Cranberry Vodka cookies

This is not a food blog.  There will be no fancy pictures making you drool.  No step-by step instructions.  Just a recipe and the fact that these are so yummy I had to share.
In Ukraine, vodka is cheap.  You can buy a liter for $2.  Gin, Whiskey, Bailey's - WAY more expensive.
So when I decided to look for a recipe for an odd cocktail - I found this Cranberry Vodka Tonic.
I made it - and in all honesty, it is so so  BUT while I was making it and straining and smashing out all the cranberries through the sieve - I discovered that the cranberries still had lots of cranberry flavour and I thought it was a waste to throw them away.  I decided to whip up my mom's 5-Way Holiday cookies (which are good if you want 5 varieties - but not good if you plan to give all five varieties away.  I just double the Orange Pecan addition by 5 and make a huge batch of it)  And add the remains of the cranberry vodka sludge to it.  WOW!  The cookies were super moist, super vanilla-y, with a lovely tart flavour from the cranberries and a deepening in flavour from the addition of the vodka.
The only draw back is that the cookies will be gone LONG before the batch of vodka.  May just have to figure out how to make the cranberry sludge without the Cocktail mixer.
The sludge left from the recipe (originally 1 lb of cranberries) was enough to mix nicely with 1/2 a batch of the Holiday cookies.

Sleds as transport

Our first years here in Ukraine, I watched with amusement as every winter people pulled out their wooden sleds with metal runners and started trotting about the icy streets with their kids in tow.  Didn't they know that the plastic sleds are faster?  That with the disks or even the toboggan rolls you could really get some speed?  Why were they bundling up their children and pulling them along the unevenly icy/ slushy / and bare walks that make up a neighbourhood.  Tsk tsk.  You would think that in the northlands, they would know how to use a sled.

Now, with a toddler and a baby - I understand much better.  The sled is transport before it is рецреатионал (which I guess explains why thе аverage cost is about $50 for a sled on runners.)  I guess when Saphira was wee, we had a more mild winter, and with a baby, if you choose not to go out, you don't go out.  No Problem.  With a baby AND a toddler, if you don't go out - there will be no nap time, and on a very unfortunate day bed time may also be delayed to a point where it is no longer productive for you to do anything after the child is in bed and you merely wave the white flag of defeat and crawl into bed after them.

And let me be very clear.  You cannot push a stroller one handed through snow and slush two feet deep at a curb while holding onto your toddler's hand. Pushing it with two hands is also a stretch.  Picking it up, hefting it through the mush while scrambling for your footing and hoping your toddler made it up the curb by herself in one piece and isn't currently howling, complaining of cold and wet, or deciding that the slush in the middle of the road is the perfect material for making a snowman- yep, that's about right.  And if there are any purchases - you know, the ACTUAL reason you decided to go through the half hour ordeal putting on everyone's snow suits, hats, gloves, and scarves (with more tears playing loudly during the exercises as we take turns being overheated and while I shout  - DO NOT TAKE THAT HAT OFF AGAIN, We are leaving, really we are leaving now.  We are leaving . . ..)  And passing past the door keeper once again in tears (What must they think?) to arrive, hot, and exhausted with the tears freezing on cheeks in front of our building -hoping that we can buy bread, eggs, milk and anything else we need before the whine of discontent begins again.  Thank goodness we can get most things through grocery delivery.

So today we bought a sled.  I have not tried it, but Alister says that it flies.  I have not worked out the full logistics of baby and toddler on the sled, or toddler pushing said baby on sled, or mother still slipping and sliding with said baby in ERGO.  We will let the drama and complications work themselves out as they come - for now, we have a sled as transport

Dr. Pepper

Did you know that Dr. Pepper is fruit flavoured?

I discovered this for the first time this year in the UK while reading a can of Dr. P.
Dr. Pepper, like pumpkin pie and chocolate chip cookies is purely American and isn't really exported much.  This catapults it to luxury item status  when you are away from home.  In general, I don't really drink soda, but when It is available (like when I'm back home in the US) - I drink Dr. Pepper.  Oddly, rootbeer isn't readily available either and it used to be my favorite beverage when I was little - but now I go for Dr. Pepper.

Anyway - Dr. Pepper has appeared in MY local grocery store for $1.10 per can.  Wow. Not sure those 23 fruit flavors are really worth that.  Still, when a friend offered to buy some from the US Embassy store for us -for the amazing US price of  55 cents - I couldn't resist - esp knowing that it costs so much in a local store.

So this winter, it's not about eggnog and cider - we'll be cracking open our Dr.Peppers and saying Happy Holidays to all.

Done

So in early October I posted my to do list.

Here is how that went:

Apple Sauce - 15 liters made and canned solely because a friend came and helped and pushed through with the boiling and mashing while I ran after and fed kids.

Beet chips: after 3 batches in the dehydrator and two in the oven failing to produce a lovely terra chip crisp snack - I decided to stop messing around with beets until I REALLY have time to mess around with beets.  And am ready to eat multiple kilos of them since Alister and Saphira both declined my experiments.

Carrot chips - didn't happen - but I did make a lovely ginger carrot soup.

Apple chips - lots.  Thanks mom for buying me the apple slicer for my birthday! It was a hit with Saphira too.

I also did about 4 kilos of peppers that I chopped up and froze.  I never got to the tomatoes before the prices went up (out of season) so they can wait for another year or two before I attempt it.

Pears: two batches - also extra tasty and hope to do more of them next year

Watermelons (2)- figured while I was at it - Picture something the consistency and sweetness of a starburst - but totally natural.  I actually prefer the dehydrated version to the real melon and Saphira eats them like candy (esp since we don't give her candy . . . . ).  The only depressing thing about watermelons is that you spend 18 - 20 hours cutting and drying the thing and to show for it you have 1 pint - that's right - a 1 pint jar of watermelon pieces.

I also managed to do the apple chutney and the mince pie filling.  Both were a bit more time consuming than in the past since I didn't have a food processor.  The food processor was one of the furnishing with the other apartment and while we have money set aside for one, I just haven't gotten around to doin ghte research and buying one.  So this year, the mince piece might not be so evenly minced - but I still reckon they'll be tasty.

Cranberries - you can't find the dried ones here and so I am experimenting with a tray of them now - burst and sweetened they taste almost like  craisens - though I think in the future the easiest thing to do would be to pureee it and then chop finely for fruit bites rather than try to preserve the integrity of individual berries.

I did stock up on lots of meat - but have done no grinding.  After various inquiries we learned that we would need to buy an electric meat grinder as the manual ones aren't good quality here anymore and its hit or miss to get one to grind.  We decided the cost of a new appliance didn't balance out the cost of saving on meat by grinding it ourselves (and then having all the clean up too).

Broccoli and cauliflower - This finally did happen, but only because a friend came and helped twice- getting the veggies cleaned and blanched and the kids looked after.  Until she came I kept buying huge amount of of cauliflower at the market only to eat it frantically throughout the week.  There were two weeks where the only vegetable we ate was cauliflower.

Zuchini - Did several batches of these because Saphira can actually help with it and I figured it would be good for quickbreads and muffins

Pumpkin - Froze one but didn't quite get to it before it started to spoil on me, so lost about half of it.

Besides my friend coming and helping out several days, the only reason I was able to do much of what I did was because Alister took a 10 day teaching trip to Siberia.  Now, Alister is a great help with the kids, and I really don't know how single moms manage - but still, I didn't really have to cook or clean much while he was gone, which leaves you a surprising amount of time for big projects.

Water

I wrote awhile ago about buying water.  Well the Kyiv Post ran a series on Kyiv water and have clarified the rumors of why we don't drink the water. (links to all articles in the series at the bottom of the article).  The winner . . . It was the chlorine.

We also discovered that the water we used to buy had a very high bacteria content.  Oops, maybe should have mixed it with the high chlorine tap water :-)  Well - we didn't order it too often as we mostly walked to the kiosk  and either way we switched companies (not one if the tested ones) when we came back in order to get a higher flouride content every once in awhile.

For the most part though - we are fetching our water from a kiosk - I guess though we should pay more attention to the Dept of Health review in the window or run our own test - apparently a violation in drinking water quality only carries a $100 fine.

To Do

It's Fall and time to get the food preservation on to save money (but not time) for the year

Here's (my hope I get it done) list of how I'm preparing for winter:

Canning apple sauce
freeze peppers
Dehydrate beet chips
Dehydrate apple chips
Dehydrate carrot chips (guess who got a dehydrator!)
Make apple chutney
Make mince pie filling
Buy Beef at the Harvest market and make ground beef
Buy potatoes
Buy, blanch, and freeze broccoli and cauliflower
buy tomatoes and make and freeze/can pasta sauce

Finding that my time with the two kids  - even with  lower expectations - is seriously inhibited and that what I can accomplish on my lists is frustratingly meager.

Still - here's hoping.

Differing Tastes

All I can say is that we will be in serious trouble if we ever get a place that we have to furnish from scratch.

On our priority list for the apartment were dishes and curtains.  Curtains because we didn't want Saphira and Thaddaeus waking us with the sun and dishes - well - you've got to eat.

The most frustrating thing about the dishes is that here in Ukraine they have glass dishes by Luminarc that you buy by the piece or in a set - but the sets don't normally come with breakfast bowls or you have fine China. Luminarc are supposed to be the unbreakable glass - like corell - but they scratch and the patterns aren't always nice and you still pay a lot of money for something you (ok Alister and I) aren't really happy with.  No ceramic, no stoneware, no everyday china even.  It literally goes from Luminarc to fine china with gold trim that you can't put in the microwave and why do you really want to pay $20 a plate for that? So we ended up going with Ikea again.  We had gotten some Ikea plate when we first got married (Thanks Mr & Mrs B.!) but all the bowls and half of the plates had broken (they were glass and so we were already a bit prejudiced against the glass luminarc).  So this time we got a set of ceramic Dinera imported over the border at 60% mark-ups (and that still makes it cheaper than some of the Luminarc sets even!) The most frustrating thing is that I can go onto Target's website and find 20 dinnerware sets that I like and  at least there will surely be 6 of those that Alister would agree on too.

It's an open market people- someone please come sell inexpensive and pretty ceramic dishes in the former USSR!!!

Our next quest was curtains.  Every fabric I liked, Alister thought was ugly and cheap and I likewise thought that his choices fell into the cheap and ugly category as well.  We finally found one we agreed on for our bedroom, a two sided fabric - that again I liked the side that we designated as the "back" and he liked the side we designated as the "front" best.  Alister compromised on the fabric and I compromised on the side.  In the end, hanging up in our window.  He is really happy with it.  I like it too - so in the end I suppose we came out with a win-win.  The drapes for the kid's room/office were much less important to me - it is Alister's work space after all -  and the key is just to block the light so Saphira won't start yelling: "momma, papa - Me awake!"  We chose deep blue almost blackout drapes.  The room is light pink with a red and gold couch bed - so we needed a masculine color to pacify Thaddaeus and Alister :-)  It also ended up looking nicer than expected.  I think the key is that hanging, you see the fabric from a distance - but in the shop you see it close up on a card.  It makes a difference.

Up or Down?

To move up or down – that was the question.

Our 14^th story has come to a technical, if not a literal,  end.  We gave up our flat last December to move (temporarily) back to Northern Ireland.  Early September, we finally returned home to Kiev.  A strange feeling, coming home but  being homeless.  The flat was such a safe, happy place and we had some good times there – but a one bedroom apartment is small for parents with two children and wanting to host people in their home.  We knew when we left that we would need to give it up.

We could have chosen anywhere in the city, and a good many people wanted us to move north or west, but we wanted to stay put; in part because the region is incredibly convenient.  Supermarkets, markets, electronic markets – we could find almost everything we needed without having to veer too far out of our way. But the main reason we chose to stay is that we’ve made friends here in the region.

We didn't have too many choices owing to the new visa regulations that require some paperwork from the landlords: no one wanted crazy foreigners about!   In the end, it was down to the place we choose and a 4 room on the 8^th floor.  The four room was closer to the location that we wanted to be but was $200 more per month.  It was, in my opinion – not Alister’s – nicely decorated, maybe too nice.  She was willing to let us have the cat – but we worried just how much a scratch would cost to repair on a wall or something else.  While the 4 room gave Alister a definite office – the living room was small and didn’t feel like a great place for gathering and socializing.  We finally found a 2 bedroom apartment on the 19^th floor.  

We went with the 3 room because even though it is a room or a balcony short (I’m sure Alister will be constantly a bit frustrated with us interfering in his space as his office is also the kid's bedroom) it had this big room that can just be used for any and every type of gathering.  And while it is furnished, it is only furnished to a point and the landlord is willing to let us make our own mark on it.  Now it will be up to Alister and I to see if we can decide on a mark.

Big City vs. Small Town

Despite the bad rap - For toddlers, there are distinct advantages to raising a child in the city - or at least in the Kiev Micro Region where we lived.  Number one advantage - was that I didn't really need to look for a way to entertain her (except of cold and rainy days)  I just had to walk out of my apartment to one of the many playgrounds around our building and there would be at least 1 but sometimes as many as 20 other small children her age, all running around and stealing each other's toys. on the way to or from the park, I did grocery shopping and got her back in time for lunch and a nap.

We have been in a Alister's home town in Northern Ireland since February.  It was nice to miss the cold weather they had in Kiev - but some days it is pretty hard to find something to do.  In small towns where people are car dependent and where the weather is cool and rainy - you don't find people with small children flocking to the play parks.  True - There are playgroups - on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we make our way to the specified location and sit for two hours as the children play and get a snack - all for a pound!  Well worth it if the weather is rainy!  Sunday is Church and Family day and so that leaves Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday (and holidays when play group doesn't operate) to find something to occupy Saphira.

We walk a lot - and it is a good thing Saphira is a good walker and that our town has more to offer than the one I grew up in.  Often our walk looks like this:  Over to the post office to either put cards in the mailbox or say "hello" to it and then down the street to window shop in the two chemists and the Thrift store.  I then browse the short dated aisle of the grocery store and we continue walking down to the Animal Auction.  Monday is Sheep day and Tuesday is Cow day.  There is a public restroom there, and for some reason Saphira always likes to stop there for a potty break (once out of necessity - but after that she always says she has to go potty whenever we pass it - so we stop and she goes).  We watch the animals unload, listen to the impregnable chatter of the auctioneer (Saphira has started shouting out numbers - but so far the auctioneer hasn't taken her up on her bids) and sometimes if we are lucky we get to pet an animal.  Saphira REALLY likes visiting the auction house and brings up our animal encounters ferquently.

If the weather is dry, we go to a playground in the morning or afternoon, and normally we visit her grandparents in the afternoon after her nap as well.