LEGO and going back to the 1930’s

The day before Christmas Eve we decided to drive El Camino up to Palo Alto and visit “Living LEGO-cy” exhibit at Museum of American Heritage (MOAH). My stepson Xavier is a big LEGO fan so we wanted to check it out. It turns out to be so much fun! The display is so detailed that you can look at it for like an hour and still discover new things. Especially we enjoyed the trains - I had no idea LEGO makes trains. 

Merry Christmas!

Last night I was staying up late and then I noticed that our radio in the bathroom was not playing Christmas songs anymore. Christmas is over, at least the first (Western) one. Hope everybody who celebrate it December 25th had a merry and joyful one. We spent the Christmas Eve at my father-in-law’s with the family, lots of food and Christmas music and movies. It was good to see everyone and have some peace and quiet together (well if you can have peace and quiet with 4 kids running around:) 

Upon my husband’s request for Chritsmas party I was making Russian salad (aka Olivier salad) and pirozhki. I’ve made it several times before so I won’t repeat the recipes. Pirozhki really worked out this time, and everybody enjoyed my food. 

We are 1 year old now!

Today, December 22nd, my blog is turning 1 year old! I started it this day a year ago to vent out my frustration: I was not crazy about cooking, and it made me feel bad about myself as a woman. It was just one post, and the blog was meant to die a few days ago but surprisingly it survived. To me it is a little fun thing I am doing sometimes, and that’s why I am still enjoying it.

Just some statistics:

41 posts

3 guest posts

5,455 visitors

117 comments

3 Blog Hops I took part in

1 giveaway won

Plus I started a Facebook page and a Twitter account solely for this blog. Not too much for one year but not bad for something I do from time to time as a hobby. Actually, I thought this blog would consist of 1 post only:) 

The main question when I started this blog was: Am I not a real woman because I am not crazy about cooking? Any changes? I have to admit: no. I like when my family enjoys my cooking, and I like to eat too, I enjoy cooking when I have time, trying new recipes and new ingredients but I can’t say “I love cooking”. Nevertheless, I think I learned to live with it - I am just a real woman who doesn’t love cooking as much as she enjoys doing other things. At least I know I cook not bad and my family likes what I make. I am at peace now.

Happy Birthday to my Kitchen Away From Kitchen!

The most wonderful time of the year

I know I know I haven’t been active on this blog lately. Holiday season and end of the year are always a hectic time, and I could not just find time and peace to sit and blog. 

Some may wonder how come I didn’t write anything about Thanksgiving, one of major reasons for Americans to cook. Well, this year we had an unconditional one. We didn’t have the kids, and other family members also had other plans so I decided to skip the whole big Thanksgiving dinner, and instead we went to play tennis, enjoyed a nice warm morning in the park, came home, did some work (Dave is now working on a new novel, and I always have what to do too), and then just cuddled on the coach watching ‘Horrible Bosses’ (a pretty stupid and not that funny movie though) and eating Buffalo wings I made (sorry no pics because it had been all consumed before I grab my camera). Not a traditional Thanksgiving, yeah? But I have to tell you: we enjoyed it a lot. If the real reason of this holiday is not to gobble up on turkey but to be thankful then we celebrated it right: I am thankful for my life, my family and friends.

Crispy Corn Flake Topping Baked Chicken

This is a guest post by Alia Haley.

Everyone looks for easy recipes that do not require spending hours slaving away in the kitchen. If you are back home after a hectic day at work, the last thing you want to do is spend more time working again preparing a meal. The crispy corn flake crusted baked chicken comes in handy in situations like that. This is a delicious, easy to make dinner recipe even the pickiest of eaters will adore. The best part is that it is a healthier version to the fried chicken and since it is coated with a crunchy corn flake crust, the kids would love biting into them and maybe even help preparing the dish. With a few basic ingredients, you can put together this amazing dish for your lovely little family. Here’s how to go about it: