To be a Mother, I once heard it said, is to go around forever wearing your heart on the outside of your body. Truer words have never been spoken. I also concur with the old adage: "Time is the enemy of a mother." Raising girls is the most amazing experience of my life--and I am certainly learning more from them than I will likely ever teach. Isn't life funny that way? One of the best lessons they have for me is to SLOW DOWN and to find adventure in the every day. To that end, we are forging our own path together; taking the road less-traveled, knowing that there is more to this life than what it seems. And do you know what fosters togetherness and peace in our hearts and household more than anything else? Dinnertime--together and at the dining table. No distractions, no exceptions. I think if more families would sit down together for dinner at least a few nights a week, it would change our world for the better. So raise a glass and toast the lost art of dinnertime. Won't you join us?

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Next Stop... Russia!

I was a little surprised that the first stop on our European Grand Tour would be Russia, hoping selfishly for an "easy" country for a change. Ask anyone on the street about the finer points of Russian cuisine, and typically they will admit the extent of their knowledge is "borscht." Mmmm, what kid (not in Russia, of course) doesn't love cold, pink, parsley-garnished beet soup? I will admit that adventurous though I am trying to be, I do want to serve something that I at least find appetizing. Besides, a true study of a culture goes deeper than the stereotypes, right? So, I embarked on a mission to find some exciting, enticing and (dare I say?) edible Russian entree. Survey says? Blinis!



Blinis are Russian pancakes, similar in form to a crepe. They are typically served during the season preceding Lent and are filled with a wide variety of flavors, including jam, mushroom sauce, meat, or even caviar. Wanting to ensure a homerun with my crew, I opted for jam. I was even creative and made some with butter, sugar and cinnamon. As you can see, the folding of the blini was most improper, but by the time I got to that point in the process, I was just glad to get them on the plate. I love how my recipe said to simply "cook for 90 seconds, then flip the blini." Well, that's easier said than done when you've made the pancake as big as the entire skillet. When my XL spatula failed me, I resorted to the aerial method, (think Tom Cruise in Cocktail.) Except... not, actually. This didn't exactly work out the way I had envisioned, but my children enjoyed it immensely. They were a bit wide-eyed--never having seen Mommy so vigorously attacking a helpless pancake before.



Finally, thanks to my Mom, I figured out to pour just enough blini-batter in the skillet to make a nice-sized circle, but one that was smaller than the pan. You wouldn't have thought it would have cost the life of half a dozen innocent cakes to master this, but it did. Please don't think less of me--it was Saturday morning as I wasn't sufficiently caffeinated.







The end result was a success, at least judging by the way my crew cleaned their plates. The Kindergartener set the table for me, complete with a Matryoshka doll at every place. I have to say, they are really getting into this. It is fun to watch their creativity unfold. It is satisfying to watch them try so many new things. And it is humbling to know that on occasion, they are just humoring me.






Here is the recipe that I found for the blinis: http://http//allrecipes.com/recipe/blini-russian-pancakes/detail.aspx



I omitted the citric acid powder, as frankly I don't have any idea what it is, nor did I happen to have it on my spice rack. Who knows? Perhaps that 1/8th of a teaspoon was the magic ingredient that would have made the flippin' blinis... I mean the flipping of the blinis go a little more smoothly. Let me know if you figure that out, will ya?
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