To the lake.

Shorewood is adorable. It's full name is actually "the Village of Shorewood," and it really does feel like a little village. Dotted with coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores, everything we need is basically within walking distance.

A view of our apartment building - more shots of inside will be posted once the apartment is finished! 

What makes our new neighborhood even more charming, though, is its proximity to the lake. Our old apartment in Minneapolis was really close to the Mississippi River, and we'd often walk down St. Anthony Main and cross the Stone Arch Bridge. I do miss the downtown skyline, the views from the bridge over the river, and the familiarity of East Hennepin. Here, though, the walk to Lake Michigan takes us down tree-lined streets where we pass by gorgeous old houses. People are always out for strolls, walking with their dogs (it seems like everyone has a dog) or with their sleepy babies lounging in their strollers. It's really lovely, and a welcome change from all the student housing that surrounded us in Minneapolis.

Atwater Beach is just a short walk from our apartment. Following our street down seven or eight blocks, you come to a big grassy knoll with a playground that overlooks Lake Michigan. How fun would this have been as a kid, to have such a cool place to play with these incredible views? 

It's so peaceful; we've spent an afternoon at the beach already. As lovely as these views are in the summertime, I can only imagine that it's going to be absolutely beautiful in the fall. I can't wait to see all the leaves change! But for now, we'll enjoy this last day of August (how can that be?!) just as it is.

~N.

From the kitchen.

Welcome to our new blog, Milwaukee Kukhnya! Kukhnya (or кухня) means "kitchen" in Ukrainian.

Growing up, the kitchen was the most central room in our house, the first room we would enter when we came home (we hardly used the front door, which opens to the living room, when we were younger). My mom has told me that the kitchen was one of the main reasons she and my dad fell in love with our house when they bought it. With plenty of counter space, cabinets, and room for a dinner table, it was the perfect size for just about everything, from a quick meal between school and dance practice to a traditional Ukrainian 12-course Christmas Eve supper.

Sviat Vechir - Ukrainian Christmas Eve, 2012: mom, me, and my sister.

I liked to cook at home when I was younger but it was only after I moved out that I began to experiment with cooking on my own...actually, it was after Andrew and I met and started dating. Yes, I will admit that there was a time, in college, that we didn't care so much about cooking our own food. However, in an effort to get healthy, save money, and learn more about different cuisines, we started to cook for ourselves. The kitchen in our first apartment was small, tiny compared to mine at my house, but as my mom said, it kept us close. Literally. We didn't have space for more than two, maybe three people to stand in that kitchen at the same time. Despite its small size and galley-style limitations, we learned so much about food and cooking in that kitchen. We discovered that the smoke alarm will go off once, twice, perhaps three times when baking; that, yes, there was space for a sous vide machine on our counter (more on this later!); that mise en place is essential in any kitchen, but especially in a small one; and that slow-roasting a pork shoulder for the entire day creates one of the best meals we could share with our family and friends.

Thanksgiving, 2011

From our quiet Christmas Eves to Thanksgiving dinner for 10, our kitchen in our first apartment has been the center of many happy gatherings. Fast forward to now, the end of August, 2012. We just moved from Minneapolis to Milwaukee for Andrew to start his PhD program in English at UWM. We have a new apartment, a bigger kitchen, and a separate dining room! While we're excited about this new journey, we will miss our friends and family dearly, and especially the family dinners that we have grown to cherish. 

Andrew in our new kitchen!

That's why this blog is going to be centered around the kitchen, for a kitchen is more that just the place where food is prepared. It's the heart of a home, a place to share, experiment, and create together. This blog, our "kukhnya", will be our virtual gathering place with all our friends and family back home. We'll share our days with you, let you know about the cool restaurants we're discovering, and fill you in on our adventures as we explore this new city. Leave your comments and ideas, let us know what you're up to. We hope you visit often (both the blog and us in Milwaukee!), and we can't wait to welcome you to our new home.

~N.