Sailing!

So, we are going crazy with the water and can’t enough of it. Yesterday we went sailing!

view of downtown Chicago:

Captain Jake was kind enough to let us on his boat. Many thanks!

Arrgh!

What’s for dinner?

So I know lots of people like to joke around that they married certain people for their cooking abilities. Well, I’m starting to think that there is way more truth to that then we’d maybe like to admit.

Well, seriously now. I have an amazing husband. Because of….many things. But more specifically, on any given night he can make me this:

Thas right. Pad Thai.

The recipe will come to you on his own time (he has been more and more excited about posting recipes, I think) so for now just drool over the picture.

Yay! But what’s for dessert? Well don’t think I won’t leave our meal alone without some sort of reciprocation. In honor of my old roommate Gretchen (who recently became engaged…Gretchen wherever you are I hope you know your work on my wedding cake is legendary…someday I will be brave and venture your gateau basque…) And in honor of the beautiful fall harvest, (??) I made one of my favorite desserts:

(Please, click on the picture and admire the work I put into photoshopping it to perfection. Ok, I’m not a pro at photoshop, but the torte was delicious!)

Bavarian Apple Torte!

CRUST:
1/2 cup soft butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla OR
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup flour

Mix and pat in bottom of greased 9 inch round pan.

FILLING:
8 ounces soft cream cheese
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip and spread over crust.

Top with:

3-4 cups grated or thinly sliced apples
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or more)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Cover and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes,  then turn heat down to 400, take off foil, and cook for another 25 minutes.  Guys! This is super easy! You don’t have to arrange the apples like I did. It will blow your mind with how delicious it is!

As you can imagine, this is enough food for more than just two of us. We really need to be better about inviting out friends for dinner.  I suppose having too much food is hardly a dilemma. However, we hate throwing food away. And this happens sometimes. So, who wants to come over?

Kayaking!

Last Saturday Micah and I decided to go kayaking on the Chicago River.

I belong in the city.

At the end of this video, I was approaching a pipe that was letting out water with such great force that I got soaked. Micah did not therefore stop the video in time. Miraculously, I have no hard feelings against him. Haha.

Buckingham Fountain.

Took me long enough to post these pictures!! We went with Bryn, Ann, and Caleb to the Jazz festival first weekend of September. It was the most beautiful day. I LOVE FALL in Chicago.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

BORSCH (off the top of my head)

Well today I planned on making Borsch. I walked all the way out to the produce market to get all the ingredients, collected them all, and went to checkout. It was then that I realized I didn’t have my wallet. Basically, my life is a giant irony. It’s been a sad day overall.

Still, I want to share with you all the magic of this soup. Let me first say that everyone in Ukraine has their own way of making borsch. There is no one method of making it. But for those of you who have enjoyed my soup, then read on and try it out! It’s absolutely delicious, good for you, and cheap to make. It’s the best food you could possibly eat!

Let’s start with the ingredients:

1 cup stew meat or chicken

3-4 quarts beef or chicken stock

2 large beets or 4 small ones (tennis ball sized)

1 large onion (or again, two small ones)

1 large carrot (or again…two small ones)

1 teaspoon Citric Acid (I know this might be hard to find, so you can use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice instead.)

1/3 head of cabbage shredded thinly

3 medium potatoes cut into small fingers

1 tomato, smashed (or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste – some people even use ketchup or spaghetti sauce…)

fresh parsley

salt

pepper

garlic powder

bay leaf

basil

onion powder

dill

Sour cream, for serving

 

HOW TO MAKE!

First, start boiling chicken or beef stock. Add the bay leaf. If you want it to be more of a liquidy soup (or if you have to feed more people) you can add more broth or stock.

Brown the stew meat or the chicken in an oiled pan with some salt and pepper and set aside. Make sure not to overcook or it will be rubbery.

Grate the beet and carrot, and dice the onion. There should be about 1 1/2 cups of each. But I like a LOT of beet (the beet gives the distinct color and flavor) so I go for about 3 cups of that. Go with your gut. If there is a vegetable you don’t like so much, don’t put so much of it in.

Put the onion, beet and carrot in a frying pan and fry until tender in an oiled pan. Be careful not to burn the beet. Add citric acid and maybe a few tablespoons of water to help tenderize it and keep it from burning.

Put your potatoes in the boiling broth to start cooking them. After about 10 minutes I put in the cabbage, because if they are shredded thinly enough, they take less time to cook. Then after about 5 minutes I add the meat, and the fried vegetables, and the smashed tomato.

Now for the seasoning. Taste your borsch to see where it’s at. If it needs salt, add more. If not, don’t go crazy. Go with what seasonings you like. A handful of fresh parsley at the very end of the cooking is wonderful. To be perfectly honest with you, I often depend on this little packet of stuff that I got from Ukraine to season my borshch:

 

So if your Borsch turns out horribly DON’T BLAME ME!! I’ve had a few pots of the stuff that just didn’t taste right (usually because I used too much water or too much salt) so don’t be afraid. If you are tasting along the way yours should turn out fine.  If you are able to procure some sunflower oil, that’s AWESOME! Fry your ingredients with that! But I just use vegetable oil.

Good luck!! Serve it with some nice black rye (and of course, a dollop of sour cream)! Let me know if you have any questions.

EDIT: Some of you have come to me with concerns about the proportions of seasonings. I would start off with a teaspoon of each. From there, just go with what you like best. Sorry I can’t be more specific, since I haven’t really measured it all while cooking yet.  You can even put some MSG (flavor enhancer) which is what is in my ukrainian seasoning packets.