Feel Good Post: 12.12.12

Today I wish you all to feel good and to celebrate The World Day of Interconnectedness. It's a day to be together with your family, friends,  and be in harmony with yourself.

Today we had a lovely walk with my friend Lisa and her Mom

Tall grass along the sidewalk

A friendly holiday decorations...

Pine tree...

and cherry tree in bloom, today! 

Isn't this snowman cute?!

We run so our goals in life will continue to get bigger instead of our belly
(rephrasing Bill Kirby)

HoHoHo! It is the season!

***
A few family photos... 

Our son, a.k.a. teenager

Teenager after soccer (for the rest of the world football)  practice 12.12.12

Our daughter

Daughter: self portrait 12.12.12 via iPhone

Us 12.12.12 (ignore the look)

Thanks to the Internet and phones, our family connected today...

***
Back to Feel Good photos...

"Did I miss something? tell me, tell me!"

"I don't eat fish, how many times do I have to tell you?"

"Any gifts for me? No? Oh, you better hurry!"

"You may think I am sleeping, but I am watching you.
And yes, I am very comfortable..."

"I am coming down, wait, wait!
Yes, I washed leaked my paws. What's for dinner?"

"Didn't I tell you I don't like fish? Oh, they are not my dinner? Whew..."

"What's then?"

Holiday greetings

As we were walking, I lifted my head: high up in the sky there was a little dot... with zoom in it became this picture. It made me smile. 
We are indeed interconnected on this Planet... And it feels good! :)

See you,
Marina

Panini: Mozzarella Caprese, and Other Things...

Panini Mozzarella Caprese

There's nothing better for me than a warm cheesy panini on a December cool/cold hot day. Yes, you have it right: we have an area's record high temperatures for December: today it was over 80F (27C). I made kale chips last night, having oven on  for just 10 minutes, and we wanted to turn AC at night! 

Panini: Sauteed Eggplants 

Don't hate me, but the weather is just gorgeous. Not for cooking though. In the kitchen I have to make something really quick, panini quick. I've been making sandwiches every day with different ingredients. I love it all, however my all time favorite is Mozzarella Caprese. I can't just have enough of it. 

Ingredients for Mozzarella Caprese

NOTE: If you remember, a little over a month ago we (me and the teenager) were moving to Seattle. Yes, we did. But the job didn't work out for me, and we came back to Arkansas for the remaining seven months before my husband graduates from his medical residency. More on "why?" and "What happened?" I'll post some other time, when I am ready. The whole experience was extraordinary yet a bit tiring. We I drove over five thousand (5,230) miles, plus all the stress and decision making involved kept me pre-occupied for some time. 
We still moved to another apartment from our big townhouse. I miss my big kitchen...

Panini: Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Eggplant
with Mozzarella and Pecorino Romano cheeses with kale salad

Next seven months are our transitional time: the husband is looking for a job, getting his state license, teenager is working on his college application. 
Many things are going on at the same time, which fills our time from 6:30 AM to 10PM, and making the time to fly: I realized that I haven't posted in a week! 
Bare with me, and if you don't hear from me for too long, send me a note.:) 
I still have some photos and a few note worthy places to share from that road trip...

Sunset...

See you,
Marina

What Man Wants: BBQ Ribs

A few days after my son started his gym routine, my husband joined in, and now about four-five times a week we have a family night out at the gym followed by a nice home made dinner.  
Last night, while I was driving, teenager and husband had this conversation:

Teenager: Oh, did you see that cool car Mercedes SLS AMG?! That car is a super chick magnet!- exclaimed he, turning his had.

Husband: You said that Mercedes is not a cool car anymore.

Teenager: Not that one. It costs around $200,000, and is one of the best muscle cars,- said he, going into technical details.

Husband (after teenager finished his flow of technical eloquence): What other cars are cool?

Teenager: Toyota's Prius is cool. A new generation of chick magnets, - declared he, proudly.

Husband, articulating slowly: Why Prius?

Teenager: Many girls are all about protecting the environment. Being sustainable and green for them is like a new fashion.  Prius fits in their environmental set of mind. I am telling you, Prius is a new chick magnet! I know, - and nodded his head as an expert.

Both, husband and I, tried hard to hold a sudden urge to laugh. 

***

BBQ Ribs "Kissed by smoke, hugged by sauce, licked by fire..." 

There's no recipe for those ribs, mainly the process. Technically, it's not BBQ as  I made it in the oven.  
I marinated meat in herbs and spices with a little liquid smoke,  wrapped the ribs in a  foil and refrigerated for 24 hours. 
Then I baked the ribs at 200 F (95 C) for 4 hours. 
After the ribs had been in the oven for 4 hours I opened the foil and increased the temperature to 450 F (235 C) and let it brown for another 20-25 minutes. 
That's when you can baste the ribs with the BBQ sauce, but the husband doesn't like it, hence I serve the sauce on the side.  
Take the ribs out of  the oven, cover with a foil and let it rest for 15 minutes.  

Meal that fits a supermen....

See you,
Marina

Stuffed Dates

Last night after our dinner I prepared a plate for today's post. It was quite dark to take photos, so I decided to leave the plate in the refrigerator and take another, better photo after sun comes up in the morning. After dropping the teenager at school, I drove back home, thinking of what place in my home  is better to take photos this time of the day? Would it be kitchen? Or Living room?  Upon my return, I started to prepare the set: props, position of the table (I am gaining muscles moving furniture around for better photos as I don't use any additional lights. More on that in a later posts). When everything was ready I went to the kitchen for the plate... Before I checked refrigerator, with the corner of my eyes I caught the familiar plate in the kitchen sink.  "It must be left by someone after the breakfast" - was my innocent thought. Then I opened the refrigerator... My head was turning from refrigerator to the sink in disbelief.  I looked at the happy husband, who was sipping his morning coffee and reading the news. 
"Thanks for the breakfast", - he said. "I love those roasted vegetables. The plate was pretty too. Can you make some more?" 
"Yes, dear"- was my respond with a deep sigh...  
I approached my husband, giving him a hug and kissing him in a well groomed cheek, and murmured in his ear: "I wanted to take a picture of that plate, dear..." 
"Do you know, there is a guy, who ate too much pop corn..." - spoke he softly, taking the conversation into the different direction... 

We continued our  morning conversation about all things life with some tea (me) and coffee (husband) and walnuts stuffed dates, that I made a day before, and had already taken some photos. :)


See you,
Marina

Biscotti di Polenta

Polenta and Chia Seeds Biscotti

A couple of weeks ago, when I picked up our teenager after his soccer practice (football for the rest of the world outside the US), we had this conversations:
Me: How was your day at school? What did you learn?
Teenager: OK. Things. 
Me: What did you do today at your soccer practice? Did you play?
Teenager: No, we just did some drills. I am tiered, we had to run 45 circles (4.5 miles) because ten students didn't bring their white tea shirts...
Me: And everyone had to run?!...
Teenager: Yes, but they definitely will bring it next time,- said he grinding his teeth, then asked: did you go to the gym today?
Me: Yes, you know I go in the mornings. Why?
Teenager: Can you drive me to the gym?
Me, puzzled, and after the pause: "O...K... but didn't you just said that you are tiered after running 4,5 miles?
Teenager: Yes, but we don't have to go right now, we can go in an hour.
Me: Well, let me know in an hour and we'll go if you still want it,- thinking he would fell asleep, probably, first thing after he gets home.
And he did, but not for the long: one hour later we were on our way to the gym. I already had my workout for the day, yet another mile or two wouldn't hurt, was my though, and teenager is tiered and we'll be out off the gym in 20-30 minutes. 
Little did I know... I run an extra 5 miles that day (in addition to my morning 3 miles run and a workout) while teenager was pumping iron to build his muscles, and... ready for this? I wasn't... run another 3 miles! 
I am impressed by their energy level and endurance! Was I the same when I was sixteen? :)
Since then, we go to the gym almost every day, sometimes I make even two trips because I really love my morning yoga class. 
So, how does this all relates to the biscotti, you would say? Here is how: we burn more calories, which means we need more calories... which means we can have something sweet more often without contributing to a waist line... Which means I have no more excuses not to bake... :)

I love my biscotti with a milk...

***

Polenta and Chia Seeds Biscotti

Recipe is adapted from the book 'Dolce Italiano' by Gina DePalma

3 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup instant or fine polenta
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
Zest of a whole lemon
juice of half of the lemon (about one tablespoon)

1. Combine together the flour, polenta, baking powder, chia seeds,  and salt and put aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar (in the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) until light and fluffy. 
3. Scrape the bowl, and start adding the eggs and egg yolks, one at the time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest, and mix well.
5. Add  dry ingredients and mix on low speed until everything is incorporated, then add sunflower seed and give it a final mix.
6. Cower the bowl with the dough with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
7. Preheat the oven to 325 F (165 C) and prepare two baking sheets: line it with parchment or oil it.
8. Flour your hands and place the dough on a well floured surface. Divide the dough in  3-4 equal portions and form long 10-12 inches logs and about 1 1/2 inch in diameter, and place them in the baking sheets, leaving a space between logs of 3 inches.
9. Glaze the logs with the egg white, and sprinkle with sugar (optional).
10. Bake logs for about 30 minutes or until it's golden brown.
11. Take the logs from the oven, let them cool. When it's cool enough to handle, slice biscotti with serrated knife on angle into 1/2 inch slices (or as thick as you like).
12. Place the slices in one layer on the baking sheet again, and bake in reduced to 200 F (95 C) for 30-35 minutes. Adjust the time if you cut your slices thinner.
13. Cool it completely and enjoy for up to two weeks in an airtight container (never happened in my family: three days is max we have this biscotti around!)

***

An eye pleasing "bouquet"...

Do you have a baking story to share? 

I would love to hear it!

See you,
Marina

A Week of Pasta

Homemade biscotti, homemade yellow squash and tomato sauce,
and penne (not homemade)

Last week I was away from blogging. After a quiet time with family on Labor Day, rest of the week turned into a chaos: teenager's school activities, college search, ACT, scholarships search, a job search for husband, helping our daughter with her college, my own job hunt, interrupted by couple of power outages were less than blog friendly. Each time I started to respond to the comments, I would be interrupted by some emergency. After it happened third time on the row, I decided it was a sign to take a break and take care of all things required my attention.  We were able to sort things out and make plans, and now I can get back to blogging and share some recipes. 

Homemade fettuccine and homemade pesto

My dear friends, please, come back for biscotti recipe... :)

See you,
Marina

Unsupervised

Last weekend we were left alone, unsupervised by our kids. We unleashed our be-an-example-to-your-kids guards, and had a total fun. At some point, I stepped away from it and took a few photos.

My friend Lisa and I were talking about this book while having a glass of that...

There was some exciting conversation going on... probably, about the food. What else can be so fascinating? Drinks?  
Sorry, kids, I know we didn't talk about you at that moment...

Then some of us opened their pool season. Yey!

Floating bar with ...

...a drink: beer or that Skinny Girl (see photo on the top)

 

Mr. IV (my husband) resting in the pool, aw... I want in there too! :)

Let the fun begin!

A vocal ...

...and a dance performance by Lisa's husband,

and by both of them. You two are so cute, and happy! :)

Cat was"supervising" us, safely, through the window

It was a good day, when we left all restrictions and rules aside, and just were, how do I say it?  Kids again?! Unsupervised? Free to be silly? Whatever it was, it lifted our spirit for many days to come. 

How often do you let yourself off the "appropriate in public " guards?

See you,

Marina