Life by numbers, Rizdvo edition.

{via}**

7: January 7th is Rizdvo, Ukrainian Christmas according to the Julian calendar. I love that we get to celebrate both Christmases, each with its own special rituals and traditions. And who doesn't love an extra long holiday season? 

5: people our apartment is going to house tomorrow night through Tuesday...I'm excited to figure out the obstacle course of blow-up mattresses and sleeping bags that will have to be traversed throughout our one-bedroom apartment! 

12: number of dishes that are traditionally served for Christmas Eve dinner. We're scaling it down to just four of my favorites, and I can't wait to spend all of Monday cooking away. 

-20: the windchill for tomorrow night, but our apartment will stay nice and warm because my favorite people (and puppy) will all be together in the same place.  

30: the number to which my husband keeps rounding up my upcoming birthday...

2: the number of days off (in a row!) I get to celebrate with my family. I am so thankful and so blessed. 

**This is a Christmas cookie?!? Too beautiful to eat! 

In the kitchen: mini Christmas cheesecakes.

Our Christmas dessert, like most desserts we make for just ourselves, had to be manageable to make and bake in one day. And by manageable, I mean small enough for us to remember that yes, it is just us who will be eating it. Though we have been known to make entire cakes for special occasions even if we're by ourselves, we're generally big fans of halving recipes or baking just enough cookies to last the night while freezing the rest. 

And that's why this cheesecake dessert was perfect. The original recipe called for 3-inch molds and cardboard rounds and parchment paper collars, but we went the easy way with our little Staub cocottes. There was definitely less work involved  because we didn't have to worry about measuring and trimming and cutting them just right to make perfect little round cheesecakes...sometimes presentation takes a back seat to comfort; there's something cozy about eating fluffy cheesecake out of a bowl instead of daintily cutting at a slice. 

While we were initially drawn to the recipe because the cheesecakes were topped with homemade wine gelées, we went the short and easy route and bought raspberry preserves to use as a topping instead. Maybe next time we'll play with port and rosé. Using the goat cheese instead of the traditional Philly-cream cheese packages that are usually called for in every single cheesecake recipe was completely worth it, and, as I've said before, give me anything with crème fraîche and I'll be happy. 

Mini Cheesecakes, via Food and Wine. 
-------------------------
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted; more for brushing6 graham crackers
1/2 C, plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
1 egg yolk1 egg
1/4 tsp. salt
10 oz fresh goat cheese, softened 
5 ounces crème fraîche 
Jam, preserves, jelly (all-fruit...), anything you'd like for the topping. 


Preheat the oven to 325.

Brush the insides of four 3-inch cocottes or ramekins with butter. Make sure they're deep enough - about 2.5 inches. In a food processor, grind together the graham crackers, the melted butter, and 1 Tbsp. sugar. Pack the crumbs into the molds, and bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Beat the egg, egg yolk, salt, and remaining sugar at medium speed, about 3 minutes, until pale. Add the goat cheese and beat until smooth. Fold in the crème fraîche. Pour the mixture into the cocottes and smooth the top. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until just set, but not browned. Let cool at room temp, then refrigerate for at least an hour until chilled, but they can be chilled for several hours in advance. 

Top with a thin layer of preserves, and continue to chill until ready to serve. 

Oh, and I noticed that these photos are more of the vessels and tools that made the dessert instead of the actual dessert itself. Blame the new camera, and the fact that we ate our cheesecakes at night after a food coma induced by sous vide rib roast, roasted potatoes, horseradish cream sauce, popovers, Brussels sprouts and sun-chokes with pecans. No more room for food photos. 

To be fair, we ate the other two mini cakes tonight...see, moderation at its best! 

Christmasgram #7.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I can't believe it's December 25th. And that 2014 is just around the corner. 

To be honest, this last month has been one of the most difficult I've experienced in a long time. You may have noticed the lack of posts; new recipes have been few and far between lately. But despite the craziness, I'm beyond lucky and blessed with the most generous and supportive family anyone could ask for. I have just the very best husband (of four months, yesterday!), a warm and beautiful apartment, and the means to provide for our future together. The road to that future has been a bit bumpy lately, filled with unexpected turns and detours, but I'm finding my way through it, with the help of my favorite people by my side. 

This is the first time that we haven't been with our families at Christmas. We miss you all so much, more than we can say. But we've had a lovely day together, just the two of us, as our own little family. The apartment building is quiet today, and it's been cozy and calm to snuggle at home and cook all day. 

Here's just a bit of what we've enjoyed over this first Christmas as a married couple...lots of photos (thanks to a beautiful brand new camera!!!), plenty of coffee, constant Christmas music, and delicious food. 

We hope everyone enjoyed some time with their family and friends and was able to share in a meal, a drink, or a phone call together. That's what today is really all about - coming together in any way, shape, or form.

A very Merry Christmas, from our family to yours.

In the kitchen: chocolate amaretto truffles.

• 'Tis the season for Christmas parties. 
• 
  
• You're invited to a cookie exchange (please know I'm jealous of you). 
• 
  
• You have zero time (welcome to the club). 
• 
  
• You hate to bake (who are you?). 
• 
  
• You want to at least make the effort to bring something homemade (huge points in my book). 
• 
  
• I give you these. 
• 
  
• 
  
  
   They might actually be the easiest, no-bake dessert to make for the holidays. Oh, and the recipe calls for this. You can drink it if you like, but save some to mix with chocolate.  If it wasn't 10:30 in the morning when I made these the other day, I would've enjoyed a sip or two...

Chocolate amaretto truffles, adapted via Saveur and Julia Child. 

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

• 8 oz. dark chocolate, melted
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 2 oz. Amaretto liqueur
• 2 Tbsp. strong-brewed coffee
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup finely ground coffee

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Stir together butter, amaretto, coffee, and vanilla; add to the melted chocolate. Stir together until smooth and completely blended, and chill in the freezer for 10-15 minutes until firm. 

Whisk together cocoa powder and ground coffee in a small bowl. 

When the chocolate has hardened, use 2 teaspoons to make small truffles. It's best to not touch them with your hands to avoid melting the chocolate.  Roll in cocoa powder and coffee mixture, and set to to chill in the fridge until firm. This recipe will make 20-25 truffles, depending on how large they come out to be. 

And how easy was that? Enjoy with wine, the rest of what's left of the amaretto, or hot chocolate sent to you from your wonderful sister. I've done two of the above... 

This Month.

It's December, and winter is around the corner. I found this lovely quote about the upcoming season: 

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." 

{Edith Sitwell} 

Here's to December, to warmth, and to family. 

The Bear & The Hare.

{via}

I'm one of those people that may just prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas. Maybe it's because Thanksgiving isn't as commercial as the other two holidays surrounding it - it's easier to decorate (and shop) for Halloween and Christmas. I still love celebrating and yes, decorating for Christmas, but I think taking a day to cook a wonderful meal for (and, best of all, with) family, all without shopping, presents, stuff...is better than most anything else.

All of that being said, there's something about this Christmas ad that just tugs at my heart. I know it's designed for an expensive department store chain, and of course, the ad-execs/Mad Men of the world know how to best play on our emotions to get us to buy...but still. I do not pretend to be immune to Christmas advertising.

Just watch the sweetness:

How can you not just melt? And maybe better yet is the work that went into making the ad...see here for all of the incredible details. 

So. With Thanksgiving only a week away, I can hardly wait to cuddle and snuggle and be cheesy with my favorite people (and dog), and, fine, maybe even drink coffee in Christmas mugs. But only after Thanksgiving dinner. 

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! 

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!

Chicago for Christmas.

This last Friday, Andrew, my sister, and I took the train down to Chicago to see the Windy City decorated for Christmas. It's so easy to get there from Shorewood, and we thought it'd be a fun way to kick off all our holiday celebrations. Highlights included Xoco for breakfast, a bit of window shopping and day dreaming, a Vince Vaughn sighting at Williams-Sonoma, Sprinkles, the Christkindlmarket, and a fantastic lunch at Publican Quality Meats.

Here are a few pictures from our stops throughout the city...we'll be back soon, I'm sure.

MN Mondays: Happy Christmas Eve.

This morning, MN Mondays comes to you from...Minnesota! We drove home from Milwaukee yesterday, with a packed car (and an extra person, since D. came to WI on Friday morning!) and plenty of excitement. We are so happy to be able to spend this time with our family and friends and will be making the most out of this Christmas season.

Our last weekend in Milwaukee was actually partially spent in Chicago - we took the train for a day trip to the Windy City. It was, unfortunately, cut a bit short because I was silly and sprained my ankle (just wasn't paying attention and stepped on it wrong), but as always, the city was great. I'll post some pictures of our adventures later. Today we're running a few errands at home and looking forward to the start of all our Christmas celebrations, lasting through the middle of January!

Here's wishing all our loved ones a beautiful Christmas Eve!

MN Mondays: A Twin Cities Christmas.

A quick post on MN Mondays this afternoon, but hopefully a useful one!

Photo by Doug Wallick 

If you've never been to Minnesota, you may believe that it's a frozen tundra of ice with nothing to do but stay inside for 6 months out of the year. Well, you're wrong - there's so much to do during wintertime! Minnesotans have embraced the cold and have come up with all sorts of activities, both inside and out, that are especially fun to do around the holidays. And with just enough snow, it's remarkably beautiful as the streets and parks turn into quite the winter wonderland.

If you're visiting MN or coming home for Christmas, below are just a few of my favorite things to do: 

Photo by Dave Peterson

Go ice skating, outside! St. Paul's Rice Park has an outdoor skating rink open almost every day from now until February 3rd. The park is lovely, right in the heart of downtown St. Paul and in front of the Landmark Center. Afterwards, drive up to Grand or Summit, and admire all the gorgeous houses decorated with Christmas lights.  

Go ice skating, inside! If it's too cold but you really want to go skating, the Depot Hotel in downtown Minneapolis has an indoor rink open through March. I've always wanted to do this - maybe this year we'll get the chance! You can make a full weekend out of it - stay at the hotel and go skating one night and goof around in the indoor water park another night!  

Take part in a Minneapolis tradition at the Holidazzle parade! The parade runs down Nicollet Mall, and true Minnesotans will watch outside, all bundled up...but if you can't handle the cold, you can watch it from the skyways on your way back from Macy's 8th Floor Auditorium Christmas display. The last day of the parade is this upcoming Sunday - I'm so sad to be just missing it this year! 

Head out to the Guthrie Theater for another Christmas classic: A Christmas Carol! Make sure to take in the views of the Mississippi from the Endless Bridge before the play: breathtaking. 

Photo by Norbert Marklin

Stretch out after all those Christmas cookies and holiday feasts and take a walk around Lake Harriet. Perfect in the summertime, this lake is one of my favorites, and it's just as beautiful during the winter months. 

Photo by Ron Traeger

Check out Van Gogh, Monet, and fantastic skyline views at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Also free. I could easily spend hours here. This Supper with Shakespeare exhibition looks really cool! 

Photo via Como Zoo's FB page

Visit Como Zoo's arboretum. An indoor flower lover's paradise, this place is gorgeously decorated for Christmas! The zoo itself is also open year round, and it's free (one of the last free zoos in the country!). 

There is so much more to do and see, but these are just some of my favorites. Maybe we'll check out a few (and add a few more) when we're home...NEXT WEEK!

Photos (1), (2), (3), and (4) via Capture Minnesota.