Strawberries + 30 Rock.

Because of this lovely shift of weather from the 60 degrees we had the day before...

yesterday, I made this! 

Finding a pint of strawberries for 99 cents is super exciting even in summertime, so to find such a deal in the middle of snow and blustery wind was even better. They weren't the sweetest berries, but that didn't really matter for the jam because I just adjusted the amount of sugar as they cooked. 

The other day, Andrew stumbled across this recipe and since we struck gold on the strawberries, we figured it'd be the perfect afternoon to make the tarts. I halved the amounts, which allowed us each to have one for dessert last night and one for breakfast this morning. I have to say they were much better for breakfast. The crust I made was a bit different from Michael Symon's, so it was less flaky than the photo (and the Toaster Strudels of our childhood), but it still tasted great with coffee! 

The strawberry jam was definitely the best part...it just about made me forget that it's the last of January and we're in the dead of winter. Not really, but it did help!

Tonight, we're going to be toasting to the series finale of 30 Rock - hard to believe this show is ending and we won't have Liz or Tracy or Jenna to make us laugh. One of my favorites, and a 30 Rock classic, is "The Rural Juror" from season 1. The absolute best is when Tracy and Jack are exploring the possibility of selling Tracy Jordan's Meat Machine in Ukraine (and mention two places where our family is actually from!!!). Even though the show is ending, meat will ALWAYS be the new bread. 

М'ясо: новий хліб! 

Tracy's photo via 30 Rock's FB Page. 

This week, in Shorewood...

Our weather has been everywhere and back again! On Sunday, we had this:

Yesterday, it was wonderfully sunny and the snow started to disappear:

Today, it was rainy, and gray...but a beautiful 61 degrees! I went to work without a coat this morning, and the best thing was that I could actually smell spring in the air. I'm so anxious for springtime and am so DONE with winter...

...but apparently winter's not done with us. Today was just a mean joke, because tomorrow we're supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow and by Friday our high temperature will climb all the way up to 9. How excited am I? Enough to want to buy iced coffees and swimsuits and flip flops and sundresses, just to spite Old Man Winter. I'm so tempted...but the sane, rational side of me is keeping me in check.

Our cold blast will be perfect for cooking this weekend, and since we'll be watching the Superbowl, we're going to make wings, some sort of queso, guacamole (and I can't wait to use our new molcajete that D bought for Christmas!!), and maybe even homemade tortillas. Sounds like the perfect thing to look forward to while I attempt to study Property Law, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence rules. Sunday, get here NOW!

A pink escape.

I'm craving warmth, summertime, and bright pink flowers. If I had it my way we'd be walking down the Stone Arch Bridge, iced coffees in hand, and ready to check out the Mill City Farmer's Market across the Mississippi.  Oh, springtime, you can't get here fast enough! 

Have a lovely start to your weekend, friends! 

January blues.

Every January this happens to me - when we take our Christmas tree down, I feel like everything looks empty! Our tree was oh, so lovely this year (okay, I say that every year, but this Christmas, it fit just perfectly in our apartment, see?), and right now the corner looks like it's really missing the yalynka! We also had such a wonderful Christmas at home with our families, and now that the tree is gone, it really cements the fact that the holidays are over and we're in the middle of a winter freeze, both literally, as it's really, really cold outside, and figuratively, with school and WI Bar studies (yup...) starting to take up our time. 

We absolutely can't wait for warmer weather and all the fun it will bring - I'm so ready for taking the 10 minute walk to the lake and not freezing my ears off! To make up for the cold outside, we've stayed busy baking and cooking warm and comforting foods, including these ah-mah-zing (how I love Happy Endings...) chocolate chip cookies! I'm linking to the recipe because my sister said she was going to make these today - I'm pretty sure these have become my favorite chocolate chip cookies of all time. 

Right now it's actually warmed up to a balmy 11 degrees...time to celebrate! We'll be baking bread and cooking up some spicy noodles for dinner tonight. Stay warm, friends! 

MN Mondays: Nicollet Mall.

Maybe it's because I've missed being downtown almost every day, or maybe it's because this lovely little street has been on my mind lately as we're searching for rehearsal dinner locations (!!), but lately, I've been thinking about Nicollet Mall. Running through the center of downtown Minneapolis, Nicollet is home to great restaurants and shopping. I spent a lot of time walking down its sidewalks, whether during my Macy's Registry days in high school and college or during law school. I miss the lights and the people watching, and look back happily on the many date nights (including our first ever!) and soccer mornings that happened here. 

Photo by Joe Ennesser

Photo by Tricia Vetrone

Photo by Betsy Graca

Maybe one of the best parts about Nicollet Mall is the fact that you can cross it all by skyway, which would have been completely necessary on a day like today, with a -40 windchill! I'm looking forward to spending some time on the downtown sidewalks this summer, which seems a long way away with this weather. But there is a sign of hope - tonight, it wasn't completely dark until after 5:00! Now this is progress! 

Photos (2), (3), and (4) via Capture Minnesota. 

Saturday Post No. 3

We LOVE our new KitchenAid! Since we've been back in MKE, this big blue dude has already helped us make bread, peanut butter cookies, coconut cupcakes, and, as of this morning, these New England style hot dog buns! They're still cooling, but seriously, it smells just like a good old fashioned bakery in our apartment right now! I can't wait to try them tonight. 

Otherwise, we're just hanging out (having ourselves a party...that's for you, D), bracing ourselves for the super cold blast that's supposed to hit us tomorrow and Monday. At this point I'm done with winter and am anxiously waiting for spring; I would really appreciate the temperature to cooperate and NOT sink to -10! 

Hope everyone is having a lovely, relaxing weekend - stay warm, friends! 

Back in the kitchen.

Actually, it's not like we really left the kitchen, because we spent so much time cooking at home in Minneapolis...but now, it's back to reality and we're in MKE after a long, wonderful, and amazing time in MN. It's been a while since my last post, but it was better to do things at home than to write about them. 

There's no way to describe what an incredible time we had with our families. We loved every second; it really was the best Christmas/birthday gift I could ask for (and, a bonus, we were home for my sister's birthday, too!!). If a picture is worth a thousand words...here are some ten thousand, all in photo form: 

Plenty of cooking, just a bit of dress up and dancing, and lots of love. Home is the best. 

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a beautiful Christmas Eve tonight and a wonderful Piздво tomorrow! 

Catch Up Time.

Long time no blog! 

What have we been doing over this last week, this first week of 2013? Well, here's a quick photo recap. 

I wish I could take credit for this creative masterpiece, but unfortunately, the work is not my own. My sister saw this in our neighborhood on her way home from work one day, and when she told me about it, I definitely didn't picture this to be as GIANT as it is! So, Happy Christmas from...the walrus?? 

Both Andrew and my mom have been sick this week, so I've been happily taking care of them, trying to make everyone feel better. And thanks to my lovely new popover pan, I had help! Popovers + this warm soup = fantastic combination. I'll post the recipe I used for the lovely popovers later, but it's so, so easy, anyone can do it!

There's been plenty of cuddling and love for our puppy Medyk this week! He and Andrew are the best of friends; this was made especially clear last night when Medyk hopped on Andrew's lap and stayed there for two and a half hours. Without moving. Here's proof...

So sweet. He's also had free reign of our air mattress, which means Medyk has had the pleasure of staying out of his kennel for most of the day and instead gets to watch football. What a manly puppy. 

Our cat Yura gets a lot less press on the blog than the dog does, but that's because he's usually hiding somewhere in the basement. The other night he came upstairs for a rare appearance, so I had to grab a picture. I'm surprised he let me get as close to him as I did. 

Tomorrow we're cooking and baking all day in order to get ready for Свят вечір, our Christmas Eve! My family has always celebrated Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas, which falls on January 7th every year; that's why our tree is still up and the presents still unwrapped. I'm really excited to have Andrew's family join us this year, our last before we get married!! Свят вечір is full of ritual and traditions, it's truly one of my favorite holidays. And I'll get to see family I haven't seen since before we moved! This weekend is definitely shaping up to be a great one.  

Have a happy Friday, and to all my Ukes - time to get that kutya started and the holubtsi rolled!

P.S.: Nothing gets me in the Ukrainian Christmas frame of mind more than listening to koliadky - here's one of my favorites!