Homemade chicken noodle soup

I was making pelmeni the other day, and had some leftover dough. I don’t like wasting food especially when it is good stuff so I decided to ‘recycle’ it and make chicken noodle soup. It is an easy and hearty dish perfect for rainy winter days. 

Making the soup brought back many of my childhood memories. When I was a kid and was spending summer with my Grandma (aka Baba Zina) in the country, we had a certain tradition: one or twice a season her friend Anna Nikolayevna (aka Baba Anya) would come over to make chicken noodle soup. I don’t know how they were arranging it back then with no cell phones, Internet and even land line in our country house but my Grandma always knew what day and time Baba Anya would come so we would dress up and go to the railway station to pick her up.

Eating healthy with a food steamer

Holidays are over, spring is coming, and it is time to think about our waist line and get rid of some extra lbs/kilos. Working out is a great way to do so, especially when it is nice and sunny outside and many outdoor sport activities are available but eating right is also a big part of weight watch and wellness program.

A few months ago I was doing some window shopping on Amazon and came across a nice and very inexpensive food steamer. I was just one mouse click from it, and I made a step towards eating better. It arrived in 2 days, and I was very excited. Dave, however, was a little bit sceptical about it. It is the third or fourth food steamer I’ve ever had, but the first one here in the States and I was not sure anyone would join me in my food steaming experience so I went for a small one thinking it would be a Marina-only things. 

Orthodox Christmas 2012

My second Christmas this holiday season, and my second Orthodox Christmas in the States. We decided to keep it quiet and simple, have some food (and gifts, of course) and invite my father-in-law over for a family night. As for menu, Dave was really craving Thanksgiving food - I think because last year we skipped it (read here why). 

I didn’t see any problems with that but my cooking adventure started with an epic fail - I forgot to thaw the turkey:((( My fault, but my wonderful husband came to my rescue and while I was watching pirozhki being baked in the oven, he rushed to the store and brought two giant turkey legs already cooked and a nice piece of ham. I was saved!

Fish&Chips on New Year’s Day

New Year’s Eve in the States is not what it is in Russia: it is much smaller than Christmas, and many people put down their Christmas lights and decorations on December 31st, but it doesn’t mean people don’t celebrate. 

We rang in 2012 at the Embarcadero in San Francisco surrounded by thousands of pot smokers (oh well), with a good bowl of clam chowder (you can never go wrong with it), champagne (thank you, our snack bag!) and amazing fireworks. Not our typical New Year’s Eve but it was an experience.