I've been rubbish about pictures this fall- so here is our fall and Christmas in review - Enjoy!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
If it has it's own commercial . . . . .
So the Euro 2012 match has been in a state of Limbo the last 2 years - will Ukraine and Poland pull it off or not? Well now it has its own commercial -so it must be happening, right?. Taking bids now for couch and sleeping bag space. 6 min walk from metro - 40 min ride to the arena ; )
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Snow
We got our first snow fall the other day and after 3 more days of trying we finally got a small skiff that has stuck around. Not a layer - very definitely a skiff.
Sorry I don't have anything more interesting to say that that - we just haven't had time - our house isn't even decorated for Christmas yet - but having anticipated this to a degree I arranged a cookie decorating party for January 9th with the girls from Church - I thankful for the long holiday at least.
Alister, however will be gone for most of it - dashing off to the UK for a month of studies. He's actually relieved to be missing the traditional 8 weeks of carols that our church sings - but I don't mind - I was ready to sing Carols in November - but Alister said after Thanksgiving and then after 2 nights of carols he said we couldn't do anymore till the house was decorated. Well - the house is still undecorated so family worship singing hasn't wandered to the Christmas section yet. But I've been listening to my own Holiday stash as i've been tackling editing jobs and house work :- )
For new comers who want to know more about a Ukrainian Christmas - check out last year's post on Christmas music and this general letter.
Sorry I don't have anything more interesting to say that that - we just haven't had time - our house isn't even decorated for Christmas yet - but having anticipated this to a degree I arranged a cookie decorating party for January 9th with the girls from Church - I thankful for the long holiday at least.
Alister, however will be gone for most of it - dashing off to the UK for a month of studies. He's actually relieved to be missing the traditional 8 weeks of carols that our church sings - but I don't mind - I was ready to sing Carols in November - but Alister said after Thanksgiving and then after 2 nights of carols he said we couldn't do anymore till the house was decorated. Well - the house is still undecorated so family worship singing hasn't wandered to the Christmas section yet. But I've been listening to my own Holiday stash as i've been tackling editing jobs and house work :- )
For new comers who want to know more about a Ukrainian Christmas - check out last year's post on Christmas music and this general letter.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Fruits of the season
Okay you supermarket junkies . . . .did you know that now is the season for
Brussle Sprouts
Pomegranates,
Sharon Fruit (persimmons)
Citrus of all sorts
?
While I still haven't really taken a shine to sharon fruit (male or female)- I do love pomegranates. Last year - when i discovered the easy way of cutting them so you and your kitchen don't end up looking like a crime scene - my appetite for them really took off.
I first became interested in them years ago when I first read The Mouse that Roared. My mom was good enough to buy one - but I was unimpressed - it tasted like corn.
Since then, I have gone on to bigger and better pomegranates - and while there is the occasional one that make you wonder how Persephone could have been tempted - on the whole I like them.
To make your experience with pomegranate better
1) cut off the tip top below the crown - while you might hit a few berries it won't be too many.
2) Take you knife and score the sides, like you would an orange peel in 4 or 5 places - you should be able to see white "guides" from when you sliced off the top.
3) Gently pull the pomegranate apart along the scores
- You can now either pick at seeds, or put the fruit upside down in a bowl of water for about ten minutes. This will further loosen the seeds and make them even easier to extract.
Brussle Sprouts
Pomegranates,
Sharon Fruit (persimmons)
Citrus of all sorts
?
While I still haven't really taken a shine to sharon fruit (male or female)- I do love pomegranates. Last year - when i discovered the easy way of cutting them so you and your kitchen don't end up looking like a crime scene - my appetite for them really took off.
I first became interested in them years ago when I first read The Mouse that Roared. My mom was good enough to buy one - but I was unimpressed - it tasted like corn.
Since then, I have gone on to bigger and better pomegranates - and while there is the occasional one that make you wonder how Persephone could have been tempted - on the whole I like them.
To make your experience with pomegranate better
1) cut off the tip top below the crown - while you might hit a few berries it won't be too many.
2) Take you knife and score the sides, like you would an orange peel in 4 or 5 places - you should be able to see white "guides" from when you sliced off the top.
3) Gently pull the pomegranate apart along the scores
- You can now either pick at seeds, or put the fruit upside down in a bowl of water for about ten minutes. This will further loosen the seeds and make them even easier to extract.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thanksgivng
Had a wonderful Thanksgiving - here in Kiev - loads of food - loads of friends - and just a great time all over. 6 families participated - and with that many cooks - of course everyone brought their own desert (pumpkin cheesecake, apple, pumpkin, pecan, chocolate pecan pies, and apple crisp) as well- even with a sliver - I think I ended up eating a whole pie. -
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Back to the classics
In my quest for classics - I have just finished listening to a Globe Radio Production of Madame Bovary. If you care about these things, and you might one day read Madame Bovary - be aware that this blog post will contain ***SPOILERS***.
Frankly, I thought it was a waste of time and don't understand why it is a classic. True - the author's voice was very picturesque - but the character - Madame Bovary was not sympethetic in the least. She was revolting with no redeemable thing in her and then her husband - who was nice just pines away and dies for no reason at the end of the book even though he learns what a terrible woman and wife she was. In fact - he is still making excuses for her and even tells one of her lovers that he understands!
I don't mind if a character is abit dodgy - I love Flannery O'Conner's stories and her characters are often quite raw - but the differnce is that they are not beyond redemption -- or they at least realize how rotten they were. Emma - in typicall selfish fashion - realizes she doesn't want to die for no other apparent reason than that it is painful and gruesom and not at all romantic - the crowning dissapointment of all of her dissapointments- unrealistic expectations that were not met.
Simultaneously to Madame Bovary, I am reading Crime and Punishment. How I managed to pick two books about morally revolting people, I 'm not really sure - but so it goes. Even before he commited the murder, I was unsure if I really wanted to read about such a character - and Alister can't remember how it ends but says "his conscious tortures him - so how can he be a complete moral rebrobate" So I haven't gone too far past the murder - but in my opinion, someone who can kill someone simply because he fell into a brooding depression and made it worse by not talking to people or seeking work and all of those other things that get yu out of the world inside of your head - well, I'm just not sure if I want to read about such a character if nothing then comes of it - i.e redemption and sympathy are not achievable.
Frankly, I thought it was a waste of time and don't understand why it is a classic. True - the author's voice was very picturesque - but the character - Madame Bovary was not sympethetic in the least. She was revolting with no redeemable thing in her and then her husband - who was nice just pines away and dies for no reason at the end of the book even though he learns what a terrible woman and wife she was. In fact - he is still making excuses for her and even tells one of her lovers that he understands!
I don't mind if a character is abit dodgy - I love Flannery O'Conner's stories and her characters are often quite raw - but the differnce is that they are not beyond redemption -- or they at least realize how rotten they were. Emma - in typicall selfish fashion - realizes she doesn't want to die for no other apparent reason than that it is painful and gruesom and not at all romantic - the crowning dissapointment of all of her dissapointments- unrealistic expectations that were not met.
Simultaneously to Madame Bovary, I am reading Crime and Punishment. How I managed to pick two books about morally revolting people, I 'm not really sure - but so it goes. Even before he commited the murder, I was unsure if I really wanted to read about such a character - and Alister can't remember how it ends but says "his conscious tortures him - so how can he be a complete moral rebrobate" So I haven't gone too far past the murder - but in my opinion, someone who can kill someone simply because he fell into a brooding depression and made it worse by not talking to people or seeking work and all of those other things that get yu out of the world inside of your head - well, I'm just not sure if I want to read about such a character if nothing then comes of it - i.e redemption and sympathy are not achievable.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Food, Inc
Lately, Alister and I have been watching a lot of documentaries (partly because PBS and the history channel seem to be the only stations that don't foreign IP addresses).
Our latest find was Food, Inc. We had heard about the movie this summer, and after watching King Corn, and Super Size Me - we had it on our list.
It was excellent. The main thing that keeps going over and over in my head is this one scene where an organic farmer is outside butchering and packing chickens. He says that the big chicken factory tried to shut him down by saying his operations were unsanitary (well, we might think - he is outside!) So he had his chicken tested along with one of the supermarket packing plant chickens. His chicken was 1000 times cleaner!!!!!! than the packing pack chicken - and, he made the point, his chicken hasn't been through any chlorine baths.
While this makes me feel tremendously safer about shopping in our outdoor market - it also makes me thankful not to be in the US buying my food. Based on numerous articles I've been reading this past year - I've already told Alister that we can't eat ground beef when we visit the states unless it comes from my Uncle's farm - and now i'm afraid that I really will cave and go "organic" despite the cost. While food is generally more expensive here in Europe - and even while Ukrainian food doesn't have the best reputation in Europe - many things - such as Genetically Modified foods - have been banned. Here in Ukraine, there still are concerns about chickens who have been pumped up with steroids or whatever - people will tell you to buy beef or pork or buy from a babushka - but in general - I don't think there are the huge mega packing houses and meat plants that there are in the states. While a smaller scale may be seen as inefficient - right now i'm thinking "cleaner" and “safer”.
In the UK - Beef and other products are safer still - because of the Mad Cow scare - meat packages in the supermarket must be labelled with the farm from which the animal came - that means no mixed portions of cows from Uruguay, Texas and Timbuktu - You can even select a piece of meat that came from your neighbour down the road.
And that, I think, is pretty darn cool.
Our latest find was Food, Inc. We had heard about the movie this summer, and after watching King Corn, and Super Size Me - we had it on our list.
It was excellent. The main thing that keeps going over and over in my head is this one scene where an organic farmer is outside butchering and packing chickens. He says that the big chicken factory tried to shut him down by saying his operations were unsanitary (well, we might think - he is outside!) So he had his chicken tested along with one of the supermarket packing plant chickens. His chicken was 1000 times cleaner!!!!!! than the packing pack chicken - and, he made the point, his chicken hasn't been through any chlorine baths.
While this makes me feel tremendously safer about shopping in our outdoor market - it also makes me thankful not to be in the US buying my food. Based on numerous articles I've been reading this past year - I've already told Alister that we can't eat ground beef when we visit the states unless it comes from my Uncle's farm - and now i'm afraid that I really will cave and go "organic" despite the cost. While food is generally more expensive here in Europe - and even while Ukrainian food doesn't have the best reputation in Europe - many things - such as Genetically Modified foods - have been banned. Here in Ukraine, there still are concerns about chickens who have been pumped up with steroids or whatever - people will tell you to buy beef or pork or buy from a babushka - but in general - I don't think there are the huge mega packing houses and meat plants that there are in the states. While a smaller scale may be seen as inefficient - right now i'm thinking "cleaner" and “safer”.
In the UK - Beef and other products are safer still - because of the Mad Cow scare - meat packages in the supermarket must be labelled with the farm from which the animal came - that means no mixed portions of cows from Uruguay, Texas and Timbuktu - You can even select a piece of meat that came from your neighbour down the road.
And that, I think, is pretty darn cool.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Cooking with beets #3
I had bought some beets at the market the other day but as group was canceled due to quarentine and Alsiter doesn't like the beet salad himself- I needed a way to use them up . We just happened to be having pasta so I grated one up to add to the marinara Sauce.
The color was spectacular - though it did color the noodles a bit magenta - but the result in flavor was unnoticable while adding loads of nutrients.
A success in my book.
The color was spectacular - though it did color the noodles a bit magenta - but the result in flavor was unnoticable while adding loads of nutrients.
A success in my book.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
3 ingredients short of a sandwich
I found myself today wishing I could eat a Reuben Sandwich. The delectable, crisp, buttery rye overflowing with melted swiss, sauerkraut, and corned beef - and don't forget the Russian dressing!
Unfortunately - not only are there no places in Kiev that sell reubens (to my knowledge )- but not only can you not buy Russian dressing - but surprisingly Sauerkraut isn't present either. Ok - the un-availability of corned beef isn't a surprise.
Truth be told, I've never made a Reuben myself - I order them on rare occasions - the last one this June with my Mom at the Dayton Bookstore and Brewery. Yum.
So i scour the internet - all things must be able to be made from scratch is my motto - and so they can. If i can track down Prague powder and juniper berries - i can have Corned Beef at my disposal in a mere 10 days. Sauerkraut another 20. I think I can live without the Russian dressing - but then again, there is bound to be a recipe for it or thousand island somewhere on the internet as well. A grocery story in the center sells a beautiful rye - much nicer than the Ukrainian Baton you can buy in the kiosks - and swiss can be bought in any supermarket. If all goes well - I may be sinking my teeth into a Reuben within a month. Maybe I could even open a grill and add Cheesesteaks, Monte Cristos and other purely American inventions to the lineup.
Unfortunately - not only are there no places in Kiev that sell reubens (to my knowledge )- but not only can you not buy Russian dressing - but surprisingly Sauerkraut isn't present either. Ok - the un-availability of corned beef isn't a surprise.
Truth be told, I've never made a Reuben myself - I order them on rare occasions - the last one this June with my Mom at the Dayton Bookstore and Brewery. Yum.
So i scour the internet - all things must be able to be made from scratch is my motto - and so they can. If i can track down Prague powder and juniper berries - i can have Corned Beef at my disposal in a mere 10 days. Sauerkraut another 20. I think I can live without the Russian dressing - but then again, there is bound to be a recipe for it or thousand island somewhere on the internet as well. A grocery story in the center sells a beautiful rye - much nicer than the Ukrainian Baton you can buy in the kiosks - and swiss can be bought in any supermarket. If all goes well - I may be sinking my teeth into a Reuben within a month. Maybe I could even open a grill and add Cheesesteaks, Monte Cristos and other purely American inventions to the lineup.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Notes from the Quarentine
Tomorrow marks 1 week of quarentine. Cinemas have been closed, mass gatherings forbidden, the drugstores - of which there are many all have a booming business - but no masks. While some workplaces have sent employees home on "quarentine work from home" the metro is still packed at rush hour. Some people in masks, but most without.
The latest death toll is at 95.
All this less than two weeks after the Embassy and an article in the Kyiv Post - an English language newspaper - testified that the Ukrainian governement was prepared and that Ukraine might even miss the swine flu all together - who, after all, was traveling to Ukraine during the Economic crisis? Currently, WHO estimates that Ukraine is, and will remain, the worst hit country in Europe with over 12million Ukrainians becoming ill with the virus by next fall.
For now, we are on quarentine.
With apprehension I go to the not bustling market and buy produce, meat, milk - I asked Alister if I should start baking our own bread since it goes through so many hands - but he says that we put it in the toaster and so it should be fine. But here are people without gloves, without sanitary facilities scooping and handling my food - so yes some things are cooked - but what about the nuts? Or the water from the kiosk where the woman handles the cap, the spigot, and touches the neck and lip of the bottle with hands that I cannot garentee but with which I suspect she was eating a few moments before?
You become conscious of coughing, of sniffling, of wheezing and you wonder - how long until I get it?
The latest death toll is at 95.
All this less than two weeks after the Embassy and an article in the Kyiv Post - an English language newspaper - testified that the Ukrainian governement was prepared and that Ukraine might even miss the swine flu all together - who, after all, was traveling to Ukraine during the Economic crisis? Currently, WHO estimates that Ukraine is, and will remain, the worst hit country in Europe with over 12million Ukrainians becoming ill with the virus by next fall.
For now, we are on quarentine.
With apprehension I go to the not bustling market and buy produce, meat, milk - I asked Alister if I should start baking our own bread since it goes through so many hands - but he says that we put it in the toaster and so it should be fine. But here are people without gloves, without sanitary facilities scooping and handling my food - so yes some things are cooked - but what about the nuts? Or the water from the kiosk where the woman handles the cap, the spigot, and touches the neck and lip of the bottle with hands that I cannot garentee but with which I suspect she was eating a few moments before?
You become conscious of coughing, of sniffling, of wheezing and you wonder - how long until I get it?
Monday, October 26, 2009
Talented friends
A friend from church lost her job in the first wave of the crisis last year (she is a graphic designer) but instead of being stumped - she put her talents to things around her and is now making and designing dog clothing, or at least clothing for a Yorkshire Terrier. She is incredible talented and has basically taught herself to sew and has just started looking at pictures on the internet and making her own. I just had to share one of the incredible people around us (also if you're interested in some custom made clothes for your loyal companion - let us know!)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Dreary Days of Winter
It is well into fall here and we are waiting for our heat to turn on. 17 people in our apartment haven't been paying bills apparently and so the hot water has been off/sporadic since the end of July and we wonder if the heat will actually come on at all.
Fortunately - Tuesday our apartment became the new home for a brand new water heater. Ah the bliss of a warm water out of a tap rather than a bucket. We are very thankful for our Landlord to buying it without any prodding or begging from us - in fact - up until the last two weeks - we were willing to stick it out till the building resolved the problem (then it started getting very very cold). Now with our little space heater or the oven happily baking squash, or muffins, or anything else i can think of to throw in it - we are quite content.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Cars, traffic and transport
Alister and I live an 8 minute walk from the metro. We are very thankful for this, because despite the suffocating press of people during rush hour, it is the only transportation that you can get on and know for sure you will reach your destination in a set time period.
An open democracy article highlights the problem of traffic in Moscow. Kiev isn't quite so bad - but it isn't far behind either. If you read the article - not that Moscow has twice as many cars per hectare (10,000 sq meters) than new york. Another interesting tidbit - for some reason a highway would cost 100 million to build there while the same equivilant highway would cost 6 million in the US.
The main problem in Kiev and Moscow and most european cities are the same - you have old, narrow streets that are now being utilized to carry way more traffic than they were designed for and there is no space to expand.
An open democracy article highlights the problem of traffic in Moscow. Kiev isn't quite so bad - but it isn't far behind either. If you read the article - not that Moscow has twice as many cars per hectare (10,000 sq meters) than new york. Another interesting tidbit - for some reason a highway would cost 100 million to build there while the same equivilant highway would cost 6 million in the US.
The main problem in Kiev and Moscow and most european cities are the same - you have old, narrow streets that are now being utilized to carry way more traffic than they were designed for and there is no space to expand.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Books and such
I know, I know. I'm doing a lousy job at posting once a week.
Part of that is because I've been doing some free lance translation and editing and just being kept busy with other things as well.
In the mean time, I've been trying to find time to read/ listen to classics. I just finished Ivanhoe, which I read as a Senior in high school and loved and thought it time to read again. One thing I missed/forgot had no idea of was that King Richard the lion heart was a Norman - ie French - which I found amazing since he was so well loved.
I then decided I really needed to actually KNOW Shakespeare rather than just know of him - and I found this great site that actually has audio recordings of a lot of his plays for free. So this is my new kitchen listening :-) I'm trying to convince Alister to read them with me - but part of the idea of reading is to get AWAY from the computer - and although we can find the scripts easily enough - I don't think we really want to print them out - so i'll have to ask around and see what copies of Shakespeare are floating around in Kiev among my acquaintances.
I was trying to find a free audio of Measure for Measure but with no luck. Anyway - this is play I have heard absolutely nothing about and thought it would be fun to read "Shakespeare's darkest tragedy.
We also watched (from the climax to the end! - talk about a weird place to start) the Merchant of Venice - which was also fantastic and I am determined to read/watch/ listen to the whole thing soon as well. Thankfully - we were able to make out what was going on - listen to a couple of fabulous monologues in the court room scene and use Wikipedia to fill in the blanks. It was especially interesting to read it in light of reading Ivanhoe as well since the theme of prejudice against Jews is obviously a center of both.
Part of that is because I've been doing some free lance translation and editing and just being kept busy with other things as well.
In the mean time, I've been trying to find time to read/ listen to classics. I just finished Ivanhoe, which I read as a Senior in high school and loved and thought it time to read again. One thing I missed/forgot had no idea of was that King Richard the lion heart was a Norman - ie French - which I found amazing since he was so well loved.
I then decided I really needed to actually KNOW Shakespeare rather than just know of him - and I found this great site that actually has audio recordings of a lot of his plays for free. So this is my new kitchen listening :-) I'm trying to convince Alister to read them with me - but part of the idea of reading is to get AWAY from the computer - and although we can find the scripts easily enough - I don't think we really want to print them out - so i'll have to ask around and see what copies of Shakespeare are floating around in Kiev among my acquaintances.
I was trying to find a free audio of Measure for Measure but with no luck. Anyway - this is play I have heard absolutely nothing about and thought it would be fun to read "Shakespeare's darkest tragedy.
We also watched (from the climax to the end! - talk about a weird place to start) the Merchant of Venice - which was also fantastic and I am determined to read/watch/ listen to the whole thing soon as well. Thankfully - we were able to make out what was going on - listen to a couple of fabulous monologues in the court room scene and use Wikipedia to fill in the blanks. It was especially interesting to read it in light of reading Ivanhoe as well since the theme of prejudice against Jews is obviously a center of both.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Glass Walls
Normally, I'm the observant one in the family. Sometimes too observant. Yest
erday while wandering out of an underground shopping mall towards the metro I turned my head ever so slightly to consider the Coffee & Tea Kiosk to my right with a lovely display of tea pots. (ours is currently handle-less). In my interest in the tea pots, I failed to adequately notice that the "hallway" immediately to the left was the perfectly cleaned, unadorned glass walls of the Apple store. I turned too soon and ran SPLAT into the glass wall.
Momentarily stunned, my eyes focused enough to see the Apple Guy looking up from his computer and staring at me. The two chattering girls behind me had fallen into muffle silence, though that was very soon replaced by rollicking laughter. I, on the other hand, stumbled away from the wall and tried to not limp my way down the real passageway to the metro. I have a bruise on my leg and my eyebrow bone is sore to the touch, and a big imprint of my face was left on the glass. Fortunately, Kiev is a big city, I don't have an Apple, and am not likely to be there, or recognized by any of the witnesses, anytime soon.
erday while wandering out of an underground shopping mall towards the metro I turned my head ever so slightly to consider the Coffee & Tea Kiosk to my right with a lovely display of tea pots. (ours is currently handle-less). In my interest in the tea pots, I failed to adequately notice that the "hallway" immediately to the left was the perfectly cleaned, unadorned glass walls of the Apple store. I turned too soon and ran SPLAT into the glass wall. Momentarily stunned, my eyes focused enough to see the Apple Guy looking up from his computer and staring at me. The two chattering girls behind me had fallen into muffle silence, though that was very soon replaced by rollicking laughter. I, on the other hand, stumbled away from the wall and tried to not limp my way down the real passageway to the metro. I have a bruise on my leg and my eyebrow bone is sore to the touch, and a big imprint of my face was left on the glass. Fortunately, Kiev is a big city, I don't have an Apple, and am not likely to be there, or recognized by any of the witnesses, anytime soon.
Friday, September 11, 2009
A lazy post after a long delay
It seems like I haven't gotten back into the once a week routine yet of posting since getting back from the states. But - this time I have an excuse :-) We had some good friends of mine from Linfield come for a 10 day visit and I was busy showing them about the contry and the city. If you want a fresh perspective on Ukraine, and also a view of what we did - check out their posts for the begining of September.
Aside from that - it is the same old same old. Group, People, Groceries, House cleaning, Church and the like. Alister did have a brief change of pace as he went to Wales to start his ThM Hooray - things in that department are finally started and underway. One bump in the road is that they changed the due date for the course work (moved it up) and he'll also be teaching a course here in Ukraine mid October and then grading papers - so it'll make it a bit hectic for Alister this fall, but we need a little bit of a challenge.
The weather is starting to turn nippy here and I'll soon need to stock up on apples to make apple sauce and Mince. I promised Alister I would do a Christmas pudding this year so I'll need to make enough for pies and a small pudding.
Aside from that - it is the same old same old. Group, People, Groceries, House cleaning, Church and the like. Alister did have a brief change of pace as he went to Wales to start his ThM Hooray - things in that department are finally started and underway. One bump in the road is that they changed the due date for the course work (moved it up) and he'll also be teaching a course here in Ukraine mid October and then grading papers - so it'll make it a bit hectic for Alister this fall, but we need a little bit of a challenge.
The weather is starting to turn nippy here and I'll soon need to stock up on apples to make apple sauce and Mince. I promised Alister I would do a Christmas pudding this year so I'll need to make enough for pies and a small pudding.
Friday, August 21, 2009
August Spas
Last week, Alister and I visited Pecherska Lavra. It was Saturday the 15th, and we were going there to meet up with an old friend of Alister's from his time in Russia. His friend is Orthodox, and he was only in Kiev for the day in order to visit the monastery.
I was glad to go to the Lavra - it is a lovely place and I had seen signs that on the 14th the Medovi Spas would start. I had heard the year before, that this was great thing to go to, you could buy honey, pollen, wax, propolis, and any number or bee-products from all over Ukraine. Literally, Medovi Spas means "Honey Salvation". But I didn't really understand why or what and so I translated it the Honey festival to anyone I mentioned it to.
Thursday was Jablok Spas. Which literally means "Apple Salvation". A Kyiv Post article detailed the holiday and said people brought their apples to the church to be blessed. The apples (not from our village) have begun to be harvested. The beautiful white-fleshed Slava apples with a deliciously tart flavor. Hmm I thought, If ever there was a pagan tradition that the church was trying to "reclaim" this is it. Stamp out the pagan revelry with a staunch fast but a blessing of the harvest as token.
It turns out, that Honey Spas (August 14th) marks the beginning of one of the strictest Orthodox Fasts, Apple Spas falls in the middle on the Feast Day of the Transfiguration Of Jesus Christ - the fast continues BUT on this day you can eat fish. The fast finally ends on Nut Spas - the Feast of The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary (In other words - on the day she supposedly died). In fact, the whole fast was in honor/preparation for her death. At least, it is considerably shorter than Lent which of course is a fast that is in Preparation/Honor of Christ's death and resurrection.
At the Lavra, we sat on the benches on the stone plaza outside of the upper caves. To the left, a long line of people formed, confessing their sins over a Bible to a Priest. Honey vendors lined the road leading to the smaller caves. People crowded about, eating honeycomb, asking for samples, and buying their Honey from what is considered the most holy of places. And there were bees. Swarms of bees around every vender, trying to reclaim the honey that they had worked so hard to make. Bees are such miraculous creatures. To think that God could have made them make not very much honey, so that there would have been only enough for their own needs, but instead a hive can produce so many times more than what they can eat so that we can not only eat the honey, but use the wax, and nibble their pollen and use the propillis to clean our teeth or whatever else it does. But I digress.
But I'm not quite sure what I digress from - My surprise at discovering the meaning of the Spas? The confusion that "Spas" - Salvation would be linked to harvest items - is there confusion - that salvation is from the honey the apples, and the nuts? Or is it a clear reference to Christ - Saviour and gifter of Honey, Apples, and Nuts?
Maybe these are discoveries for another time.
I was glad to go to the Lavra - it is a lovely place and I had seen signs that on the 14th the Medovi Spas would start. I had heard the year before, that this was great thing to go to, you could buy honey, pollen, wax, propolis, and any number or bee-products from all over Ukraine. Literally, Medovi Spas means "Honey Salvation". But I didn't really understand why or what and so I translated it the Honey festival to anyone I mentioned it to.
Thursday was Jablok Spas. Which literally means "Apple Salvation". A Kyiv Post article detailed the holiday and said people brought their apples to the church to be blessed. The apples (not from our village) have begun to be harvested. The beautiful white-fleshed Slava apples with a deliciously tart flavor. Hmm I thought, If ever there was a pagan tradition that the church was trying to "reclaim" this is it. Stamp out the pagan revelry with a staunch fast but a blessing of the harvest as token.
It turns out, that Honey Spas (August 14th) marks the beginning of one of the strictest Orthodox Fasts, Apple Spas falls in the middle on the Feast Day of the Transfiguration Of Jesus Christ - the fast continues BUT on this day you can eat fish. The fast finally ends on Nut Spas - the Feast of The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary (In other words - on the day she supposedly died). In fact, the whole fast was in honor/preparation for her death. At least, it is considerably shorter than Lent which of course is a fast that is in Preparation/Honor of Christ's death and resurrection.
At the Lavra, we sat on the benches on the stone plaza outside of the upper caves. To the left, a long line of people formed, confessing their sins over a Bible to a Priest. Honey vendors lined the road leading to the smaller caves. People crowded about, eating honeycomb, asking for samples, and buying their Honey from what is considered the most holy of places. And there were bees. Swarms of bees around every vender, trying to reclaim the honey that they had worked so hard to make. Bees are such miraculous creatures. To think that God could have made them make not very much honey, so that there would have been only enough for their own needs, but instead a hive can produce so many times more than what they can eat so that we can not only eat the honey, but use the wax, and nibble their pollen and use the propillis to clean our teeth or whatever else it does. But I digress.
But I'm not quite sure what I digress from - My surprise at discovering the meaning of the Spas? The confusion that "Spas" - Salvation would be linked to harvest items - is there confusion - that salvation is from the honey the apples, and the nuts? Or is it a clear reference to Christ - Saviour and gifter of Honey, Apples, and Nuts?
Maybe these are discoveries for another time.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Not so bad to be Ukrainian
Talking with a young guy we know, he told us of his plans to go to France to study for three years and hopefully longer. What does your mom say? I asked. - Oh - she is thrilled she is pushing me there. In Ukraine, there is no future.
While there are very definitely exceptions, the people who would not leave Ukraine for anything and see the country as a beautiful and productive country, the former opinion is shared by all too many. In fact, the population of Ukraine is shrinking dramaticly because of a desperate imbalance between births, deaths and emigrants.
When we talk to people, often the first two questions people ask us is - Is it better where you are from, and then, with a grimace - have you managed to adjust to all of this in Ukraine. We always answer them that we have adjusted fine, that Ukraine is our home.
Apparently we are not the only ones who have managed to find a bright side even amidst the the grimy backdrop of Ukrainian problems. A recent article in the Moscow Times said that their are 8 reasons why Russians might actually prefer Ukrainian Citizenship. Among the reason listed are low crime, freedom of religion, and more humane military system. While certainly not definitive, or even representative of most Russians (and you'll also find a goodly number of articles about why Ukrainians want to be Russian) the article is interesting for the fact that it does show a definite leaning towards democratic ideals and principles. In fact, one of the reasons that we are selves are here in Ukraine is exactly for the many freedoms that we can enjoy without having a political guard dog growl at our every move. Truly, the main problems Ukraine faces are centered around a lack of transparency and functioning rule of law. But I believe, that as Ukraine grows in maturity, as western projects continue to bear fruit, that slowly but surely Ukraine can transform into a fully functioning society with a future. It isn't, after all so bad to be Ukrainian.
While there are very definitely exceptions, the people who would not leave Ukraine for anything and see the country as a beautiful and productive country, the former opinion is shared by all too many. In fact, the population of Ukraine is shrinking dramaticly because of a desperate imbalance between births, deaths and emigrants.
When we talk to people, often the first two questions people ask us is - Is it better where you are from, and then, with a grimace - have you managed to adjust to all of this in Ukraine. We always answer them that we have adjusted fine, that Ukraine is our home.
Apparently we are not the only ones who have managed to find a bright side even amidst the the grimy backdrop of Ukrainian problems. A recent article in the Moscow Times said that their are 8 reasons why Russians might actually prefer Ukrainian Citizenship. Among the reason listed are low crime, freedom of religion, and more humane military system. While certainly not definitive, or even representative of most Russians (and you'll also find a goodly number of articles about why Ukrainians want to be Russian) the article is interesting for the fact that it does show a definite leaning towards democratic ideals and principles. In fact, one of the reasons that we are selves are here in Ukraine is exactly for the many freedoms that we can enjoy without having a political guard dog growl at our every move. Truly, the main problems Ukraine faces are centered around a lack of transparency and functioning rule of law. But I believe, that as Ukraine grows in maturity, as western projects continue to bear fruit, that slowly but surely Ukraine can transform into a fully functioning society with a future. It isn't, after all so bad to be Ukrainian.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Not much
Not much going on at the moment - have been doing another intensive Russian class and became a bit deflated when I learned that the military ranking of Russian language is a 7 and Croatian is a three. certainly robs me of a big honking piece of hope that I might ever sound intelligible or intelligent. Blah. On the bright side, I DO understand more than ever, though this is debatable as well because sometimes Alister understands something totally different and it can be several days before we learn who is actually right over the course of events. The problem is he studied more, but sometimes I catch more things, but how to judiciate between two stubborn people who both heard two entirely different things? Of course, there are also the times when I completely misunderstand as well- so that doesn't help much.
The weather has been cooler recently - which is nice on the one had since the apartment does get incredibly hot in warm weather - but on the other hand we have no hot water (standard practice to turn it off for two weeks during the summer to clean out the hot water pipes) and so you just can't warm up. So I've caught a bit of a cold.
Haggai has successfully mastered sitting and shaking on command - but he'll only do it when he knows you have a treat for him. He is also getting craftier and it is getting harder and harder to evict him from the bedroom before we go to sleep. We just hope that our ingenuity continues to increase at the same rate as his.
The weather has been cooler recently - which is nice on the one had since the apartment does get incredibly hot in warm weather - but on the other hand we have no hot water (standard practice to turn it off for two weeks during the summer to clean out the hot water pipes) and so you just can't warm up. So I've caught a bit of a cold.
Haggai has successfully mastered sitting and shaking on command - but he'll only do it when he knows you have a treat for him. He is also getting craftier and it is getting harder and harder to evict him from the bedroom before we go to sleep. We just hope that our ingenuity continues to increase at the same rate as his.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Differing Histories
Outside of our window, we can see fireworks almost every weekend. Fireworks are freely available here all year long and people buy them for weddings, birthdays, and other miscellaneous celebrations. Last night, during our firework display, our conversation turned to purchasing fireworks.
At least, when we have kids, I said, we should buy fireworks on the 4th of July.
The 4th of November, Alister said.
Why then?
Guy Fawkes Day, he said.
Sure we can have fireworks then too, I said.
No, just then, he said.
It would be part of the children's history, I answered.
Its a tragic history. There are countries begging to be part of the commonwealth who were never under British Rule. Besides, its ridiculous to buy fireworks on a day that celebrates your rebellion, he said, with just that tone of voice that implied America's independence to be a personal affront.
And what does being part of the common wealth give you? I asked.
Prestige, he said solemnly.
That's no good, I said. Without the revolution we never would have met.
There would have been even more of a chance of our meeting, he countered. I would have been an overseer in the colonies and you would have come to me to get something signed or ask for patronage.
The conversation ended here because I couldn't manage a cohesive sentence through my laughter.
At least, when we have kids, I said, we should buy fireworks on the 4th of July.
The 4th of November, Alister said.
Why then?
Guy Fawkes Day, he said.
Sure we can have fireworks then too, I said.
No, just then, he said.
It would be part of the children's history, I answered.
Its a tragic history. There are countries begging to be part of the commonwealth who were never under British Rule. Besides, its ridiculous to buy fireworks on a day that celebrates your rebellion, he said, with just that tone of voice that implied America's independence to be a personal affront.
And what does being part of the common wealth give you? I asked.
Prestige, he said solemnly.
That's no good, I said. Without the revolution we never would have met.
There would have been even more of a chance of our meeting, he countered. I would have been an overseer in the colonies and you would have come to me to get something signed or ask for patronage.
The conversation ended here because I couldn't manage a cohesive sentence through my laughter.
Monday, July 27, 2009
'dem Apples
We went out to the Dacha this Saturday for the first time in forever. We were greeted by forest of ragweed and thistles as tall as our heads. (Alister is my witness that I am NOT exaggerating). I quickly located our neighbor's (AKA guy we are buying the property from) scythe and got to work clearing a path to the door and to all my trees and plants.
Sadly, my rhubarb, which I had labored so long over and saved from the evil mouse is missing. It was there in April - and I was ecstatic as I thought it had died in the winter. It had 5 healthy leaves and was safely surrounded by bricks to mark it as special. No rhubarb. No bricks. Very odd.
Another oddity is that there are no apples. None. Alright, out of the 3 healthy apple trees on
our property, I can count the total number of apples on both of my hands. Natasha, a neighbor who also goes to our church said this is normal. In Ukraine you harvest every other year. Last year there was a bumper crop and this year nothing.
I wonder if I missed some lesson in agricultural absorption as a child growing up on the farm. i remember fruit, apricots, apples, and cherries coming every summer. We never harvested a lot - except form the apple sauce tree in our yard - but we always harvested.
Is this an oddity of Ukraine vs America? My explanation of the lack of apples would be that something happened while the apples were in blossom - I.E. strong rain or frost, But Natasha says that Apples come every other year.
This isn't the only "fruit cycle" in Ukraine. Huckleberries are apparently every three years. Last year was a bumper for them too. If I had known that they wouldn't be as plentiful this year I would have conserved my freezer stash through till this December at least - But before we went stateside I made it a point to use things up to make way for the new harvest. I'm guessing that the walnuts might be cyclical too because our tree also seems to lack a single nut.
I'm finding my knowledge about farming slightly defective.
Among the list of things I wish I knew more about is pruning. I know there are ways to prune to make trees more productive - but how is that exactly - and when do you do it. I did internet searches - but somethings are just better to know from people.
Also - how can I keep misletoe from killing my apple trees? Which is worse - letting the misletoe stay or severely pruning? How densely can trees productively coexist?
Sadly, my rhubarb, which I had labored so long over and saved from the evil mouse is missing. It was there in April - and I was ecstatic as I thought it had died in the winter. It had 5 healthy leaves and was safely surrounded by bricks to mark it as special. No rhubarb. No bricks. Very odd.
Another oddity is that there are no apples. None. Alright, out of the 3 healthy apple trees on
our property, I can count the total number of apples on both of my hands. Natasha, a neighbor who also goes to our church said this is normal. In Ukraine you harvest every other year. Last year there was a bumper crop and this year nothing.I wonder if I missed some lesson in agricultural absorption as a child growing up on the farm. i remember fruit, apricots, apples, and cherries coming every summer. We never harvested a lot - except form the apple sauce tree in our yard - but we always harvested.
Is this an oddity of Ukraine vs America? My explanation of the lack of apples would be that something happened while the apples were in blossom - I.E. strong rain or frost, But Natasha says that Apples come every other year.
This isn't the only "fruit cycle" in Ukraine. Huckleberries are apparently every three years. Last year was a bumper for them too. If I had known that they wouldn't be as plentiful this year I would have conserved my freezer stash through till this December at least - But before we went stateside I made it a point to use things up to make way for the new harvest. I'm guessing that the walnuts might be cyclical too because our tree also seems to lack a single nut.
I'm finding my knowledge about farming slightly defective.
Among the list of things I wish I knew more about is pruning. I know there are ways to prune to make trees more productive - but how is that exactly - and when do you do it. I did internet searches - but somethings are just better to know from people.
Also - how can I keep misletoe from killing my apple trees? Which is worse - letting the misletoe stay or severely pruning? How densely can trees productively coexist?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Raspberry Goo
But oh what tasty goo it is.
Raspberry season - so I bought up 2 kilos to make jam. We don't really eat jam - in fa
ct I don't particularly like raspberries - but we missed strawberry season since we were in the States and raspberry jam is a nice thing for lots of different recipes.
I didn't have pectin - and though a friend gave me bag from her stock - I wanted to see what I could do without it. i ruled out Freezer jam because, well, my freezer space is precious and I certainly won't put something in it that we aren't very likely to use up in a hurry. I found this recipe on a blog and Alister sent me this Ukrainian version.
I guesstimated to merge the recipes. A food preservation site said the no-pectin jam should reach a temp of 220F - I figured I might have some problems when no matter how long it boiled - it wouldn't go past 210. I decided to take it off and put it in jars anyway. They sealed (Hurrah!) But they didn't jell. Still, I have a lovely, thick syrup that tastes fabulous. Am making biscuits in the morning to give it a thorough taste test.
Raspberry season - so I bought up 2 kilos to make jam. We don't really eat jam - in fa
ct I don't particularly like raspberries - but we missed strawberry season since we were in the States and raspberry jam is a nice thing for lots of different recipes.I didn't have pectin - and though a friend gave me bag from her stock - I wanted to see what I could do without it. i ruled out Freezer jam because, well, my freezer space is precious and I certainly won't put something in it that we aren't very likely to use up in a hurry. I found this recipe on a blog and Alister sent me this Ukrainian version.
I guesstimated to merge the recipes. A food preservation site said the no-pectin jam should reach a temp of 220F - I figured I might have some problems when no matter how long it boiled - it wouldn't go past 210. I decided to take it off and put it in jars anyway. They sealed (Hurrah!) But they didn't jell. Still, I have a lovely, thick syrup that tastes fabulous. Am making biscuits in the morning to give it a thorough taste test.
Monday, July 6, 2009
10 essentials, quarters, a boat, and machete
Our summer trip and it was our summer vacation and I put Alister in charge. Sure, I knew about the Pacific Northwest - but I had no idea about backpacking. My one introduction was 2 day trek on our honeymoon and Alister had orchestrated that, which left my knowledge at nill. I did just enough "research" to tentatively tell Alister that his original plan to hike the in Cascades probably wouldn't work.
"There is probably snow there in early June". My work completed I threw out the suggestion of Lake Chelan or somewhere in Oregon.
Three days before our scheduled 9-day hike, Alister had a loop trail routed out through the peaks of the Blue Mountains. While Mt. Misery didn't exactly sound like a good vacation destination, I was happy to have a plan and as long as we were stocked with food – I was more than willing to go wherever Alister pointed.
Two days before our hike – storm clouds began to gather. Friends warned us of a late spring – there might still be snow in them there hills. While this might not trouble some hikers, we had no snow gear and Alister had forgotten his hiking boots in Kiev. Also, we were going to be driving the black beast of a Chrysler, which might not be able to make it up mountain roads to the trailhead if there was still snow.
One day before our hike – we finally get to talk to the forest service and pick up a map of the Wenaha-Tucanon wilderness. The Forrest service told us that most of the trails weren’t open “You can hike them, there might be some logs you have to climb over though.” (HUGE understatement) As for snow – they couldn’t precisely say but believed there to be snow at over 4,500 ft. Most of our projected hike covered ridges above this altitude. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out a new 9-day trail. We settled on a route- albeit subpar as over half of it was on mountain roads rather than trails.
D-Day – we didn’t make it out on the trail we were still packing and I contracted a migraine.
D-Day (for real)- We make the drive to Troy, Oregon, the lowest elevation trailhead we could find so we knew for sure that the roads would be clear and the car would make it. We started off the trip right with a big burger and fries at Boggan’s Oasis our last civilized meal for the next 9-days. In Troy, there was no sign of snow. None of the natives seemed to know anything about snow (though they did warn us about rattlesnakes). We decide to change our route again and go over some of the peaks as we originally planned. Having forgotten our essential roll of quarters - we make a credit card call to my parents to let them know of the change (the “slightly” more expensive cost of using this service ended up being $28 dollars more than if we had had quarters) We then hop in the car again and head to the HooDoo trailhead and hike the steep, 3.5 mile descent to the Wenaha river. The river was wide. The river was deep. The river was swift. We saw the trail on the other side – but there was no way to get to it. Obviously we forgot that among the 10 essentials, we should have stowed our rubber raft.
Too late to do anything else, we camp on a minute patch of ground by the river and try to sleep amid visions of bears and cougars fishing in the river by moonlight.
Day 2 of our hike. We retrace our steps climbing up the 3.5 mile ascent to the car. Our only comfort is knowing that the bags are 2 cliff bars and 3 cups of Corn chowder lighter. Back in Troy – we realize that we are desperately low on Gas and even if we make it back to our car at the end of the hike – we have little chance of making it to a gas station. We commiserate with the Garbage man and the property managers and work out for gas to be held for our arrival- “a week from today.” And off we start at the heat of the day on a 6.4 mile trek to our next campsite at the Crooked Creek Trail head.
We were beat. The sun on the canyon walls beat down on us mercilessly. Our packs filled with food, water, and everything else bore us down. Neither of us thought we would ever see the end of the trail. Including 3 rests – that hike took us more than 6 hours.
Day 3- we decide to leave a stash of food at the campsite since we will be passing through on our way back to the car. We try to leave the heavy stuff, and maybe it did make a difference. A late, lazy start – but our hips are killing us and after yesterday we just weren’t gung-ho to start.
The problem with hiking is that you never quite know how far you have traveled or how far you have to go to get to your destination. You hope to make it to your destination – but you never know the quality of the trail or the weather or how fast you really will be able to go. Our 3rd campsite ended up being less than 1 mile from our goal. Still it was a good campsite and already 7:30 pm – so we didn’t want to push our luck when we didn’t know how far away we were.
Our hike taught us the importance of reading maps. Our trail took us over lots of streams and creeks. When I say over – I actually mean through because there were no bridges, rocks or limbs spanning the water. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Alister forgot his hiking boots – we never would have brought my Chaco sandals on the trip as a back-up shoe for him. If we hadn’t brought the sandals – we never would have done as well as we did. Needless to say each crossing was an ordeal of taking off our shoes and socks, rolling up our pants, Alister crossing the river and throwing the sandals back over to me so that I could cross as well. Then we had to dry off, put our shoes back on, shoulder our packs, and start off again – only to repeat the process in a mile or two.
Our third day was also slowed by the fact that we saw a rattlesnake at the start of our hike. Rather I saw a rattlesnake. Even though it was curled up almost in the middle of the path, Alister somehow did not see the snake and managed to step over it and not get bitten. I, however, freaked out. The snake did not want to move. I did not want to squeeze past it. While Alister eventually managed to shoo it out of the way with a long stick, it made me super cautious the rest of the hike and I had to push away every bit of underbrush before I would go forward. Since the trail weren’t open, there was a lot of underbrush. As we had forgotten our essential machete – this left us to beat our way through with a stick. This method was so in effective in clearing a trail that we actually lost the trail on the return journey and couldn’t even make out where we had been before (which is why you need the essential compass . . ..) My vigilance was rewarded in that I discovered another snake at the end of our journey – also curled up in the center of the trail, but slightly more willing to slither out of our way. This one even rattled at us.
Day 4 – We camp at an elevation of 4,600 ft. Snow is present in drifts. Alister discovers lots of mushrooms which we think are snow bank brains. :-) We switch sleeping bags for t the night and alister finally believes me that my sleeping bag isn’t much warmer than a summer blanket. Again – we end up camping about 2 miles from our destination target.
Day 5 – Sunday. It rains and we spend the day in camp resting. We are a day behind in our route – but the difficulty of the terrain has really slowed us down. We decide to skip the loop trail and retrace our steps. Tomorrow we’ll leave our bags and do a day hike to the summit ridge at Indian Corral.
Day 6- It is still raining – but Alister thinks the day hike doable during a lull. Five minutes from camp, we come to a river crossing – AND it starts to rain again. I’m cold, wet, and miserable. We agree that I’ll stay in camp and Alister will do his day hike. I get to sleep and manage to start a fire (thanks to essential fire starters I made from paraffin and newspapers). Amazingly, Alister returns with more dry clothing than he started out with and he gets hot coffee, soup and a fire to boot – we are two happy campers – except that I get bit by a tick (and am now on antibiotics for lymes disease).
Day 7 and 8 – There are definite perks to retracing your steps. For example – we didn’t have to puzzle over how to cross the rivers – we already had our crossing strategies for each stream down. We also knew that there was an end in site. Plus, our packs were getting lighter by the day.
Day 9: remember that grueling 6.4 mile hike? With our new fit selves and our lightened packs we made the journey in 2 hours and 15 minutes!! Back on the Wenaha River trail – we saw our first people since we left troy 8 days before – all the rest of the hike had been in perfect solitude. The garbage man remembered us – though Alister had a face full of stubble and we had both lost some weight. Our first stop was Boggan’s Oasis – where we gobbled up a hamburger, fries, and a cherry milkshake – as well as filling up the car with the promised and gas they had set aside for us.
The trip was great – but definitely a learning experience.
"There is probably snow there in early June". My work completed I threw out the suggestion of Lake Chelan or somewhere in Oregon.
Three days before our scheduled 9-day hike, Alister had a loop trail routed out through the peaks of the Blue Mountains. While Mt. Misery didn't exactly sound like a good vacation destination, I was happy to have a plan and as long as we were stocked with food – I was more than willing to go wherever Alister pointed.
Two days before our hike – storm clouds began to gather. Friends warned us of a late spring – there might still be snow in them there hills. While this might not trouble some hikers, we had no snow gear and Alister had forgotten his hiking boots in Kiev. Also, we were going to be driving the black beast of a Chrysler, which might not be able to make it up mountain roads to the trailhead if there was still snow.
One day before our hike – we finally get to talk to the forest service and pick up a map of the Wenaha-Tucanon wilderness. The Forrest service told us that most of the trails weren’t open “You can hike them, there might be some logs you have to climb over though.” (HUGE understatement) As for snow – they couldn’t precisely say but believed there to be snow at over 4,500 ft. Most of our projected hike covered ridges above this altitude. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out a new 9-day trail. We settled on a route- albeit subpar as over half of it was on mountain roads rather than trails.
D-Day – we didn’t make it out on the trail we were still packing and I contracted a migraine.
D-Day (for real)- We make the drive to Troy, Oregon, the lowest elevation trailhead we could find so we knew for sure that the roads would be clear and the car would make it. We started off the trip right with a big burger and fries at Boggan’s Oasis our last civilized meal for the next 9-days. In Troy, there was no sign of snow. None of the natives seemed to know anything about snow (though they did warn us about rattlesnakes). We decide to change our route again and go over some of the peaks as we originally planned. Having forgotten our essential roll of quarters - we make a credit card call to my parents to let them know of the change (the “slightly” more expensive cost of using this service ended up being $28 dollars more than if we had had quarters) We then hop in the car again and head to the HooDoo trailhead and hike the steep, 3.5 mile descent to the Wenaha river. The river was wide. The river was deep. The river was swift. We saw the trail on the other side – but there was no way to get to it. Obviously we forgot that among the 10 essentials, we should have stowed our rubber raft.
Too late to do anything else, we camp on a minute patch of ground by the river and try to sleep amid visions of bears and cougars fishing in the river by moonlight.
Day 2 of our hike. We retrace our steps climbing up the 3.5 mile ascent to the car. Our only comfort is knowing that the bags are 2 cliff bars and 3 cups of Corn chowder lighter. Back in Troy – we realize that we are desperately low on Gas and even if we make it back to our car at the end of the hike – we have little chance of making it to a gas station. We commiserate with the Garbage man and the property managers and work out for gas to be held for our arrival- “a week from today.” And off we start at the heat of the day on a 6.4 mile trek to our next campsite at the Crooked Creek Trail head.
We were beat. The sun on the canyon walls beat down on us mercilessly. Our packs filled with food, water, and everything else bore us down. Neither of us thought we would ever see the end of the trail. Including 3 rests – that hike took us more than 6 hours.
Day 3- we decide to leave a stash of food at the campsite since we will be passing through on our way back to the car. We try to leave the heavy stuff, and maybe it did make a difference. A late, lazy start – but our hips are killing us and after yesterday we just weren’t gung-ho to start.
The problem with hiking is that you never quite know how far you have traveled or how far you have to go to get to your destination. You hope to make it to your destination – but you never know the quality of the trail or the weather or how fast you really will be able to go. Our 3rd campsite ended up being less than 1 mile from our goal. Still it was a good campsite and already 7:30 pm – so we didn’t want to push our luck when we didn’t know how far away we were.
Our hike taught us the importance of reading maps. Our trail took us over lots of streams and creeks. When I say over – I actually mean through because there were no bridges, rocks or limbs spanning the water. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Alister forgot his hiking boots – we never would have brought my Chaco sandals on the trip as a back-up shoe for him. If we hadn’t brought the sandals – we never would have done as well as we did. Needless to say each crossing was an ordeal of taking off our shoes and socks, rolling up our pants, Alister crossing the river and throwing the sandals back over to me so that I could cross as well. Then we had to dry off, put our shoes back on, shoulder our packs, and start off again – only to repeat the process in a mile or two.
Our third day was also slowed by the fact that we saw a rattlesnake at the start of our hike. Rather I saw a rattlesnake. Even though it was curled up almost in the middle of the path, Alister somehow did not see the snake and managed to step over it and not get bitten. I, however, freaked out. The snake did not want to move. I did not want to squeeze past it. While Alister eventually managed to shoo it out of the way with a long stick, it made me super cautious the rest of the hike and I had to push away every bit of underbrush before I would go forward. Since the trail weren’t open, there was a lot of underbrush. As we had forgotten our essential machete – this left us to beat our way through with a stick. This method was so in effective in clearing a trail that we actually lost the trail on the return journey and couldn’t even make out where we had been before (which is why you need the essential compass . . ..) My vigilance was rewarded in that I discovered another snake at the end of our journey – also curled up in the center of the trail, but slightly more willing to slither out of our way. This one even rattled at us.
Day 4 – We camp at an elevation of 4,600 ft. Snow is present in drifts. Alister discovers lots of mushrooms which we think are snow bank brains. :-) We switch sleeping bags for t the night and alister finally believes me that my sleeping bag isn’t much warmer than a summer blanket. Again – we end up camping about 2 miles from our destination target.
Day 5 – Sunday. It rains and we spend the day in camp resting. We are a day behind in our route – but the difficulty of the terrain has really slowed us down. We decide to skip the loop trail and retrace our steps. Tomorrow we’ll leave our bags and do a day hike to the summit ridge at Indian Corral.
Day 6- It is still raining – but Alister thinks the day hike doable during a lull. Five minutes from camp, we come to a river crossing – AND it starts to rain again. I’m cold, wet, and miserable. We agree that I’ll stay in camp and Alister will do his day hike. I get to sleep and manage to start a fire (thanks to essential fire starters I made from paraffin and newspapers). Amazingly, Alister returns with more dry clothing than he started out with and he gets hot coffee, soup and a fire to boot – we are two happy campers – except that I get bit by a tick (and am now on antibiotics for lymes disease).
Day 7 and 8 – There are definite perks to retracing your steps. For example – we didn’t have to puzzle over how to cross the rivers – we already had our crossing strategies for each stream down. We also knew that there was an end in site. Plus, our packs were getting lighter by the day.
Day 9: remember that grueling 6.4 mile hike? With our new fit selves and our lightened packs we made the journey in 2 hours and 15 minutes!! Back on the Wenaha River trail – we saw our first people since we left troy 8 days before – all the rest of the hike had been in perfect solitude. The garbage man remembered us – though Alister had a face full of stubble and we had both lost some weight. Our first stop was Boggan’s Oasis – where we gobbled up a hamburger, fries, and a cherry milkshake – as well as filling up the car with the promised and gas they had set aside for us.
The trip was great – but definitely a learning experience.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
2009 Summer Snapshots!
Our summer adventures (out of country) have come to an end.
We traveled clear across the west, from Philadelphia, to St Louis and Kansas, to McMinnville by plane, took a greyhound to reach Walla Walla and then traveled all over Washington by car and even traversed 50-odd miles of Washington/Oregon by foot. No, the car (amazingly) didn't break down. Rather, Alister and I took 9 days to go backpacking in the Blue Mountains in the Wenaha-Tucanon Wilderness. We capped off our trip to the states with a week-long visit to Seattle to see my sister and her husband and their two adorable children.
With much thankfulness, we arrived back in Ukraine, (with changing visa laws - we weren't sure how it would work), were greeted by a very-glad-to-see-us-again cat and are now fighting jet lag and trying to get our lives back into a normal routine.
We traveled clear across the west, from Philadelphia, to St Louis and Kansas, to McMinnville by plane, took a greyhound to reach Walla Walla and then traveled all over Washington by car and even traversed 50-odd miles of Washington/Oregon by foot. No, the car (amazingly) didn't break down. Rather, Alister and I took 9 days to go backpacking in the Blue Mountains in the Wenaha-Tucanon Wilderness. We capped off our trip to the states with a week-long visit to Seattle to see my sister and her husband and their two adorable children.
With much thankfulness, we arrived back in Ukraine, (with changing visa laws - we weren't sure how it would work), were greeted by a very-glad-to-see-us-again cat and are now fighting jet lag and trying to get our lives back into a normal routine.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Just follow your nose
Passed through Kansas city yesterday after leaving our Family Reunion in Kansas. Didn't plan on stopping but wanted to drive through the town just to see what it was like. Part way down Broadway - windows up, vent open, the car is filled with the most amazing aroma of coffee. Finally found a place to park and began walking up and down streets to find the source.
Finally discovered a huge white building - the roasting house for Folgers (did you know that they make Dunkin Donuts coffee?)
Unfortunately, since it was memorial day - nothing was open (in the whole city it seemed - but this was esp. tragic) we peered longingly through the windows and basked in the amazing smell of fresh roasted coffee. Coffee aside, Kansas City seemed a neat place.
Finally discovered a huge white building - the roasting house for Folgers (did you know that they make Dunkin Donuts coffee?)
Unfortunately, since it was memorial day - nothing was open (in the whole city it seemed - but this was esp. tragic) we peered longingly through the windows and basked in the amazing smell of fresh roasted coffee. Coffee aside, Kansas City seemed a neat place.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Getting Old
Finally finished packing for the trip at 12:30 am and cleaning house for the housesitter.
Woke up to get dressed and catch a taxi to the airport at 3:40 am. A good thing Alister's Alarm worked because mine (set for 3:30am- and yes the taxi had been waiting 5 minutes before we got down so we could have used the 10 minutes) - ended up being set for pm instead of AM. How accurate can you be at that time of morning with only 5 hours of sleep the night before and an action packed day full of preparations before departure?
Flight was great - we booked with KLM who coded the flight to Air France who apparently did a seat share with Ukrainian international. Amazing that the cheapest ticket was available with a company who we didn't even see the entire flight.
We flew to Paris. The flight was not full so Alister and I had a seat between us. Somehow - I can curl onto 1 or 2 seats like I used to. The short haul of luggage (50 lb, 48lb, 18lb, 12 lb, and whatever alister's weighed)- was exhausting - and I didn't even have to carry half of it! Nothing like the trip as a single woman from Osijek to Budapest - by train with 175 lbs of luggage that I lugged about the city by myself. (not recommended - Budapest has no elevators and lots of stairs). But somehow - this packing trip was much more exhausting then all of that. I don't know if it is having to worry about packing for another person - or just getting old.
Had a 4 hour layover in France. Terminal B isn't much to speak of, and wouldn't be a comfortable place to crash in - but Terminal E was luxurious - in fact a but TOO luxurious - The food court had 4 gourmet styled restaurants serving from a cafeteria style layout - a bottle of water cost 2.10 euro and the cheapest thing you could find to eat that was 150g. (a sandwich) cost 5.20 euro. One of the places sold Lebanese food and it was ridiculous what they wanted for a small potion of hummus (3.75) bread (1.75) and a roll of something the size of your pinky was being sold for 2 euro something. A Chinese portion of meat/veggie combo was 5.8 and then another 1.75 was asked for a portion of rice. Portions were not generous but adequate for 1. With no alternative - we got a sandwich and spent the rest of our meal watching the shocked reaction of the other patrons who wandered in - circling the place in disbelief over the prices. You could spot the Business people - they shook their heads at the prices and then filled up their plates with a decent meal anyway. We decided it must be the expense accounts.
Fell asleep in the lounge even after a coffee - woke up unable to feel my right side and with fuzziness engulfing me we stumbled to the gate - only to discover that Alister had not reset his clock so we were an hour early - better than an hour late.
Ever since personal entertainment centers have been installed on Aircraft - flying has become way more comfortable - but even without that i highly recommend AIR FRANCE - they give you a face mask, ear plugs, head phones, a yummy and generous meal - three passes through for beverages and then a "self-serve" invite for the back of the plane - and just excellent service. Fly Air France.
And while complementing France - Alister and I watched a comedy Envoyés très spéciaux on the plane. It was absolutely hilarious. LOL. Its about these journalists who are supposed to report on Iraq but get stuck in Paris - so they pretend they are in Iraq but are broadcasting from Paris. The plot thickens in the relationship between the two journalists - one who unknowingly slept with the other man's wife who then left him the day that he got sent to "Iraq" Clever, original, and just plain great - of especial note is the celebrity fundraising satire.
Woke up to get dressed and catch a taxi to the airport at 3:40 am. A good thing Alister's Alarm worked because mine (set for 3:30am- and yes the taxi had been waiting 5 minutes before we got down so we could have used the 10 minutes) - ended up being set for pm instead of AM. How accurate can you be at that time of morning with only 5 hours of sleep the night before and an action packed day full of preparations before departure?
Flight was great - we booked with KLM who coded the flight to Air France who apparently did a seat share with Ukrainian international. Amazing that the cheapest ticket was available with a company who we didn't even see the entire flight.
We flew to Paris. The flight was not full so Alister and I had a seat between us. Somehow - I can curl onto 1 or 2 seats like I used to. The short haul of luggage (50 lb, 48lb, 18lb, 12 lb, and whatever alister's weighed)- was exhausting - and I didn't even have to carry half of it! Nothing like the trip as a single woman from Osijek to Budapest - by train with 175 lbs of luggage that I lugged about the city by myself. (not recommended - Budapest has no elevators and lots of stairs). But somehow - this packing trip was much more exhausting then all of that. I don't know if it is having to worry about packing for another person - or just getting old.
Had a 4 hour layover in France. Terminal B isn't much to speak of, and wouldn't be a comfortable place to crash in - but Terminal E was luxurious - in fact a but TOO luxurious - The food court had 4 gourmet styled restaurants serving from a cafeteria style layout - a bottle of water cost 2.10 euro and the cheapest thing you could find to eat that was 150g. (a sandwich) cost 5.20 euro. One of the places sold Lebanese food and it was ridiculous what they wanted for a small potion of hummus (3.75) bread (1.75) and a roll of something the size of your pinky was being sold for 2 euro something. A Chinese portion of meat/veggie combo was 5.8 and then another 1.75 was asked for a portion of rice. Portions were not generous but adequate for 1. With no alternative - we got a sandwich and spent the rest of our meal watching the shocked reaction of the other patrons who wandered in - circling the place in disbelief over the prices. You could spot the Business people - they shook their heads at the prices and then filled up their plates with a decent meal anyway. We decided it must be the expense accounts.
Fell asleep in the lounge even after a coffee - woke up unable to feel my right side and with fuzziness engulfing me we stumbled to the gate - only to discover that Alister had not reset his clock so we were an hour early - better than an hour late.
Ever since personal entertainment centers have been installed on Aircraft - flying has become way more comfortable - but even without that i highly recommend AIR FRANCE - they give you a face mask, ear plugs, head phones, a yummy and generous meal - three passes through for beverages and then a "self-serve" invite for the back of the plane - and just excellent service. Fly Air France.
And while complementing France - Alister and I watched a comedy Envoyés très spéciaux on the plane. It was absolutely hilarious. LOL. Its about these journalists who are supposed to report on Iraq but get stuck in Paris - so they pretend they are in Iraq but are broadcasting from Paris. The plot thickens in the relationship between the two journalists - one who unknowingly slept with the other man's wife who then left him the day that he got sent to "Iraq" Clever, original, and just plain great - of especial note is the celebrity fundraising satire.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Busy
It has been pretty crazy the last few weeks trying to take care of everything before leaving for the states (BTW - We're here! - more on that later)
As if things weren't hectic enough, we decided to follow up an invitation from a reformed church in Ivano Frankovsk (western Ukraine) and go visit and share about our church with them as well. The town was lovely and it was great to hear about their church and learn about the social activities the church and Pastor are involved in (HIV/ AIDS education and anti-prejudice campaigns.
No pictures at the moment but we got to go through the countryside as well - stopping at the Pysanky Museum (where I saw some of my teacher's eggs), trying local cheese, and going through the tourist markets where Yushenko (president Ukraine) shops (at least there was a picture of him at the restaurant). No wonder though - as all the souvenirs really come from western Ukraine and they are WAY cheaper (10-15 uah before bargaining) than in Kiev. Also - here - national costumes were not only in supply - but in abundance and there many differnt styles and patterns that in kiev you just don't see (in kieve its like a standard shirt - one pattern suites all) Not that we bought national costumes - but it was great to see the variety and innovation. We also learned that all these crafts were mostly instigated by the Hutsul people.
Also - I gleaned the most amazing recipe for pickled tomatoes. I know, you are wondering how pickled tomatoes can be amazing - well you have to trust me - once we get back to Ukraine (in tomato season) I will mix up a batch and see if I can duplicate the results and share it with you. (really I just didn't bring the recipe with me)
As if things weren't hectic enough, we decided to follow up an invitation from a reformed church in Ivano Frankovsk (western Ukraine) and go visit and share about our church with them as well. The town was lovely and it was great to hear about their church and learn about the social activities the church and Pastor are involved in (HIV/ AIDS education and anti-prejudice campaigns.
No pictures at the moment but we got to go through the countryside as well - stopping at the Pysanky Museum (where I saw some of my teacher's eggs), trying local cheese, and going through the tourist markets where Yushenko (president Ukraine) shops (at least there was a picture of him at the restaurant). No wonder though - as all the souvenirs really come from western Ukraine and they are WAY cheaper (10-15 uah before bargaining) than in Kiev. Also - here - national costumes were not only in supply - but in abundance and there many differnt styles and patterns that in kiev you just don't see (in kieve its like a standard shirt - one pattern suites all) Not that we bought national costumes - but it was great to see the variety and innovation. We also learned that all these crafts were mostly instigated by the Hutsul people.
Also - I gleaned the most amazing recipe for pickled tomatoes. I know, you are wondering how pickled tomatoes can be amazing - well you have to trust me - once we get back to Ukraine (in tomato season) I will mix up a batch and see if I can duplicate the results and share it with you. (really I just didn't bring the recipe with me)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Easter^2
Easter we planned to invite lots of people over - but it ended up that this year there weren't really many people who needed a place to go so it was Alister and I and our friend Jura.
Western Easter was Our Palm Sunday and I made Hot Cross Buns. Easter dinner cresendoed with my first ever Black Forest cake. I made only half the cake - but I think I could have gotten by with only making a quarter - the thing is so rich that a "normal" sized piece is a meal in and of itself.
Another Haggai walk
A few weeks ago we tried to Haggai on a walk again. The poor thing was scared spitless.
Wouldn't even come out of his bag. I think he enjoyes all the smells and the fresh air - just all the sounds were a bit too much. At one point he did try to venture out - but at that very moment a group of people went by on motor bikes and that was the end of that.
Wouldn't even come out of his bag. I think he enjoyes all the smells and the fresh air - just all the sounds were a bit too much. At one point he did try to venture out - but at that very moment a group of people went by on motor bikes and that was the end of that.Saturday, April 11, 2009
Ballet
We went and saw a ballet the other day.
La Bayadere - or Bayaderka in Russian.
It was fabulous - I liked the servant - one of fakirs - the best. You can see his performance towards the middle end of this youtube clip- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlNEKBf1qsE
The ballet is about a young warrior who falls in love with an Indian temple dancer. Meanwhile the Temple priest is also in love with her - And at the same time one of the Lords is planning that the Young Warrior should marry his daughter. The father and daughter decide that the bayadere must die and the Bayadere chooses to die rather than betray her love to the young warrior and marry the priest. So you have plenty of intrigue. The clip below is of the daughter Gamzatti as she dances at her wedding.
The most interesting thing - reading up on it on Wikipedia is that this is considered one of Russia's most important ballet but because of Soviet times - it didn't "get out" of Russia until the 1960's and even then not all of it got out and parts of the music were lost and other parts modified because western dancers couldn't achieve the poses that the Russian dances could or the western stages weren't as large or spacious as the stage that the Ballet was originally written for. So this ballet has probably more interpretations than your average ballet.
Another interesting thing is that the last scene is sometimes left off. Instead of ending with the underworld revenge and temple collapse, it ends with a dream where The young man sees his dead beloved in the underworld and dances with her a last time. at 2.5 hours - (with pauses) it was a long ballet and so I imagine the original ending would make it very long and difficult for the dancers - they had quite a few jumps that they had to undertake in the score.
La Bayadere - or Bayaderka in Russian.
It was fabulous - I liked the servant - one of fakirs - the best. You can see his performance towards the middle end of this youtube clip- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlNEKBf1qsE
The ballet is about a young warrior who falls in love with an Indian temple dancer. Meanwhile the Temple priest is also in love with her - And at the same time one of the Lords is planning that the Young Warrior should marry his daughter. The father and daughter decide that the bayadere must die and the Bayadere chooses to die rather than betray her love to the young warrior and marry the priest. So you have plenty of intrigue. The clip below is of the daughter Gamzatti as she dances at her wedding.
The most interesting thing - reading up on it on Wikipedia is that this is considered one of Russia's most important ballet but because of Soviet times - it didn't "get out" of Russia until the 1960's and even then not all of it got out and parts of the music were lost and other parts modified because western dancers couldn't achieve the poses that the Russian dances could or the western stages weren't as large or spacious as the stage that the Ballet was originally written for. So this ballet has probably more interpretations than your average ballet.
Another interesting thing is that the last scene is sometimes left off. Instead of ending with the underworld revenge and temple collapse, it ends with a dream where The young man sees his dead beloved in the underworld and dances with her a last time. at 2.5 hours - (with pauses) it was a long ballet and so I imagine the original ending would make it very long and difficult for the dancers - they had quite a few jumps that they had to undertake in the score.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Easter is in the air
Easter is coming. I realized it last week. Not because of big
pink bunny rabbits decorating store windows (there aren't any), not because of pastel colored peeps lining the checkout isle (there aren't any) Not even because of a plethora of Easter baskets and Easter candy assulting the buyer entering a store (there aren't any). No, rather I know that Easter is coming because on the street people are selling green onions, a weird leafy vegetable I last wrote about here and radishes. Soon after I noticed the radishes, I also realized that more cake ladies had sprouted on street corners and the other day I saw a man running around with his hands full of woven baskets (but not with Easter bunnies- women will load them with ingredients for easter dinner and take t
hem to the priest to bless on Easter Saturday or Sunday morning).
I decided that now would be the time to begin my quest to find and collect the plastic egg sleeves for decorating eggs. Because Pisanki is very difficult (and you can't eat the eggs) Easter eggs - in the form we know them are still all over the place here - but aside from using colors (very very bright strongs colors) they also have a very wide variety of interesting egg sleeves with traditional designs, paintings from fairy tales, as well as icons. I didn't buy the icons. Last year they sold out really quickly and buy the time I figured out that they might make fun and orignial gifts, they were all gone. So I am congratulating myself for being ahead of the game this year.
pink bunny rabbits decorating store windows (there aren't any), not because of pastel colored peeps lining the checkout isle (there aren't any) Not even because of a plethora of Easter baskets and Easter candy assulting the buyer entering a store (there aren't any). No, rather I know that Easter is coming because on the street people are selling green onions, a weird leafy vegetable I last wrote about here and radishes. Soon after I noticed the radishes, I also realized that more cake ladies had sprouted on street corners and the other day I saw a man running around with his hands full of woven baskets (but not with Easter bunnies- women will load them with ingredients for easter dinner and take t
hem to the priest to bless on Easter Saturday or Sunday morning).I decided that now would be the time to begin my quest to find and collect the plastic egg sleeves for decorating eggs. Because Pisanki is very difficult (and you can't eat the eggs) Easter eggs - in the form we know them are still all over the place here - but aside from using colors (very very bright strongs colors) they also have a very wide variety of interesting egg sleeves with traditional designs, paintings from fairy tales, as well as icons. I didn't buy the icons. Last year they sold out really quickly and buy the time I figured out that they might make fun and orignial gifts, they were all gone. So I am congratulating myself for being ahead of the game this year.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sweet and Sour Chicken for a crowd
A lot of people have been asking what and how I cook for 20 people when we have group and so I thought the easiest way to answer this once and for all would be to do a post.
Last night, I made sweet and sour chicken (thanks to Alister’s Aunt Violet who served it while we were in N.I and told me the recipe). This combination of things actually only fed 12 (but there was enough chicken left over for probably 2 more portions, plus we only had 3 girls and the guys will tend to keep eating until everything is gone if given the chance as long as everyone else has eaten) Everyone really liked the recipe so it is definitely one I will try again. Probably though – I could have done with another salad. (By the way - other yummy and chicken/ crock pot recipes are appreciated!)
Prices are rounded to the nearest hreevna to give a generous estimate
| Item | Cost | |
| 3 whole chickens @ 18 uah/kilo | 71 | I put these in the slow cooker and cook them overnight. The next day I debone them and strain the broth, setting it aside or using it in whatever recipe I’m making at the time. The cat always likes this part because he gets lots and lots of bones |
| 1 850ml can of pineapple chunks | 9 | |
| 350 gr of Peppers purchased and frozen during the summer when they were 10 uah/kilo | 4 | I make the sauce and then add it to the deboned and diced chicken from the night before. This recipe didn’t need much more cooking so basically I just turned the crock pot on low an hour before group to reheat the chicken thoroughly and make sure everything was hot. |
| 1 cup of vinegar | 1 | |
| 2 onions 3 uah/kilo | 1 | |
| ¼ cup sugar 4 uah/kilo | 1 | |
| 1 tablespoon of Ginger and Vegetable bouillon | 1 | |
| 1 bottle of soy sauce | 4 | |
| 1 kilo of white rice | 14 | |
| 1 grated carrot @ 3.5/kilo | 1 | |
| A few tablespoons of flour to thicken the sauce | 1 | |
| | | |
| 1 head of cabbage for salad | 3 | |
| 3 carrots for salad | 1 | |
| 1 packet of mayo | 4 | |
| 1 tablesppon of dill | 1 | |
| Juice of half a lemon | 3 | |
| A couple of loaves of bread | 10 | |
| | | |
| Total cost of meal | 130 | = $16.50 at current exchange rate |
I always try to buy veggies and things that are in season. The biggest cost is always the meat but so far prices on chicken have stayed stable. The exchange rate is also a big factor – this recipe would have cost $35 dollars if I had made it during the summer – but even at that rate each person would have been fed for less than $3
Lately people have been bringing cookies and stuff for tea and it seems we always have enough of everything.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Back in Kiev
Well, we spent a couple of weeks in Northern Ireland and England before coming back home on St. Patricks Day - maybe we got the scheduling off - everyone seemed surprised that we would not be in the UK for St Patty's day - but given the riots that took place - not that sad to have missed it really.
We had a great trip - the weather was very spring like - in N.I. It fluctuated between sun one moment and snow or showers the next. Nottingham was covered in Daffodils - so it was a bit of a let down to come back to grey, freezing rain here in Kiev - but spring is just around the corner.
We're now busy getting back into the routine - piles of laundry - group on Friday, office and other misc activities.
On the way home from the airport we talked to the taxi driver about politics - he is thoroughly disgusted with the whole affair - thinks all the politicians should be tarred and feathered and has decided to turn off the news whenever it comes on. What point is there in listening to the news, after all, when there is nothing "new"?
We had a great trip - the weather was very spring like - in N.I. It fluctuated between sun one moment and snow or showers the next. Nottingham was covered in Daffodils - so it was a bit of a let down to come back to grey, freezing rain here in Kiev - but spring is just around the corner.
We're now busy getting back into the routine - piles of laundry - group on Friday, office and other misc activities.
On the way home from the airport we talked to the taxi driver about politics - he is thoroughly disgusted with the whole affair - thinks all the politicians should be tarred and feathered and has decided to turn off the news whenever it comes on. What point is there in listening to the news, after all, when there is nothing "new"?
Monday, February 23, 2009
Walking on egg shells
It was inevitable I suppose - but sad all the same.
Haggai broke 5 of our favorite pysanky. Unfortunately the ugly thanksgiving genre Turkey that I couldn't bring myself to throw away survived - but all of our favorites were cracked or shattered.
It came at a rather bad time too as I was trying to make lots of eggs to take with us to England - and now I feel obligated to replace the patterns that we liked so as not to forget how to do them. This plan hasn't worked very well. The black floral designs I reproduced quickly - but they broke when in the blowing process. The 40 Apron patterns all turned out great - but not the same brilliant pattern. Pysanky are really alot like snow flakes.
Fortunately - none of the goose eggs were broken as that would have been really tragic.
Meanwhile, I gathered a group of people together Saturday and we went to a pysanky master class by Оксана Білоус. She lives close to me and is my supply distributor she also paints pysanky for Yushenko. Anyway, I thought that it would be a good time to try out what sort of toys and tools she has and decide if I want to invest more or not. My wish list of what to buy in America (where things are oddly cheaper) has added up and so my main waffle is to buy or not to buy the electric Kitsak. She makes and sells an electric set of 5 and it is cheaper than the states - at least with current exchange rates - and it is amazing what they do - I finally took the plunge and decided to try an Ivano Franko design which is vitrually impossible for all but the expert with a regular Kitsak. I suceeded - but still have a long way to go. This design took me at least 2 hours!!
Haggai broke 5 of our favorite pysanky. Unfortunately the ugly thanksgiving genre Turkey that I couldn't bring myself to throw away survived - but all of our favorites were cracked or shattered.
It came at a rather bad time too as I was trying to make lots of eggs to take with us to England - and now I feel obligated to replace the patterns that we liked so as not to forget how to do them. This plan hasn't worked very well. The black floral designs I reproduced quickly - but they broke when in the blowing process. The 40 Apron patterns all turned out great - but not the same brilliant pattern. Pysanky are really alot like snow flakes.
Fortunately - none of the goose eggs were broken as that would have been really tragic.
Meanwhile, I gathered a group of people together Saturday and we went to a pysanky master class by Оксана Білоус. She lives close to me and is my supply distributor she also paints pysanky for Yushenko. Anyway, I thought that it would be a good time to try out what sort of toys and tools she has and decide if I want to invest more or not. My wish list of what to buy in America (where things are oddly cheaper) has added up and so my main waffle is to buy or not to buy the electric Kitsak. She makes and sells an electric set of 5 and it is cheaper than the states - at least with current exchange rates - and it is amazing what they do - I finally took the plunge and decided to try an Ivano Franko design which is vitrually impossible for all but the expert with a regular Kitsak. I suceeded - but still have a long way to go. This design took me at least 2 hours!!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
oops and Misc.
For those of you with Blog readers or who daily visit my blog - apologies for the post in Russian. I was posting to the Bible in 47 weeks blog that we are doing with my church - but was in a hurry and Blogger apparently changes the order of which of your blogs are on top in dashboard based on last usage. I would prefer they just keep them alphabetically, but oh well.
Sorry for the confusion.
From our window we can see snow. It has been snowing the last 3 days after a relatively warm week from before. Alister and I are headed to the UK end of next week so am trying to get things together for that.
For Valentines day Alister took me to see Cyrano de Bergerac - it was a modern rendering - or at least a modern set. Gotta say - I may be doing ok with day-to-day Russian - but literary is definitely something else. Thank goodness that I already knew the story and that, well, acting is acting - even on a modern set.
Sorry for the confusion.
From our window we can see snow. It has been snowing the last 3 days after a relatively warm week from before. Alister and I are headed to the UK end of next week so am trying to get things together for that.
For Valentines day Alister took me to see Cyrano de Bergerac - it was a modern rendering - or at least a modern set. Gotta say - I may be doing ok with day-to-day Russian - but literary is definitely something else. Thank goodness that I already knew the story and that, well, acting is acting - even on a modern set.
Friday, February 13, 2009
(re)Discovering root vegetables
Winter is the dreariest time to go shopping for vegetables in Ukraine. While there are supermarkets - most of the fresh veggies look sad - not to mention the fact that they are expensive. Frozen veggies were an option - but with the crisis they seem to be one of the many products that were deemed "unprofitable" and taken off the shelves - OR - the price was raised so high that I won't touch them (400 grams of frozen peas for 22 uah!!! -only when I really want chinese noodle casserole . . .)
The vegetables that are available year around are as follows:
Cabbage: starting out a brilliant pale green - as winter wears on the heads progressively become whiter and whiter. We saw them in the cellar in the village where our hut is - they harvest them, put them in the cellar and then when they are ready to eat/ sell them they take them out and peal away layers of blackened leaves. Thankfully - in the market and I don't have to think about the blackend leaves.
Beets: As mentioned in other posts - they are actually tasty - but you have to think ahead if you want it in salad as you have to boil it - let it cool, peel it, and then prepare it.
Carrots: Definately the cheapest option - I am discovering that carrots don't just have to be carrot sticks. Last week I baked them with parsnips, rosemary and potatoes.
Parsnips: A new one for me - and not to be confused with the parsley root or the diakon raddishes. They really add a some tasty variety and are great boiled up/baked with the carrots. I don't really know about their nutritional value - but I personally rate it higher than the cabbage for appeal. Here, they grate them up and add them to salad or soup. (Which is also what they use the parsely root for - anyone know if you can eat paresly root as a side dish on its own?)
The vegetables that are available year around are as follows:
Cabbage: starting out a brilliant pale green - as winter wears on the heads progressively become whiter and whiter. We saw them in the cellar in the village where our hut is - they harvest them, put them in the cellar and then when they are ready to eat/ sell them they take them out and peal away layers of blackened leaves. Thankfully - in the market and I don't have to think about the blackend leaves.
Beets: As mentioned in other posts - they are actually tasty - but you have to think ahead if you want it in salad as you have to boil it - let it cool, peel it, and then prepare it.
Carrots: Definately the cheapest option - I am discovering that carrots don't just have to be carrot sticks. Last week I baked them with parsnips, rosemary and potatoes.
Parsnips: A new one for me - and not to be confused with the parsley root or the diakon raddishes. They really add a some tasty variety and are great boiled up/baked with the carrots. I don't really know about their nutritional value - but I personally rate it higher than the cabbage for appeal. Here, they grate them up and add them to salad or soup. (Which is also what they use the parsely root for - anyone know if you can eat paresly root as a side dish on its own?)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
ODPs
My first Official Document Photo was taken in 1998. I was traveling to Japan an was getting a passport. I parked my parents Buick in front of the AAA on main street and strolled into the modest office. They took me to a back corner. Everything was white. My hair was long at the time and I wore a blue colored polyester shirt I had bought at the thrift store down the street. I loved that shirt. The camera stood firmly anchored on a tripod. I made sure to look straight ahead. I smiled. The camera had 2 lenses and though they snapped "one" picture, two were taken. The picture was printed and developed immediately. It was still damp and smelling like vinegar when they slipped it inside the special passport photo envelope - your passport to adventure.
Since then, I have posed for many an ODP: In a photo booth at the Zagreb train station, in a small photo shop in Vukovar, at a store in Philadelphia's China Town, in a Kiosk in front of Velika Kushenija Supermarket. The times have changed. Digital has swept the old two/lense cameras into history - now they can print identical pictures from a single digital image much faster than any standard developing procedure.
Today I got an ODP at the computer and Photo Store at Friendship of Nations metro and it tops all and is on the record for most unique ODP experience to date.
After asking to have an ODP, they ushered me around the corner to a small, darkened room. There was a coat rack, a desk with a computer, a barrier of screens and a high backed chair in the middle of the room. The man pointed me to a coat wrack and as soon as I got my hat off, he said "There is a mirror around the corner you can use." Well, I know I had been out and about all day, and had been wearing a hat - but i didn't think I looked all that bad, all the same I obediently left the room or arrange myself in front of the mirror. It was an ODP - really what did I have to do - they have a reputation of looking terriable.
I sat on the chair in the shadowed room. Back against the chair head straight, no smiling with an open mouth. His commands came in a quick, no-nonsense order as he stood between the screens. Snap/ flash. the room illuminated for an instant and the screens faded to purple from bright white. Snap/flash. Snap/flash. A succession of seven shots followed - the photographer readjusting and checking his shot each time.
We move over to the computer and he pulls the shots up - I pick one (they pretty much all look the same - so there was ONE lazy eye shot - but really all the rest were basically the same - for all his maneuverings.) He then magnified the picture, popped it into photoshop and started airbrushing. I'm standing right there beside him and he is airbrushing my face. Really makes you feel your imperfections. I had to stop myself from bringing my had up to my eyes or my lips - or that shiny spot on the forehead while he was jogging around the screen with his little circle. ZHup. Zhup. Zhup. Look - flawless skin! Then he started on the eyes. First, he removed the shadows, then he intensified my eyeliner. When he started drawing eyelashes (no kidding) I finally said - "That's nice - but its just a document photo - I don't think you really need to do this."
"No," he said, "on a small photo this will really make the eyes stand out."
Finally he was done. he brought up the brushed photo and the original to compare. "Well?" He asked.
In truth, I actually liked the original, non-airbrushed version better. It wasn't that it was significantly different - just something about the color looked, well more real. But he had spent his time on it, and obviously it was supposed to be an improvement - so I said "Great" And he printed it off and for $2.50 I have 4 identical airbrushed passport photos. Not only that - but they keep them on file for the year - and if I ever need ODPs again - I can just go in and pick them up. No waiting, no added airbrushing - just print and pay.
I got home, and Alister said that the pictures were great. The photographer was right about one thing - on a small picture, the eyes do really stand out - and without magnification - you can't even tell that he added extra eyelashes. Its a shame really that this ODP is just going in a government registration file and won't really be used or seen - all that airbrushing for nothing. ;)
Since then, I have posed for many an ODP: In a photo booth at the Zagreb train station, in a small photo shop in Vukovar, at a store in Philadelphia's China Town, in a Kiosk in front of Velika Kushenija Supermarket. The times have changed. Digital has swept the old two/lense cameras into history - now they can print identical pictures from a single digital image much faster than any standard developing procedure.
Today I got an ODP at the computer and Photo Store at Friendship of Nations metro and it tops all and is on the record for most unique ODP experience to date.
After asking to have an ODP, they ushered me around the corner to a small, darkened room. There was a coat rack, a desk with a computer, a barrier of screens and a high backed chair in the middle of the room. The man pointed me to a coat wrack and as soon as I got my hat off, he said "There is a mirror around the corner you can use." Well, I know I had been out and about all day, and had been wearing a hat - but i didn't think I looked all that bad, all the same I obediently left the room or arrange myself in front of the mirror. It was an ODP - really what did I have to do - they have a reputation of looking terriable.
I sat on the chair in the shadowed room. Back against the chair head straight, no smiling with an open mouth. His commands came in a quick, no-nonsense order as he stood between the screens. Snap/ flash. the room illuminated for an instant and the screens faded to purple from bright white. Snap/flash. Snap/flash. A succession of seven shots followed - the photographer readjusting and checking his shot each time.
We move over to the computer and he pulls the shots up - I pick one (they pretty much all look the same - so there was ONE lazy eye shot - but really all the rest were basically the same - for all his maneuverings.) He then magnified the picture, popped it into photoshop and started airbrushing. I'm standing right there beside him and he is airbrushing my face. Really makes you feel your imperfections. I had to stop myself from bringing my had up to my eyes or my lips - or that shiny spot on the forehead while he was jogging around the screen with his little circle. ZHup. Zhup. Zhup. Look - flawless skin! Then he started on the eyes. First, he removed the shadows, then he intensified my eyeliner. When he started drawing eyelashes (no kidding) I finally said - "That's nice - but its just a document photo - I don't think you really need to do this."
"No," he said, "on a small photo this will really make the eyes stand out."
Finally he was done. he brought up the brushed photo and the original to compare. "Well?" He asked.
In truth, I actually liked the original, non-airbrushed version better. It wasn't that it was significantly different - just something about the color looked, well more real. But he had spent his time on it, and obviously it was supposed to be an improvement - so I said "Great" And he printed it off and for $2.50 I have 4 identical airbrushed passport photos. Not only that - but they keep them on file for the year - and if I ever need ODPs again - I can just go in and pick them up. No waiting, no added airbrushing - just print and pay.
I got home, and Alister said that the pictures were great. The photographer was right about one thing - on a small picture, the eyes do really stand out - and without magnification - you can't even tell that he added extra eyelashes. Its a shame really that this ODP is just going in a government registration file and won't really be used or seen - all that airbrushing for nothing. ;)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
About green tea
Did you know that green tea is best after its 3rd steeping of water?
I didn't know this interesting and economical fact either until coming to Ukraine - but everyone says it - so it must be true. Anyway - the tea does loose its bitterness and other flavors come out and for a really good cup you can even do 4 steepings. (Probably one of the health benefits is the amount of water consumed . . .)
Across from metro Lvov Tolstovo you'll find cafe Monomah. While it has coffee it is best known for its selection of teas. You can sample and smell different mixes and once you decide on the brew - a personal pot is 16 uah ($2). You can then refill the pot with hot water as often as you like. You could sit there all day. The cafe is small and personable.
Monomah's one draw back is that the chairs are not very comfortable - so while you could sit there all day drinking tea - you might not want to. The chairs are wooden and ridged - no padding the few booths that you can kind of spread out or lounge in are quickly snapped up. Still highly reccomend it for a couple of leisurly cups of tea.
I didn't know this interesting and economical fact either until coming to Ukraine - but everyone says it - so it must be true. Anyway - the tea does loose its bitterness and other flavors come out and for a really good cup you can even do 4 steepings. (Probably one of the health benefits is the amount of water consumed . . .)
Across from metro Lvov Tolstovo you'll find cafe Monomah. While it has coffee it is best known for its selection of teas. You can sample and smell different mixes and once you decide on the brew - a personal pot is 16 uah ($2). You can then refill the pot with hot water as often as you like. You could sit there all day. The cafe is small and personable.
Monomah's one draw back is that the chairs are not very comfortable - so while you could sit there all day drinking tea - you might not want to. The chairs are wooden and ridged - no padding the few booths that you can kind of spread out or lounge in are quickly snapped up. Still highly reccomend it for a couple of leisurly cups of tea.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
All quiet on the Eastern Front
So the gas has been restored to Europe, the cold snap has lifted and the holidays are over. In short - life is back into full swing. Alister and I are still going back and forth with being sick - but I hope (fingers crossed) that we've both kicked it.
Now we are busy getting back into a routine and catching up after being sick. I don't have Russian classes anymore - but am moderating a Russian project. Mostly I am in the headache process of organizing our trips back home. Always when I traveled alone - trips have never been a problem I could make an instantaneous decision and If it ended up being a bit hectic I had no one to blame but myself but had made that schedule to accomplish my goals - so ultimately I was always satisfied. With two people with two different sets of goals and expectations - it makes it incredibly more difficult- esp when trying to make all the different airline connections through budget flights to get where you need to go. Really gives you an appreciation for travel agents. So will hopefully have something more interesting to write next week- but for now not so much.
Now we are busy getting back into a routine and catching up after being sick. I don't have Russian classes anymore - but am moderating a Russian project. Mostly I am in the headache process of organizing our trips back home. Always when I traveled alone - trips have never been a problem I could make an instantaneous decision and If it ended up being a bit hectic I had no one to blame but myself but had made that schedule to accomplish my goals - so ultimately I was always satisfied. With two people with two different sets of goals and expectations - it makes it incredibly more difficult- esp when trying to make all the different airline connections through budget flights to get where you need to go. Really gives you an appreciation for travel agents. So will hopefully have something more interesting to write next week- but for now not so much.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Addicted
Hello. My name is Haggai and I have an addiction. Err . . . addictions.
1st there's water. Especially when they get it out of the water pump and put it in the tall silver dish. My head just fits in it and water is always a thrill. It doesn't matter that I have to go to the bathroom 5 or even 8 times a day - that water just makes me feel good. I've discovered that even though my head doesn't fit inside the see-the-other-side dish, I can still get water by tipping my dish with my paw. I have to do it just right - otherwise the water runs away and disappears. Even if it doesn't run away - its not tasty anymore. You need the danger rush.
2nd, I like cheese. The minute I hear the cheese wrapper crinkle I rush to the scene and try to figure out how to get my precious fix. Often the man turns his back when he is using the hot-box-pop and that is always my chance to leap and grab the wrapper. If I pull it all down to the floor I get to eat it all. Cheese is still tasty EVEN after its fallen on the floor
.
3rd, I sniff menthol. Not just sniff, lick, bite and devour that's my motto. Oooh, just the thought of it gives me shivers. The people have been lying on the place called "Bed" all last week and their necks and noses glistened with menthol. I couldn't resist. Oh, if only they had let me dig and bite at their necks a little longer - then I would have had all the menthol I could want. I found a jar near Bed and the top of it smells like menthol too. I licked and licked but the smell is still there somewhere. I don't know how to get it. I keep trying - but it won't crack.
I need help - the addictions are ruling my life- I don't have time for anything except trying to get my next fix or dreaming about it. In fact - I think I'll go dream about water laced with menthol now.
1st there's water. Especially when they get it out of the water pump and put it in the tall silver dish. My head just fits in it and water is always a thrill. It doesn't matter that I have to go to the bathroom 5 or even 8 times a day - that water just makes me feel good. I've discovered that even though my head doesn't fit inside the see-the-other-side dish, I can still get water by tipping my dish with my paw. I have to do it just right - otherwise the water runs away and disappears. Even if it doesn't run away - its not tasty anymore. You need the danger rush.2nd, I like cheese. The minute I hear the cheese wrapper crinkle I rush to the scene and try to figure out how to get my precious fix. Often the man turns his back when he is using the hot-box-pop and that is always my chance to leap and grab the wrapper. If I pull it all down to the floor I get to eat it all. Cheese is still tasty EVEN after its fallen on the floor
.
3rd, I sniff menthol. Not just sniff, lick, bite and devour that's my motto. Oooh, just the thought of it gives me shivers. The people have been lying on the place called "Bed" all last week and their necks and noses glistened with menthol. I couldn't resist. Oh, if only they had let me dig and bite at their necks a little longer - then I would have had all the menthol I could want. I found a jar near Bed and the top of it smells like menthol too. I licked and licked but the smell is still there somewhere. I don't know how to get it. I keep trying - but it won't crack.
I need help - the addictions are ruling my life- I don't have time for anything except trying to get my next fix or dreaming about it. In fact - I think I'll go dream about water laced with menthol now.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Gas
For those of you following the news - you have probably heard that Ukraine is in yet another dispute with Russia over gas prices. Our apartment is nice and toasty warm- and the last we heard, Ukraine said they had enough gas to supply internal needs for 3 months - but that was before the stakes were raised by halting gas supplies to Europe (who actually stopped the flow is disputed - both sides had things to gain from a stoppage - Ukraine to show Russia that it has muscle to flex by controlling supply and Russia by showing Ukraine that it means business). Depending on who Ukraine wants to please - the internal gas supply may eventually come under threat (what better way to repay some of it numerous debts than by selling its own gas to the dozen + European nations affected by the "Russian" stoppage at premium).
Anyway - we are currently toasty and warm - and thankful for it esp in the midst of 0 degree F weather.
Anyway - we are currently toasty and warm - and thankful for it esp in the midst of 0 degree F weather.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Fun personality Quiz
So every once and a while - you just have to fill out a personality quiz. This one was pretty fun because instead of answering questions in the traditional sense - you choose pictures. Despite thinking that pictures would leave things pretty open to interpretation - I found my analysis to be fair.
Best of all you get a fun widget to share with friends :-)
Down side? It hooks you into yet another social networking site.
Best of all you get a fun widget to share with friends :-)
Down side? It hooks you into yet another social networking site.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Mince pies from absolute scratch
Ask Alister what he associates with Christmas and he'll tell you mince pies and Christmas pudding. Last year, by the time I got around to asking him this it was much to late to try to make them (they both need months of time to mature). So this year I got on it early in order to make mince pies. I spent October sloughing through the internet for recipes. Not only did I have to make a recipe that I had never made before - but I had to make it from ingredients I found here in Ukraine without really knowing how some of those ingrediants might effect the recipe.
I finally settled on a combination of Delia Smith's and Jill Dupleix's mince pies and followed the comments to improve the BBC pastry recipe. The result was 72 + super yummy mince pies.
The recipe below are my rough estimates of my variations
Mincemeat
Pastry for mince pies
225 g cold/frozen butter (Margarine doesn't work as well)
350g flour
100 g sugar
1 egg beaten
powdered sugar
Mix flour and sugar together in a bowl. Grate the butter into the flour mixture. You may want to dip the butter in flour and dust your grater periodically with flour. Alternatively - you may use room temperature butter and cut it in with a pastry blender. Mix gently. Add 1/2 your beaten egg and mix the dough enough to get it to stick together. Dump out on a pastry mat - roll out and cut into rounds slightly bigger than your muffin tin. Place the round in the GREASED tin and pat to shape and even out. Fill with your mince and top with another round - slightly smaller than the first. Press the edges together to seal, brush with the remainder of the beaten egg. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes. Allow to cool 5 - 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
Dust with powdered sugar and serve. Alister says they are best served with cream - but we didn't manage to eat any with cream.
The mincemeat filled 3 batches of the pastry dough.
I finally settled on a combination of Delia Smith's and Jill Dupleix's mince pies and followed the comments to improve the BBC pastry recipe. The result was 72 + super yummy mince pies.
The recipe below are my rough estimates of my variations
Mincemeat
- 200g butter
- 400g brown sugar
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp All Spice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 500g Apples, shredded
- 200g fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries (I used fresh)
- 400g mixed candied peel, finely chopped (In Ukraine - I bought candied mandarines and lemons from the Uzbeki kiosks and threw them in the food processor - I think I added some extra manadrines)
- 100g dried, candied cherries - chopped
- 50g almonds - coarsely chopped
- 100 g dried apricots - chopped
- 600 - 800g raisens, currents, and sultanas, dried. To me, they are all raisens. At the Uzbeki Kiosk I bought a variety of all the differnt ones they had - a bout 4 types. The bigger ones I had to cut the seeds out of. Also very important to wash and sort the the raisens before adding to the mix.
- grated zest and juice from 2 Oranges
- grated zest and juice from 1 lemon
- 300ml brandy, cognac, rum, or whisky. I used cognac (of course)
Pastry for mince pies
225 g cold/frozen butter (Margarine doesn't work as well)
350g flour
100 g sugar
1 egg beaten
powdered sugar
Mix flour and sugar together in a bowl. Grate the butter into the flour mixture. You may want to dip the butter in flour and dust your grater periodically with flour. Alternatively - you may use room temperature butter and cut it in with a pastry blender. Mix gently. Add 1/2 your beaten egg and mix the dough enough to get it to stick together. Dump out on a pastry mat - roll out and cut into rounds slightly bigger than your muffin tin. Place the round in the GREASED tin and pat to shape and even out. Fill with your mince and top with another round - slightly smaller than the first. Press the edges together to seal, brush with the remainder of the beaten egg. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes. Allow to cool 5 - 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
Dust with powdered sugar and serve. Alister says they are best served with cream - but we didn't manage to eat any with cream.
The mincemeat filled 3 batches of the pastry dough.
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