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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

• 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)

Mix the butter, sugar, juices, and spices in a big pot and gently cook until the butter is all melted. Throw in all the other ingrediants and mix well so that everything is covered by the butter mixture. Apparently - it is the butter that helps to keep everything from spoiling - so it is very important that it covers everything. Stir in the cognac (extra may be added for a boozy mincemeat). Pack firmly in sterilized jars. Screw on the lid to seal and put in a cold dark place, like a cellar or the back of your fridge at least 1 month before you plan to use it. The mixture will keep about 6 months.

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.