Precious Moments

May 18, 201435 Comments

First a brief update – Mr. N’s show is going very well. His performances blow me away – every time. For those of you that don’t know the story of Medea, Medea is betrayed by her husband Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts fame) and she is filled with rage that culminates in the murdering of her two sons. Mr. N is one of those sons. He plays his role spectacularly and makes me wince and tense each and every time he calls out “Mother!” just before he dies.

I tell you, even though I know it’s not real, it is not an easy thing to watch. It’s an incredibly well-done show that is thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and powerful. He even had his first review printed in a local stage review. The reviewer said of Mr. N and his stage brother, “…deliver performances that are wise beyond their years as Medea’s children.” He is thrilled.

And today we are off to Miss A’s gymnastics performance. She is all a flutter about it. She’s been dressed and ready to go for hours, and has literally been climbing the walls! I’m not kidding. She has learned how to scale a doorway – and not by feet on either side of the frame – but rather by gripping one side of the door frame like a koala and climbing her way up to to the ceiling. It’s a good thing she has a place to go and get this energy out!

Now back to our French adventure. If you guessed that the kids’ favorite French food was crepes you would be correct! We tried a variety of foods from mussels and macaroons, to cheese and of course chocolate (well, them, not me). As you can imagine, everything was delicious and it’s hard to truly pick a favorite, but the one thing the kids kept coming back to again and again, were crepes. They were fast, available everywhere and the toppings were unlimited. So today we bring you French crepes.

We started by blending together flour, milk, water, eggs, sugar and salt. We let the batter sit at room temperature for about an hour before pouring it a bit at a time into our greased and hot skillet.

The crepes cooked for about two-minutes on the first side – waiting until you see the edges brown is crucial so as not to flip too early and make a mess.

We sprinkled a little sugar on either sides as the crepes cooked – just as we watched them do in Paris. While we didn’t have all the fancy crepe equipment the creperies do, our skillets worked just fine.

Although smaller than the crepes in Paris, we were still able to fill these with similar ingredients. I never realized how easy these are to make and am surprised we’ve never tried them before. I can guarantee we will be making these again.

We filled our crepes with our favorite ingredients from our trip. For Miss A and Mike that would be Nutella and bananas. For Mr. N and I, it was lemon, honey and cinnamon. We threw on a bit of confectioner’s sugar for good measure as well.

The crepes, not surprisingly were a hit. The kids gave them 3-1/2 spoons. Mike and I came in at 3 spoons. They were good, but not quite as good as in the City of Lights. I mean honestly how could they be! But while our kitchen isn’t in Paris, we are sure to be making these again. Perhaps with savory ingredients for the next go-round.

And as promised here are some more images from our time in Paris. Despite only having three full days and cramming quite a bit of sightseeing into the day, we did manage to find time to lounge about in parks, linger over meals, play at parks, picnic and simply be together as a family with no outside interruptions. It was a precious time.

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We’ll be back soon with highlights and recipes from our next European destination. Have a great week!

Paris in Spring

May 7, 2014May 13, 201423 Comments

Well, tonight is the big night for Mr. N. Opening Night. He’s been rehearsing non-stop (with the exception of school) for nearly a week. They are ready. He is ready. I am a bundle of nerves and excitement!

So since we haven’t had the opportunity to be in the kitchen in the past month, I thought today I would share some of our pictures from our recent adventure to the City of Lights, our first stop on our spring break vacation. It seems like only yesterday. The pictures still bring back the wonderful moments and memories of our trip. I can feel the emotions all over again. I hope that never goes away. It was a trip to remember – for each of us.

The kids did a fabulous job on the overnight flight. They managed to catch about four hours of sleep on the plane, an hour in the taxi and then stayed bright and happy for a 15-hour day of sight-seeing and walking about. Since our flight arrived early in the morning and our apartment wasn’t available until the afternoon, to help with our time change adjustment, we planned a day outdoors and moving. We must have walked four or five miles that day. (Of course, drinking cafe au lait and snacking along the way!)

Since this was Mike and the kids’ first trip to Paris, we planned to see a lot of the renowned tourist spots – the Louvre, the Eiffel, a canal tour (as recommended by Charles), Sacré-Coeur, the Champs-Élysées, Notre Dame, a bus tour of the Paris lights at night (which we all slept through as it was at the end of a long first day) and the Arc de Triomphe. As you can well imagine, I took more than one or two photos. So to simplify this post a bit, here’s a slideshow of our sight-seeing adventures.

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We also managed to still have a lot of time for relaxation, dining and playing. I’ll share those pics in our next post along with a recipe for the kids’ favorite food from Paris. Can you guess?

As for highlights from this beautiful city, well, for Miss A it was the sidewalk games along the Seine as well as parks and gardens. I have to say, she was quite taken with this city, even exclaiming at one point, “I am made for Paris!” At the end of the trip she also noted, “I would go to Paris eight more times. I like it A LOT!” (Not nine more times…just eight.)

Mr. N loved Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel and the gardens as well. My ever-cautious boy, he was a bit concerned by all the scam artists, particularly after witnessing one woman who was aggressively grabbed by the folks that tie a bracelet to your arm. She was definitely scared and in a bit of a panic, which really concerned Mr. N. Mike too, as my ever-gallant husband, actually went to her rescue. Scammers aside (which we explained to Mr. N aren’t limited to Paris and tend to target tourist-heavy areas and how it’s nothing to worry about…just use common sense), Mr. N did enjoy Paris immensely and says he’d go back for sure.

Mike and I, well, how do you choose a highlight in Paris?! The gardens, cafes, the blooming trees (especially since we left snow!) and just about everything that makes Paris one of (if not the) greatest cities in the world, it’s impossible to choose. While we only had three full days in this beautiful city, we have no regrets. We did and saw everything we had hoped and had a glorious time doing it. We are so grateful for having had this opportunity and we won’t soon forget it.

Which Way is Up?

April 28, 201436 Comments

As most of you know, we began this blog for two reasons: 1) to expand the kids’ horizons, open their minds and introduce them to other foods and cultures, and 2) to chronicle pieces of our family life, so the kids will always have these stories and memories. So this post, will focus on the life side of things; and it might explain our hiatus.

As we know life is full of ups and downs. First the down – because it must be written, for the kids.

When we returned home from our trip, the day we returned home, we lost Charlie, our 11-year old kitty to a stroke. Needless to say, it is not what we expected to come home to after two weeks of making glorious memories. We had Charlie before the kids were born and have so many wonderful memories with this little, crazy guy. He was quite a personality and always playful. He would even play fetch, complete with bringing the toy back to you. When the kids were babies he would snuggle up next to them and was often found sleeping in Mr. N’s bed. Most of all though, he was my baby and this was a tough loss. Unexpected. Sudden. And too soon. Not to mention after having traveled across an ocean and being awake for more than 24 hours, it was also difficult to process.

But, like with anything, time heals. We are all well now – especially the kids. Kids by nature live more in the present moment than us adults, making life’s downs a bit easier to process. Miss A wrote a poem, Mr. N talked it out and we all laughed at our favorite Charlie memory – “Pork Chop Charlie.” This little story happened before the kids were born, but it’s one that they know very well. Charlie loved pork chops. Not fish. Not milk. Not cheese. Only pork. Whenever pork was on the menu, you could be sure Charlie was lingering somewhere nearby.

Anyway, some years ago, Mike and I lived in a small apartment in the city. I was making pork chops, which in and of itself was a big deal as I didn’t cook much back then. I went out of the kitchen for a few moments and left the chops to fry up on the stove. I was only gone for a matter of minutes, but when I returned there was one less pork chop on the skillet. I did a double take and took a quick cursory look around. I was baffled. I had no idea what had become of the chop and was almost questioning my sanity, when I heard nibbling. I glanced over to the corner of the kitchen and there was Charlie and what was left of the pork chop. The little guy, who at the time maybe weighed five pounds, had dragged the chop out of the pan, off of the counter and down to the floor, and across the entire kitchen. From that moment on, we were a lot more vigilant with our pork. So this one is for him:

And this one:

Now for the upside of things. First and foremost, a hearty congrats to ChefDad. After several years at his university and many, many more years of study and research, he received tenure that very same week. It’s a big accomplishment and we couldn’t be more proud of him! We did manage to sneak in a celebratory dinner and had an aged bottle of wine ready to go for the occasion, but sadly, we forgot to take pictures of those. So here is the proud associate professor on our recent adventure.

As for Miss A, well, she is her usual little self. Dancing, singing and climbing. She’s getting ready for her gymnastics “Olympics” event and can’t wait. Only a few more weeks to go!

And then there’s Mr. N. He is keeping us quite busy. His latest show is for a theater company in the city. He’s performing in a production of Medea where he will play one of Medea’s two sons. The rehearsal schedule is intense and we’re just now entering tech week. That means 4+ hours a night and an 11-hour day Saturday. (For mom and dad this means lots of travel and sitting quietly in the back of the theater.) I do have to say that this has been an amazing experience for him. He’s learning a great deal and is truly enjoying himself. You can just see how much he loves this. Only one more week until opening night and he’s getting ready…Here’s his before shot:

And here he is now (and what he’ll look like for the next 6 weeks!):

He has even made the play-bill. Needless to say, he’s very excited and this has been a lot of fun!

As for me, well, you can imagine everything is keeping me quite busy, but I’ve been having fun going through our pictures. We’ll be back later in the week with the first of our vacation posts. Any guesses where we were (and no chiming in if you already know 😉 )? First stop:

Second stop:

And final stop:

Springing into Action

March 24, 201434 Comments

It’s officially spring; although you would hardly know it. Let’s not even mention the snow that’s coming our way again tonight. Nope…we won’t mention that. Instead we’ll focus on the one thing spring surely brings – spring break! I’m going to keep tonight’s post short and sweet. We’re planning a short little escape soon – just us and the kids. So while we’re busy getting prepared and shuttling Mr. N to and fro, I’m going to quickly share our last Polish recipe for this little adventure.
Like last week, we’re focusing on another “lazy” take on the pierogi, the homemade dumplings filled with a variety of ingredients. One of the more traditional pierogi recipes features a dumpling stuffed with potatoes, onions and farmer’s cheese, and that’s what we’ve recreated here only in the form of a casserole. Or as I like to call it, a lazy-agna.
Yes, I realize lasagna in and of itself isn’t exactly lazy, but I consider it easier than hand-making dumplings. Not to mention, it provides ample leftovers which is key for our schedule during Mr. N’s show. (Perhaps many of you have noticed that I’m absolutely drooling over your dishes these past few weeks as home cooked meals are few and far between right now.)
We found this recipe at About.com and one of my favorite tips was soaking the no-bake noodles for 30 minutes in warm water. I’ve used no-bake lasagna noodles before and I would say about 50% of the time they work fabulously. The other half of the time, some of the noodles don’t cook and I end up with a layer of crunchy pasta. Pre-soaking the noodles, however, did the trick. The pasta cooked to perfection.
Just like the prep for a traditional lasagna, the filling is prepared first. Ours included mashed potatoes and caramelized onions. Miss A also mixed the cottage cheese with egg and a bit of onion powder, while I shredded some cheddar cheese.
Mr. N was our potato masher. He found it quite tiring. (Or perhaps it’s his late night rehearsals!)
Once the cheddar cheese was mixed in with the hot mashed potatoes, we ended up with three mixtures for filling – the mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese; the cottage cheese; and the caramelized onions.
The rest is all about the layering.
We began with the noodles, added the cottage cheese, followed with the potatoes and then the onions.
And of course that’s followed with another layer of noodles, cottage cheese, potatoes and onions.
Once we reached our top layer, we tossed the remaining onions with a few breadcrumbs before adding them over top, and finished it off with a handful of cheddar cheese.
We baked the casserole, covered, at 350F for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes was up, we uncovered it and baked a final 10 minutes (or until bubbly).
We cut and served our lazy-agna immediately, reserving the leftovers in the fridge for the next week. This could also have been frozen and reheated as well.
The pierogi casserole hit the spot. It was warm, it was filling and it was definitely comfort food. Miss A was in heaven – cottage cheese and mashed potatoes in one dish! It was a 3 spoon dish for her. In fact, this was a 3 spoon dish all around – a solid meal. Mr. N liked it so much, he had seconds and actually enjoyed his leftovers later in the week.
Mike and I loved the sharpness of the cheddar cheese and sweetness of the onions. And needless to say, I liked the fact that we could reheat individual servings for our crazy weeknights.
Print this recipe: Lazy-agna

Given our success with both lazy pierogi options, one of these days, I’ll make the real thing. Until then, either the lazy pierogi or the lazy-agna will due perfectly.We’ll be back in a few weeks to share our latest adventures, and perhaps even a recipe or two. Until then, I’m going to check out for a bit and fully enjoy this year’s spring break with my growing kiddos. Hopefully by the time we return, winter will have officially gone on its break! Have a great start to April everyone!

The Polls Are Open – Chopped Challenge 2014

January 22, 201444 Comments

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet (and sprinkle it with recent shots of Mr. N and Miss A). I’m busier than I can comprehend right now, but the Chopped Challenge must go on! Below you’ll find four basket options for each of three rounds – Appetizer Round, Main Course Round and the Dessert Round. I think the baskets are particularly creative this year and are sure to provide a good challenge. So, without further adieu, please select one basket below (hit “vote” on each poll – three total) for the multiple rounds. The winning basket for each category will be our ingredients for each round of the challenge.

We’ll announce the winners in our live cook-off event on Saturday, February 1st as Mike and I go head-to-head to see what we can cook-up. Mr. N and Miss A will again serve as our sous chefs, but this year we’re switching up the teams. Last year we pitted boys against girls, but this year we’re mixing it up. Mr. N will join my team and Miss A will join Mike’s. Who will reign supreme this year?

Voting will remain open until Thursday, January 30th, so make sure to vote early (and as often as you are so inclined). We’ll be back on the first of February with our live blogging event. Thank you again to everyone participating. We can’t wait to see what you drop in our baskets this year!

Mr. N Christmas Morning

Basket 1 – Sally from the Bewitching Kitchen
Basket 2 – Eva from Kitchen Inspirations
Basket 3 – Munchy from Eesa Tales
Basket 4 – Mr. N and Miss A from our very own, Eat, Play Love

Miss A had a good Christmas too!

Basket 1 – Chicago John from the Bartolini Kitchens
Basket 2 – Vanyadhanya from Skinny Chef de Cuisine
Basket 3 – Shankari from Strawberry Lentils
Basket 4 – Joanna from The Noisy Chomper

Where are my legs?

Basket 1 – Raymund from Ang Sarap
Basket 2 – Charles from Five Euro Food
Basket 3 – Kelly from Inspired Edibles
Basket 4 – Crunchy Mama from the Fortress of Crunchitude

We even snuck in a trip to see Nana and Papa in Florida!

Happy voting everyone! Thanks again for playing along and thank you to all of you that provided our delectable baskets. We’re excited!! We’ll see you all in a few days. Let the fun begin.

Then we came home to wind chills of -40F. Burr!

Holiday Round-up

December 23, 2013December 23, 201331 Comments

Happy holidays! While we’ve prepared for the holidays for weeks now, I’m still not quite ready. Fortunately the shopping is done. Now we just have cooking/baking, cleaning up and wrapping to do. No worries though, it will all get done. It always does. For as long as the to do lists get this time of year, it never seems to stress me. I love the holidays. I love the traditions, the memory making, the family celebrations, the laughter and the love. And we’re already off to a good start.

Last night was the first of our four celebrations, our traditional Christmas at my mom and dad’s. Would you be surprised that there was enough food to feed the whole neighborhood? It makes it hard to believe I have to cook more food! I’m having a hard time even thinking about it, I’m still so full. Here’s a few of the gems that adorned yesterday’s holiday table:
Cranberry Bruschetta

Spicy Maple Walnuts

An Uzbek treat that seems to have become a regular at the holidays now, Sugar-Coated Almonds.

And of course Christmas isn’t complete without mom’s Oatmeal Cookies.

As for tomorrow night, it’s our special Christmas Eve dinner. Mike, Mr. N, Miss A and I will all sit down for an intimate dinner, we’ll open some presents (the kids usually exchange with each other on Christmas Eve), we’ll put on our new Christmas jammies, grab some cookies and milk and pile into the car for a Christmas lights drive before tucking the kids into their warm beds to await Santa’s arrival. It’s my favorite night of the season.

On tomorrow evening’s menu is a special family recipe, but not one of our own. We’re making the Bartolini Lasagna. You can’t go wrong with a dish from Chicago John and his clan. In fact last year, Chicago John’s Spaghetti alla Carbonara was the star of Christmas Eve dinner. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Bartolini recipes are becoming a Christmas tradition of their own.

Then it’s Christmas Day and the children will be up bright and early (At least not as early as my sister and I used to arise – sorry mom and dad!). We’ll spend the morning opening the goodies from Santa, lounging about in our jammies and listening to Christmas music. We’ve got hot cocoa and mimosas lined up to go and we’ll be serving them along with a batch of one of our most popular recipes from the past several years, the Maple Bacon Biscuits

The family will pop in after 1 p.m. and we’ll serve hot breakfast dishes all day long. The kids will likely still be in their jammies, unless we head out to sled, and we’ll have a slow, lazy day with our loved ones.

But wait, there’s one more! This treat from Egypt has also become a staple at our holiday meals and we’ll be making this for the big day as well. Next to the oatmeal cookies, it’s one of Mike’s favorite desserts, the Egyptian Baklawa. I can smell the orange blossom water already. Mmmm!

Needless to say, we’ll be good and full come Wednesday night.

We wish you all a wonderful holiday, a Merry Christmas and an amazing New Year. Thank you all for following us here at Eat, Play, Love. We’ll be sharing a warming, healthy soup for the New Year and then launch back into cooking around the world. Until then, may you all enjoy peace, love, happiness and health throughout the season and the New Year. Happy holidays! Mike, Kristy, Mr. N and Miss A