Moscow Gourmet Kitchen

Apples taking a bubble bath before being turned into applesauce.

Yes, all of these are cucumbers!

An annual treat: crate of Smallwood Farms peaches.

Friends who are out of town this week asked if I wanted to pick up and eat their CSA share. You bet I did! My camera is broken and I don't have a camera on my old-fashioned phone so I can't capture the beauty of this produce but I am including a link to the farm's website so you can see some of their photos and maybe even sign up for a CSA (they allow purchasing one box at a time!). On the menu in the coming week: three eggplant dishes, each made with a different variety of eggplant, including a Thai curry, Indian brinjal pickle, and soy glazed eggplant; cold borshch; sauteed kale to be mixed into pasta or served as part of a quinoa bowl or alongside eggs; a fresh cuke for slicing and eating together with our own homegrown cherry tomatoes; and two spring onions that I have yet to decide what to do with - ideas???

HOME | Hoodooblooms

I can live on salads like this - beans or lentils, a veg or two, maybe a grain, and something green - any time of year. In this case, it's kidney beans (from a can; too hot to cook a pot of beans these days), steamed cauliflower, roasted sweet potato, and parsley, dressed with a curry honey mustard vinaigrette.

A friend living in Japan surprised me with this lovely package today.

Haven't made these jam bars in ages. Instantly recognizable for all of us with a Soviet/post Soviet childhood. It's the kind of thing you make when you want something sweet to go with your tea but your fridge and pantry are down to the bare minimum. The recipe only calls for staples: flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, eggs, and jam. I used half of my last jar of 2020's apricot freezer jam to make these bars and the sweet/tart contrast between crust and filling is just about perfect.

This morning's farmers market haul.

Sour cherry cake with sour cream frosting for a friend's birthday, per her request. Recipe slightly adapted from Anya von Bremzen's Please to the Table. Decorating didn't quite go as planned so I ended up just covering the surface with cherries.

This might be my first weekend morning baking project ever. These were ready before I was even fully awake. https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/perfect-blueberry-muffins/

Using up frozen fruit and berries from last year in preparation for new crop coming soon. This sweet cherry cake was based on the recipe below. I observed all the proportions but made some pretty significant substitutions. https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/harvest-grape-olive-oil-cake.html

I don't cook Russian food often, but when I do, I make a big batch.