Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Margaux takes Maryland

In April I did it. This mom traveled via plane with a 1 year old.  All. By. Herself.  With a little trepidation and great success Margaux took Maryland by storm. We saw...

the Washington Monument...


the Lincoln Memorial...


the White House...from a distance...


and a commemorative for each State of America....


And, the best part? We got to spend a whole week with Auntie Inga. The coolest and bestest aunt a little girl could ask for.  Loves from Margaux.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Pavia Soup

I love reading cookbooks. I have quite a collection. I even check-out cookbooks from our local library.  A perfect weekend afternoon involves a half dozen loaned cookbooks and a spot of tea (and the assumption that daddy is entertaining baby).

I've been on an Italian kick lately. Yesterday I watched Roman Holiday again.

For dinner, I decided to cook from the big book: Italy The Beautiful Cookbook. The pictures throughout are delicious too.  I settled on a dish from Lombardia: Zuppa Pavese or rather Pavia Soup.

Essentially, it's a poached egg soup. Yep.


Doesn't this look elegant? Of course, mine didn't look like this, but it tasted fantastic. I was actually quite thrilled. Let me tell you how easy it is and you can see for yourself.  I made a few additions, which I'll include too.

Zuppa Pavese
2 slices firm, coarse-textured bread (and a bit o' butter)
32 oz chicken broth
2 eggs
pepper
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
chopped parsley
my extras:
4 tablespoons chopped spinach
2 tablespoons chopped onions
dash of cayenne pepper

This recipe serves 2 people. So, pull out 2 oven-proof soup bowls.
Preheat oven to 350 and then turn off. Toast bread and spread with butter. Add 1 tablespoon of onions and 2 tablespoons of spinach to each bowl. Lay 1 slice of buttered bread on top of spinach and onions in each bowl.  Make sure bread is resting firmly on vegetables. Put bowls in warm oven.

Meanwhile, bring broth to a boil. Add pepper and cayenne pepper to broth. When broth has started boiling (note: simmering broth isn't sufficient; must be boiling to poach egg) take bowls carefully out of oven.  Carefully break 1 egg over toast in each bowl keeping yolk intact. Pour boiling broth into bowls. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley.

It's the perfect light meal with so little work. I could get used to this. Buono Appetito.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Hello Summer!

Today it's 85 degrees out.  It's so hot that motivation to accomplish anything melts.  My wee girl's in a sundress and barefooted.  We pull on sun hats when we adventure outside.

But it wasn't long ago that there was a huge snow storm in Chicago.


Just a few months ago, my little piglet was a wonderful snow angel. Hello SUMMER.