Things you have to do when you travel with babies

Take breaks to chase pigeons.

Wash poop out of baby clothes with hand soap in your hotel room's bathroom sink.

Return to the room mid-day for nap time.

Skip a long day trip to accommodate said nap time.

Recognize that it's no longer about seeing as much as possible in the time you have.

Understand that, no matter how many new toys you pack in your bag for the train journey, your child will spend an hour playing peek-a-boo with the person sitting behind you. Or batting around an empty plastic water bottle.

Realize that, sometimes, a McDonald's in a foreign city really is a blessing (judge all you want).
 


Pictures when we get back to Moscow tomorrow evening.

Morning at Maiden's

Convent, that is.  We spent an hour walking around Novodevichy (New Maiden's) Convent this morning.  The walled convent is a UNESCO Heritage site, and it's just a 10-minute drive from us - or a 20-minute trolley commute - or a 45-minute walk.  When we leave Moscow, I will really miss both the city living and the proximity to so many beautiful places. 

Homemade cloth diaper

Some of you are going to think I'm really nuts after reading this post.  Not only does this girl voluntarily reuse poopy diapers, but she actually makes them herself.

I sewed my first pocket diaper this week.  Z just wore it for two hours and it did the job.  My pattern does need some work.  For example, I realized after uploading these photos that I totally put the pocket on the wrong end.  That's why it fits a bit funny.  Oops.

Tots Around Town Tuesdays: Dior Exhibit

Today we took the trolley to the Pushkin Museum to see an exhibit of Dior gowns.

We made quite a sight - three disheveled and sweaty mommas, two (myself included) with babies strapped to their chests, and three toddlers.  Also, it was so hot.  It even smelled like a sauna.  We guessed those conditions were necessary for the gown preservation, but it was pretty uncomfortable.

We also got special attention from the apron-clad babushki monitoring each room.  They followed close behind us to make sure our kids didn't smudge the glass or try to tug the dresses.  Pictures were not allowed, and, as we were already under close surveillance, I didn't try to sneak any.  It's really too bad because it was an absolutely gorgeous exhibit.  I found this one on the net - you can take a look at the rest here.

Natasha was completely transfixed.  Kid has good taste.

Afterwards, we got some cream puffs at Beard Papa's.

We worked them off by walking the 1.5-2 miles or so home.  I think this was my favorite Tots Around Town Tuesday outing so far.

Quack

I've recently become intrigued with duck, perhaps because it's readily available at the local grocery stores.  I don't remember seeing duck at DC-area Giants and Safeways. 

I made duck for the first time this past Christmas.  It was pretty tasty.  Today I made it again.  I bought two half-ducks and used a combination of recipes I found online (seriously, I don't know why I even own so many cookbooks).  I was interested in wasting as little of the duck as possible, so I decided to render my own duck fat.  (I learned how to do this on the Internet too).

So I started with the left over fat from the duck.  This is the skin and fat remaining after our dinner:

I also had this:

The recipe I used called for steaming the duck in a steamer basket set into a pot of several inches of water.  I put the steaming water into the fridge overnight, and the drippings solidified and became the solid white mass, about 1/4 of an inch thick, that you see above.

I put the skin and the white solid fat into a saute pan and filled it with about 3/4 an inch of water.  I set the stove to the lowest heat setting as I had read online.  That turned out not to be nearly hot enough, so I raised it to 3.

After 30 minutes, I had this:

I decided at that point that maybe I should have cut the fat up smaller, so I fished it out and did just that.  After a total of 55 minutes of cooking time, I had this:

And after 75 minutes, I had this:

I fished out the cracklings with a slotted spoon (had to loosen them from the bottom of the pan first) and then strained the remaining fat.  I ended up with this (sorry for the poorly focused photo - I get no natural light in my kitchen and also I don't really know what I'm doing):

and this:

The cracklings are delicious, but really, really rich.  I ate four of them (all about dime-to-nickel sized) and couldn't eat any more.  That's saying a LOT, because this girl can put away animal fat.

I used a bit of the duck fat to roast red cabbage and onions for tonight's dinner.  Pretty tasty.  I plan to experiment with frying eggs in it later in the week.  And tomorrow I will use the bones left from the duck to make duck stock.  Voila: no waste!