Being a tourist....

The weather was beautiful yesterday, something I do not experience often in Moscow.  From our hotel, it is a very short walk to Red Square.  I wanted to tour inside St. Basil's and visit the museum.  I grabbed my camera, and decided to be a tourist.

I walked pass the Bolshoy Theatre, and stopped to stare.  It does not matter how many times I pass it in a vehicle, nor pass it on foot, it is still an incredibly beautiful sight.  As is always the case, I had to stop for a few pictures.

I continued, and made my way to Red Square.  Again, it does not matter how many times I walk through Red Square, I always pause at some point.  I am standing inside Red Square......

The area was alive with tourists.  Many workers were busy setting up for Victory Day (May 9th).  The weather was beautiful, I crossed Red Square, and read the sign.  Museum Closed.  I guess I would have to wait for a different day to tour inside St. Basil's.  One positive, as I was leaving, I was able to view the changing of the guards at Moscow's Tomb of the Unknown Solider.

Yesterday was a nice warm up for Amsterdam.  I am very ready to be a tourist in Amsterdam.  We have had some change in plans, our side trip to Brussels has been cancelled.  Difficulty with booking train tickets, websites not accepting non-European credit cards, and my realization that I was trying to do too much in too little time, all led to the decision to cancel.  Not necessarily cancel, but postpone, there is always next year's May holiday......

Breakfast of Champions

I miss our breakfast places in Houston.  Relaxing morning, lovely weather, warm sunshine, and the weekend made the perfect combination for breakfast, outdoors.  We have only found one restaurant in Novorossiysk that offers outdoor seating and breakfast, together.  I forgot to mention, and most importantly, serves edible food, food we actually enjoy (?).  On one or two weekend mornings we have ventured over there, usually on our bicycles, but it seems making breakfast at home is "easier."  It does take some prep work, and clean up time, but ultimately, you are left with a delicious breakfast, less chaos, and the the great start to your morning.

Our recent Breakfast of Champions....

In honor of our favorite breakfast taco place in Houston.  Steak and Eggs.

An attempt to make a lower carb pancake.  Cottage Cheese pancakes.
REALLY delicious, and you would NEVER know they contained cottage cheese.

Lots of zucchini in the markets.  Zucchini and blueberry muffins.
We have also been doing yogurt, protein smoothies.
LOVE smoothies.

At our guest house in Knysna, during our South Africa trip, they served "spicy mushrooms" with their breakfasts.  Ryan and I both loved them.  I could taste, and knew the key ingredient was Worcestershire Sauce.  Ryan says I successfully recreated them.  Mushroom and cheese omelette. 

  Belgian Waffles.
Too bad I cannot find a "normal" waffle maker, but the heart/flowery pattern adds a certain "uniqueness."

We will enjoy leftover Belgian Waffles this morning, then it's OFF TO THE AIRPORT!!!  We leave for Moscow today (Sunday), then for Amsterdam on Tuesday!  I am VERY excited, nearly eight straight weeks in Novorossiysk is far too long for me.

Our next adventure....

This time next week, Ryan and I will be on our next adventure.  After yesterday, and all the frustrating moments, our next adventure cannot come soon enough.  Russia has a couple holidays in the first two weeks of May.  May 1st-3rd is the Holiday of Spring and Labor.  We are using this long weekend as reason to hop on an airplane, and get away.

Where are we going?  Here are a few clues.....

Tulips are my favorite flowers.  

A very famous tulip garden is located here.
It is only open from March 22nd - May 22nd this year, perfect timing.

In honor of our upcoming adventure, I made a Dutch Baked Pancake for breakfast.

No picture for these clues........I really love CHOCOLATE.....Ryan really loves CHEESE.....RED seems to be a popular color..... they really enjoy their COFFEE SHOPS.........view some VAN GOGH....... afternoon CANAL cruising......followed by BICYCLES.....tour a famous SECRET ANNEX.....try on a pair of CLOGS.......and let the WINDMILLS spin.

We are going to AMSTERDAM (with a side trip to BRUSSELS)!  

Some recent reads in preparation for our upcoming adventure.

One of those days....

Rather than list off all the reasons today was "one of those days" and force you to sit and witness my pity party for one, I shall revisit and update you on a previous pity party post.

Almost a week ago, I posted about the unfavorable weather we were having, and the negative results in my Power Outage a Day post.  After posting, and at the conclusion of my pity party, I glanced out our windows to see a surprising sunset.  Remember, I am trying to find the good in the bad, so yes (insert attitude here), I am posting about a sunset....

It was decided, this sunset was picture worthy.
Intriguing? Ominous? 

Now, back to today.  I must be honest, I already threw a pity party earlier.  Little did my Mother know when she accepted my FaceTime call, that she was connecting to her daughter's pouty face.  Such the wonderful woman that she is, she sat, listened and allowed me to fully pout (in her words) "You look like when you were ten, and you would pout.  Your bottom lip is sticking out, and you know what Grandma Pagels used to say."

Ryan is fortunate.  He is in Moscow, and has a business dinner tonight, so I can't call him and complain about my day (I may have already called once).

I must admit, the majority of the reasons today was "one of those days" are pretty minuscule.  I have much to be thankful for (especially the fact my internet is working well enough to write this post....ugh Russian internet....), tomorrow is another day.

Traveling Tastebuds

If I ever decided to create a cookbook, I would title it Traveling Tastebuds.  I would feature recipes from different areas of the world, foods that remind me of our travels, and the joys (struggles) of expat cooking.  As much as cooking in Russia is a challenge, and I have accumulated multiple substitutions and alternatives over the years, we would need another expat assignment (fingers crossed) before I could truly include expat cooking in my cookbook.

For the time being, I continue to cook in Russia, and travel when the opportunity arises.  It has been nearly eight weeks since our return from South Africa, and the travel itch is fully present (relief is in the near future).  I decided that since our bodies were not traveling anywhere last week, I would let our tastebuds do the traveling....

After the purchase of my new blender, we successfully made Margaritas!!
We are bringing a bit of Mexico (or Houston) to Russia.

What pairs nicely with Margaritas?
Fish tacos/salad.  Paired with corn salsa, and gazpacho.  Topped with avocado sauce.  

After our wine tasting in Rome, we purchased this bottle of wine (my favorite).
I decided it was time to recreate Italy, and crack open the bottle.

Ryan was talking about Bosco sticks a couple weeks ago, I surprised him, and made homemade Bosco sticks!  In an attempt to counteract the carbs, I made pasta free, zucchini-prosciutto lasagna.
I loved the lasagna, and was pretty impressed with my Bosco sticks!

All the places you travel, nothing really beats coming home, to comfort.
Milk and cookies.
Well, Cookie Crisp cereal bars with PB & Chocolate topping.

Summer cannot arrive soon enough, so I decided to make our dinner a summer theme.
Crab Cakes with Spicy Lime Sauce, and Zucchini Salad.  

I really need to be better about writing down ingredients and measurements while I cook.  When I am pleased with a meal, I have a tendency to forget what I threw in, or how much.  At least I have pictures to help remind me.

Power Outage a Day....

Power Outage a Day, doesn't keep the doctor away, but it does remind you where you are living....

The winds began Monday, early afternoon, and continued to gain strength.  I took Macy out for her afternoon potty break, and was almost blown away.  I sent Ryan a text, "Macy and I were almost blown away.  True Story."  Ryan then forwarded an email, "Storm Warning."  Bora winds were on their way, hurricane strength winds, secure doors and windows (no mention of securing wives and dogs during potty breaks).  When Ryan arrived home from work Monday, he asked if I got his email, and if I had heard the wind sirens.  Sirens?  I mistook them for another Lada (Russian car) alarms.  The winds continued to howl Monday night (short power outage while we were sleeping) and into Tuesday.  Another power outage, this time while making dinner.

Here is where I would like to make a few key points:

1. I have never felt wind this strong.
2. I would like to give credit to whomever fixed our broken power wires.  I did not expect to have power on until today (Wednesday), but some brave soul, went out in the winds, and successfully returned power to our building around midnight.
3. I never knew I would find so much entertainment opportunity during power outages.....

No electricity, but you have a watch, the sun, and an overeager dog.....

Determined to catch that spot....

I will worry about cleaning slobber off the wall and floors later.....

Not too bad for dinner during a power outage.  Earlier in the day, I chose to make the ham in the crock pot, and a cold green bean salad.  By the time the power went out, ham was done, and salad was chilled.  Only thing missing, roasted potatoes, they never made it to the oven.... 

After our evening without power, I was off to the gym this morning.  I was super pumped to have power, highly caffeinated (many, many coffees this morning, I was feeling a bit drowsy after lousy sleep thanks to all the wind), and ready for my run.  I get to the locker room, changing my shoes, and.........THE POWER GOES OUT!  Well, third day of winds, third power outage, I can manage.  I will go home and work out in our home gym.
 

I finish my kettle bell, and ab workout, go to the kitchen to refill my water bottle, and return to find this.....
  "You seemed to be having so much fun, I wanted to see what this was all about."  

The wind is still blowing strong, the windows of our apartment are still whistling, but our power is still on.   But, seriously, the wind can stop anytime.

Dinner Challenge: 2nd Edition

Ryan's birthday dinner was a result of a dinner "challenge."  Ryan chose an ingredient(s) for each course, and I had to creatively create a meal with the chosen ingredients.  The dinner challenge was entertaining for both of us;  I greatly enjoyed creating the meal, Ryan greatly enjoyed discovering how I used the ingredients, and tasting the result.  The success led us to a monthly dinner challenge, and last week we devoured April's dinner challenge.

Business meetings took Ryan to Moscow for the first week of April, and I planned to have our dinner challenge meal also be his welcome home dinner.  Prior to leaving for Moscow, he thought of the next chosen ingredients for April's dinner challenge.  Actually, shortly after his birthday dinner, we was already contemplating what the next ingredients would be.  He settled on the following:

Appetizer: Apples

Side Dish: Tofu/Eggplant

I started searching for tofu as soon as he chose it, but was unsuccessful in locating tofu.  I then asked for an alternative ingredient, eggplant was chosen.

Main Dish: Scallops

Dessert: Red, White, and Blue Crunch

Initially, I was very surprised Ryan only chose one ingredient for each dish (excluding dessert), but ultimately decided to be as creative as I possibly could with the one ingredient.  So, given the ingredients listed above, what would you create?  Ready to see what we feasted on?

*Everything is from scratch, only one item was purchased "pre made".  

Appetizer: Apples
Chunky, Honey Applesauce served on toasted parmesan "chips"
The drink for the meal was Hard Apple Cider (the one pre made item- I am not about to attempt homemade hard cider).

Side Dish: Eggplant
I decided to add an extra course to the meal, and serve a vegetable "salad" prior to the main dish.
Roasted Eggplant stuffed with tomato, celery, carrots, onion, zucchini, and a sprinkling of parmesan. 

Main Dish: Scallops
Baked Ravioli filled with Scallops, basil, and parmesan.  Topped with fresh tomato sauce.
On the side, Eggplant "breadsticks" served with an extra "shot" of tomato sauce for dipping.
After making ravioli WITHOUT a pasta maker or ravioli cutter, I have officially added pasta maker to my list of kitchen items I need to acquire.  

Dessert: Red, White, and Blue Crunch
Wanting to tie in the apples from the first course, I decided on grilled RED apple rings, topped with Cheesecake (WHITE) mousse, and BLUEberry reduction.  Served with a spoonful of CRUNCHy Honey Roasted Peanuts for sprinkling.  

The ingredients for May's Dinner Challenge have yet to be decided.  

I wonder what Ryan will think of next, 

and what I will create.....

Everyday life...

Celebrating life, memories, and the small things.  

Welcome to our everyday life....

Rainy day, long walk.....
Macy and I greeted Ryan in the hallway as he was coming home from work.
Ryan's first words, "Have you ever wondered what a wet Skittle looks like?"

Found these at the grocery store, thought they would be comparable to Oreos....FAIL

Pretty girl

You can always find plenty of fresh fruits, and vegetables in our kitchen.  

I gave Ryan my pancake and waffle cookbook, told him to pick what he wanted for breakfast.
Prosciutto waffles with blackberry pour.

Working on her tan...

I spent close to an hour, and went to four different locations looking for fresh basil.   Simply wanted fresh basil, but all I could find was a small basil plant.  What else could I do but plant it.....
(and patiently wait for my brown thumb to kill it)

Ryan was in Moscow for work last week.
Macy and I were in the parking lot, ready to surprise him when he arrived home.
He jumped out of the car with his own surprise, beautiful tulips, my favorite!

Small, oil drums of vodka at the grocery store.
If it wasn't $100, we would have bought one for the humor.
A picture seemed sufficient.

  

What we ate....

It was suggested to me that I check out a certain blog, and cookbook.  I did both, and in turn purchased the cookbook.  When I first received the cookbook, I browsed through the recipes, drooled a bit over some of the creations, and ultimately was a bit bummed that many of the ingredients were just not found here.  I decided I would place the cookbook on the shelf, and use it when we lived somewhere other than Russia.  Well, I recently saw the cookbook on the shelf, once again, flipped through the pages, and decided to make something work.

My goal, create something new with chicken.  It seems chicken is one of our main staple foods.  The red meat is tough (extremely), and we may have had a bad run in with pork (once or twice).  It's not that I don't occasionally venture out, but usually chicken wins.  So, using the cookbook: What Katie Ate, incorporating substitutions, this is what we ate.....

Making the spicy rub mix (almost all spices have been imported from the States)

The recipe is Poussin with spicy rub and grilled lime.  I was definitely going to be making some substitutions....

Vegetables and limes all cut up.  I love, love, love pictures of vegetables, and all their colors.   I added the vegetables to the recipe, have to make sure we are getting our daily servings (and variety)!

I hate, hate, hate raw meat, but I wanted to document all the changes that took place.  Poussin, no, I went with a regular, whole chicken.  Grill, no, no grills in Russia.  So I decided on an oven bag (another import from the States).  It was a very convenient way to cook everything together.  

Ryan came home as I was preparing to make our side dish, and decided to help out.  Definitely had to document Ryan in the kitchen....

He was quite the Top Chef.  I made the filling, he filled the mushrooms, perfect teamwork....

  The rub looks a bit dark in the picture, but it's not burnt, it nicely roasted on the chicken, and was delicious, very flavorful.
This rub on grilled chicken would be fantastic for a summer dinner, your tastebuds would celebrate. 

As I type this blog, I am flipping through the cookbook, and I think I may see a few more recipes I will have to make some substitutions for, but will definitely be worth it.  Also, the cookbook is a lovely collection of food photography, I need to close it before I get hungry.....

If you wish, check it out (blog or cookbook) What Katie Ate.