock up on carrots. And lots of wishful thinking. And those ancient photos of myself at 16 when I could fit into the skinny jeans my toe will probably not fit into now.

Ahh… those good old days…

Now excuse me while I go feeling all so crappy about myself and trying to believe that carrots and ice-cream are the same thing.

And please, no more birthdays…

Unless I’m turning 16 again.

Some dilly dinner

2007-07-03T23:37:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe on Trupti’s blog, and just had to try it, given that dill is pretty much THE HERB in my kitchen. I add it to almost everything I cook, but I never thought of making it the star of the dinner.

I’m glad I tried…

I modified the dish just a little bit. Skipped the chilli powder. And cause I had no clue what “pickle masala” was, I just added some liquid from my jar with pickles and a bit of curry powder.

The result was a perfectly filling and delicious vegetarian meal.

Thanks Trupti for the inspiration!

The quiet hour...

2007-06-30T18:45:00.001-04:00

Kids are sleeping… Both… I actually have time to myself. Maybe even a few minutes. And there is no way I’m using this precious time for doing dishes. Or making dinner. Or doing another set of laundry. (How did one baby go through four pants in one morning? HOW?) And I’m not cleaning up this mess. The ten thousand cars jammed in every nook and cranny of this house look like a whole new exquisite home décor idea. Maybe I should even snap some pics and send to “House and Home”…

But not now…

Cause now I’m chilling…

By myself…

In peace and quiet… Because Lion King is finally turned off. No more roaring Simba. And Bob the Builder is off to lunch. And TV is broken. Yes, it’s broken. Until I feel like turning it back on. Cause I said so.

And I’m not reading about that truck anymore.

And bunny and turtle are sleeping.

And we are out of ice-cream. And pop-corn. And cookies. And chocolates. And where the heck did he learn all those words?

And red pepper is just like chocolate. And carrot is a cake.

And baby is sleeping. No touching baby. No poking baby. No pulling baby. No giving baby the truck. No pinching his nose…

It’s the quiet hour…

Or a minute…

No, wait… I think the baby’s waking up…

Oh well…

Maybe I can still do those dishes…

Trying to get back...

2007-06-30T15:20:00.000-04:00

I know, I know… I haven’t posted in ages… My bad… Have been adjusting and sooo busy with everything else…

I think I’m on track now… But boy, two kids are time consuming!!!

I missed you all and shall be dropping by your blogs in no time… Probably even today, if I succeed in putting both kids for a nap at the same time (which is much harder than it sounds, trust me…)

And for now, here are my excuses:

Cheers,

Vasilisa

PS: hopefully this is the last filler post :-)

Reality Check

2007-05-28T21:54:00.000-04:00

You know how I said that life was getting back on track?

Well… That very night the toddler had his first real fever…

Followed by a cold developed by all the adults of the family…

Then a baby had a minor fever after getting his first shots…

And then the toddler developed a major cold with coughing/sneezing and an accompanying horribly bad emotional state (read: endless crying and whinnying).

Yup…

It’s been fun here…

Life goes on...

2007-05-22T00:53:00.000-04:00

I’ve been wanting to blog. I really have. But I just have so many other things I want to do. I mean, I’ve spent 9 months being sick. And now I have so much energy that sitting still in front of the computer is just not happening.

I mean… I’ve painted a second room in the house. All by myself. Cause I could. Cause I’ve spent nine months looking at that ugly old paint, hating it and being to sick to do anything about it.

And I really am not sleep deprived. At least most of the time. My second kiddo is an easy-going baby. He sleeps peacefully in his bassinet or the stroller. And he lets me drive around and take the toddler to the park.

I have even started to workout again. Only to discover that my body has turned into some kind of mash that refuses to move as directed, or get out of bed the morning after… But I shall persevere, cause there’s no way I’m planning to look like a kangaroo for the rest of my life. And so I diligently plug in the TurboJam DVD into the player every other day or so, and attempt to kick without falling over…

And today I finally went back to my dad’s place to start working on the secret project again.

Yes, life is getting back on track again…

And it is good :-)

Hello from the trenches...

2007-04-26T22:51:00.000-04:00

Nope… I did not drop off the face of the earth… It’s just… you know… two little kids…

And I’ve been sooo busy. These nine months of feeling like *insert a nasty word of your choice* meant that nothing really was done. The house was in a state of non-maintenance and chaos. And so, I’ve spent the past two weeks cleaning, sorting and planning renovations.

The older kiddo’s room is now finally painted a nice blue. I plan on painting some clouds and then putting up stickers of planes and cars all over. That ought to move him out of our bedroom :-)

I’ve also spent eternity sorting through photos and putting up frames. Trying to have an equal ratio of pics of both kids. But given that one is only a month old, that’s been tough.

I’m getting new curtains.

I’ve polished my fridge. As in finally cleaned it. Just the outside so far. But I’m working on it.

I’ve scrubbed my stove. With limited success. But at least I tried… (Any idea on how to clean ceramic cook tops?)

I even picked up the junk in the front yard.

Oh… and you know… there is a newborn baby and a toddler than need taking care of.

So yah, I’ve been busy.

But you know the weird thing is – other than being time-consuming, it really not as hard as I was expecting. Maybe it’s my new scheduling/organizational obsession that’s paying of.

Or maybe having a second kid has finally made me realize that I’m an adult. And I have responsibilities. And if I don’t clean up the mess around here, it won’t magically disappear.

I’m finally a grown up.

Now if I could just wave a magic wand and loose those nasty thirty pounds, I’ll be in heaven…

Cooking again!

2007-04-17T19:55:00.000-04:00

Hmm…

This might actually become a food blog again. Cause I’m a’cookin’!

Really!!!

Look:

This is a salmon dish, inspired by Asha’s Chole…

Basically, I fried an onion with ginger, and blended it with a tomato and a tablespoon of tomato sauce.

I then separately fried the fish with green and red peppers, and two sticks of celery. (And I blended some of the veggies, just so kiddo junior eats some of it, at least in the sauce form…)

I added a teaspoon of garam masala and a sprinkle of curry powder (while frying the fish)…

Salt/pepper to taste.

Asha, you are my greatest cooking inspiration! And now you see what I mean by taking ideas from you and twisting them around :-)

And the fish was great. Even the kiddo ate it.

I think life is beginning to show signs of normalcy again…

I seriously need your advice...

2007-04-10T22:41:00.000-04:00

The one thing I’ve understood about having two kids is that you can’t be disorganized. At least you can’t be as disorganized as I am. And I am the most disorganized person I’ve met in my entire life. I never know what I’m doing, what I’m eating or where I’m going. I don’t know when I’ll go to sleep, or when I’ll wake up. Everything is usually done last minute.

But that just doesn’t work with kids in the house. Believe me. It doesn’t work at all. Lack of schedule means no dinner, no sleep, no play and no life.

So, I’m seriously trying to get our life into a more structured pattern.

I wrote out a schedule.

I’m planning out a menu.

I have a “to do” list.

And no, I’m not sticking to it religiously or anything. That’s way beyond me. The schedule includes a hoped for wake-up/go-to-bed time. We aren’t anywhere close to it yet. But it’s a goal. And they say that setting goals is the first step to success…

And I’m trying to plan out a menu. Cause we can’t go out with two little kids. And we can’t afford any more take-out.

So…

The plan is to invent seven easy dinners, lunches and breakfasts.

And everything has to be really fast. Cause I have very little time or energy. Mostly time, as I’m sure you can imagine…

And I have a very-very picky toddler. Who barely eats anything. (That’s really is a whole separate sobby story I’d rather not get into cause I get way too depressed and stressed out and my hormones are not wholly balanced yet to think about it now…)

So, the question of the day is:

I have dinner ideas, but no quick breakfasts or lunches for the toddler. Please, is there anything other than cereal (he doesn’t like it…)?

What could I offer him? He doesn’t like omelets… Occasionally favors a pancake. Occasionally… What else is there? I really don’t have any ideas.

And what do kids get for lunch? Snacks? Any ideas other than apples and yogurt?

Any input is greatly appreciated, cause I’m way over my disorganized head here…

Thanks in advance.

PS: See, I really am trying…

We had a dinner at home tonight. With fish and salad. Go, me, go!

Happy Birthday!

2007-04-06T21:18:00.000-04:00

My big kiddo is two years old today… Two years… I can’t believe it’s been two years since that longest day of my life. Since all that back labor, pushing, screaming and suddenly holding the most amazing tiny human being in my arms that has changed my life forever. Two years since I went from an I’m-not-sure-who-I-am-and-what-am-I-doing-with-my-life to a Mom.

And the time flew by way too quick. It seams like yesterday I was making sure his head doesn’t wobble, and today I’m trying to chase him as he speeds up the stairs yet again… Where did my baby go? When did it happen? When did he go from not being able to reach for anything to doodling over all my stationary? How did that first “ah” sound turn into a loud “gimmy car!” one?

My dear kiddo. I want you to know that these two years have been the best years of my life. I have never been this happy before. I never even knew that I could be this happy. Watching a human being grow from a “lets start a family” to a running laughing individual is the greatest adventure in life. You make me happy and proud every day. Even when you through tantrums, cause I know you are just defending your own “you”, and finding your boundaries. Though it can be frustrating, we all must do that at some point.

You are two years old now. You love cars, planes and trains. You love fire-trucks. You point out every school-bus we see on the road. I’ve never seen so many busses before. You’ve definitely expanded my view of the world :-)

You love your apple juice beyond anything that is reasonable and go through at least 10 bottles a day. (Don’t worry bout the sugar, honey, I dilute the juice with very healthy water for you.)

You’ve learned the names of all your uncles and aunts and everyone melts when you say it. And that’s a lot of names… But the best word you say is “mama”. You say it over and over when we are riding in the car, and mama always responds. You wouldn’t have it otherwise… And neither would I…

You love watching your “penguin” cartoon (which you call “panan”, and you get very upset when the credits roll. So we have to skip the credits to save everyone from going deaf…

You are very shy around other kids. But you are also very friendly and generous. Whenever you see kids playing with toys, you bring them more toys. And if someone is reading a book, you bring more books. And you never let mama forget her notebook…

You make sure everyone wears shoes around the house, you make sure that we take off our glasses and watches before we go to sleep, and that mama always remembers to do the laundry -- and you always help.

You turned out to be an amazing big brother. You pass me hats, you pass me diapers… You alert me when the baby is crying… You kiss and hug the baby… You even tried to share your favorite car with him.

And yesterday, when mama fell asleep on the couch, you brought me a blanket… Because that’s just the way you are.

And I’m very grateful that you chose me to be your mama.

I love you, honey.

Happy Birthday…

Taking some time off...

2007-04-04T00:57:00.000-04:00

My apologies to everybody for not visiting your blogs and not posting anything either… We are still working out the details of running a house with two little kids. And me not being the most organized person out there makes it a kinda chaotic experience.

So, I probably won’t be posting with any regularity for a while…

Though I do intend to get back to it at some point…

And I’ll be definitely posting more about food – cause I’m cooking again! Yeah! No more morning sickness!

So for now, all the best to all of you. Enjoy spring and your families :-) And good food! And good mood!

Cheers,

Vasilisa…

PS: Here are my kiddos in the same chair!

The older brother (when he was a baby... a two months old one...)

And the little one now... Two weeks...

That chair has certainly served us well :-)

A very lazy post...

2007-04-01T02:10:00.000-04:00

The thing about two little kids is that you don’t get much time to blog. Or do anything else, for that matter. Even having dinner requires elaborate maneuvering.

So, instead of a long-winded entry about the adventures of parenting allow me to just post a couple of pics and attempt to get some snooze time…

ahh... brothers...

the first lesson in sharing...

And now: Zzzzzzzzz…

It's already been a week...

2007-03-28T00:03:00.000-04:00

Has it really been a week already? A whole week of us being a family of four?

I still can't believe it...

These past week, during the few moments I’d get to myself, I’d sit down and try to write something… It would normally be a paragraph or so. And I’d fully intend to continue on that thought when I get back to it again, but when I do, I’m usually in a totally different emotional/physical state. I can’t seem to stay on one wave long enough to complete an entry. It has been a real emotional roller coaster. Augmented by lack of sleep, pain killers and, naturally, the new baby in the house.

Who, by the way, rules…

One day I was going to write about lack of sleep. The absolute total exhaustion you feel after not sleeping at all for two days (for I really haven’t mastered the art of sleeping in a hospital) and how the world seems bleak through the groggy eyes… But then the baby slept a few stretches of almost four hours and I caught up, and none of that rang true anymore…

Another major issue was me missing my toddler. Which still is an issue. I’m just a bit more rational now.

The thing is, up until the night I got induce I’ve never spent a night without the kiddo. Not a single one. I haven’t even been away from him for longer than a few hours. And then I had to spend three nights in a row without him. The day I came back home, I was so miserable that even though my husband thought it would be better for him to stay with his grandparents for one more night so we could rest – I just couldn’t do it. I broke into miserable pathetic crying mess and told the hubs that the kid is staying home, even if I’m never sleeping again. And so we had to balance both kids the very first night. But it was worth it…

In a way I missed my toddler throughout this pregnancy. Cause I was sick most of the time, I couldn’t take him places, I couldn’t play games with him. Somehow all these thoughts came crushing on me this week. I just want him home… With me… Yes, I’m having serious attachment issues…

But most of the time I’ve been happy. I’ve always wanted kids. The other night we decided to bathe the newborn. The toddler was there to help. Between trying to grab the showerhead, throwing duckies at the baby and exploring the workings of the toilet, it was a very intense experience, to say the least. The kind that makes you think “what did I get myself into?” But then the toddler got his bath too. And as my husband was carrying him out, a happy/giggling head sticking out of the towel, I was walking in the opposite direction with the newborn in my arms. And we passed the big mirror… We both stalled, staring at the reflection. Cause there, looking back at us was a real family.

You know that feeling when you realize that your dreams came true? I didn’t know it before. But now I do. I have everything I’ve ever wanted. And if I ever forget it, I always have that big mirror…

Introduction…

2007-03-23T13:11:00.000-04:00

Kiddo Junior has finally arrived! He checked in on Tuesday afternoon (March 20th) at 8 pounds 4 ounces and a whole of 54 cm long…

Mommy and Daddy are very happy and are now busy trying to figure out the art of juggling two kids… So far sleep doesn’t seem to be an option :-)

I’d tell you the birthing story, but then it’s all kind of blur at the moment... Let’s just say the highlights included a very horrible behavior on my part, resulting from having to wait for a room (cause it was a busy day in baby-arriving land), and not having drugs. And parts of that behavior involved screaming, swearing that I’ll never do it again, biting my husband (yup, not kidding here), and having about five people trying to restrain me…

On the up side, the whole thing was relatively short, and once I eventually got the drugs it was smooth sailing… (Honestly, what’s up with the whole anti-epidural campaign? I’ll never get that…) And the pushing stage took less than 10 minutes! Wow! I mean, my last one was HOURS…

And now I’m a proud mommy of two boys!

I am still having a hard time believing it…

And kiddo number one seems to be on the track at being the perfect brother. He’s absolutely fascinated with the baby. And is not getting tired at all from pointing out over and over that baby has a nose… And that baby is crying… And that baby should play with the monster trucks (Help!).

What can I say – my kids are perfect :-)

And I'm sure one day I'll sleep again...

Nope... they didn't induce me...

2007-03-16T17:36:00.000-04:00

Well, guess what… I went to see the doctor today… And was told that they won’t do anything till Monday…

Monday…

I barely made it out of her office without bursting into tears right there.

It’s been such an emotional roller coaster. Going everywhere with the hospital bag… Expecting something any minute… And still nothing…

I don’t even know what to write, cause I’m a mental/emotional mess. For some reason I really thought this kid would come early, like his brother. Instead he’s a week late already.

I know it’s not the end of the world. I just wasn’t planning on it. And I didn’t even get enough anti-nausea drugs to last that long. And didn’t bulk up on the required patience…

So here I am. On my tenth month. Still puking my brains out every morning. And sometimes afternoon. And sometimes night.

And yes, I’m still here.

And I can’t believe it either…

I must be one heck of a comfortable residence…

Still here...

2007-03-10T17:55:00.000-05:00

Still here... Totally loosing my mind...

But at least I have a deadline now. My doctor said that if nothing happens, I'll be induced on Friday...

All the suspense...

Isn't it about time?

2007-03-07T16:32:00.000-05:00

All I can say is… WHY AM I STILL HERE? Kiddo number one had already popped out by this time. After that over-24-hour-marathon labour. Aren’t second babies supposed to come sooner? Isn’t that what I was told?

But kiddo number two seems to be in no rush what so ever…

Seriously.

It’s been nine months. Time to face the world…

Come on, kiddo… Mommy’s totally loosing her cool here...

A meme...

2007-03-04T06:44:00.000-05:00

I’ve been tagged for a meme! Yeh! One less post topic to think about… :-)

The invitation came from the wonderful Gerda of “Dinner for One” fame…

And the meme is about 6 weird food facts about me… So, without further ado…

1. My favourite fruit/veg/food item is… tomato! Yup… I love tomatoes beyond belief and can easily eat them whole like other people eat peaches or apples. And I’ll take cherry tomatoes over candy any time :-)

2. When I was a little kid (and up until I turned 11) I was the pickiest eater ever. But then the summer I turned 11 I went to a special summer camp for a month… While the camp itself was pretty good, the food was more of a “camp Krusty” variety. Not only was it not enough and not very tasty, but the big kids had a knack of obtaining even the foods that I did want to eat… I’ve never been THAT picky since…

3. Another obsession I had as a kid (and to a certain extent still do) was having a separate plate for everything I was eating. I couldn’t stand the idea of foods intermixing. If I absolutely had to eat from the same plate, I would do my best to separate the foods, and then eat them in some kind of special order, the specialness of which would be decided on the spot.

4. I absolutely cannot stand cooked oats. Be they in any shape or form with any amount of jam or honey added. Stems from having to have the “nutritious” porridge practically every day as a kid. (My parents were old fashioned that way…). Even the smell of oatmeal makes me gag and run from the room…

5. Up until I reached the age of 18 I’ve only had fast-food (MacDonalds) maybe 3 times in my life. And only’ve been to a couple of restaurants. It was all home food. But then I met my future husband who introduced me to the concept of going out, and I’ve been a restaurant addict ever since. So blame it on the hubs :-)

6. I love apple sauce. The one that comes in baby-jars… Even before I had a baby I used to stock up on those tiny jars and bring them to work, like normal people do yogurt. And yes, I did get weird looks from people. Especially when it was accompanied by a whole tomato :-) (see point 1).

Let’s see now… I think I’m supposed to tag someone too… Ok then…

I’m tagging Leslie and Anali :-)

Snowed in...

2007-03-02T01:51:00.000-05:00

We are snowed in… It’s been a blizzard all day, and now it’s frozen rain (freezing rain?)… I was so panicked about staying home alone, that I’ve convinced my husband to stay home… Just in case…

There is something unnerving in knowing that the hospital is in a whole other city. In a traffic like today’s it would’ve taken hours to get there. Somehow delivering in the middle of a highway in a snow-buried car is not my idea of fun… Can you tell I’ve been freaking out all day?

And now it’s freezing rain outside… And everything is been covered in a shiny slippery coat of ice…

Think good thoughts… think good thoughts…

Stop freaking out!

Now!

Look what I can do with mega-blocks!

Yeah, a new previously undiscovered talent has emerged…

And now excuse me while I’m trying to calm down and find that happy place… Where it’s nice and sunny and there is no traffic…

A letter to my soon-to-be-here baby…

2007-02-26T18:27:00.000-05:00

Still here… Still pregnant… Probably will be for another two weeks or so (going by the due-date)… Though I’m really ready to write and swallow and eviction notice, cause as far as I’m concerned – it’s about time. But it will be a nice eviction notice. And it will say something along these lines:

My wonderful new kiddo, I think that it is time for you to consider coming out. I’m ready to meet you face to face… Trust me, it’s a lot more fun on the outside. There is more room, more noise, more everything. You’ll like it here. Seriously. We’ll take good care of you. We’ve even got the hospital bag packed already, with nicely sanitized baby clothes for you… And blankets… And tiny-tiny diapers… And everyone on our long extended family list has been notified to expect your appearance at any moment now, and they are all excited, and can’t wait to meet you too…

And I’ve made arrangements with my dad and brother bout how they are going to bring me some of my favourite foods to the hospital… Cause mommy is so ready to eat normally. And walk like a person, and not a penguin. Cause you wouldn’t want a penguin for a mommy, now would you?

I know we won’t be sleeping for a while, and life will be chaotic… I know I will be tired, and hormonal and hysterical now and then… I know that two kids will be no picnic and sometimes I’ll feel like “what the heck did I get myself into?”… Especially when daddy goes back to work…

But I also know it will pass. You will eventually slip into our crazy family schedule. You’ll grow big enough to play with your brother. You’ll have a gorgeous smile for greeting everyone around you. And you will uncover your own unique personality that makes you so special and yet such a perfect fit with the rest of us.

And then one day we will have a family stroll in the park. And it will be a sunny and beautiful day. And you’ll see the ducks and the geese, and maybe even swans… And you’ll be laughing and pointing them out, just like your brother does now… And your brother will teach you what they are called… And your parents will be so proud and happy for both of you. Cause this is all we’ve ever dreamt of…

So come out soon my little angel… I can’t wait to hold you in my arms…

How much does he know?

2007-02-22T00:08:00.000-05:00

The thing with toddlers, is that you just don’t know what they think, or how much they really understand… One day everything that moves is a “car”, and then, without a warning, there are trains, planes, trucks, busses…

My son has taken to watching “Monsters Inc.”. At first I thought he’s watching it just because of the colourful pictures. Then I noticed that he occasionally laughs… And not just when somebody falls. He watches the rest with an impeccable seriousness on his face, and gets upset if I try to turn it off.

And then today he pointed out the big monster and said something with “Kitty” in it. Mind you, I’ve never told him that the monster’s nick name is “Kitty”. He figured that from watching an arguably “big-kids” movie. What was he saying? Does he like the “Kitty” or thinks it’s a scary monster? I really wish I knew.

And then in an exhibition of even more bizarre behaviour, today he came and hugged me out of the blue, and was very said and almost crying. No amount of asking “what is wrong” helped.

After which he went to the corridor, and dragged in the baby car seat… Which has been sitting there for months… And he never paid attention to it before…

Now he dragged it into the room, and tried to sit in it…

Do you think he’s suspecting something?

Freaking-out remedies…

2007-02-20T00:02:00.000-05:00

To be perfectly honest with you, I wasn’t entirely truthful when I said I’m not afraid of labour. It’s more like I’m not scared of the unknown… But quite frankly, last time was no picnic, and I’m not looking forward to that part of it… You know, the whole back labour, forceps and months of recovery part… Even if the doctor says all of it is unlikely the second time around, most of it was pretty unlikely the first time too…

So now I’m doing my best to psych myself up. And plan on how I’ll deal with things if they do happen again. On account of which I’m getting a lot of CDs ready. Cause my best way to deal with stress is to meditate, and I need some sound effects to do it.

There is this one system I’ve been turning to over the past few years. It’s called Hemi-Sync. It’s some kind of special way of recording sound that sends slightly different tones to your ears, creating a soothing effect on the brain. You can read here all about it if you’re interested. I have used it to help me relax during those odd minutes I would get when the first kiddo was born, as well as during some points of last labour. I highly recommend it. Not to achieve Nirvana or anything (though that may be possible, I don’t know…), but just as an effective unwinding tool.

I have also recently discovered something called Brain-Sync, which looks to me like a similar type of thing. I haven’t tested it yet. But it promises to help in things like relaxation and sleep… Which would be ideal… I would really love to sleep through the whole labour process…

Basically I like mind-altering technologies that actually mess with the brainwaves, cause the “new-age relaxing music” by itself does nothing for me…

Do any of you know any other systems? Things that actually work? Or do you have your own method of calming down when you are on the verge of freaking out?

I’d love to hear about it…

A photo - essay...

2007-02-17T00:40:00.000-05:00

Warning: These pictures may lead you to believe that I’m a perfect parent. They are posted on purpose… To convince me that I am… The fact that each event only happened once or twice, and not even on the same day is besides the point. I need some reassurance here...

So first:

See? I cooked! A healthy meal! A nice lemon-pepper salmon and steamed vegetables! Though, surprisingly, out of the whole variety the kiddo only approved broccoli. And no amount of me telling me that a carrot is an orange broccoli helped…

(Just in case you’re curious, salmon recipe: heat a bit of oil on the pan. Add the salmon. Sprinkle black pepper and squeeze a nice amount of lemon juice (I used half a lemon). Flip salmon over and add some more lemon and pepper. A little later add a bit of water, salt, then cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Done.)

And look:

I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve been sorting the baby laundry. All these little onesies and blankets are ready for work again… And this is only half the closet. My laundry machine has certainly justified its existence this week.

And here is the continuation of project “freeze the kid”... I mean, project "children need fresh air"...

As you can tell, he’s getting very comfortable with the whole snow concept. What can I say – he IS my son :-) Those icy genes aren't easy to ignore...

I’ve even convinced his dad to slide down the hill with him. (Though dad would not want his picture online… hence no picture…)

So, do I score some brownie points here? Please say I do… Or I’ll have to go back under the blanket and whine over my complete incompetence as a mother…

Boo hoo...

Out of ideas...

2007-02-14T01:20:00.001-05:00

Well, I have been on a posting hiatus, and I think the trend will probably continue for a while. Simply because other than cleaning/washing/worrying/stressing there is nothing else to report. I’m clumsy, bump into things, drop things… Still nauseous… Really… On my ninth month. So now you know it happens… But I already told you all this, so why go there again?

What else? My son has proven that he can go around most barriers we’ve been putting up so far, so my dad has been busy building fences to separate our living areas… Cause, as much as “open concept” is exciting and comfortable in theory, in practice it also means that a toddler can get anywhere. Luckily my dad is amazing at carpentry, and now we have a very stylish wooden gate separating the dangerous kitchen from the living room… And there are a few more projects pending…

Cooking? Barely… Hot-dogs, fries and sandwiches have been the staples of our diet for the past week.

Weather? Put it this way – judging by the temperatures, global warming got scared away…

And that’s about it for now. If anything meaningful happens anytime soon, I’ll update you, I promise.

Or if I’m hit with an inspiration of what to write about. Cause right now? Nothing… blank…

Sorry…

My little snowman…

2007-02-09T21:50:00.000-05:00

One of the differences between me and my husband, is that I was born in a place where winter meant tons of snow and freezing temperatures, while he never even saw snow till he was in his teens… Which means our views of normal weather are almost diametrically opposing. While he’s at an absolute loss on how to cope with freezing temperatures, and often thinks that sweater is a jacket, I find myself completely helpless and melting in the summer heat waves… which hardly bother him at all… (or at least he says so…)

But this also means that he associates snow and even slightly negative temperatures outside with the end of the world. And the idea that going outside can be fun is pure heresy, cause what we really should do is lock ourselves in the house and hibernate…

Which is what have been doing so far…

And thus my kid has never actually being outside this winter, unless you count quickly shuffling him from the car into some building. He didn’t even have appropriate clothes…

But yesterday, I finally thought enough! My son is not going to be locked up inside any longer! So I took charge and bought the kid proper winter boots, waterproof gloves, and a scarf. The winter jacket and pants set where provided by my mother in law months ago, we just never had the chance to test it. But this morning I wrapped up my bundle of joy like a proper snow man and took him to the backyard… For the first time the kid got to actually find out what “snow” is all about. Cause up until then he’d only enjoyed the view through the window…

His reaction was priceless… Have you heard stories of all those kids that play in the mud, sand and snow, get all messed and don’t even notice it? Not my kiddo. As soon as he saw snow on his new precious boots, he screamed “oh, no!” in alarm and pointed at “dirty”. It took me quite some time of frantic snow plowing to convince him that it is not “dirty”, and kicking it around is the whole point.

But he is my son. And icy-cold genes are not that easy to ignore. Very soon he was plumped in the middle of a snow heap, happy beyond belief, and not interested in the slightest at the prospect of going back in the house.

And you know what? He got fresh air… He got exercise… He had fun…

And then he actually ate an apple when we got inside!

For a change, I feel like a proper mother…

Expectations...

2007-02-07T00:24:00.000-05:00

Me being good girl. Me being cooking. Rice and salads. Fish for kiddo. Chicken for daddy. Beets for mommy.

But no pictures… Why? Cause the camera is safely tucked away in my purse, with an emptied memory and extra batteries. Just in case. Cause if I go into labour in the middle of the night and I’m still not ready, I’m taking just three things – video camera, regular camera, and a massage ball. I know my priorities… All I have to do is survive (hence the massage ball – cause no matter how much my doc says that I’m unlikely to have another marathon of back labour, better safe than sorry), and record the baby’s first minutes (or he’ll inevitably ask me how come his brother has a tape and he doesn’t). The rest? I’m sure we’ll get by.

Of course in case of no-emergency the bag is going to be over-packed with useless things like magazines no-one cares to read, music I’m to tired to listen too, and clothes I won’t fit into for another ten years. Provided the bag makes it out of the basement in time, of course…

But seriously… At this point last time around I was panicking. I was absolutely terrified of labour… I even made a useless trip to the hospital cause I thought I was feeling “weird”. Now – I feel like a seasoned pro. Like I can’t be surprised with anything. What have you got for me? Back labour? Forceps? Bring it on… Honestly, the actual delivery is the simplest part of the process… Nature and doctors take care of it. It’s what comes after that’s stressful. The whole “your life is changed forever” part. And “there is a new human in your life and you’re responsible! FOREVER!!!”…

I remember last time I took a pre-labour class. Weeks of hour-long sessions. And did I learn anything useful there? I don’t think so. When I actually went into labour, nothing happened according to the plan. Instead we had a whole string of events that were “not very likely”.

So I’m not planning anything now. I’m not setting myself up with any expectations other than having a safely delivered healthy baby. That’s all that matters…

And keeping the cameras ready…

Names and onesies…

2007-02-03T01:05:00.000-05:00

The name picking… We have finally narrowed our list down to two names. That was one exhausting process. I honestly think that I’ve read through over a thousand names. I must be the pickiest person on the planet, cause I find fault with almost every name I find: that’s too lame, that’s too snobby, that’s a name of a person I knew in high school and didn’t like (to put it mildly), that’s gonna be made fun of, etc… Add to that the fact that my hubs is pretty opinionated too, and you’ll get the picture.

And no, we haven’t consulted anyone. We haven’t even given any hints to our parents. Balancing two opinions is hard enough…

But miraculously we’ve finally got two realistic names to work with. Two names we both seem to be ok with. And the winner will be decided by either flipping a coin, or a prophetic dream. Cause I’ve exhausted my analytical skills -- I’ve looked up meanings, trends, government statistics… (that’s just my personality – I always research everything and anything… and I used to be an accountant…)

So now it’s all down to the nitty-gritty – washing baby clothes, getting the bassinet out of the basement, packing the hospital bag… (Which is… ahm… still in the basement…)

Also, today I started sorting through kiddo’s old baby clothes. I can’t believe he used to fit into those tiny little onesies. It was a rather surreal feeling. Is it true that someone this tiny is going to be in my hands again? And what are those thingies? Spitting bibs? I forgot we ever needed those! I wonder what else I forgot. I seem to have a distant memory of a few weeks (months?) of a zombie like underslept state… Baby… diapers… laundry… blur… “Did he smile?”… blur… “Oh look, he’s looking at me!”… blur… “How on earth does one wash a baby? What if we drop him in the tub?”… blur… And now those tiny bibs, clothes and blankets are staring back at me. “Remember us? You better stock up on that baby-safe detergent, cause we’ll be living in the laundry room soon…”

All in all, I think we’ve started the count down mode…

The jitters…

2007-01-31T01:59:00.000-05:00

I know my entries have recently being very highly oriented on the parenting side of life. It’s unintentional. The truth is that when you are a parent to little kid(s), you barely get another side. At least I don’t. And there’s been no exciting cooking to report. Unless you want to read a tuna salad recipe… (mix tuna with mayo… spread on toast… voila…)

My mind (and hormones) constantly revolve around the art of parenting, and most of the time I feel like a complete failure. Did you know there are kids out there who read by the age of two? And are already potty trained? And are incredibly well behaved?

Every day I wrestle with a question of what it is exactly that I’m supposed to do. If a kid is adamant about not eating something, do I take a stand? Back out? What am I teaching by that action? Or this one? What if he’s doing something dangerous? Do I yell? Do I punish? How? How do I get through to him the fact that jumping of the edge of the couch onto a ceramic floor is not gonna end well? What am I missing that other people know?

Most of the time I feel at a complete loss. Sometimes I actually pick up the phone and call my dad and practically cry about how terrified I am of this whole parenting gig. My son is changing every day, he’s got an intensely forceful personality, and I always feel like I’m playing catch up.

And right now the pressure I feel is to teach him Russian. Cause everyone I’ve ever met in my life who didn’t learn a language their parents know, eventually asked them “Why didn’t you teach me?” I don’t want to have to answer to that. And I really want him to learn it… But it’s also a language my husband doesn’t understand, and therefore I’m all alone in my endeavor. I can’t be systematic about it, the way most of the net suggests (one parent – one language), cause than dad will be out of the loop. I switch back and forth all the time, and always wonder how much confusion there must be in the kiddo’s head. I spend hours on end looking for educational material, I try to show him cartoons, play songs... He actually understands me when I ask for simple things in Russian. But the words he chooses to say are 99% English… Go figure… What am I supposed to do?

Basically, I now feel that parenting is the most nerve-wracking experience I’ve had in my life. Never had I doubted myself so much. Never was I so scared… Turning around for a second and finding the kid barely balancing on a box I had no idea he knew how to climb – these kind of things make me shake to the bone. It seems like yesterday he could barely crawl, and now he’s into climbing onto anything vertical he can find. And I’m absolutely freaking out… What if I don’t catch him on time?

And I’m about to have two of them… I have no idea what I’m gonna do… Two boys…

I am so terrified I can’t think…

Careful, or I will break…

2007-01-28T02:01:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to improve. In the past few days, in no particular order, I’ve made pasta, fried rice, pancakes, sandwiches, and even special fish for the kiddo. I’m pretty happy with that. I have really lowered my cooking standards… But still – something’s better than nothing, right?

On another note…

I’m now a virtual prisoner in my own house. The snow on the roads has convinced my husband that I should not go anywhere near a car, and my parents have decided that me going all the way to their humble abode is too far and too stressful – thus I should stay here, safe, inside, howling from complete boredom. And bye-bye secret project… The vibe around here is that I’m made from some kind of breath-thin china, and could fall over and break anytime.

No, I’m not complaining… I do appreciate the concern. But I find it ironic, though. Because I feel better now than I did in early pregnancy when some people around me kept forgetting that I’m pregnant in the first place. Yes, I’m big, clumsy, and baby has a knack for kicking in all the wrong places. But that’s nothing compared to the never-ending nausea of the first six months. Even though I still get pangs of morning sickness, and I don’t have a normal appetite (which didn’t prevent me from gaining something like 40 pounds, oh my….) it’s all so much more manageable now. If this was all there is to pregnancy, I’d be making babies every year… (kidding, kidding…)

But despite this overwhelming panic that hits everyone when I try to lift a tissue paper from the floor, for the first time in ages I actually feel like I need to do things. I can’t take it easy! I have to buy those giant boxes to finally put all those toys away… And scrub those mysterious stains under the kitchen sink… And attempt to potty train my kiddo (don’t even ask…) My mind keeps telling me that the room upstairs needs to be painted, the bassinet needs to be readjusted, and old clothes need to be sorted. The list is endless, and it all has to be done now, now, NOW…

YOU CAN'T STOP ME!!!

Nesting instinct, anybody?

It's a ....

2007-01-25T00:41:00.000-05:00

So… Guess you all wanna know the gender? Right? And… it’s…

...

You’ll have to ask my doctor…

...

Just kidding…

(But that’s what they told me, imagine how that felt…)

Ok, ok…

It’s…

a…

…
…
…

Boy! :-)

Yeh!

My kiddo is gonna get a brother! I’ll have two boys to chase around and freak out about…

Oh, my…

There goes my sanity…

Though, just think about all the up-sides! Boy-newborn clothes? Check! Experience with handling little boys? Check! A partner for mischief for my kiddo? Check! Double freaking out about how to keep my kids away from hockey? Check!

And now, for the grandest/greatest/toughest task at hand – name picking… Arghhh… Don’t even know where to start. For some reason coming up with a name seems to be the hardest thing about having kids for us. We just can’t decide. And it’s unbelievable how different a taste in names two people can have. We really need a divine inspiration right now… And thus my google gonna get a hefty baby-name searching workout…

But honestly, I’m excited. It’s all so much more real now. Especially when I get the not-so-subtle kicks in my ribs…

My little boy is almost here. Just a bit over a month or so...

Can't wait to meet you, little guy...

A completely random update on a whole bunch of things...

2007-01-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

No more taxi driving, yeah! The position has been delegated back to hubby, and he’s managing just fine…

Winter is here, snow is abound, things are normal, global warming is on TV, where it belongs…

There was cooking! And it wasn’t just spaghetti! There was a whole stewed vegetable thing going on! Am so proud!

I might find the gender of my baby tomorrow. If the docs stop playing games with me. Cause can you imagine a WHOLE HOUR of ultrasound, with a technician making “wow”, “oh” and all the other sounds while the monitor is TURNED AWAY from you, and then she says “I know the gender but am not allowed to say”… What’s up with that? Hopefully she told it to my doctor, cause I’m not one for suspense of this kind if it can be avoided… I NEED to know…

The secret project is stalling, due to somebody getting more and more disfocused, messed up, and otherwise stressed out with the whole “baby on the way” thing.

Pondering packing the bag for the hospital. I know it’s more than a month away, but still… What if I forget something? Step one that has been initiated – told the hubs to bring the suitcase from the basement. That was a week ago. He has yet to do that… So I guess at that rate a month for packing is perfectly reasonable…

We have attempted to explain the purpose of potty to the kiddo. “Attempted” is the key word. For some reason the kid now thinks it’s a kind of car on which you can sit and demand that daddy rides you around the room… Great parenting skills 'r us...

Be careful what you wish for…

2007-01-18T01:50:00.000-05:00

Really, be careful what you wish for…

Cause if you wish for some snow, you might get loads of it, mixed with ice rain, just for kicks… So that all the roads/sidewalks/stairs turn into free skating rinks…

It could also happen at the very time when your husband is temporarily not available to drive you around, and you’ll have to serve as a full time family taxi… Despite being 8 months pregnant and barely fitting behind the wheel… And you may also be having a barrage of doctors appointments all the way downtown… Just so driving is not confined to a small local area…

The automatic garage door is likely to boycott you at the same time, and getting in and out of the garage over the heaps of ice, while trying to tackle it manually, is likely to be an adventure rivaling the world figure skating championships… And don’t even think about going through the front door, cause that full inch of ice on the front steps? I mean, don’t you remember “Home Alone”? Well, if you don’t, by all means – give your bum a ride of a lifetime…

PS: But really… Snow in mid-January? That’s normal. At least the world makes sense again… Except I also hear that they got snow down in California. Now that’s weird…

Finally?

2007-01-14T18:11:00.000-05:00

This morning when I looked outside I said to myself “finally!”, cause we actually had snow. Everything looked white and wintery and beautiful…

But by the time I got around to snap a picture, half of it was gone…

And now it’s all wet and slushy…

I mean, I don’t mind the warmer weather and all that, but rain and continuous “plus” temperatures in January give me the creeps. There is something weird about it. It just doesn’t feel or look right when your lawn is greener in January than it was in July. At least not for Canada… Aren’t we supposed to be “The Great White North?”

I don’t know about the whole global warning business (though even as a non-scientist I can attest for the fact that it sure feels warmer than when I was a kid…), but global weather is definitely going nuts. My dad is originally from one of the coldest places on earth, a city on the coast of Arctic Ocean, no less. Guess what: they are having “plus” temperatures there too.

I’m beginning to think that by the time my kiddo is old enough to go tobogganing, I’ll have to explain to him why we’re doing it in T-shirts, on wheels, down a flowery hill… Unless we move towards the coastal area and I’ll have to explain why we’re living on a raft…

I really shouldn’t have watched that Al Gore movie… Denial would’ve been so much easier…

PS: On a positive note, my last post has shamed me into cooking spaghetti… Not too fancy, but home food nevertheless…

Confession...

2007-01-11T01:46:00.000-05:00

You know the real reason for severe lack of food-related posts on this originally supposed-to-be food blog?

Here:

And here:

(Yup... Endless take-out containers have possessed my fridge...)

And this is the extent of my cooking:

(A cream-cheese sandwich... How creative...)

So, ahm… someone needs to give me a serious pep-talk…

More about my toddler (cause I really don’t have any other life).

2007-01-09T20:23:00.000-05:00

Ok, there is one battle I seem to be winning. I have mentioned here before that when my son was born I bought tons and tons of books that he was absolutely indifferent to. Well, not anymore! He seems to be more and more excited by the day to point out pictures and name the things he knows. In fact, I have all those books with first words, and he had neatly classified all pictures into a few strategic categories, such as “car” = car, plane, helicopter, anything that looks like a machine; or “vava”= most animals, including an astronaut (your guess is as good as mine).

Though to be honest, his vocabulary is getting quite impressive and observant. Did you ever notice that a shark looks very much like a plane? I never knew that until he educated me to that effect -- yesterday he picked up a toy shark from a shelf in the store and was happily running around “flying” it.

(can be found here, among other myriads of places...)

I’m even beginning to wonder if I overdid the whole books excitement. Whereas before I’d occasionally get a chance to sit down on the couch and catch up with the latest TV happenings while he was happily playing with toys, now he demands sitting on my lap and endlessly pointing at pictures asking what they are called. And he doesn’t get tired of it at all… He can point to the same picture of shoes and scream “shoes” 100 times in a row, and I have to acknowledge it every single time. Or else -- goodbye ears...

Maybe that’s the secret to parenting. Patience, more patience… and then you’ll get what you asked for. And even more…

Now if I can only be patient enough to repeat a million more times that a helicopter is not a car, I just might make it…

PS: he also has a new favorite music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzcjDjfHKgk

I have to have it on the screen if I’m to do any peaceful typing. And as much as I like good-old-cheesy-seventies-Euro-Disco – just try listening to that song 100 times in a row… I dare you.

The frustrations of parenting a toddler...

2007-01-05T22:56:00.000-05:00

I feel thoroughly unappreciated. Last night I cooked my son a nice dinner, with potatoes, mushrooms, etc… He didn’t even touch it. No way… Wouldn’t even try it… Screaming his most determined “no” ever… In fact, all we succeeded to fill him with were a few turkey cold cuts. So, honestly, what’s the point of trying?

You know, I heard a lot about “the terrible twos”. I thought I have another three months of peace. But it seems that he’s ahead of schedule. All of a sudden I feel like I’m constantly trying to avert a disaster. He climbs everything, screams, demands… (No, not all the time, but more so that he used to). How long do those “twos” last? Cause I’m about to loose my mind. Adding to that the fact that at almost 8 months pregnant and I am more penguin-like in agility than human, chasing this ball of energy is anything but easy. (Oh God, what am I gonna do with two of them???)

There is only one meal he doesn’t fight. The “military pasta”. Why is that? I have no clue. I make it for him again, and again. But I feel this nagging guilt that my kid is not getting adequate nutrition. That I would love to give him all those healthy vegetables. And not feel like I’m auditioning for one of those horrible parenting shows. Luckily he likes apples. And as they say: an apple a day… may keep you from a reality show…

And as I write all this down and get all wired up about it, the kid goes and does something wonderful. Like putting his laundry in the washing machine. I’m not kidding. I took the hamper to the laundry room, opened the machine and he put all his clothes inside. After which he took the hamper back to his room. And then brought me the book I was reading and forgot on the couch.

And now I’m thinking -- I’m such a good parent…

Children… they really make you question your sanity…

Reporting from the New Year’s table…

2007-01-02T22:50:00.000-05:00

I know you’re all wondering how we survived the New Year… Well… It was… a smash! No nasty surprises or last minute things going down hill. At 6 pm we stopped all preparations and solemnly (read: screaming like a bunch of crazy maniacs) ushered in the Russian New Year, accompanied by the Kremlin Tower Clock Chimes served directly via the Internet. And then by 10:30 pm we were lazily spread around the dinner table enjoying each other’s company and scrumptious (and pretty traditional) food. By 12 am we felt like boa constrictors – in need to hibernate for about a week – but we bravely got up, and loudly cheered again to usher in the actual New Year as it finally hit our own time zone. After which there was some gift exchange, an amazing feat of stuffing cake into our already stuffed selves, and the traditional movie watching… (Cause honestly, no one wanted to get off the couches.)

And when I say stuffed, I mean it. Cause Russian food is not something that is low fat or low cal or low anything. At least not for the holidays.

As for that flu… Well it gave me a run for my money on Saturday. And I was seriously mad and furious. But then I slept for about 14 hours (thank you kiddo!) and woke up feeling human again. So it was all good.

Now, I’m sure you’re dying to see the table. So I actually took some pictures.

Behold our New Years Dinner Table:

Trying to fit the whole thing in one pic.

THE HIGHLIGHTS:

Chicken and Pork steaks, and baked Salmon (for me)…

The scrumptious caviar sandwiches. A staple. Spread some butter on thin slices of white French bread. Spread thin layer of caviar on top. Bite and go to heaven…

Another staple – cold cuts and cheese. For some reason Russians are obsessed with Deli products. I don’t know why. But if you ever see a Russian grocery store in North America, you can bet that half of it will be a Deli section. Same goes for Polish and Ukrainian stores, by the way. Maybe it’s a Slovak thing… Or an Eastern European in general.

The egg salad spread. Basically it’s a mix of minced garlic, grated cheese, egg and mayo (5-6 hard boiled eggs per 350 grams of cheese, garlic to taste, enough mayo to coat and blend everything). Best way to enjoy is to spread it over a nice slice of thin rye bread. Though some people (notably my hubs) eat it with a fork, off a plate, just like a regular salad…

Ahh… The herring “under a coat” salad… What can I say. If you’re not Russian, you’ve probably never tried anything like this. It’s a layered thing, consisting of shredded boiled potatoes, beets, eggs, herring and mayonnaise. The secret is in the layering and proportions. Done right, it is the most divine thing that melts in your mouth and hits you with just the best amount of salty/creamy/slightly sweet/satisfying experience you’ve ever had. Done wrong, it’s salted fish with potatoes and mayo. And unfortunately I don’t know the secret. The only person I know who makes this dish time and time again to perfection is my Dad. And he did this one too. So any questions should be addressed in his direction.

And this is the view 2 minutes later:
(and you can see the perfect layers... yum...)

The notorious “Olivie” salad. This salad on a Russian New Year’s table, is like Turkey on North American Christmas table. Everyone has it. And the recipe varies slightly from one cook to another. Here is the recipe used in this house:

About 4-5 boiled potatoes (peeled)
1 can of green peas/carrots mix
1 small onion
4-5 hard boiled eggs
10-12 pickles (Polski Ogorki type is the best)
mayonnaise (The amount you’d put in potato salad. Basically enough for everything to be coated in it. Probably a cup or more.)

Cut potatoes into little cubes. Same with eggs and pickles. (Let the pickles be about the same size as the peas). Cut the onion into very small peaces too. (Half, then put on the cut side, then cut that side into thin strips, turn around 90 degrees, and slice again so you get small squares.) Now, traditionally people also add some kind of meat product (also cut into small cubes). It can be boiled sausages (about 10) or bologna, or previously baked chicken breast etc. Our family doesn’t do that since I stopped eating meat. But if you’re a passionate carnivore, you can certainly add some. Just make sure it’s some kind of plain meat in a sense that it doesn’t overpower the taste of the salad.

Put all the ingredients in the bowl, add mayonnaise and mix very well. Let it blend together a little before you eat it. Half an hour to an hour in the fridge ought to do that.

So, as you can see, we had a lot of fun. And now you can join our festive dinner vicariously :-)

Bonne appetite!

And Happy New Year!

PS: Just so no one thinks I’m taking all the credit here – most of the actual cooking was provided by my Dad, while decorations and setting were arranged by yours truly. Though I did bake the salmon and make the sandwiches. And the garden salad. And the mushroom appetizer. And maybe a few other little thingies… So I’m a good girl too :-)

A bit about flu, but mostly about Russian New Year.

2006-12-29T23:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, the flu is not winning so far. Which is amazing. Usually I’m the first to be knocked out by any bug that’s out there in the air. This time I seem to be resisting most of it. Clementines? I wonder. A diet of 20 clementines a day is a sure way to get one’s vitamin C…

Which is not to say that I’m all in the clear. There is the sore throat thing. And the coughing thing. But they are totally manageable. In fact, they give me a raspy low voice I usually lack. Actually, my spoken voice is a whole story to itself. You won’t believe how many times I pick up the phone and the person on the other end asks for my mommy. I can’t say that’s exactly flattering. Doesn’t jive with my self image (or at least the one I’m trying to cultivate) of a serious grown up business woman. Cause you know, in my previous incarnation I was all business. With a business degree and all. Which comes really handy when changing diapers… Hmm…

Anyways, the New Year is coming. And I can’t help but feel that that is the real holiday. The one I gear up for all year. I guess my Russianness is not all out of me yet. Christmas is still a rehearsal holiday. Even though it’s fun. New Year is the big deal. The one full with traditions and associations. The one with a mandatory movie to watch (which my non-Russian husband has already seen quite a few times – I might be lenient about “It’s a wonderful life”, but “Irony of fate” is a must), a mandatory meal to have, mandatory family presence and mandatory loud cheers as the clock strikes 12. Can’t help it. And am sooo looking forward to it.

It is very important to a Russian to meet the New Year well. Cause Russians believe that the way you meet a New Year, is how you’ll spend it. Which is why you want good food, good mood and family around you.

For dinner everyone traditionally has the “Olivie” salad (with pickles, potatoes, canned peas, mayo, etc… -- I’m sure we’ll have it this year, so I’ll post a recipe at some point) and a herring salad. Of course there are also other dishes, but these two are present on pretty much every Russian New Year table I’ve ever seen or heard of. Especially the “Olivie”.

In Russia most people sit down for dinner just before the New Year to thank and say good-bye to the old year, and then they eat more (and drink :-) , but I’ll be skipping that this time) to greet the New Year and wish everyone happiness etc. There is a traditional new-year’s music program on TV, followed by the speech from the president, followed by the Kremlin Tower Clock striking 12 times. I don’t know… But that sound is so ingrained in me, that even now it seems like magic. Somehow during those 12 beats something old comes to an end and a whole new chapter of life opens up.

And that clock is magical. I’ve heard that sound every year since I was too tiny to remember till I left… It’s as if if you don’t hear it, the New Year might not come… It rings a melodic tune first and then strikes the time. And, did you know that it is the most ancient (though frequently restored) mechanical tower clock in the world? In 2004 it turned 600 years old. Needless to say, there is a lot of history and associations that people have with it.

Now that I’m in Canada, I put on my internet Russian channel on in the morning of December 31, and while I’m all frantic preparing, I watch the programs, listen to the clock and get those strange bites of nostalgia that I guess will never fully go away. Cause in my mind’s eye I see all those big parties my parents had, the preparations, the anticipation of gifts and miracles…

By the way, as I already mentioned before, the gifts are brought to kids by Grandfather Frost and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden). Despite some allegations online that Grandpa Frost was an artificial figure to replace Santa Claus in Communist Russia, he actually predates Santa by a long shot. It’s a figure originating in ancient pagan mythology, though, naturally, more fleshed out in recent history (just like Santa). So, you go Grandpa! I still believe in you ;-)

And on that note, I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope all your wishes come true, and if something is missing in your life, may this be the year when you find it.

PS: Just in case you’re curious, those Russians who do celebrate Christmas do so on January 7th. And on January 13th people also acknowledge “Old” New Year. Has to do with a calendar modification at the beginning of last century, but also is a great excuse to prolong the party season :-) Which is why I’ll be keeping my Christmas tree for at least another two weeks…

Christmas has been survived...

2006-12-27T00:07:00.000-05:00

Ok, one down… The Christmas is done…

And it wasn’t too bad at all! It was actually fun. It even included me shooting some hoops, albeit from a sitting on the couch position. Only on (at?) Christmas…

But first:

See? I did put up that Christmas tree. I eventually came up with a solution to my toddler-breaks-all-ornaments-dilemma, and a last minute trip to the store to buy shutter-proof decorations (and not much fuss, by the way, cause we were the only people buying Christmas decorations the day before Christmas) resulted in an amazing toddler-proof tree! And the kiddo loved it! In fact, every morning for these past few days starts with him demanding that I turn the tree lights on. He’s completely mesmerized by it. And he really helped me decorate it. Every time I’d put an ornament up, he’d take it off and bring it back to me. I guess he really wanted to prolong the fun…

As for the Christmas itself – on Christmas Eve we watched “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I know it sounds corny, but believe it or not, this is the first time my husband ever seen it, so it was genuinely fun. And we ate two huge pizzas, all by ourselves. Which means somewhere there is a turkey that is very grateful…

The Christmas Day should be officially renamed the kiddo’s day. Cause it was all about the kiddo. The kiddo getting gifts from everyone and running around ecstatic between all those boxes and actually been allowed to rip off the wrapping paper. Cause normally mommy goes ballistic at the slightest hint of a ripping sound (usually meaning he’s “reading” a book too zealously).

Let see now… he got a hockey set, a computer game thingy (educational! I can't believe they make them for toddlers...), a basketball set with a basket stand (which explains the above mentioned hoops shooting), a doodling pad (with water! so no mess!), a motorcycle (not a real one, but close…), a tool set, building blocks, a giggling Elmo chair… I’m probably forgetting something. And he is still gonna be getting more, cause my parents don’t buy into the whole get the gift-on-Christmas concept yet (related to the whole Russians and New Years thing I told you about before...), so there will certainly be New Year’s gifts . Cause this year it’s ok. He doesn’t really care for Santa yet. In fact, he’s been pretty wary of strangers lately, so I figured let’s not freak out the child with a red-fat-hairy-dude from somewhere North. We’ll get there next year, I’m sure.

And as for me, I can feel that I’m slowly developing a present that I got from my hubs, I suspect. It’s called a flu and it’s creeping up my throat and ears. And I better not be an incoherent blob on New Years Eve. Cause that would make me very mad. Even if incoherently.

On account of which, let me dish out some advice to all the pregnant woman out there (or thinking of being pregnant, or those who know pregnant women): please don’t go searching the web for things like “flu in pregnancy”. Cause five minutes into such search your blood will boil with terror, and you’ll somehow arrive at some statistic of an influenza telling you all the horrible things that could happen. Especially if you suffer from a “click-a-linkus” syndrome. Which somehow led to me now reading about the great pandemics in history… Like the bubonic plague… Very holidayish uplifting stuff… Brrr…

So I’m drinking my fluids, eating 20 clementines a day (my vitamin C option) and hoping that somehow it will just past me by. And keeping my fingers crossed that the kiddo escapes the flu season, cause I just couldn’t handle both (or should I say all three of us?) being sick at the same time.

But for now all is still cool. I’m still in holiday spirits (despite my attempt to go to the mall on a Boxing Day to buy a new DVD player – what was I thinking?). I still have the tree (which I intend to keep till mid January). And I still plan on having a non-pizza related feast sometime this year. In this house. Made by me. Or at least contributed to by me.

So Dad, I’m counting on you for that New Years' dinner.

But I totally plan on helping.

The tomato will be sliced by yours truly.

And maybe even relocated onto a plate.

The rest we’ll figure as we go along…

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-23T03:40:00.000-05:00

I’m going to be taking a little blogging hiatus just cause I’m too busy with all these holidays things. I’m sure most of you are busy too. With all the shopping/cleaning/people meeting/holiday movie watching etc…

So, happy and merry holidays to everyone, and see yah all in the blog universe some time next week :-)

Random Christmas and toddler musings...

2006-12-18T22:10:00.000-05:00

So, did you notice that the posts are not related to cooking again? That’s right… I’m not cooking… The whole point of the blog was to inspire me to cook. But so far it is failing miserably. There is just so little fun in cooking when you can’t eat most of the stuff, that I gave up. I’m now completely relying on our parents, take-out and restaurants. It’s not the most responsible choice, but it is working, and I’m at peace with that.

So let’s talk about something else. Like Christmas? Cause, you know, it’s almost here. And I still didn’t put up the tree! Oh, my… And I really thought that it would happen early this year. But it turns out to be a lot trickier than I expected. Cause the toddler needs to be destructed. Which is not as easy as it sounds. And I’m also trying to figure out how I’ll keep him away from the tree, given all the glass ornaments and such. Hopefully I’ll have an idea before it’s all over. But somehow the combination of fragile glass ornaments plus a toddler makes me want to breath in and out very quickly in sheer panic. Maybe I should just skip the ornaments… It’s the tree that counts, right?

On the positive side, the toddler has recently showed that he is capable of completely mature reactions to things that could've been disasters. Like when a small part of a door hinge came out (and to my horror I didn’t notice it – I’m still shaking), he didn’t do what the books say he would. As in, he didn’t try to ingest it, bite it, or anything of a kind. He called mommy and showed her precisely where it fell from (which gives me an idea that he was at least partially responsible), and was very hands on in directing me as to how to put it back (vigorously pointing and saying “this” over and over again). Now, how mature is that?

And then the other day some person that shall remain nameless left a cup by the couch on one of his toys. A glass cup! With some juice in it! And what do you think the kid did? Break it? Drop it? You are all wrong! He called for mommy, and pointed at it with such a “shocked at how could this disorder be allowed” face, that I had that déjà vu feeling of my parents criticizing me for the messy state of my room…

The kid just likes order. It’s weird… He is not getting it from me. I know I’m not organized in any sense of the word. I leave things around, and pick them up at the last possible minute, when somebody is actually coming over. Yet my kid gets these ideas… Like, that the clothes dumper in his room, which has a cover (which was never ever used by me), has to be covered at all times. Whenever he walks into the room, first thing he does is put the cover on the bin. Isn’t that something?

And he’s only 20 months old! Oh, my…

And now he started pointing out that my kitchen is “dirty”. And there is just something unsettling about being nagged by a 20 months old… It’s a bit too early for him to know more than I do. And to point it out. I’m not ready for that. I’m supposed to be the example and the authority figure. I must be failing totally and completely.

So please excuse me for now, I have to go and clean up the kitchen before the inspection awakes from his nap…

PS: Dear Blogger, I’m fully aware that you have a Beta version out there, and that it in fact may be superior to the one I’m using right now. So please, quit bugging me with the “change now” screens every time I log in. I will when I’m ready. But I really don’t like to feel pressured… So stop it already!

Thanks for understanding.

Flava Flav...

2006-12-16T03:00:00.000-05:00

First of all, what is up with Blogger? It won’t let me leave comments on people’s blogs (I’m really sorry for not commenting, but I’ve been blocked everywhere!), or even sign in into my own. And I actually had something to write. And now I completely forgot what it was. Darn…

But whatever that was, now I’d like to ponder the following… A little show called “Flavor Flav” or something like that… Does anyone actually watch it? The first few times I skipped through channels and caught a glimpse of it, I thought it was some kind of “weirdos’r’us” commercial. But it appears to be a whole show. I mean, I thought the whole concept of “Bachelor” was ridiculous, and I couldn’t believe they showed that on TV… Boy, was I wrong… Bachelor is peanuts compared to this. And the show is run on the music channel… The channel mostly viewed by teenagers… Wow! What great role models! What amazing aspirations for our little girls… Just think, with so much competition out there, you still have a chance to get your own “Flava…”

Holly …

This whole reality TV insanity is beginning to get on my nerve. At least when I watch fiction, where people make idiots out of themselves, I know it’s fiction. But this reality TV phenomena shattered my faith in humanity. It really did. Please tell me it’s all scripted. Please tell me that parents on those “Honey, we’re killing the kids” series are pretending to be clueless, or that the American Idol wannabes do not actually think they can sing.

But the “Bachelor” type (and it’s latest incarnation – Flava…) are the ones that really make me stall. Does anyone, in the show or watching, actually fall for it? Why would women want to compete for a guy they never met before and really don’t know? Is self respect completely gone out of dating? Or are they so desperate to get famous they are willing to do anything, literally?

Cause I’m sure the girls on the show are not looking for love. In circles less polite then my blog they’d be called some really unappealing words… relating to certain ancient professions…

But heck, with the direction modern networks are taking (which sometimes at night make me wonder if I by mistake signed up for strange channels previously reserved only for specially paid TV) I think exploring the nitty-gritty of that profession is the great next reality TV idea.

America’s Top ****, anyone?

She cooks! ( He screams...) The events are unrelated...

2006-12-14T00:27:00.000-05:00

Look! She actually cooks! Yes! (Even though that was yesterday…)

So, yesterday I finally got myself into my precious kitchen again and made a simple rice/chicken dish. Basically, you cook the rice separately. Then fry an onion and a few garlic cloves (I used 4), chopped, then add chopped chicken and fry a bit longer. Add veggies you have in the fridge (I happened to have carrots, celery and a bell pepper), chop them too. A bit of soy sauce (optional), a tablespoon or so of ketchup, salt, pepper, a cup of water, cover and simmer till everything is cooked (15-20 minutes). Then mix it all with rice, let it sit for a while and serve.

The best part is that my kiddo liked it. He has generally been on a very non-eating wave lately. Picky-picky and refuses everything. Even french-fries. I know french-fries are not good for kids, and I hate giving it to him, but when I see that he goes a whole day on a couple of spoons of cereal, I give in. He’s gotta eat something!

I think he is edging into those terrible twos a little early. The other day, we were out… Let’s just say I wanted to fall through the floor and disappear… And for all you people out there saying (or thinking) “control your children!” -- TELL ME HOW! I’ll be glad to. Really. Do you think I’m doing this on purpose? Have you ever tried to reason with a toddler? Telling him that “yelling is not nice” and getting any effect out of that? There must be some secret information on handling kids that I just don’t know. Sometimes I feel completely incompetent. I know I’m supposed to do something, but what?

(But don’t get me wrong. He’s generally a very good kid. He just gets in those moods sometimes… But don’t we all?)

There are these moments when it strikes me that soon I’ll have two… How am I going to handle two kids? Is it humanly possible? I’m getting bouts of panic more and more frequently now.

And then the kid does something wonderful. He climbs up on me, hugs me and gives me a giant smile. And he says “mama”. He makes me know that “he really, really loves me”…

And then I figure it will all be OK…

And that I’ll never watch another Oprah show…

PS: I don’t actually watch Oprah. But for some reason if I ever flip the channels and bump into her show, it’s some horror story about families in distress, kids with guns, postpartum depressions and husbands that are so insane I can’t understand how anyone ever married them… Though today it was different. Apparently the crisis of the day is that most women are wearing wrong size bras… Yup… Like I’ve got nothing else to worry about…

An update

2006-12-12T01:16:00.000-05:00

Ahh… an update… Have been so busy with the “secret project” that just couldn’t find time for anything else. But here I am. And let me say that I survived the get-together on Saturday in one piece. And the house was clean. And take out was great (thank you God for inventing Chinese food!). And the company was excellent. Though I must say that some people have strange reaction to kids. I guess their time will come…

Kiddo was actually on mostly best behavior, considering that in all the excitement he decided to skip his nap. He was extremely shy at the beginning (how did that happen?) and wouldn’t let go of me for some half an hour while he was carefully studying the “strangers”. He then proceeded to make friends his own way, i.e. by giving them all kinds of toys and studying their reaction. Quite a fascinating process, actually. I think by the end he figured they were OK, and fell back into his normal run-around-being-loud-and-happy kid. Which I don’t mind. And if anyone else does – well, that’s too bad… (I think my friends took it in stride… Though it makes me wonder if I contributed to their wanting to have kids sooner, or the opposite…)

It was also strange in other ways… Like the fact that we are all the same age, graduated from the same program, but are now at such different points in our lives. They live downtown, while I live in suburbia. They got jobs and a social life, while I chase a toddler all day. They are not even planning kids yet, while I’m on number two… It’s as if I fell of the program at some point, and now just kind of check in on it.

But there are perks. I keep reminding myself that in just a few years I’ll be done making babies, I’ll get myself back in shape, I’ll get a job again, and I’ll still be only starting my 30s! Those are the benefit of starting early. You get out of the worst of it early too. And honestly, luck of sleep is much easier to survive when you’re younger. There was a time when I thought nothing about staying up all night to cram for a test. Now – if I don’t get my sleep, I wouldn’t even remember what subject I was studying for. And I don’t even want to think about what it will be like in ten years. I just hope I won’t have to stay up all night then. Which is what I’m working on now. Handling the sleepless nights and morning sickness while I can. So that my 30s are a breeze…

Or so I hope...

Cleaning up...

2006-12-09T00:02:00.000-05:00

Things haven’t been too peachy food-wise here… Which is why I’m not posting. Really. I’m sure no one is interested in anymore morning-sickness discussions, so I’m trying to avoid them… Suffice it to say that I’ve been pretty much subsiding on instant noodles and clementines. The only foods I’m friends with at the moment.

On the bright sight, it’s Friday night, and I’m in the middle of panic-cleaning (yup… I’ve procrastinated, as usual…). I’m getting very creative with stashing ten piles of papers into one neat one, and finding little boxes in the closet to put junk into.

I really wish I was more organized…

But I think I’m getting better. Not so many years ago I’d have to spend at least a month getting my room ready for a visit. Now, I can proudly say that the house is just a couple of hours away from presentable. There are actually clothes in the closet and dishes in the dishwasher. It’s that part of me trying to be responsible with toddler-proofing. Some maintenance is necessary, or somebody is bound to call in child protection services...

Funny thing though is that my son seems to have a clean streak that is just not noticeable in his parents. Every once in a while he picks up some little paper or thing like that from the floor, loudly announces “dirty” and gives it to mommy to take away. Where’s that coming from? (And why doesn’t it translate to picking up toys?) I’m both proud and shocked. I just hope he sticks to it… And his broom/vacuum fascination…

I could use some help around here…

On past and pasta…

2006-12-06T04:39:00.000-05:00

Today I made the “military style pasta” for the boys, but I can’t find my camera (which makes me very miserable and irritated), so I can’t take a pic… So you’ll just have to believe me. I really did make it. Cause it’s so simple. And requires almost no ingredients, except pasta, onion and chicken (plus salt and pepper). For those budget/fridge tight moments, it’s simply indispensable…

Recipe: Boil pasta… I use shell pasta, and boil half a standard pack. Separately, fry a chopped onion, and then add chopped chicken (breasts, thighs, whatever you have…), one package – which is normally about a pound. Fry chicken for a while, then add half a cup of water, salt, pepper, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Mix pasta with the chicken, let it blend for a few minutes and serve. Even my ultra picky son eats it. And that says a lot. Cause he’s such a picky eater, I’m loosing my mind over what to feed him on a daily basis.

And on a different note, I got a very special letter today. From a friend I tracked down in Russia. Someone I was best friends with 16 years ago! Oh my God! 16 years! What do you write to a person you haven’t seen/heard from or about in 16 years? Back then we were kids, and not even thinking boys yet… Now… We’re both married, with kids, and totally different lives (except for the "married" and "kids" part). It seems so surreal. So strange. And stranger yet that we are corresponding via REGULAR MAIL! With stamps! And envelopes! And I actually have to write with pen on paper… With no “Delete” key anywhere in sight…

It is so weird, but it seems that the older I get (yes, I know I’m not old, I mean older…) the more I look back to my roots. I want to find people that affected me back then, and see how they turned out. And I’m also more interested in my culture and history… I don’t really know why that is. But it seems that for some reason when you are young (kid, teenager) all you really want to do is belong to the group that surrounds you at the moment. But as you get older, you want to find out who YOU are, where YOU come from, what is YOUR legacy that you’ll pass to your children. Something about your ancestry becomes more real.

It doesn’t mean that I think my culture is better than others. It just means that I want to know more about it. Cause that’s my history. One way or another it has affected me, and helped to shape me into the person I am now. And you can’t really go forward if you don’t know where you’re coming from…

And I often wonder how it will be for my kids. They will all be Canadian-born and raised. No distant memories of another life. No secret pangs of nostalgia over a place and time that doesn’t even exist now. I want to help to find that middle ground where they know they are Canadian, but also care about the backgrounds of their parents. Both mine and my husbands. Cause, honestly, both of us have very rich cultural backgrounds that would be a shame to loose.

I’m not yet sure how to do that. I only hope that they grow up comfortable in their own skins, and that curiosity strikes them as they get older. And by that time I’ll be ready with some answers…

Maybe I should start writing down notes for them. With pen on paper… Just in case…

The people… they are coming…

2006-12-05T02:03:00.000-05:00

After months of hibernating in a virtual social isolation (apart from gazillion parents and restaurant visitations…) I have invited a few of my girlfriends over this Saturday. I haven’t seen them for months (shame!) and this would be a great opportunity to socialize… Except, now I have TO PUT THIS HOUSE IN A PRESENTABLE ORDER, in LESS THEN A WEEK! Me! With my procrastination skills! I mean, do you remember all those Christmas decorations I was so planning to put up? Guess where they are… Yup… Still in the box in the basement… Ouch…

I have thought through the menu though… It’s called take-out. Cause there is no way I’m cooking that much. Nope. Take-out is a perfectly acceptable option, and luckily my friends are not high-maintenance.

Or I’ll see if they can cook something… And I’ll do the drinks… It’s only fair…

And I’m so looking forward to adult conversations and catching up with friends in general. Being stay-at-home (and sick-and-pregnant-wife) is really not all it cracked out to be. Sometimes the loneliness and boredom make me want to start howling at the moon. I mean, I love talking to my son and all… But there are only so many times I can be genuinely excited to repeat that the “ball” is indeed a “ball”. Sometimes I need deeper meaning to my conversations. Maybe once we reach the point where a “green ball” can be differentiated from a “yellow ball”, I’ll feel more intellectually stimulated…

So, I’m excited, and agitated. I really gotta do some serious cleaning. Like wiping all those stains from the fridge and the stove… Cause, stainless steel appliances look really fancy and modern – but they are such a pain to keep clean! If I knew that ahead, I’d probably go for a more old fashioned look… (nah… they look way to hip when clean… ) And open concept house is cool – but it also means that everyone sees pretty much everything everywhere. No secret messy kitchen allowed. No big paper stash in the middle of the library… No unidentified piles of unidentified stuff in the corridor. It all must go. By Saturday. And be gone… At least till Saturday… (But don’t get me wrong… I LOVE my house…)

And then I’ll try to keep it that way till Christmas…

(What’s wrong with dreaming?)

On babies and categories…

2006-12-01T00:17:00.000-05:00

But first, let’s begin this entry with a bit of entertainment. Check out this commercial… Really…

the funny commercial

This is for those of you who are iffy on the whole kids issue… My contribution to the dilemma :-) (And those of you who already took the plunge, you know it all can be too true…)

I mean, just today we went out to a restaurant (*hides head, avoids eye contact, and hopes no one will notice that she was eating out again...*) and the kiddo wanted his bottle. And then he wanted to play with the tablecloth (by pulling it over the head). And really, you cannot reason with a toddler (if you can, send me pointers). So pretty soon all I could think of was getting the darn bill and getting out of there before somebody called the cops or social services.

And I’m beginning to think that those screams were completely calculated. Cause he didn’t cry, or look distressed, or anything. He actually smiled. And then opened his mouth and let out a glass-smashing/dead-awakening “ahhhhhh……”. And then smiled again. “Aren’t you proud of me, mommy? I’m going to be the next Michael Bolton!”

And then (when I got home…) just as I was pondering the manipulative ways babies/toddlers/kids can have their parents wrapped around their tiny little fingers, and how they are much smarter than we would think, I stumbled on this intriguing article: "Mom Unlocks Babytalk". In a nutshell, it says that all infants have five basic cries, and each has a meaning:

“Neh, Owh, Heh, Eairh, Eh, meaning, I'm hungry; I'm sleepy; I'm experiencing discomfort (also known as "change my diaper already"); I have lower gas pain and I need to burp.”

Really? What about the one that means “I just don’t think you should sleep tonight, cause I’m bored”? Or the “Don’t you dare putting me in the crib, I’m fully expecting the comfort of the king sized foam mattress, cause NASA says it’s good for my back”? I mean, I’m not an expert or anything, but JUST FIVE SOUNDS? FIVE NEEDS? I doubt it. Maybe the robo-babies in techno-land. Real babies also get bored, get stuffy noses, get scared, confused, and just get plain cranky. I mean, they are already people, from day one… just tiny ones…

And they have enough personality to spare… Much more than any five needs can cover…

Before I had a kid, I would’ve probably bought that theory. Back then I used to always envision all those things I’ll teach my kids. In my mind kids were probably something like play-dough out of which I’d be molding the perfect human being. Surprise, surprise – they come with personalities from the get go. So you think your kid will read a lot? Yah, that’s what I thought… and bought like a hundred baby books… only to discover that they make an excellent building material… Or you think your kid will play with those educational toys you get? Ha… I have yet to find a toy that beats the phone… And it better be a real phone. The kid’s no dummy. The gazillion toy phones are living in perfect harmony at the bottom of the toy box.

I can see my son at 19 months with a personality that is wholly and totally his own. I might be able to interest him in things, but he does the picking and the choosing. For some reason the habit of putting his toys away is not sticking even in the slightest. Yet just try and walk around the house without some kind of shoes! He doesn’t think that’s right. Wherever did he get that idea? If it was up to me, he’d realize that five seconds without shoes, cause mommy wants to put her feet up on the couch, are perfectly acceptable. Yet whenever that happens, mommy inevitably finds two house slippers stuffed at her, accompanied by a completely distressed toddler screaming “shoes” as if the world was coming to an end. Did I teach him that? I don’t think so… At least not the urgency of it…

And he had a personality from the moment he was born. You see, he squeaked a little at first, but didn’t bother screaming too much. He was calm, cool and collected. Looking around. Well, that's just the way he is in a new situation (and not in a restaurant, where he’s been a thousand times already) he’s just calm, cool, collected and observing. That’s him. I didn’t teach him that. He came with that package.

And I love that so much more than the play-dough model. I’m getting to know, love and raise a completely unique human being, who has a path of his own. I’m not his master, I’m his guide. My job is to help him find that path, and help him get to whatever it is that he sets out to accomplish. And to protect him from the holes on the road. But not to push or pull him. And not to lump his needs into a few tiny categories that should define him in a nutshell.

Cause he’s a lot more than that.

If you are a vegetarian, please don't get mad at me...

2006-11-30T01:27:00.000-05:00

You guys are so nice to me… I’m totally blushing… And embarrassed…

Sometimes these gloomy things/posts just come over me. Could be hormones, could be the weather. I have no idea. Probably both. I prefer to blame the weather, though… El Nino and Global Warming are responsible for me being grumpy. And I’m absolutely going to write a letter to the Kyoto people to hurry up on that protocol, or else I’ll start driving people around me crazy…

And now I’m going to shock and upset the vegetarians:

See, it turns out that I’ve been all tired and irritated cause I have very low iron levels. (Pregnancy anemia is apparently pretty common). But I can’t stomach the iron pills for some reason. They make me even grumpier and sicker. And they are about as pleasant as swallowing real nails… (I mean, really, iron pills? Who came up with that concept?) So… I’ve started occasionally nibbling on things like chicken parts… Which I haven’t done in soooo many years… But I guess when you get all breathless from just the thought of going up the stairs, principles go by the wayside… And I’m becoming a part-time carnivore. Isn’t that horrible? And hypocritical?

Yup, it is…

It’s official…

I’m a hypocrite…

And not only am I a hypocrite, I’m also an absolute weirdo who likes chicken liver. It’s true. My carnivore husband can’t stand it, but I looove it… Except I only love it in one special way. A pâté that my dad makes for me. Even though I know that the recipe is ridiculously simple, something about him making it makes it sooo much better. But I successfully negotiated the above-mentioned recipe out of him, just so that those of you with liver-averse kids can try it out… (See? I can be so thoughtful :-) )

You’ll need 1 medium or large carrot, 1 onion, a pack of chicken livers (I think those are usually about half a pound or so), about 100 grams of softened butter (my dad just eyeballs 1/5 or 1/4th of the standard butter pack, which is 454g around here). Plus salt and pepper to taste.

Slice and fry the onion and the carrot (in oil, of course). Separately fry the chicken livers (till cooked – i.e. fry first, then cover to let it simmer). Keep the butter at room temperature long enough for it to soften. Then put all the ingredients in a food processor. Blend very well.

Done.

I like to chill it in the fridge for a while and then spread it over a nice white (or whole wheat) toast.

And that’s pretty much the only way I can get my iron right now.

My apologies go out to all the chickens out there… But you gals are just too irresistible right now.

And irreplaceable…

There is some food here...

2006-11-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

You’ve probably noticed that I have completely fallen off the cooking wagon… I’m either busy, or have other excuses… Which is really typical me. I don’t tend to last too long on anything. I loose my steam… For some reason I go through these stages, where I’m all into something, and then I can’t force myself to do the very thing that I really liked not so long ago. It is a very annoying habit. Lack of will power? Probably. Except I’m not sure what I can do about it.

And right now I’m on a “I don’t like cooking” phase. I don’t want to cook. I don’t know what to cook. I don’t like the smells, I don’t like the ingredients… I don’t want to stand in the kitchen… (In fact, all I want to do is lie down on a couch somewhere… )

But today I forced myself to do something. Zucchini pancakes, curried chicken and some rice. And yesterday there was simple spaghetti in marinara sauce. Nothing to be excessively proud of. Though the chicken came out pretty nice (Fry a chopped onion, add cubed chicken, and chopped veggies, like bell peppers, celery, carrots, then add curry powder (or other spices, I also added masala powder), salt, pepper, a tblspn tomato paste, a cup of water… simmer for 20 minutes, then add couple of tblspns of sour cream and simmer 5 minutes more.)

And it’s embarrassing. Cause I was supposed to have a cooking blog…

But instead it’s just lots of mindless ramblings… And I don’t really know how to get back on track. And I don’t know what to write. I really don’t.

I think I’m an emotional wreck right now, being totally optimistic about every thing one minute, and totally pessimistic the next. Somehow finding the middle ground is harder than usual…

And that sucks…

PS: Spaghetti from yesterday: (proof that I’m trying…)

Off tangent…

2006-11-26T01:30:00.001-05:00

I haven’t been posting cause I’ve been insanely/incredulously busy with all kinds of secret and non-secret projects, that I’ve had no time to cook/write/think or even visit others in the blogosphere (for which I’m sorry, I’ll be improving soon). But I’m sure you’ve all been pretty busy too, with Thanksgiving in the US and all… Hopefully we’ll all make it to Monday when normalcy shall reign supreme once again.

Though not really. Cause I’ve seen the subtle changes in the air. Like radio channels doing a switcheroo and all playing Christmas music (which I don’t really mind… but not 24 hours a day…). And houses around our neighbourhood are lighting up. And car is having a stubborn layer of ice all over it at night. And storeowners are looking out from behind their counters like they are getting ready for the hunting season…

So I guess, Christmas season is here. And I totally am still in the game. Am planning to put those towels up first thing Monday. And maybe even think about the menu. And the gifts… And the whole decorating thing. It will happen. And not on December 24th. I’m working on being proactive.

And just the thought that next Christmas we’ll be a family of four… It’s so mind boggling. I can’t believe how fast time goes by. It’s as if once you hit 20, your life goes on overdrive, and keeps gaining speed every year. Time used to be such a stretchy thing. From birthday to birthday you had to wait forever and a day. Now… Didn’t we just have Christmas? (Nope, that was a year ago)… Didn’t I just find out I was pregnant with number one? (Nope, that was over two years ago, and you’re on number two now…) Didn't I just pay the bills yesterday? (Nope...)

Which has both perks and drawbacks, naturally. The drawbacks are obvious – getting older faster, running out of time to do things that were planned.

But speeding time also has its perks. It’s much easier to be patient. Cause weeks, months, even years, don’t seem to be so distant any more.

I’m needing lots of patience now. Things I want to happen faster are just taking way more time than I expected. But that's ok. I'm much more patient now than I was at 16. And that's the benefit of growing up.

The shortest post yet…

2006-11-22T22:28:00.000-05:00

A simple fare we had today, of fish cakes and mashed potatoes… And some salad… Cause we are simple people. Without fancy tastes…

And that’s about it.

And I don’t have anything else to write right now…

Cause I’m having a blogger’s block…

Oh, wait… Nope… Blank…

I’ll have to talk to you later, when Ms. Muse decides drop by…

Hinting, hinting...

2006-11-21T22:46:00.000-05:00

All by myself again… Just me and my Chinese food leftovers… So, ahem… no recipes again… I’m sure you’re not surprised…

I was sitting here wondering about Santa... He must be a pretty busy guy, getting all those wish lists, and planning all his shopping/toy making… And I figured, why not be proactive and write him a wish list now? So he knows what I want and all. So he can plan me into his shopping schedule…

And therefore I wrote him a letter… I hope he has access to the Internet, as I only correspond online nowadays.

Here it goes…

Dear Santa.

How are you? Did you have a good year? Did you keep an eye on me? You did? Then you must know I’ve been a good girl. So it is with complete belief in my goodness that I’m sending you my wish list for this year.

First of all, I would like a huge mansion. The kind that celebrities are usually not satisfied with and constantly have to rebuild. I’m not that picky, Santa. That house J.Lo. got and spent millions on upgrading? I would’ve been just fine with it. Really. Even if it only has one pool. That’s cool with me.

Secondly, I’d love a nice Mercedes convertible. For cruising around my mansion. You can’t really expect me to walk around it, can you? I mean, this is the 21st century. We don’t walk. Unless we’re in the gym. Cause that’s our only way of justifying inventing both the elevator and the stair master.

Of course, given the above, I’d like a membership to a mega snobby gym club with a personal trainer and all. Or you can build a proper gym in my mansion. I leave that up to you. As I said above, I’m not that picky.

If you dab into medicine, you could consider taking care of the whole morning sickness nonsense… You know, sixth month of it, that’s kinda pushing it. And of course once you’re on that wave, you might as well make me skinny again. I can take a rain check for that till March. But then I’d like a Britney Spears type of makeover (just the skinny part, thank you…)

Some furniture would be nice too. The whole empty dining room thing looks a bit strange… But I’d have to go shopping with you, Santa, cause that’s something I am pretty picky about… Sorry…

If you really can’t master those, at least consider giving me a proper KitchenAid Mixer. You know, that fancy one, with all kinds of attachment. Cause I don’t have any mixer at all. And that’s a shame…

You may even forward this last request to my husband.

And if he complains about the budget, at least convince him to get me a small hand-held one. I could probably live with it till next Christmas… If he accompanies it with some diamond earrings or a very nice card…

Thank you, Santa.

Yours truly,

Vasilisa

PS: and if the above mentioned husband wants something for himself, feel free to tell me what it is, cause I'm flat out of ideas...

First snow

2006-11-20T00:36:00.000-05:00

We are having snow… The first snow of the season… The kind that looks like it hasn’t quite made up its mind on whether it should be rain or snow. For all intents and purposes it feels like rain, and is wet like rain, but the grass is getting whiter, and the cars are developing skinny whitish coats… Which will all be gone in the morning… And had I been sleeping now, like all the normal people in our neighborhood, I’d probably miss it altogether.

But I didn’t.

And I feel happyish. Cause the holidays seem that much closer now. And the global warming is not quite winning yet. And we still have a chance at normalcy…

Which is nice.

I know that I’ll get sick of it soon, when driving becomes a nightmare and front porch becomes inaccessible.

But for now I like it. Cause I still remember the kid in me that used to look outside the window at the snow and get all excited because of all the games we were going to play, all the casteless we were going to build, and all the snow-wars that were going to start…

When I was about ten, my parents bought amazing new curtains for the kids’ room. I remember the excitement of hanging them up, and how they had this cool system where you could pull on the string and they would move apart, and pull another string, and they would close. So technologically advanced! And the day we hang them up, just as we were enjoying the view, it started snowing. First snow that year. That picture is still so fresh in my mind like it was yesterday.

And it is haunting me tonight. I feel like I’m ten again. Like snow is a beautiful start to an exciting season, and life is great and everything is as it should be.

Which is good.

So budget conscious...

2006-11-17T02:57:00.000-05:00

I have discovered the ultimate eating-place… Where taste and budget meet each other and hug in euphoria. Cause a descent-sized plate of veggie pasta can be acquired for $1.99 (Canadian!). And an order of salmon (yes, I cheated again…, boo…, but I’m pregnant, so it’s ok) with potatoes and veggies and a blueberry pie (plus a soft-drink generously shared with the hubs, I get enough sugar as it is, thank you very much...) comes to only 7 bucks!

What is the miracle place, you ask?

It’s…

…

IKEA…

Yup… Didn't even bother with the furniture and all the trimmings.

In fact, my only beef with IKEA is that once you get in, you can’t get out without making a gigantic loop around the whole store. Tricky. And annoying. If they didn’t have that, I’d be eating there every day.

But I guess they are very concerned about my figure and all. They must presume that if I eat, I might as well burn those calories running a marathon after the little arrows on the floor that keep saying “EXIT” and leading you on and on to the neverland of cheap household gadgets. Which I would totally buy. If I actually brought money with me. Or a stroller for the kiddo. Or at least a less cranky kiddo instead of the one who decided right then and there that he is due for a nap and is therefore going to wail loud enough to be heard by every IKEA-wandering soul. Making his mommy feel like a rat trapped in a maze with an electric shocking thingy right there in her ear.

But it was worth it.

Just look at it, isn’t it pretty?

The salmon...

The veggie pasta in Alfredo sauce... $1.99!!!

And yummy. And totally lazy-mommy-friendly.

But at that price, I don’t feel one bit guilty… Or if I do, it's buried very deep behind the never-ending veil of denial…

Christmas is almost in the air...

2006-11-16T00:17:00.000-05:00

I’m home alone. All by myself. Left to wander the hallways and contemplate my role in keeping them clean. Which I’m in no mood to do what so ever. If anyone needs the hallways clean, they are welcome to come here and sort through all these toys and shopping bags and hell knows what else. I gave up. At least for this week. Even though I subscribe to Fly Lady. Even though I purposely ignore up to 30 reminders from her per day. I just don’t see the point. I put the toys in the box, turn around, and they are back on the floor. I put the jackets in the closet, turn around, and they are back on the staircase. This house is haunted, I’m telling yah…

So anyways, as I said, I’m home alone and blogging in peace and quiet for a change. And my contemplations are inevitably drifting towards… Christmas! I have no idea why. Really. I haven’t cared about Christmas for years. Not that I ever did. We didn’t do Christmas back in Russia. We did New Years, which there served (and still does) as a combined holiday for Halloween, Christmas, and New Years. As in people got dressed in costumes, got gifts from our version of Santa (Grandpa Frost, we call him, yeah…) and got drunk all at the same time. So when I got here the whole Christmas hoopla just kinda went by me. Couldn’t bother.

Eventually I got used to it (it’s not so bad to get gifts almost a week in advance), but still didn’t feel anything special about it. New Years was always the big day for me. I have to meet it with my family around. I have to yell out the countdown. And lots of other “have to”s…

But something is different about this year. This year I’m thinking “Christmas” more and more… I’m thinking about Santa, and not Grandpa Frost. I want my tree up before December 25th, and not the 31st…

And if I really think about it, I actually know why. Cause this year it’s not about the commercialization and the other things that I never cared about. This year it’s about my son. Cause I am realistic. If I tell him about Grandpa Frost that comes on the New Years eve, kids in school (once he actually starts one) will *educate* the *stuff* out of him…

He needs a Santa. Cause Santa, whatever you call him, is all about childhood. It’s about the excitement, the gifts, the decorations… It’s about being happy and expecting something grand to happen, a miracle to drop down your chimney… And every child deserves a miracle. Even if he’s too young this year to fully grasp it, I want him to feel the holiday spirit in the air; I want him to sense that something amazing is happening… And that’s Christmas.

I'm gonna get more toys?

Mommy, you are the best!

And the surprising thing that is happening, is that I’m getting excited about it too. For the first time in years I’m not looking at it as a season when shopping is a nightmare, budget is stretched, and the gift list (or the creation of it) is a source of never-ending headaches. Instead, I’m thinking about what ornaments to put on the tree, the snowflake patters I’ll be cutting out, the cookies I could bake… I’m thinking about all those toys I could get for the kiddo (and yes, I’m even thinking about the “Tickle Me Elmo” and where the heck to get it, since no store around here seems to have one…just thinking… so don’t go all rowdy on me…).

(And it’s still November! Oh, God, I need a therapist!)

What a change can a baby make… They tell you kids change your life, but they never get too specific. They never tell you how you get to do all those things you loved again… How you can relive the best moments of your life through the eyes of your child. How the simple presence of a green poky tree in the window display can get you all giddy and silly and send you searching for the perfect snowy kitchen towel…

(yes, I bought it… but it was very reasonably priced…).

And with still over a month to go before the big day, I guess I’ll just have to talk some sense into that impatient reawakened child inside me, focus on that terrifying gift list, and eat store-bought cookies. And occasionally tell the kiddo things that are totally meaningless to him at this point, like: “eat your cereal, or Santa’ll skip our chimney”… And then mentally prepare myself for how next year I’ll probably have to explain the physics of Santa fitting down our chimney-less house…

But I'll save physics for next year... This year it will be magic only.

…

PS: And as for the dinner, since it was just me, I made the infamous mushroom soup again. Except this time I had enough potatoes…

Simple and homey...

2006-11-14T22:29:00.000-05:00

I finally got myself into the kitchen. And even managed a couple of simple quick dishes that just hit the spot. Cause that was all I was in the mood for making today. Plus the lack of some key groceries combined with no gas in the car = don’t feel like going anywhere, and leads to cooking whatever is in the fridge… So I’m presenting a ridiculously simple dinner for your entertainment… Accompanied by horrible pictures, as usual -- I'm still working on my photo skills.

For the hubs: Chicken in whitish sauce.

2 chicken breasts
about a cup of sour cream (more won’t hurt)
1 and a half teaspoon of curry powder (other spices or poultry seasoning would do just fine)
3-4 cloves of garlic (I used 5, but hubs loooves garlic), squeezed
salt
pepper
optionally some onion

Fry half an onion, chopped, till translucent. Add chicken breasts and fry a bit on both sides. Mix all the other ingredients with sour cream in a separate bowl (spices, salt, pepper, and squeezed garlic).

Pour the mix over the chicken breasts. Add some water (about half a cup or so, just enough to cover the chicken in the sauce). Simmer for about 30 minutes (add water if necessary – something I always forget about till it’s too late). Optionally season with fresh herbs (dill, parsley, etc…)

I have to say, the chicken came out fantastic… The aroma… I was really impressed, and would really recommend this simple dish to any chicken lover out there…

And me, the hungry fishetarian had fish, of course.

2 tilapia fillets… (But any amount of any fish would do. I just happened to have thalapia in the freezer.)
One onion, cut to rings
Salt
Pepper
Juice from half a lemon
2 small bay leafs (or one really big one)
About a tablespoon of mayonnaise

Mix everything except the fillets and the mayonnaise in a bowl. Add the fish: make sure you dip it on both sides in the marinade, and then just leave it lying on top (or partially submerged) of it all for about 20 minutes.

Take a small baking dish. (Optional, for those who hate doing dishes) line it with foil. Put the fillets down. Poor the liquid part on top. Brush with some mayonnaise. Put the onion rings on top (discard the bay leaf).

Bake for about 20 minutes at 400F.

Yup… That’s it. That was our dinner. Quite homey, actually. I think it must have been the potatoes… Did I mention that I boiled some potatoes? I did. With parsley and all. Very wintery… For some reason as it gets colder outside I start eating more potatoes. They are just so cozy and warming, especially with a nice sauce on top…

(And just in case I haven’t mentioned it a hundred times before, potatoes to Russians are pretty much what rice is to Chinese, or pasta to Italians. Which is why they are such frequent guests on my blog… Cause I can’t imagine life without them… Cause if I could, it would be a really sad one… )

Food, as promised.

2006-11-14T00:43:00.000-05:00

But first, let me thank you all for not lynching me for the last post. I really appreciate it. The morning after I posted it I was going to delete it, but I already had comments, so I decided to let it be for the accuracy of the historical review... But I’m so grateful that people that drop by my blog are rational and not the “you are just stupid and don’t get it” kind of types. And I don’t hate you if your opinion is different from mine. It’s a free country here, so everybody is entitled to likes/dislikes and opinions… So feel free to disagree with me any time :-)

And as for the food, it was all take-out today. Precious, precious affordable and delicious Chinese take-out. How do people manage without it? I have no clue. Naturally today was one of those no-cooking days. I’m not even going to bore you with the reasons. But this was a very welcome and budget conscious meal:

What I love about Chinese food, are the sauces. The perfect ratio of liquid to gooiness that I for some reason just can’t conquer in my own kitchen. No mater how much I’ve tried. I wish I knew the secret formula. I know that it contains cornstarch, I just think there is something magical about the proportions…

I was recently reading a fascinating article about Chinese cuisine in general. Did you know that the basic form of Chinese cooking has essentially been formed 3000 years ago? (For comparison, the classic French cooking has been systematized around 300 years ago, at the end of 18th century, and has since been only polished/perfected.) That’s 3000 years of history of perfecting cooking methods and dishes. For some reason that fascinates me. Just a thought that 3000 years ago people might have been eating pretty similar stuff to the stuff I get at my local take-out place. That I’m somehow part of a never-ending chain of rice/noodles/tofu lovers.

And that makes me feel special.

On Borat… And this does not seem to be the popular opinion... So you should probably not read it. Please don’t. I’ll post about food next time.

2006-11-12T02:25:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder if I’m loosing my edge. You know, the coolness factor. No, I’ve never actually been cool, not at school at least. (How many math geeks are cool? No, really? I’d like the number? ) But I’m usually on top of hip movies and music, and news.

And now… What’s the hippest coolest movie out? Borat, naturally. The whole world seems to know that. And I went to the movies on Friday night, and guess what I went to see? It wasn’t Borat. No. Even though it seemed like the rest of humanity was lining up for “the cultural learnings…” I was lining up to see “Stranger than fiction.” A nice romantic thoughtful movie… Nothing “cultural” or “cool” about it.

What is wrong with me? Why am I not going crazy over the whole Borat thing? I saw the previews, and found them funny… But I just can’t bring myself to watch it. I keep making up excuses of the type “the movie is too popular, will be too crowded, and I need air…” But in reality I just don’t think I want to watch it.

Maybe if he picked a fake nation. Like Krakozhia in “The Terminal” (in which, surprisingly everyone spoke Russian… but I guess when Hollywood wants to come up with a screwed up fake country, their imagination is still stalled somewhere in the Cold War zone).

But he picked a real country. And there is something nasty about that. Just something that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Cause I honestly doubt that many people know that Kazakhstan is a normal modern country. How many people in North America have even heard of it before? (What, “no publicity is bad publicity” argument? Yah? Then what happened to the glorious career of Michael Jackson? Not enough publicity?) Even the news that deal with Borat rarely add anything to the statement that Kazakhstan is a former Soviet Republic. Well, it also happens to be worlds 9th largest country by size. And Kazakhs don’t look anything like Borat, by the way. Majority of the population actually looks Asian. The movie footage was shot in Romania. But I guess too many people know Romania to use it as a prop.

No, I don’t think the movie is all bad. As I said, I haven’t watched it yet. So I can’t pass that judgment. In fact, apart from the country reference, it might actually be good…

But picking on a little country (politically speaking) even if the intent is to make fun of a big one, is kind of low. Since mostly everything about Kazakhstan was invented why not also invent a dummy country? Is that so hard? Besides, Hollywood already has a “Krakozhia” somewhere in the imaginary Eastern Europe. I’m sure "Boratia" would've been a very happy neighbor.

There are opinions out there that Borat’s point is making fun of ignorant people that would actually believe all this nonsense. I agree. Any intelligent person would understand that people don’t drink horse urine or celebrate their sister’s rank in prostitution. But not everyone is intelligent. Flip the news channel any day, and you’ll see proof of that. This is like saying that “***** (fill in the blank) eat babies.” Of course intelligent people would never believe that. But there are enough jerks out there who do, or pretend they do. A movie like that would supply them with more nasty comments then they need.

And besides, even though many people won’t believe the ridiculous assertions, nevertheless plenty will walk out of the cinema thinking that Kazakhstan is at least a “backwards” country. You know, one of those “former Soviet Republics” that is probably drugging its existence in the realm of nothingness compared to the “Great First World West”.

And that, frankly, p***s me off.

…

PS: Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. And I fully intend to get back to cooking. Really. Next post is going to be all about food. I promise.

On Britney, math and paneer...

2006-11-08T23:54:00.000-05:00

I don’t know, I should probably start with dinner, cause I actually made one tonight…

But have you heard the news? Britney Spears has filed for divorce… As much as I like to avoid gossip columns and star tracking, for some reason that piece of news stuck with me… For some reason in a positive way… Except I feel really bad for the kids… But the jury is still out whether they are better off or not… I really should stop thinking bout Britney and get a life of my own now… (but, girl, you look great, now get your act together, move on, and please don’t forget about the kids…)

Anyways, those kinds of moments make me want to do google search for totally unrelated things, like jokes and all. And here’s a gem I recently found: math genius at work... Honestly, as a quintessential math geek (I took math as an elective throughout all my four years at university) I found them so hilarious, I almost cried… (Maybe hormones? Doesn’t take much to make me cry nowadays…) Check it out. Seriously. If you remember your basic high school math, you’ll find it funny too. I hope…

Which nicely leads into tonight’s dinner (It doesn’t? Oh well…). Which we actually had. At home. Provided by yours truly. Aren’t you impressed? I am…

Basically after weeks of hinting, asking and begging, I finally got my husband to buy me some paneer (took me only about 10 reminder calls), which is an Indian cheese, which I know can be made at home , but not by me, cause I’m too lazy, and also cause boiling milk has always freaked me out…

So here is what I did with it:

My Indian inspired (only inspired, I hope Indian girls don’t get too mad at me for messing with Indian food… the original recipe was taken from “The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking” and then tampered with) paneer dinner with peas and tomatoes (and bell pepper, cause I felt like adding one...)

Ingredients:
400g of packaged of paneer, cut into grape sized cubes
oil for frying
2 and ½ teaspoons turmeric powder
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tspn of garam masala
3 tspns of salt (maybe more, according to taste)
1 inch cube of ginger
3 cloves of garlic
1 tblspn of sour cream
2 cups of frozen peas
2 or more tomatoes
1 bell pepper (if you choose to only use 2 tomatoes. If you use 4 or 5 tomatoes, you don’t need the bell pepepr)
1 tblspn of tomato paste (again, if you opted for only 2 tomatoes. Otherwise you don’t need it)

Instructions:
Heat oil.
Fry the paneer cubes turning over so they get a nice brownish crust (the book suggested deep frying, but I don’t have that much oil to spare…).
In a separate bowl mix 2 cups of warm water, 2 tspns of turmeric powder and 2-3 tspns of salt.
Transfer the fried paneer into that mix.
Put it aside.
Now, you still have the frying pan with some hot oil.
Into it add: The cumin seeds, finely chopped garlic and minced ginger (also, for you heat-lovers, you can add some minced chili peppers at this stage).
Fry for a few seconds (till cumin browns, and garlic gives nice aroma).
Throw in ½ teaspoon of powdered turmeric.
Mix it up.
Add the peas, chopped red bell pepper and 1 cup of water (you can add water later depending on how thick you like the sauce), and 1 tblspn tomato paste (optional, but I like it).
Cover and bring to boil.
Let it simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes (till peas and are tender) .
Add the finely chopped tomatoes and fried paneer cubes (without the liquid) .
Cover, simmer for another 5 minutes.
Add 1 tblspn of sour cream (this is my own addition, I find that it makes the sauce thicker…) and 1 tspn of garam masala. Mix, adjust seasoning (salt, pepper…)
Bring to boil, and turn it off…
Done.

And for the boys I made pretty much the same thing, but with chicken. The difference is that you add the fried chicken at the same time as you add the peas, so the chicken cooks through.

They were perfectly happy with it.

But I firmly believe that the paneer version is infinitely better. Really. I just don’t get the chicken fascination…

What can I say... Carnivores...

I'm moving to Japan... Or at least I should...

2006-11-08T03:30:00.000-05:00

The verdict is in… I’m making another miso baby…

There is just something about Japanese food that works for me… When I can’t eat anything else, plain salad with that special dressing and a miso soup work miracles. But especially the salad dressing… I don’t know why…

I’m on a quest. I want to know how they make it. Is it ginger? Some secret spice? Anyone have any ideas?

And of course there is tempura. And teriyaki salmon.

And my poor hubs who’s genuinely sick of it all keeps trying to improvise by ordering new unidentifiable things. Though this was a pretty good case of fried rice with teppaniaky (spelling?) chicken.

I’m proud of him. He takes it all pretty well.

And then there is the green tea ice-cream… It never lasts long enough to snap a picture. So you’ll have to use your imagination. (It looks like ice-cream… green…)

So I've decided, if I get pregnant again, I’m moving to Japan…

(Just in case I didn't make it clear -- I didn't cook... We ate at a restaurant... Again...)

In which you'll learn how to make the perfect lasagna...

2006-11-06T23:01:00.000-05:00

Today the hubs stayed at home, as in he had a day off, and we were all planning to go out for dinner, except… there was a hockey game on TV. Which is completely something that cannot-be-missed-and-has-to-be-watched-because-it-is-all-so-important (despite the fact that the season has just started -- but common sense is lost on men enwrapped in the intricacies of chasing a piece of rubber with wooden sticks on ice… But I really shouldn’t complain, cause I’ve been guilty of wasting precious hours watching running on ice without any puck in sight – a.k.a. figure skating…).

So, anyways, after waiting and waiting I grew incredibly hungry and realized that I will have to live up to yesterday’s promise and make something myself. And I did.

Behold the dinner:

See the lasagna?

Isn’t it beautiful?

And the recipe is so complicated… I mean the directions, they are, like, so mind-boggling… Really… Extra-super-duper-complicated…

Are you ready?

Ok, here it goes:

Pull out a box from the freezer that says “Vegetarian Lasagna” on it. Take the lasagna out of the box. Read instructions that say: “put it in the oven”. Put it in the oven.

Yup… It’s a pre-made frozen lasagna bought during one of those inspirational store trips… (Cause I haven’t actually conquered real lasagna yet… I never even tried… But I’m pretty good at following box instructions…)

But since I promised cooking last night, I also made a quick fried potatoes/mushroom/onions dish.

(Recipe can be found here.) Just so you don’t start throwing tomatoes at me… Unless those are nice fresh yummy organic tomatoes… Then bring them on!

So now I feel truly accomplished and deserving of something nice. Like those diamond earrings that in honor of the upcoming completely uncommercialized Christmas season are now on every TV channel.

Or maybe a mini-statue to commemorate myself for posterity.

Or at least a cake. Yes, a cake will do.

Ahem...

Ok, bye now, I’m off searching for a cake…

Don’t read this if you don’t want you appetite ruined… I’m not kidding… This is not a post with nice recipes… You’ve been warned…

2006-11-06T01:31:00.000-05:00

Not home… Not cooking… You know the drill…

So, yet another filler post…

Ahem… I’m flat out of ideas… Need… to… write… something… now…

Ah?

Ok… So…

How was your weekend?

Mine was great, thank you for asking… Morning sickness paid a solid revisit, you know, just so I don’t forget about it and all… Cause you know, there are some naïve people out there who think that morning sickness can be cured by a cracker, and that it goes away after the first trimester…

Yup… Sure…

Dream on…

Though, apparently it’s true, unless you end up being one of about 1 or 2% of women who get it THE WHOLE DARN NINE MONTHS!!! What the heck is up with that? Why couldn’t I win the other lottery? Like those couple of women out of humanity who don’t even realize they were pregnant till they suddenly pop out a baby? LIFE IS NOT FAIR!!!

And who came up with the “morning” part of it? Really? Who was that creative? What is so "morning" about anytime during the 24 HOURS OF THE DARN DAY? Or those days when it’s ALL DAY LONG? Please, if you know that person, tell them I said “hi”…

Yes… I’m sure that’s what you wanted to hear… Coming from a cooking blog and all…

But, at least if you know the back-story, you’ll give me more credit for those days when I’m actually trying to cook…

Like tomorrow… Totally planning to…

See? I even did my groceries… At 12 AM…

Cause I really am a good girl...

With tons of excuses…

(And even more dots...........)

Bread again – the improved version…

2006-11-03T21:38:00.000-05:00

I decided to give the bread one more try. Basically, yesterday it looked and tasted mostly like bread, but had way too much yeast. So I figured I’ll remedy the situation. After much more research, thinking and calculations, I figured that 2 and a half teaspoons of yeast should be enough. I.e. my formula: 2 and a half teaspoons per 2 and a half (or three) cups of flour. So roughly 1 teaspoon of dry yeast per 1 cup of flour. From now on, it will be my rule number one (in yesterday’s list of rules).

I also couldn’t resist some experimenting. Just as I was planning, I scrapped the milk, and used water instead. I melted butter instead of oil. Though it was just not enough butter to fill my 1/3 cup, so I added a bit of canola oil, but hey, the rules say any fat, right? And I used one cup of rye flour. And I sprinkled a tiny-tiny bit of coriander powder and just few cumin seeds. So my today’s recipe looked like this:

2 and ½ teaspoons of dry active yeast, dissolved in ½ cup of warm water with a pinch of sugar. (wait 10 minutes for it to foam)
Then add:
½ cup of water
1/3 cup of melted butter and or oil
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cumin seeds
a pinch of coriander powder
mix
add 1 cup of rye flour
1 cup of all purpose white flour
start kneading
add another ½ cup of white flour (so dough still elastic, but not sticking to hands)

Then I thought that I heard somewhere that rye flour takes longer to rise, so I left my dough alone for about 40 minutes, and went about some household chores…

Then I shaped the buns (make apple sized balls, then squash them, put on the cooking sheet and draw a couple of lines on them with a knife). I let them wait while the oven was warming up to 400 F. And then I baked them for 15 minutes.

Much better. Completely bready consistency, and perfect amount of yeast. Now I feel liberated to experiment with shapes and flavours…

PS: when you take the bread out, put it on a wooden board, or paper towel, or plain towel. Don’t leave it on the baking sheet, cause the bottom will get soggy…

All about bread...

2006-11-02T23:51:00.000-05:00

Today I want to talk about bread. Yes, bread. The absolutely easiest thing you could ever cook that should be the first thing anyone ever cooks, cause it is really hard to screw up. Wah? Did I shock you? Did you think that only fancy bakeries can make bread, or bread machines, or some really specialized cookbooks with detailed instructions for real experts and so on?

Yah, that’s what I thought too…

And then I read a book. Unfortunately it’s in Russian, so there is no point checking the link as I’m sure most of you might as well have it in gibberish. But I’ll give you the gist of it.

It is a book that is meant to be a “learn to cook book”. As in, learn to cook in general, and not just from recipes. Cause let’s face it, recipes are nice… When you have them… And when you have the matching ingredients. But sometimes you are just stuck with whatever you have in your fridge/pantry, a hungry family and absolutely no way/time/money to get to the grocery store. And then you have to improvise. And for that you need to know the basics, the principles. Like, that you need to boil water first, before you throw in the pasta. Or that you need to preheat the oil, before you try to fry anything. Or that you need to mix corn starch in COLD water before you add it to a stir fry (thank God my dad taught me that, cause until then… ouch…) Anyways, you get the point…

So this book is full of tips/tricks of this sort. But the most novel concept (to me, at least) is that the author’s premise is that baking bread is the easiest cooking thing to learn.

So being the preppy perfectionist that I am, and wanting to learn to cook properly I decided to give it a try. Given how easy it is…

Except, as soon as I started doing it, I ran into problems. First, the author gives quantities for fresh yeast… Where the heck do you get that? I only have dry… But I didn’t give up, and after a very productive internet research session I found reasonable conversion guidelines. Then he said to put as much flour as you need until it stops getting stuck to your hands… I must have missed the moment. It didn’t stick to me at all. And barely to itself…

So my final recipe looked something like this: 4 and ¾ teaspoons of dry active yeast, ½ cup of water, ½ cup of milk (he said milk or water, milk was closer…), 1/3 cup of oil, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar, about 3 cups of flour… (I was supposed to put in some onion too, but I didn’t feel like it…)

Mix yeast with ½ cup of WARM water, add pinch of sugar, and let it sit for about 10 minutes. (It will foam if your yeast is good…) Then add all the other liquids and salt, and mix. Then add the flour and knead. Basically add two cups, and then knead and keep adding flour till it stops sticking to your hands. Like I said, in my case it ended up being 3 cups.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Shape the dough into apple-sized balls, then squash them, and put them on the cooking sheet. With a knife cut a few lines on the flattened patties (make them stripy!). Let them sit for 5-10 minutes (the book says 3 minutes, but I beg to differ) and then put in the oven. Bake 10-15 minutes (test readiness with a tooth pic – if there is dough on it when you pull it out, not ready yet). Take out. Wait about half an hour before eating.

Here is what I got.

It actually looks and tastes like a bun (albeit a scary looking one).

And honestly, the “making” process did take just a few minutes. And the waiting in between was used for very productive toddler chasing…

My personal observations for next time: I’ll substitute some of the milk with water. I’ll add a bit more salt. I might throw in some spices, like cumin seeds. I’ll take less yeast, probably just four teaspoons, cause it’s a bit too yeasty for my taste. I’ll experiment with different flours (whole grain, rye, etc…) And if I have time, I’ll let the dough rise first, before shaping it into balls… (So, add about 40 min to an hour of rising time.)

As for the “no recipe part” of bread baking, apparently (according to the book, not me), there are 5 cardinal rules of making bread, that once you learn them, and stick to them, you can improvise the rest to your heart’s content:

1. For one kilo of flour and additives (let’s say you added some chopped onions, raisins etc…), you need to use no less than 35g and no more than 50g of fresh yeast. I.e., 40% of that if you use dry yeast. My jar claims that 2 and a half teaspoons are equal to 8g. (And reading this now, I definitely think I overdid the yeast part.) Anyways, you do the math… I’m feeling lazy. But obviously, you can see that you don’t have to be overly precise. This is not an alchemical solution… And I’m sure the guidelines on your dry yeast package are just as useful as this rule…

2. The liquids have to consist of at least ½ cup of water (for the yeast, and make that WARM water). The rest can be milk, sour cream, kefir, you name it… Hmm… I wonder if juice would work?

3. Fat – you can use absolutely any fat, animal or vegetable. So that can be oil (vegetable, sunflower, olive, canola, etc…), melted butter or margarine, etc… (if it starts out solid, melt it first.) They all can be intermixed in any proportions.

4. First you always mix the yeast (already foamed and activated if using dry…) and all liquids and additives (spices, herbs, salt, etc…). Then you add the flour, as you knead, to a point where it stops sticking to your hands, but is still elastic… The amount will apparently vary based on types of liquids and fats you use.

5. Proportions to stick to:
All dry (non-dissolvable) additives, such as onion, cheese, spices., etc should not exceed in volume a quarter of liquids. I.e. for each 2 cups of water/milk do not have more than half a cup of dry experimental flavour thingies, like fruits and vegetables or something…
Fats should not exceed half of liquids. I.e. no more than half a cup of fats per 1 cup of water/milk…
If you choose to use milk, make sure it’s no more than the amount of water you use…

There, don’t you feel all smarter now? (I don’t… But I do feel braver… And now if there is no sandwich bread and no chance to get to a store, I’ll be experimenting with my floury left-overs…)

And as for general cooking without a recipe… Today I was precisely in that situation. As it is a vegetarian day, and I was insanely hungry, and the toddler fell asleep so shopping was out of the question, not to mention that hubs forgot to transfer the car seat to my car -- I had to improvise with ingredients at hand…

So I fried an onion, some garlic and a tiny piece of ginger. Blended it with two tomatoes, some cilantro, and half a celery stick, and poured it all over the veggies (pealed, chopped, and slightly pre-fried). The veggies happened to be 4 small potatoes, 2 carrots, 3 zucchinis, and one green bell pepper. Plus a tablespoon of curry powder, salt, pepper, a table spoon of tomato paste, and just a bit of water for the sauce. Cooked for 15 minutes, then added a can of red beans (washed – I hate the beans liquid that they float in…). Simmered 5 more minutes and served over rice.

Not overly creative, but eatable…

And this entry is so long now, I better sign off… Before it turns into a novel…

Halloweening…

2006-11-01T01:56:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know that we’ve survived our first family attempt at Halloween! And we had fun doing it… And the weather… it… cooperated! I even went out for a little “trick-or-treating” myself (with the kid, of course).

And while he wasn’t quite sure what it was all about, he really enjoyed ringing bells and saying “bah, bah” (bye, bye) to everyone on the street…

What do they want from me?

What? Pose for yet another picture?

That's the smiliest look you'll get today... Now where is my candy?

So, once more, Happy Halloween, everybody! And let’s do it again next year!

An even more modest dinner...

2006-10-31T02:22:00.000-05:00

Yes, we had an even more modest dinner than yesterday… If you can believe that… I was in a rush and completely out of ideas. And it had to have no meat for all of us. So I made a quick omelet with tomatoes and cheese, French fries and cucumber/tomato salad. That’s all. That’s the extent of my home-cooking today.

And now there is all this Halloween hoopla. A day I’ve never celebrated, cause by the time I came to Canada I was too old. But in a neighborhood where all the houses have creepy pumpkins outside, and with a kid of my own, I feel that I must be doing something… But what? I bought candy, I hang a poster on the door. I got myself a weird looking hat so I can scare the kids away tomorrow. And the kiddo got an outfit (via his grandmother). So tomorrow he’ll be going “trick-or-treating” with his dad (no way I’m going out and freezing my pregnant little bum).

But am I supposed to be doing anything else? I feel like there is all this Halloweening in the air, and I’m out of the loop. And I need to figure it all out, cause I’m sure in a couple of years or so the kids will be expecting something. Like ghosts in the basement or vampires in the bedroom…

So I better get a head start on it all, while I still got time. I just hope the local college has a Voodoo-101…

A really modest dinner

2006-10-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, tonight’s dinner was really modest. Composed of roasted veggies and fish patties. Hubs also got himself some take-out while at work, so I didn’t have to overdo anything… I was planning a soup… but… well, you know by now…

Anyways, the recipe for fish cutlets, the best and tenderiestest (what, there is no such word? there is one now!) and tastiest fish cutlets in the world, eatable even by people who hate fish:

Take a few fish fillets. I used 400 g bag of frozen haddock, defrosted. Pretty much any white fish will do (sole, pollock, cod, etc…). Put it in the food processor. Add a tablespoon of mayo, about half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Salt, pepper, one egg, one small onion (or half of a large one), and about a cup of flour. Usually I start with half a cup of flour, blend all the ingredients, and then check if it’s too watery. If it is, I add more flour. Today I wasn’t satisfied till I had a full cup of flour – hence the directions. I honestly don’t think that a few spoons either way would really affect the result, so go on, experiment, don’t be scared!

Now, preheat some oil in the frying pan. Than spoon mixture into the pan, shaping little patties, about a centimeter in hight (Just under an inch? Sorry, but I still think in metrics… ) Let them fry till the side is crusty. Then flip them over, and fry on the other side. Then turn the heat down to low, cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes, to make sure the fish cooks through. Done. Serve with horseradish, or mayo, or ketchup, or whatever else you like.

These patties are also amazing if you chill them overnight (in the fridge) and make a sandwich in the morning. Toast, mayo, tomato, patty, pickles… the works… Yum, yum!

As for roasting the veggies, I’ve already covered that before. But just in case you are too lazy to reread all that and want quick instructions, here they are: Chop pealed veggies that you like (my favorites are sweet potatoes, plain potatoes and zucchinis). Add a couple of finely chopped cloves of garlic and half of a chopped onion. Mix everything together with some oil, salt and black pepper, (and optionally a teaspoon of dry oregano flakes or parsley flakes or any dry herb you like -- some people even like rosemary… don’t know… never tried that… when I do, I’ll let you know…) and bake for about 45 minutes at 400 F. That’s it. Could it be any easier? If it can, please tell me, I’m a sucker for easy recipes. Like things that cook themselves. And taste good. And don’t require chopping/pealing/washing… And are not TV dinners… A girl can dream…

And after dinner, reach into your purse and find a humongous bar of chocolate which you promised yourself that you bought it for like a whole month, and absent mindedly eat it all away within just a few minutes while catching up on latest news in the blogosphere… And then blame everything on the weather…

Blame it on the rain...

2006-10-29T01:07:00.000-05:00

I haven’t been home. I haven’t been cooking. The weather has been… How should I say it politely? Don’t think polite language has a word for it… Let’s just say it’s been raining… And raining… And raining… Making driving awful, head splitting, and mood nasty.

So, I’m trying to be positive here. What are at least five positive things about rain?

1. I don’t have to water my lawn. One point for accommodating laziness…

2. I don’t have to wash the car. Wouldn’t show anyways…

3. Well, at least we are in no immediate danger of a drought…

4. Ahem… something from my old science class… about the cycle of water on the planet… it’s obviously working… on overdrive… so, I guess, it’s good?

5. One more… One more… Positive… About rain… ah… Streets get washed? Yup. That will do. Streets get washed. That’s a good thing. They need a clean up.

So there, rain is a good thing. I’m feeling all better now.

Now let me just go and “gently” kick my pillow.

PS: and here are some more reasons to love the rain:

It makes car wash a breeze...

It brings out the inner observer/genius in the road-sign-creating people...

And where the heck can I buy an umbrella like that?

Cheating...

2006-10-26T22:24:00.000-04:00

Today was supposed to be a whole family vegetarian day. But someone has cheated. And that someone was… me. Yes. Me. Cause I was a fishetarian today. I had three separate dreams about fried fish, so when I woke up, my first action of the day was to send hubs to the store to buy me some fish. I figured it was destiny. And you can’t argue with destiny.

So he got me some wonderful sole fillets… And this recipe is so easy, I’m actually going to try and explain it. Basically, you should have fish fillets. Cod, Sole, Haddock, Pollock work great. Defrost them if frozen. Naturally. Now, put some oil in the frying pan, and heat it. Separately put some water (clean water, the kind you’d drink) in a separate bowl, and chop lots of cilantro into there. Set aside. Now, put some flour in a separate plate or container. Dip each fillet in the flour, and then put it in the frying pan. Fry on both sides, till there is nice crust, cover, hold for a couple of minutes to make sure fish is well done.

Then take the fillet out of the pan and dip in the cilantro mixture. Just a quick dip.

Take out and put aside on a plate (line plate with paper towel or a regular towel to soak in the moisture). Do the same for all fillets. That’s it. Isn’t that simple? So quick and easy…

Serve with mashed potatoes. Or French fries. That part is totally up to you.

And that was my dinner.

And the hubs, had tofu. Cause I didn’t want to ruin his vegetarian day…

Poor guy…

The one where I attempt to give some explanations…

2006-10-25T18:27:00.000-04:00

Maybe I should just rename my blog… Seriously… My dinner seems to be nowhere in sight. Good thing I didn’t call it “Where is my cooking?” or it would be a constant search and rescue operation…

Cause yesterday I went to my parents. And naturally ate there. To top it off, I brought leftovers home. And kiddo went to grandma, and naturally ate there, and brought leftovers home. And hubs went to pick up the kid, and naturally ate there, and brought leftovers home. And then this morning he took the kid to the doctor (nothing urgent, just some very pleasant regularly scheduled shots, after which, apparently, my kid would not talk to the doctor… I can see his point…) and then got some food on the way, and brought it home… So… Who needs cooking? And what if I’m going out tomorrow again? And get a home cooked meal? And why am I complaining, isn’t having a chance not to cook is a great thing? (Yes, it is, but it seriously makes your blog slide off topic…)

And you’re probably wondering what is it that I’m doing that I constantly have to go to my parents’ house without the kiddo. Well, I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. But be assured, it’s honest work. And I don’t do it that often. Lucky if I manage once a week. Very lucky if I do it twice. Remember this? Well… that’s what I’m working on. And my dad is helping me. Cause I don’t want to have another “coulda/shoulda/woulda” in my life.

(And now if you’re intrigued, stay tuned – maybe in about 10 years something will come out of it…)

PS: And yes, I still take the kiddo there about once a week too. He needs his grandparents, you know…

PPS: And what’s up with Blogger? It won’t even let me post anything…

Totally unrelated to cooking...

2006-10-24T03:09:00.000-04:00

Boy, I really gotta think up a strategy about what to post when there is no actual cooking to post… Today we had left-over pie and some Japanese food. (Really legitimate reason – kid wanted miso soup. I’m sure of it. I can read his mind.) Tomorrow I’ll most likely be off to my parents…

So… what do I put in between? A poem? (Nah, if you want to read good poetry, go here… ) Another list? (Kinda out of ideas… I mean, we’ve covered weird… What else is there?) Brooding? (But I’m actually in a good mood… So nope… can’t think of any serious life-altering questions at the moment…)

So, random thoughts it is… (it are? these are? Man… I gotta reread my grammar book) Or rather, random pics I found during my very fruitful internet session while waiting for inspiration…

Virtual reality...

It's official -- I'm not driving in China...

Honey, I think you forgot to cook it...

Sometimes the wheels just don't cut it...

What's better than a nice clean shave?

And you thought you're overworked...

Well, so much for the filler post. Hopefully I'll get back to my regular nutritious programming before the cows come home...

(or swim?)

Creativity unleashed...

2006-10-22T23:58:00.000-04:00

I’ve been busy… I’ve not been cooking… I’m sure you guessed it, cause if I had, I’d be definitely showing it off… No wait, there were pancakes yesterday…

Here's proof:

But honestly, that’s about it. Leftovers, going out... Sometimes there are days when cooking is just not necessary. Today should’ve been another not-necessary day, cause I was supposed to go to my parents. But THANK YOU WEATHER very much, I’m stuck here, and can’t wiggle my way out of this one…

So I decided to channel my “I hate you weather” attitude into some more creative stream and cook something new for dinner. So a new chicken dish was invented. Totally loved by hubs and kiddo.

Recipe? Really simple… I chopped five cloves of garlic, and fried it in a pan for a few seconds with about a teaspoon of cumin seeds. Than I added two sliced breasts of chicken. Stir fried for a while. Then added salt, pepper, about a teaspoon and a half of curry powder, a tablespoon of tomato paste, and about a cup of water. 15 or 20 minutes later, I added two tablespoons of sour cream, and one tablespoon of flour. (Note that I occasionally add water, but I can’t give measurements, cause I just add till I think I have the amount of sauce I like…) Simmer 5 more minutes and… done. Serve with rice.

Hubs was so ecstatic that he also decided to commemorate the event by taking the pictures himself. So, without further ado, here it is:

I think the set up is pretty good, and you can clearly see his passion for spring onions… Not too bad for a first time!

Oh, and then I also made a pie… Yup… I was trying to seriously compensate for the weather and previous slacking…

Isn’t it pretty? I think I’ve only made it once before. Homemade dough and all. Had a nice cabbage/carrots/onions/eggs filling. Yummy…

And while mommy was being creative in the kitchen, the kiddo had finally discovered his construction set and left me in peace long enough to finish all these contraptions…

Five weird things…

2006-10-20T23:58:00.000-04:00

This is yet another post meant to cover up some kitchen slacking… Yesterday I wasn’t home at all, so that’s forgivable… Today… Am… Thinking… There must be an excuse… I’m looking for it…

And while I’m at it, here is a completely random entry about me, meant as a total distraction…

Five things people find weird about me:

1. I like Britney Spears. No, not the tabloids… I actually like the music… I know… When I acquired the “In the Zone” record my whole family eyed me with suspicion. Even now if I pull it out and play it, I can see the look of serious concern on their faces…

2. I love tomatoes… No, I really love them… I used to freak everybody at work by bringing a whole tomato and eating it like others do peaches. Did you know tomato is a fruit? It is. My bio teacher told me so. And I took her seriously.

3. I hate “Sienfeld”. I really hate “Sienfeld”. And it’s not cause I never gave it a chance. Seriously! Hubs watches it almost every night, and I probably have seen all the episodes by default… But I just can’t stand watching people I would never in my life want to meet…

4. I’ve never made a grilled cheese sandwich. I wouldn’t even know where to start… I’ve baked bread, made pizza, and am not all that bad when it comes to sandwiches in general. It’s just the grilled ones has always escaped me.

5. I cover my face in the cinema if I see someone making a fool of themselves. Or something embarrassing of any kind. Proper diagnosis has not yet being established. So next time you see somebody in the cinema with a jacket over their head – it’s probably me. Come and say hi. I’m a friendly ghost.

Now it’s your turn to confess five (or so) weird things about yourself…

And here’s to the power of blogging. I never did come up with a plausible excuse. So I got my butt up, dragged it into the kitchen and made spaghetti for everyone…

What a good girl… Totally normal now…

And I’m totally not mentioning that we had a mall take-out today. Cause it didn’t happen. That was a never lunch…

Everything you never cared to know about mushrooms…

2006-10-18T23:38:00.000-04:00

Today I would like to talk mushrooms… Yes, mushrooms… Not pumpkins… I know… But honestly, fall is all about mushrooms. In the wild at least. Cause that’s when they naturally grow. (Them, and lots of other wild eatible things, like berries and fruits, but in the modern super-marketed world we can be forgiven for completely forgetting about that.)

By now you’ve probably noticed that I cook quite a lot of mushrooms. It’s not a fluke. It’s a Russian thing… Did I ever tell you that Russians love mushrooms? They do. Every fall they leave their cozy cities and head out into the forest for mushroom gathering… And that’s not to mention canned/pickled/dried year-long varieties (lovingly preserved at home… and shame on me – I have never learned how to do that).

Why the national obsession? I think it really stems from history (and geography, of course). You see, pre-Soviet Russia was a pretty religious country. Russian Orthodox church dominated many spheres of life. And the uniqueness of this church was (and still is, but certainly not as dominant in the mainstream population) its dietary regulations. Whereas some other religions forbid certain foods altogether (pork, beef, etc…), Russian church did not forbid anything in general, but had certain times a year when certain things were forbidden. Essentially, it came down to over half a year of not been allowed to eat meat/chicken. The strictness of the regulations varied: sometimes you could eat fish, sometimes you essentially had to be vegan. Sometimes even stricter. Couldn’t even use vegetable oil in cooking. But I digress… Let’s get back to mushrooms…

So, in view of the no meat/chicken/and-often-fish allowed, and in the absence of tofu, people relied on mushrooms for sustenance. Not to mention that plenty of mushrooms in the nearby forest = lots of free food, and I’m pretty sure people have been budget conscious since the day they were invented (people, that is). And mushrooms are pretty yummy too… let’s not forget about that.

Which reminds me, that basically, contrary to popular belief, there are loads of Russian vegetarian recipes. Developed over centuries of country-wide half a year long vegetarianism. My favorite Russian cookbook was originally written in mid 19th century. It has a huge section on veggie soups, stews, pirogies, etc… And naturally, lots of mushrooms too.

So for our dinner today, we had… suspense… suspense… you’ll never guess… sautéed MUSHROOMS! Ha! Wasn’t that a nice lead-in? (And the recipe was, by the way, adapted from the aforementioned book...)

A wonderful mix of fresh Portobellos with fried onions, greens and sour-cream… (Fry a chopped medium sized onion in melted butter (a table spoon), add chopped Portobellos (I used 5 caps from baby ones), fry for a bit (till mushrooms get a nice brownish crust) add a couple of tablespoons (or one really big one) of flour, mix well for about a minute, add a cup of stock or water, chopped dill and parsley (to taste, I probably used a fist of each), salt, pepper, cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Then add a cup of sour cream and bring to boil. Turn it all off. You’re done. Serve with fresh herbs of your choice. Parsley and dill seem like the natural choice to me. But then again – they always do… Hubs preffers spring onions.)

And as a side dish I roasted some veggies. Whatever I found in the fridge/pantry. Today it happened to be a zucchini, a sweet potato, about three or four regular potatoes, a red bell pepper, an onion and four cloves of garlic. Salt, pepper, and mix with a bit of oil of your choice. Optionally add a teaspoon of dry parsley or oregano. Even finely chopped fresh parsley would do. But not necessary.

Bon appetit!

PS: I now have an official proof that I need to get out of the house more. I spent the whole day thinking that today was Monday. Which is why I only made a vegetarian dinner. Luckily I had some chicken leftover from yesterday, so hubs didn’t have to suffer through an extra-vegetarian-day-meat-withdrawal convulsions… But he loved the mushrooms anyways…

PPS: Elvis is in the building:

(Yes, that is my finger in the corner... I still have to work on my picture taking skills...)

Yet another "almost no cooking" day...

2006-10-18T00:33:00.000-04:00

I would love to report that I’m improving… but instead I’m completely obliterating the family budget on more restaurants and take out. Though the reasons are partly legitimate – I wasn’t home, and was feeling sick, and was hungry.

So today for lunch/dinner/first-real-meal-of-the-day-that-happened-at-six-PM we went to a nice Japanese restaurant. Where I got a little bit of everything, and had to give half of it all to the kiddo, who for some reason completely adores Japanese food. Maybe has to do with the fact that when pregnant with him, I ate everyday at a Japanese restaurant for three months in a row. I’m not kidding. Ask my family. So essentially the kid is made out of miso…

And then at night I had the hubs bring me some samosas. (No pic, cause they were gone too fast…)

Feeling that I have to do something, I made a stir-fry for the boys. Almost the same way as usual, except I used black bean sauce.

And right now, as I type, and as it is past 12:30 AM, the hubs is dispatched to an all-night grocery store searching for the perfect cake. Cause I’m craving something sweet.

And cause he can be really wonderful sometimes…

No cooking...

2006-10-17T02:16:00.000-04:00

These past couple of days have been nasty. Good old morning sickness decided to pay a solid revisit. Not that it has really left, but at least I’ve been eating… Well, it’s been unpleasant. And there’s been absolutely no cooking… And very sporadic eating…

So tonight when I finally craved something, we went out. And I got my grilled calamari. Yes, I know, it’s not vegetarian. But in this state I’m not all that particular…

And there was also veggie souvlaki.

And that’s about it. Really nothing else to report. Hopefully will be back on track soon.

Mommy’s little helper…

2006-10-14T23:34:00.000-04:00

So today I had my dad and brother coming over. And wanting to impress them with my cleaning skills, I dug out the good old vacuum cleaner, and was all set to impress.

But then somebody totally stole the spotlight…

I have to say -- I now feel much more optimistic about the state of our house when I’ll have two of them…

And as for dinner, it was pretty easy. Cause surprisingly enough, out of my entire cooking menu my family is in total awe over a simple chicken stir-fry. Which I naturally made for them. It was accompanied by some cauliflower mix (courtesy my dad) and coleslaw (courtesy my dad and the food processor). I love easy-maintenance guests :-)

Now if I could only get my son to do the dishes…

We! Got! The! Car!!!

2006-10-13T23:07:00.000-04:00

Drum Roll Please…. The Car! It’s been acquired! And delivered! And we have it!

To explain yesterday: see, we were supposed to get it yesterday. And it was there, ready to go and all. Until my husband noticed that that “totally new” car had over a 100 kilometers on it. Seriously. They were trying to push us a car used for test driving… And you know how careful people are when they test drive an unfamiliar car… Checking the breaks and speed and all… And it’s not like we are buying a cheap car. When you pay this much, you want it new. Period. So hubs made all kind of noise, and they agreed to change it.

To Mazda’s credit, they were quite amicable about changing the car and re-tinting the windows. And now we are proud owners of a whole new 2007 Mazda 5. Galaxy Grey. With moon roof. And air bags. And heated mirrors. And enough trunk space to fit all my groceries. And the last part made me the happiest. Cause that’s how boring I am now.

And of course when I saw the car in all its unscratched new shining glory… I stalled. I was too terrified to drive it. I guess it’s like eating your very first dinner out of insanely priced china. All you can think of, is what if the stupid plate drops. All I could think of, is how the heck will I get out of this crowded parking lot. Which is why I drove home our battered oldie, while hubby courageously (with a bit of superiority air, I must add) drove my precious new baby. So the baby is now in the driveway, and I’m still too chicken to drive it.

In the parking lot. Awaiting a brave soul to get it out of there...

In front of our house. Where it truly belongs...

Isn't she a beauty? Inside and out...

And now let us return to our regular broadcasting schedule and talk about food. Did you know that I make mean sandwiches? I do. I can make them out of absolutely anything. It’s in the slicing. And the layering. Today it was cheese/tomato/cucumber/picles/tiny-bit-of-mayo-cause-I-hate-mustard-and-can’t-stand-dry-sandwiches. Yum.

And for dinner I was again inspired by Asha’s wonderful Chole. But in the end my concoction had almost nothing in common with the Chole, except for the use of blender. (And the award to best countertop appliance this week goes to my Super-Fantastic-Food-Processor-That-Does-Everything-I’m-Too-Lazy-To-Do-Myself-Like-Chopping-Dicing-Slicing-Blending.) Cause I was in a creative mode. And because at least one of the dishes had to have chicken, or hubs would declare a hunger strike.

So I fried up a couple of onions. Added ginger and garlic and about a teaspoon of cumin seeds. Then blended it all with half a bunch of cilantro, salt, pepper, a can of tomatoes, and a one and a half teaspoon of curry powder. Then, for myself I added the sauce to fried cubed potatoes (three) and chickpeas (can), and for the boys to a lightly fried chicken and a few of my potatoes (about half of my fried cubed ones), which I generously sacrifices for them, for there wasn’t that much chicken there…. Plus half a cup of water (to each version). Cook for about 20 minutes. Add a tablespoon of sour cream. Bring to boil. Turn off. Ready. Serve with rice. Delish...

The chicken.

And the veggie.

Confession: I think I slightly burned the chicken version, cause I got carried away reading the specs of my new car… But they didn’t notice… I know that, cause the hubs had three helpings, and he’s a very picky eater (though he thinks he’s the most flexible thing since elastic band).

And now I must leave this blog for I'm off testing my new car.

This post has no clear focus, except for maybe spaghetti…

2006-10-12T23:33:00.000-04:00

Very busy day. Lots of it was spent outside the house. The part in the house was spent sleeping. Dinner was, therefore, leftover spaghetti and grandma’s.

Now, normally I make some easier-manageable pasta for the kid, like shell pasta, or rigatoni -- basically something of a small grab-able variety. But today he demanded my spaghetti (despite having perfectly acceptable shell chunks right in front of him). Which is the set-up for the following photo-essay, entitled “what the heck is this?” Ahem…, trying to distract my audience from very apparent lack of cooking… Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to post an explanation… (as in, the car better come through…)

What is wrong with this pasta? How are you supposed to grab it? No really, how?

Now, maybe if I try to stick it in my mouth with both hands...

Well, almost there...

Mom! I want more!

So that's the story of our first spaghetti. The story of subsequent cleanup will have to remain untold… It was way too graphic...

And on a different note, look who made a reappearance!

Yes, the Cheetos that started it all are back… And are taking good care of mommy's cheesy cravings.

And what’s up with the weather? We had rain, we had hail. And now it’s 1 Degree outside. And it’s gonna be in the minuses overnight… (And enough with all the "and" already...)

O summer, where art thou?

an update...

2006-10-12T01:12:00.000-04:00

It is amazingly gratifying to know that there are people that seriously care about your blog. Especially when those people are family members. Especially when they call you about 12:30 AM at night completely shocked that nothing has been posted for two days!

So, on an absolutely urgent request from my father I’m posting an update on today’s and yesterday’s dinners, just so the record is complete.

Yesterday was a go-to-my-parents-and-eat-there-and-cook-nothing day. Which explains the no post. Today’s (though effectively the day ended almost an hour ago), dinner was a reruns show of greatest hits (and least time/ingredients ones) from the past week. For dinner last Wednesday’s spaghetti was re-featured in all its glory and vegetarian/carnivorous versions.

Here is proof that I made both:

(Yes, I know – the stove needs some serious scrubbing…)

And here is the veggie version as served on a plate. It’s only fair, cause last time the chicken won the coveted spot…

And for breakfast the amazing vanilla yogurt pancakes made a grand reappearance (cause I had half a jar of yogurt left, and couldn’t think of any other way to use it).

Proof:

So dad, I’m ok, and I’m cooking :-)

Why the lack of creativity? Probably has something to do with the most annoying weather we’ve been having – where it rains and rains and rains some more. And then stops only long enough to lure you outside, and then poor again with a vengeance. So in a weather like this it’s hard to be creative. Especially when it’s next to impossible to get out to buy the most basic groceries.

Generally I’m actually quite fond of fall. The colors nature shows off are so much more versatile and delicious than during its other seasons, that I just love driving down a country road and staring… (Though that’s probably not a very safe idea…) But this wet and dark and gloomy part is downright depressing. Makes me want to become one of those hibernating animals, fall asleep, and wake up in the spring.

That is also why I spend all my computer time looking for a cheer on other peoples’ hilarious posts, which leads to me writing a big fat nothing…

But I promise to improve. Pinky swear…