The Joy of a Quick Dessert

I have become a big fan of the yogurt cake for two very simple reasons.  It tastes good, and it is super easy to make--no exotic ingredients or special tools required.  You do not even need an electric mixer!

Another positive aspect of this cake is that you can make it in a variety of ways, changing its flavor to whatever pleases you most.  The plain version is great by itself, or with a thin layer of raspberry jam.  I also love the blueberry lemon and the cranberry orange variations.  There are many other variations to try too.

The recipe I rely on is the Yogurt Cake by Clotilde of Chocolate & Zucchini.  I do tend to skip rum--just not the flavor I like in this particular cake.  If you are out of yogurt, the recipe also works with sour cream.  You can make it as a cake in a 9 inch cake pan, or in a 8 x 8 inch baking dish.  You can also bake the recipe as muffins, though the baking time will have be adjusted.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs 
• 1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• a good pinch of salt 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste/extract

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F
2. Line the bottom of a round 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.  (When I bake this in the 8 x 8 square dish, I skip the parchment paper, and just butter the dish.)
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. 
4. In another (smaller) bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
5. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture and mix together just until everything is wet.  It is very important not to over-mix, or large pockets of air will form in your cake.  
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.  (In my oven, the baking time is usually longer (40-45 minutes), but I usually start checking after 30.)

For the cranberry orange variation, before the above step 5 do the following:

• add a cup of cranberries (I usually use frozen ones) to the flour mixture and mix (DO NOT use craisins here)
• add zest of 1 orange (or to taste) to the yogurt mixture and mix

For the blueberry lemon variation, before the above step 5 do the following:

• add a cup of blueberries (I usually use frozen ones) to the flour mixture and mix
• add zest of 1 lemon (or to taste) to the yogurt mixture and mix

Enjoy!

A Bottle and a Museum Visit

Nat experienced several "firsts" today.  A big milestone was trying out eating from the bottle.  (Before any of you take issue with the content of the bottle, I assure you it is still breast milk!)

Nick gets to feed Nat for the first time,
and Nat test-drives a bottle.

Luckily, the bottle seemed to present no obstacles between Nat and his milk.  Later in the day he proved not to have forgotten how to access milk in a more, should we say, old fashioned way, which made us parents even happier.

In the afternoon instead of our usual stroll around the park, Nat made his first visit to the Museum of Fine Arts. (I could not resist checking out the new exhibit of Alex Katz prints.)  Unfortunately our visit to the MFA was very short--I will definitely have to go back to see more of the exhibit.  Without steady movement of the stroller, Nat woke up sooner than expected and started to vocalize his emotions, forcing me to evacuate us from the gallery.  On the positive side, I am now aware of the fact that the museum has a nursing room--how great is that!

Boston Marathon

I really wanted to take Nat to see his first Boston Marathon.  I thought it would be something fun we could do as a family, even though I realize that Nat would not remember any of it, nor can he see anything beyond what is a foot away from his nose.

16 days old

However, Nick and I decided that today's weather (sunny and high 80's F) was not only less than ideal for the runners, but also would be tough on our little baby.  So instead, Nick went out to see the lead runners, while I went out later to cheer my fellow coworkers.  And Nat spent the day at home.

Kenya's Sheron Cherop and Jemima Jelagat Sumgong

Levy Matebo and Wesley Korir just after Kenmore Square

Two Weeks Already?

Nat is two weeks old today.  I find it hard to believe that it has already been two weeks since he was born.  To me it feels like it was just yesterday.  Nick, on the other hand, feels like it has been ages.

2 weeks old

Nat definitely is more awake and alert and looks around a lot more.  He no longer gets upset during diaper changes, nor does he mind his baths.  His awake times are still mostly centered around eating.  In this aspect, Nat and I are not very different, despite our huge difference in size and age.

It turns out milk production requires a lot of energy--more than anything I have ever previously experienced, more than the pregnancy or any marathon training.  I spend most of my day sitting on the couch.  However, I have switched to 4 meals per day, I eat a ton of snacks in between, and I snack in the middle of the night.  All this madness is to avoid further weight loss.

Today we had a visit from a lactation consultant.  According to her, my kid "sucks milk in like a vacuum cleaner"...

The Same and Nat

Day of birth

To name this blog post I am "borrowing" a chapter title "Те же и Сенечка" from Alexandra Brushtein's autobiography, where she describes the birth of her younger brother.  Except that I am using the title to refer to the birth of my baby.

1 day old

Nat is only a week old now, but I am already very proud of him:

• He never showed any sign of distress during the horrendously long labor--his heart beat was monitored almost the entire time.  If his heart rate ever did anything unexpected (like drop), I would be whisked away into an operating room for a C-section in minutes, and I am very grateful that it did not happen. 
• He managed not to lose weight between being discharged from the hospital and his first pediatrician visit.
• He managed to gain over 5 ounces by his second pediatrician visit only two days later.  (Apparently what the doctors want to see is that a baby like Nat is gaining at least an ounce a day...)
• And of course Nick and I find him terribly cute.

(I could have lived without his holding his arm up to his head during birth, but of course, no one is perfect.)

1 week old

Overall, it has been a very emotional week, as we all continue to adjust our new lives as a family.  

I think Colin Meloy said it really well:

"... it was only me and you
that made this three come out of two
My darling, what wonder have we wrought here? ...
It's weird, but mostly wonderful, dear "