Plum Torte

My mother-in-law has been making this fruit torte for longer than I can remember. It's pretty much guaranteed that anytime we go over there for a meal, this will be one of the dessert offerings. She makes it with whatever seasonal fruit she has available. In the summer, she uses peaches, or plums, in the winter, she'll use apples. One of the reasons she makes this dessert so frequently is because it's always a hit with everyone...even my kids. Which is frankly quite shocking to me as they are not big peach, or plum lovers, especially when cooked. But this cake? They love it!

After seeing how much my family loved this torte, I finally asked her for the recipe. It's one of those classic, age old recipes that's probably been around almost as long as I have. It was originally published in the Elegant But Easy Cookbook by Marian Burros and Lois Levine, and after that it made it's way to the pages of the New York Times, where it became one of their most frequently requested recipes of all time. It was so popular that they printed it nearly every year from 1983 to 1995.
After some investigation, I learned that the original recipe was made using Italian prune plums. A few days after this discovery, what was staring right at me while browsing my local farmer's market? Italian prune plums! What are the chances? Kismet, I think.

Some Things I Just Love...

Birchbox has been cycling around the Internet long enough now that I'm fairly certain most of you have already heard of this service. But if not, do you partake? Because if the answer is no, you should really consider giving it a try. Well, that is, if you're anything like me and have an obsession with beauty products.

The way the service works is, for $10 a month, you get a cute little box filled with an array of the latest and greatest beauty product samples, shipped right to your door {the price includes everything, even shipping}. When you open up an account, you have to wait for an invite. Once you're invited and all set up, you can fill out a questionnaire in your account section, with information about what sort of products you like and use most. For instance, if you're not a perfume wearing kind of person, you can opt not to receive perfume samples. Or, if you have thick, fizzy hair, you won't receive volumizing hair products, but instead you'll get moisturizing and frizz-busting stuff.
I can't tell you how many amazing products I've been turned on to since I've started getting my monthly Birchbox. Every time I see a package from them in my mailbox, I get all excited. It's like Christmas every month. The items they pick are so well curated that there's really never been a product I didn't love. Below is the breakdown on some of the products I received in a recent box.

Na'ama's Fattoush

It's not often that you'll hear me saying that I crave salad, but the Levantine salad, Fattoush, is something I'm always in the mood for. There's something about the lemony, minty dressing that I can't get enough of. Loaded with chopped vegetables and toasted {or stale} flatbread, it's very much like another favorite salad of mine, Panzanella, also known as, Italian bread salad. In both cases, the crispy bread is softened by the dressing, adding substance to an otherwise light dish. It can really be a meal in itself.
My love for this salad was in overdrive during my recent pregnancy, but I wasn't making it myself. Instead, I was buying it at one of my favorite Middle Eastern spots, and while their version is delicious, now that I've started getting a grip on my life, it's time I got busy in the kitchen making my own.
A fantastically gorgeous cookbook that's been calling my name helped get me back in my blogging boots. Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, is one of the more spectacular cookbooks I own. The photography is unreal, and each page has something even more delicious looking than the one before. However, this recipe for Fattoush was the one that needed to be made first.

Years ago, I made another version of Fattoush here. While also very delicious, it's quite different from this one. I've never had Fattoush with a creamy, "buttermilk-like" dressing such as this one...which was a large part of why I wanted to try it. You can opt to buy store-bought buttermilk to save time, but I followed the recipe and made my own by combining plain Greek yogurt with milk. It takes several hours for the bubbling action to take place, but if you plan ahead, you can make it the day before, and leave it in the fridge overnight.
Instead of using stale pita bread, this recipe calls for Turkish flatbread...but you could certainly substitute pita, or even naan, if you so desire. I love the Middle Eastern flatbreads from Trader Joe's, so that's what I used. I cut the flatbread into triangles and toasted them briefly to crisp them up, but leaving them out overnight to stale would have worked too. Before I added the flatbread to the salad, I broke the triangles into bite-sized pieces.

2 Months

I've been dying to update you on how big {and precious} my sweet Sophia has gotten! I can't believe it's already been two months since she was born. It seems like only yesterday that I was waddling around all puffy and swollen...and very pregnant. During the first few weeks of post-partum life, there were times when I wished I was still pregnant {hard to believe, considering how much I cursed the July heat those last few weeks}. But adjusting to life with a newborn again, after nine years, was quite a challenge initially. She lost a whole pound her first two weeks in the world...and for anyone who's had a child and remembers this part, by two weeks old they're supposed to be at their birth weight again, not a pound less!
You see, I'm nursing her, just like I did my two boys, and the process didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. My milk was slow to come in, and she ended up needing to be supplemented with formula. I was encouraged to pump after her feedings to build up my supply, which meant I had about a half hour of non-feeding related activities every 3-4 hours, or so. I was existing purely as a milk factory. I was drained physically, recovering from her birth, and to add fuel to the fire, my emotions were in a hormonal upheaval. On top of all that, I had my two boys, who were about to begin a new year of school, and who needed me to function as their mother as well.

Introducing...

...our sweet as pie baby girl! Sophia Marie was born nearly two weeks ago, on July 25th at 10:58pm...an hour and two minutes before her due date. She's perfect in every way, with blue eyes and a generous mop of dark brown hair! I was shocked she wasn't a redhead because after having two crimson haired boys before her, I figured it was destined, but I'm fine with a brunette too! I'm happy my husband has at least one child that takes after him in the hair color department, and truthfully, I could care less what color her hair is...I'm just over the moon that she's here and healthy!
These past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions. Everything from sheer infatuation and adoration to being completely overwhelmed by it all. It's been nine years since I held my last baby in my arms, so this has been like starting all over again. The most surreal part of it so far has been watching our household grow to a family of five. Getting in the car feels different {and certainly fuller with a carseat!}, laying in our king sized bed on a Sunday morning is cozier, and going grocery shopping is more chaotic than ever..but best of all has been seeing my two sons welcome their baby sister. They are smitten beyond words and couldn't be more helpful. I know the novelty will probably wear slightly with time, but for now, I'll take it!

I've been working on this post, a little here, a little there, for days now, but I'm at Sophia's command at the moment, and having any extra "hands free" time has been a luxury I'm rarely afforded. There's so much more I want to talk about and share with you...and hopefully, over the coming weeks I'll be able to. Since I was last here, I've had two amazing baby showers - thrown and attended by my many amazing friends and family members. The starting over part doesn't just apply to the emotional and physical parts of this process, but also to the material aspects as well. I got rid of every single last bit of baby gear I had from my previous two babies years ago and have had to start from square one with that too. I'll be sharing all of my favorite baby finds with you soon!