SweetLady Sweets

Blueberry Mood

2008-07-13T11:44:00.003-04:00

I have a lot of cookbooks and I cannot remember all the recipes there, but sometimes some of them stick in your mind. Maybe it's the picture, maybe it's the ingredients or technique, but a recipe just stays with you. And this is exactly what happened a few days ago. I was at a supermarket and I saw this deal with 3 pints of blueberries for 5$. I just knew that I had to buy them and make that Blueberry Pie.

But first I had some fresh blueberries with my breakfast.

Blueberry Pie

I'm back...

2008-07-11T12:24:00.006-04:00

Ok, it's been long. Too long. Almost a year to be exact. But I am back and I hope to be back for good. I have excuses as to why wasn't posting, but they are too long and... well... not really good excuses. So, I am back and I'll start with a nice and refreshing cold soup.

I only discovered cold soups a few weeks ago and I can't get enough of them. They are so versatile, light and tasty. They don't require you spending time chopping, sauteeing, simmering. And they usually come together only in a few minutes. What can I say? I love them!!

This recipe is an adaptation from a recipe-ad I found in yesterday's Metro newspaper. I knew right away that it's something I'd enjoy. I changed some ingredients and voila I had a wonderful cold soup.

Cold Yogurt Soup with Cucumber and Avocado

Baking with a Friend

2007-08-14T09:09:00.000-04:00

I am taking photography classes at George Brown College. They are quite fun, interesting and a bit different from my baking classes. I actually have assignments to do and next class I am going to write a final test!! So, the last assignment was supposed to be a Story. Something that has a beginning, a middle, and an ending. What could I do? It was very obvious: baking. So, I asked my best friend to come over, have some patience, and bake cookies with me. Patience was the key, since she had to pose for some of the pictures and I am a beginner with photography (I've only had my camera for 2 months).

And this is a result:

A recipe shot

My friend reading a recipe... Well, not really reading, but moving her finger pretending to be reading the recipe... for about 10 minutes!

Ingredients

My friend putting an apron on... another 10 minutes

Sugars and butter in a mixing bowl

My trusty KitchenAid mixer at work... If you look closely, you'll see that is actually working and the paddle is moving

And another shot of my mixer working. Can you see the paddle moving?

Ok, to get this shot she had to crack an egg and then put it back into the shell a few times... Well, that or cracking quite a few eggs... We decided to cheat :)

Sifting the flour

Still sifting the flour

Mixing in the chocolate chips

Scooping out the cookie dough

And a shot of the scooped out cookie dough... I needed about 20 pictures
for this assignment, so I shot everything I could think of.

Putting the cookie sheets into the oven... For about 10 minutes (in and out) to get this shot!

Cookies in the oven... Working on getting 20 pictures!

Cookies almost done in the oven

Getting the cookies onto a rack...

Cookies on a rack... Cookie heaven! I like this picture even though it is quite yellow, I think it's very nice.

Pouring some tea, this is I think a fourth cup... again, just to get this shot!

And the final product!!!

The cookies turned out really good. They kept very well. After 6 days they were still soft and moist. The whole experience was also interesting and fun and a little bit frustrating. I was really disappointed with my lighting in the kitchen. Some pictures were really yellow and for some I needed a ridiculously long Shutter Speed just to get a proper exposure, that's why most of the pictures had to be shot using a tripod and that interfered with my creativity a little bit. But all in all it was a fun experience and my friend was really
supportive and patient.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolat... Ah...

2007-07-31T21:43:00.000-04:00

I wanted to watch Chocolat again for quite some time and I would always forget or when I remembered I'd be busy. I was not going to watch it today, but there was a recipe that caught my attention a few days ago and I had this urge to try it. I had no idea how it's going to taste and I was intrigued. You see, I got this book a while ago, book about Cooking with Chocolate. Yes, it had a lot of dessert recipes and chocolate drinks, but it also had a section about cooking, just plain cooking... with chocolate. And a recipe for Chocolate Ravioli with Ricotta just called my name. I had to make it!!!

I also had some left over sponge cake and what can you do with it? It's simple. Rum Balls! I love those little desserts, they taste like it's an elaborate cake that took you hours to prepare, but they only take a couple of minutes to mix together.

At that point I knew that it is time to watch that movie again. I ate Rum Balls and I watched the movie and drooled over chocolates (and melted over Johnny Depp). I still was not satisfied. Something was missing. That scene when they have a chocolate dinner was stuck in my mind. The chocolate sauce over meat... Mmm... I've never tried anything like it. But I had a recipe just for that. It was exactly what I needed. Shrimp in Chocolate Sauce.

And then I was in Chocolate Heaven.

Chocolate Ravioli with Ricotta

Shrimp in Chocolate Sauce

Rum Balls

Back to my roots

2007-07-28T11:54:00.000-04:00

I am Russian and I love Russian food. I rarely eat it now, because I always want to try some new recipes, but I still remember the tastes from my childhood. Each time I visit my grandparents, I usually have something Russian, like our famous potato salad (Оливье), or just a plain cabbage slaw with carrots and mayo, or canned salmon with boiled eggs salad. The taste of these salad is so simple compared to what I make sometimes (mayo vs. fancy vinaigrette), but it is so satisfying! And lately I've been craving to make those foods at home..

So finally, yesterday I made something that my mom would make when I was little. Not exactly the same, but it tasted very good and very... Russian.

It was my own invention: Chicken gizzards and hearts a la Stroganoff which I served with a traditional Russian side of buckwheat. And I just made law salted cucumbers (малосольные), they went perfectly with the main course.

Chicken Gizzards and Hearts a la Stroganoff

Freshly-Salted Cucumbers

Azure kitchen...

2007-07-27T10:47:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned before, I just finished taking baking classes at George Brown College. My last two classes (Art of Cakes and Cakes: Classical to Modern) were absolutely amazing mainly due to the guidance of a wonderful instructor, Christophe.

He is a Pastry Chef at a restaurant in downtown Toronto - Azure. Last week I had an opportunity to visit a professional kitchen at that restaurant. It was really interesting and exciting.

First I had a late lunch there.

And a dessert... of course!!!

And then the tour started...

This rectangular thing on the right is a... frying pan!

A pot of soup anyone?

Banquet kitchen.

Dessert Station.

Huge oven.

Freezer.

A Chocolate Piece made by my instructor.

Some chocolate decorations.

And Christophe!

Bakery Arts Certificate

2007-07-21T11:30:00.000-04:00

I am very proud to say that this past Thursday I had my last baking class at George Brown College and now I can get my Bakery Arts Certificate! It was an interesting, fun, tiring and tasty journey. I found out about this program from Cream Puffs in Venice blog (I actually even took one class with her :) ) and I instantly knew that I had to try out the classes.

I started exactly a year ago. In July 2006 I took my first baking class - Basic Baking. I was a little bit disappointed - not enough explanation about the science behind the ingredients and a lot (A LOT) of shortening, which I do not ever (ever!) use at home. But then I came to understand that I can almost always use butter instead of this shortening at home and they do it to save the cost. I had some absolutely wonderful instructors. Some just showed us how to do the recipe, but some actually talked to us about the ingredients, substitutions, some tricks, etc. It was tiring taking 2 classes a week from 6 to 9 (or sometimes to 10-11 depending on the class) after work, but it was worth it. I learned a lot. I made pies, cookies, muffins, cakes, pastries, breads, Chinese buns. I learned how to temper chocolate, how to make a perfect pie crust, how to make various pastry creams and shape breads.

And last Thursday I had my last class. It was Art of Cakes course and we made the best chocolate cake! It was the perfect ending to my classes.

Apple Pie - first course, first class

Chocolate Decadent Cake - last course, last class

Chocolate Decadent Cake

Ricotta and dairy products

2007-07-17T20:00:00.000-04:00

I was raised on various milk products. Yes, we did not have yogurts, but we had so many different dairy things. Kefir is my favourite, you can find something remotely similar to it in a lot of supermarkets, and although it is called Kefir, it is not the same. Then we had a few more milk drinks which can only be found at Russian supermarkets. And we had Tvorog... Something like it is called here "Cottage Cheese" or "Baker's Cheese". I think that it is most closely resembles Ricotta, but much denser and richer. For me, these dairy products were a big part of everyday meals. We had them for breakfasts, for mid afternoon snacks, for late dinners. They are healthy and they do not contain any added sugar or salt.

There tons of Russian stores around where I live, but sometimes it's just so much easier to go to my regular grocery store and buy ricotta. I love using it for ricotta pancakes: ricotta, flour, sugar, eggs, mix it all together, shape and pan fry, I don't measure them, just put a little bit of everything to get to quite dense consistency. This time, at my favourite cooking discussion board in Russian, I found a recipe for Ricotta Bagels. I happened to have a tub of ricotta at my fridge and I gave them a try. I ended up with six lovely sugary bagels, perfect with a glass of Kefir or a cup of tea.

Ricotta Bagels

Dinner for One... or If You Are Lazy

2007-07-15T19:42:00.000-04:00

I am by myself this weekend. And it means a lot of TV watching (yes, I can indulge in my guilty please and watch "Rich Bride, Poor Bride"), lying on the couch, not wearing any makeup and not doing my hair. But a girl needs to eat! First, I considered to order some take-out, then I thought of going on a popcorn diet, but later I realized that I haven't cooked anything for a while and I had an urge to be in the kitchen. I actually found a few recipes that I really wanted to try. And then it happened!!! My laziness hit me. No, I didn't want to put on makeup, I didn't want to wear jeans, I didn't want to go outside. I was completely, utterly lazy! So I had to do with what I had in the fridge, and it wasn't a lot.

There was no question of what to make first - Bread. Yes, I mentioned it before, I bake bread on the weekends. I really wanted some plain white bread, maybe toast bread, but I was almost out of the white flour, and I had 5 (!) kilos of multigrain flour, so I chose a Mulitgrain Loaf.

Then I found some avocados, which needed to be eaten almost immediately. So I decided to make guacamole (yes, I really like guacamole!). I had tomatoes, bell peppers, mixed greens, and... That's pretty much it. I was thinking of making a plain salad but I had a revelation - Gazpacho! I've never made a Gazpacho soup in my life and I actually tried it only about three times. But I had all the ingredients for it... or so I thought. I started looking through some books and it turned out that I needed cucumbers and tomatoes juice as well. I got a little bit disappointed and then I decided to improvise. And while I was leafing through my cookbooks in search of a recipe I saw something else. Something that caught my eye. Something that I was scared to try at first. Avocado and Grapefruit salad! I still had grapefruits from a week ago (apparently they keep in the fridge very well) and I had avocados (as mentioned earlier), so why not I thought.

And my dinner for one was born

Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

My Gazpacho

Multigrain Harvest Loaf

Strawberry Picking

2007-07-15T13:23:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I went strawberriy picking. It was the first time in nine (!) years and I was excited. The weather was perfect, it was about +24C, it was a little bit cloudy and it wasn't humid. Besides just picking strawberries I took some pictures.

And then I was in Strawberry Heaven. Strawberry milkshakes, strawberries for snacking, strawberries and cream...

And the best Strawberry Meringue Pie ever!!!!

Strawberry Meringue Pie

When there is no story...

2007-07-11T20:54:00.000-04:00

A lot of times I have little stories behind my recipes. What happened, why I made it, how I made it, etc. But there are times when I just make something. There are no words to acompany a recipe, no story to tell. Sometimes it's just food at its glory. Sometimes it doesn't need any words...

So when this happens, I'll just post the recipes at SweetLady Sweets Recipes with no post here. So, please check that blog periodically as well, if you are interested in new things I made.

Baguettes - Épi de Blé

A tasting menu and a little bit of baking...

2007-07-02T20:33:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday we found ourselves at a very nice and pretty winery in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. We tried a few wines and actually liked them. To be honest, I am not a fan of Ontario wines, but these were quite good. And then we decided to visit the restaurant at this winery - Terroir La Cachette. Their menu looked good and their tasting menu sounded intriguing, so we decided to give it a try.

The weather was good, the sun was warm, so we sat outside.

The dinner started with a very nice Baby Spinach Salad w/ Warm Truffled Wild Mushroom Vinaigrette, Sweet Pickled Beets & Pancetta Crisps which was paired with a wonderful Riesling wine.

Next we had a Bacon Wrapped Fowl Terrine w/ Rhubarb & Pink Peppercorn Confiture paired with a lovely red wine, but unfortunately I don't remember which one.

Then there was a Smoked & Glazed Rainbow Trout on Apple & Walnut Slaw w/ Maple Pommery Mustard Vinaigrette paired with another Riesling. I wasn't impressed with this dish at all. I actually didn't even finish the fish.

Next came the main course, which was a Pan Seared Berkshire Pork Tenderloin w/ Savory Juniper Berry and Niagara Cherry Compote & Espresso Jus. This was also paired with another red wine.

For dessert we had a really good Orange Creme Brulee with a nice glass of ice wine.

And Lattes to finish the dinner.

-------------------------------------------------

And I didn't bake for some time, so today I made a few things.

Tasty Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Filo Triangles and Cherry Filo Triangles. These I actually made a couple of weeks ago and froze them, so today I only had bake them and they were ready in no time. Good warm and cold as well.

And I found three bananas in my fridge (leftovers from those Grapefruit-Banana Smoothies I made), so I decided to give Banana Bread a try. Yes, it was my first banana bread. I've never made it before and now that I think of it, I am not sure if I've ever tried it either. It turned out not bad. Not bad at all...

Filo Triangles
Banana Bread

Birthday Cake

2007-06-28T08:02:00.000-04:00

When I make a cake for an occasion, it's usually one type of cake - a Mousse Cake. Raspberry, Mango, Peach, Lemon, Blueberry, White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate... I made a lot of different types of mousse cakes. Contrary to a popular belief that the mousse cakes are difficult to make, I find them easy, but time consuming. I remember I tried making my first mousse cake (lemon) after work. I made it, it turned out really good, but I do not want to have this experience ever again. It was hell... I piped the lady fingers and put the cake in the oven and started on the pastry cream. In the middle of doing that I had to remove those lady fingers while trying to continuously whisk the cream. Then I had to cool the pastry cream, cool the cake, juice the lemons, make the lemon curd, cool the curd, whip the cream, soften the gelatin, make the actual mouse, cut the cake, assemble the cake, cool the cake, pour some extra lemon curd over the cooled cake (if cake is not cooled, it's impossible to spread the curd on top)... And all of it in one night after 6 pm... Now I have my system. I make my cake and the lady fingers (if I use them) on one night, while the cake is baking I make a pastry cream (I still don't know whether I prefer a mousse with or without it) and I blend some fruit. The next day I only have to whip the cream, make the mousse and assemble the cake.

But this time my schedule got in the way. There was no way I could make a mousse cake (my heart was set on a really cool recipe for an apricot mousse cake) and still have a good night sleep, so I had to choose something else. This cake was a very unlikely birthday cake, but it turned out better than perfect. It turned out to be one of the best cakes I've ever tasted.

Carrot Cake

FoodTV Blog: June Challenge

2007-06-27T22:12:00.000-04:00

I was not going to take a part in this month's Food for Thought challenge, but then I had four lonely egg whites lying in the fridge, so why not, I thought. I carefully read through the recipe and right away I was alarmed. I've made my share of meringues. I know how to make them big, small, flat, round, soft, crispy, with or without nuts. This recipe went against everything I know about making the meringues.

Why would I add the sugar after the egg whites are whipped to stiff peaks? The sugar is usually added while the egg whites are being whipped, this insures that all this sugar has time to dissolve. Why would I add cream of tartar after the egg whites are already whipped? Cream of tartar helps the egg whites to whip better, but if they are
already whipped, what's the point? Why, oh why, would I add icing sugar with cornstarch? Icing sugar already contains cornstarch, why does this recipe call for more? I could honestly taste the cornstarch in the final product. And lastly, why does this recipe need so much sugar? The general rule is to put 1/2 cup of sugar per two egg whites, not 2/3. Too much, way too much.

As you can see, I had a lot of questions and problems with this recipe, but I still decided to give it a try. I followed all the instructions and as I suspected the meringues weren't good at all. Too much sugar, too much cornstarch. I wasn't impressed, but I am glad that I tried something new. It's always fun to try out new
recipes.

A Perfect Dinner

2007-06-27T12:04:00.000-04:00

I really wanted to make a soup, but after walking from the subway to my apartment for 10 minutes in 30+ heat, the idea of standing near a hot oven seemed unbearable. So, what would I want for dinner? Something light, something cold, something that wouldn't require simmering, sauteing or frying, but something substantial enough to fill my empty and hungry stomach. I turned to one of my favourite books - Barefoot Contessa at Home.And yes, here was the answer: Guacamole Salad.

At the supermarket I couldn't resist buying some gorgeous strawberries as I remembered that I have some oranges and bananas lying in the fridge (when did I buy them?). I got home and it was hot and I needed something refreshing and quick. The recipe for this Orange-Banana smoothie sounded wonderful. Quickly I washed those weird oranges I found in the fridge and cut them. Well, I know why I didn't remember buying them and I know why they looked strange. My oranges, the main ingredient for the smoothie, turned out to be grapefruits (oh yeah, I remember how I thought that they'd make a perfect breakfast... when was that?). Not to worry! My version of a grapefruit-banana-strawberry smoothie turned out amazing.

And while I enjoyed this cocktail, I quickly mixed a guacamole salad. Very simple, very light, very refreshing. I also got to try out my new handy-dandy avocado slicer!!

A perfect dinner for a very hot night.

Guacamole Salad

Grapefruit Banana Smoothie

Tea Party

2007-06-21T10:17:00.000-04:00

*** I'll try to put all the recipes from the previous posts up in the next few weeks, but for now I only have pictures ***

My best friend came back from England last week and she'll be here for the whole summer before going back to study. Sunday I had a chance to entertain her at home. It was so good to finally talk to her in person and see her and just relax together with her. This occasion called for a celebration.

So Saturday I baked and I baked (and made ice cream).

Amaretti Cookies

Almond Cherry Cakes

Chocolate Wafers (they were supposed to be a part of a Ice Cream Sandwich, but I only managed to make a couple and they were ugly)

Vanilla Ice Cream

Smoked salmon sandwiches with herb butter on homemade brioche bread

Cucumber sandwiches with goats cheese spread on homemade brioche bread

Fois Gras mousse with dried apricotes soaked in brandy

Herbed Goat Cheese Sandwiches
Brioche Loaves
Amaretti Cookies

My addiction

2007-06-11T11:57:00.001-04:00

I have to confess, I have an addiction. It took me a while to come to terms with it and now I am here, and I can admit it. I have an addiction! I am addicted to cookbooks. They pull me away from the real world with the endless array of recipes, they lure me with a page after page of amazing, mouthwatering pictures, they speak to me in a powerful language of grams and cups. Yes, there's no denying it. I am addicted! I don't know how many cookbooks I own. Not too many by my standards and way too many by my boyfriend's. The good news is that I actually use them, the bad news is that I only use a few of them. Still, I comfort myself with the thoughts that in time I'll put each one of them to a good use.

And for now I open a few of them over and over again. The Big Book of Bread is at the top of my list with 365 recipes of breads. So if I bake one new recipe each week I still have seven years of new recipes; and let's face it, most likely it'll take me a few years longer to go through all of them. Then there's a series of Barefoot Contessa books. My relationship with Ina started out a little bit rocky, I couldn't stand her television show, she annoyed me so much. But still I couldn't switch the channel. And then I fell in love with her recipes, so full of life, excitement about food, flavour, texture. So full of cream and butter and sugar! Her Barefoot at Home is my most used book.

Last weekend I had to stay home and do a lot of dreadful house chores. So in between, I cooked and I baked and I ate. And finally being home and doing loads of laundry didn't seem so terrible.

California BLT
Malted Grain Bread

Trying to impress...

2007-06-07T11:50:00.001-04:00

I moved out of my dad's place almost 6 years ago to go to University. Time went by, I graduated, I got my first job and I never moved back home. I have my own place with my little kitchen and I rarely see my dad - classes that I take, my work, his business and travelling get in the way. So, on those infrequent occasions that I see him and even more rare times when he comes over to my appartment, I try to bake something. Something to impress...

He eats everything and I tried everything. Muffins, cheesecakes, lemon swiss rolls, cream puffs, nutella mousse. He ate it, he liked it, he wasn't impressed. Finally, I asked him what kind of desserts he really likes. It was simple - chocolate. So this time I decided on something classic and easy - Chocolate Brownies with an added twist in the form of cherries.

A few hours before my dad came over last night, I realized that there's nothing in the fridge except for seven (7!!!) kinds of cheeses. So, I quickly mixed a batter for a Cheese Bread. It is so simple to make and it tastes so good! I ate it with sweet italian Amarena cherries and I also tried it with Orange Marmelade - amazing. It is something I am used to since childhood, salty and sweet together. To me it's a classic combination!

My dad came over with my brother, I served them tea with Cherry Brownies and Cheese Bread with various jams. My brother was impressed with both especially with the Cheese Bread. It turned out that my dad doesn't like baked goods with cheese. Did he like the brownies? Yes. Was he impressed? Hardly... Maybe it's time to stop trying to impress and just bake whatever I like. After all, we cannot impress everyone and we should respect it.

Cherry Brownies

Something salty, something sweet...

2007-06-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

The plan was to wake up and go to the cottage. Then the plan was to wake up, bake a tray of simple brownies and go to the cottage. Then our computer decided to erase all the pictures. After my boyfriend went to bad at 5 am (that is 5 in the morning, that is 4 hours before we were going to wake up), exhausted from the fight and a victory over our PC, the plan changed.

I woke up and realized that I have about 4-5 quiet hours. There was no question what to do. It was simple. I bake bread and I try a different recipe when I have time. I chose a variation on a Lavash bread, a middle-eastern flat bread, usually eaten with BBQ and just torn in pieces. The dough turned out perfect, it doubled in size and it was light and smooth. After I let it rise for the second time, I shaped two breads and baked them for 20 minutes. The result was amazing. Golden, warm, chewy breads.. I couldn't resist to tear another and another piece from it.

While the dough was proofing I decided to bake something sweet. The brownies sounded too simple, but there was a cake I wanted to make for some time. It was from a Pure Chocolate book by Fran Bigelow and I had all (well, almost all) of the required ingredients on hand. The cake was called L'Orange and one of the main ingredients was oranges. I didn't have oranges in my fridge, but I had a Pure Orange Oil made from real orange zest. It is one of my absolutely favourite ingredients, so I used it. The batter took no time to make, it was simple and a little bit unusual because of the ground almonds used instead of a regular flour. But the baking process (the easy part, right?) took forever... literally... almost literally. According to the recipe, the cake was supposed to be baked after 45 minutes. But 45, 55, 65 and 75 minutes later it was still almost liquid. I had to increase the oven temperature and bake another 15 minutes to get that perfect moist consistency.

I'll definitely make both recipes again. That is if I don't find anything even more interesting to make...

Excuse my photos. I just got a new camer and I still have no clue how to use it

Lavash
L'Orange

Almost Mexican Dinner

2007-05-30T14:02:00.000-04:00

Mondays are busy. I get home only at 6 pm, I have about 15 minutes to get up to my apartment, pack my guitar and drive to my tutor where I spend one and a half hours. So I am really only home at 8.30 pm if I am lucky, most of the time I get home at 8.45 pm. As you can imagine, I rarely cook on Mondays, but this time I was craving some carbs and I had some dying avocados in the fridge and I really really wanted to try one very simple recipe out.

At 8.45 I opened my fridge and found no bread. Well, it wasn't really a surprise for me since we finished the last of it this weekend. But my body needed carbs (and I always listen to my body!), so I found my Big Book of Bread and leafed through it. Breads - take too long and it's already too late; Quick Breads - have to bake them for 50 minutes; Flat Breads... Stop! My mind went back to the kitchen, to the fridge, to those mushy avocados. Guacamole and tortillas! Sounds excellent.

It took me about 5 minutes to mix the dough in my trusty KitchenAid mixer and I started on my lentil soup which was on my "to make" list for quite some time. While the soup was simmering, I mixed a simple guacamole spread and began rolling my tortillas. The recipe said to divide the dough in 12 pieces. Which I did. And then I was supposed to roll each piece into a 10 inch circle. Which I didn't. How on earth was I supposed to do it? My stretched and pulled dough was paper-thin, but nowhere near 10 inches, more like 5 inches. Ok, I am not even going to mention my so-called "circles". After the first two tortillas I gave up on making the perfect rounds and just rolled it out as best as I could.

The result: in 45 minutes I had a stack of 12 delicious, warm, homemade tortillas, a wonderful, garlic lemon lentil soup and a guacamole. Not bad, eh?

Guacamole turned out to be a very terrible model, so no picture of it...

Wheat Tortillas

Lemon Lentil Soup

Where I come from...

2007-05-28T15:19:00.000-04:00

I grew up on a simple but very tasty Russian food. Chicken, potatoes, soup, liver, meatballs -- these were staples at our dinner table. It was never fancy and the closest my mom's cooking came to French food was when she made my favourite Beef-French Style. I am not sure why it was called that, but that was the name. It was just simple pieces of beef, layered with onions, cheese, mayo and then baked. The crust was the best! Сheesy and gooey. The food was very quick, simple. Pan fried chicken thighs (I never really liked chicken breasts) and boiled buckwheat or pork chops with mashed potatoes or liver with lots of flavourful sauteed onions or... I rarely make this food now... It's too nostalgic, it reminds me too much of my life before I came to Canada, of my childhood...

My grandparents grew a lot of fruits and vegetables at their cottage (not farm). Nothing comes close to tomatoes that they grew at there hot house. Fragrant, sweet, meaty! I've never tasted anything like it since then. There were different types of cucumbers, apples, potatoes, strawberries. Oh, how I miss black, white and red currants, gooseberries, wild strawberries, sour cherries that I had as a child. It's at our cottage that I wanted to cook and I did so with my grandma a few times, nothing special, just some sandwiches, but I was, oh, so proud of myself.

I was never interested in cooking when I was young. And my mom never forced me to be in the kitchen. She always said that I have my whole life to be in a kitchen when I grow up and I should just enjoy my childhood without worrying about cooking or cleaning. I thank my mom for that, for my carefree childhood days, for me not knowing how to do the dishes until I was 12. It is one of the best gifts that she gave me... My memories with no worries or troubles in sight...

And now, so many years later, when I washed and cleaned numerous pots and dishes. Now when my thoughts run around food, baking, ingredients all the time. Now when I cannot imagine my life without my kitchen. Now when I am learning to properly caramelize onions, to make a perfect creamy ice cream, to bake a flourless chocolate torte... Now I am here! I am here to share my love for this amazing, wonderful art - Cooking and Baking.