Asparagus Tart and more Salad Days

My mother in law and her brother

We spent the past weekend in the Waterloo region of Ontario visiting Andrey's relatives.  It was his uncle's birthday and a good excuse to go see everyone and the new house his aunt and uncle built on his grandparent's old property.  While we were there we went to the St. Tikhon Russian Orthodox Church where some friends attend.  After liturgy on Sunday, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant and enjoyed a street festival that was going on outside.  There were crafts for sale, live music, and fun stuff like a huge chalk Scrabble board where the tiles were made of floor tiles.  The kids and adults really had fun!

With Andrey's cousin's family who were such great hosts for the weekend

Liza on the tractor!  We have a similar photo of Andrey as a toddler on the same tractor.

Liza and me dancing to live folk music

Scrabble!

Papas on Father's Day!

Today I made my menu plan for the week and am including a few new salads.  Today I made Broccoli Slaw from my Smitten Kitchen cookbook.  I won't re-write the recipe since it's on her website.  I replaced the buttermilk with yogurt and the red onion with shallot and it was great!  Andrey and I ate most of it for lunch even though I was planning to also serve it for dinner.  Like the author of the recipe I also really craved broccoli when I was pregnant.  I still love it!  It was that and chocolate, but chocolate is more of a perennial craving for me :)

I think this time of year is so great for lots of salads since so many fruits and vegetables are coming into season.  The 100 Days of Real Food blog has a great list for some salad inspiration.

A few weeks ago we were in Cincinnati for a couple of events.... the Steady Strides 5K for Parkinson's, the placing of the relics of St. George in the new temple, A Russian Summer's Night at the Peterloon Estate, and of course, to hang out more with my family!  What an eventful weekend!  Bishop Peter came from Chicago to place the relics in the new temple and on Sunday there were six priests and a deacon along with the bishop in the altar!  For our little church, that is quite a lot.  Everything was really festive!  My father received a gramata and my mother an icon for their work in the parish.  The gramata was specifically for starting the building project.  The icon my mother received was of Grand Duchess Elizabeth (Liza's patron saint!) and Vladika remarked how the Grand Duchess had made it her life's work to take care of the ailing.  It is appropriate as my mother is the main caregiver for my father, so her intersessions are important for my mother.

Our first 5K!

At the placing of the relics

 

Almost finished!!

A Russian Summer's Night!

At Peterloon - our first night out without Liza since she was born!

While in Cincinnati, we also threw and impromptu birthday luncheon for an old friend of the family who turned 88!  I made asparagus tarts for the event.  It's very easy!  Here is the recipe:


Asparagus Tart
 
2 puff pastry sheets, thawed
1 bunch of asparagus
1½ - 2 cups grated cheese (something with flavor, like gruyere or sharp cheddar is good, or use a mix of whatever you have. I used Manchego from Trader Joe's this time.)
Mustard (any variety you like)

Roll out the pastry a bit so it fills cookie sheet.  Spread it with a thin layer of mustard.  Snap the ends off the asparagus and place on the crust.  Cover with cheese.  Bake at 400° for about 35 minutes.

In addition to this we had sandwiches, salad with goat cheese, strawberry cake, chocolate cake, toasted almond gelato, and vanilla gelato.  What a great meal and great company!

The birthday 'boy' is at the end in front of Andrey.  Happy Birthday, Moe!