angelic

Ahhh... this lady is a culinary genius... plain and simple.

First off, we had Szechuan pork stir fry with peanuts and bean sprouts for lunch (no pix, partly because there is nothing left of it)... I'm still savoring the memory.

BUT- after lunch...wellllll- this happened:

Now this, my friends, is a copied-from-the-internet pic of.... an angel food cake. It is my very humble (that's always a red-flag 'humility marker'...haha) that the only way to do angel food cake is from scratch. No small feat here, since we have: 1) no real angel food pan (S uses a loaf pan); 2) no cake flour (sift sift sift); 3) funny beet sugar- not fine like the stuff back home. But, this does not stop the remnants of that cake out in the kitchen from being the most delectable thing on earth. Wow! This all reconfirms that, when it comes to desserts, there is nothing nothing that can come close to angel food... done right, that is.

Here is a fairly decent recipe- but you can use more egg whites... and S started with a pre-heated oven.

Louis L'Amour

Once upon a time...there was an argument about what kind of literature was best. Paul O and I finally agreed to each read a book of the other's choosing. He gave me the fattest L'Amour book he could find- something from the Sackett series- and I chose W Somerset Maugham's 'Of Human Bondage' (still one of my favorites- but proly not the thing to start a Louis L'Amour fan on). After months, we gave the books back happily admitting that we'd maybe tried a page or 2, just couldn't get into it and averring that our opinions were the same as they'd always been. WELL- I have no idea if Paul ever did read Maugham, but about a year ago, bored, I picked up 'The Last of the Breed' by L'Amour and thoroughly enjoyed it. And read more. And, well, he really is ok...in fact, he hits moments of purt' near brilliance sometimes when creating a setting and character depiction. What this is really about, is something that reminds me of L'Amour.

Coming to this village, you get off at the end of the bus line and start walking along the edge of the field. At the corner, follow the track to the left- but then shortly after that, a foot path veers off to the right and you leave the main track on it. This takes you right to the lip of what looks like a sharp drop-off; turns out, it's steep but sloped. There's not much growing except scrubby brushy looking things- short, rough and tough. The path goes over the edge down into a 'bowl' full of this scruffy stuff. At one point, it bends around a bush that you can hang onto if you want as you navigate a particularly steep place. From this part of the path, you look out over the valley and get your bearings- there are numerous tracks down there and it's important to find the 'used-to-be-bridge' and aim for it- take that bend first and then that one to the left. Down on the bottom, you just go forward. In the summer, this was all hard cracked land and you could make a fairly straight shot. Now, however, there's been rain and you suddenly remember that there is actually- I suppose it's a backwater of the sea running back into this valley. Well, it's pure muck right now. Anyway, it's a great walk in the summer and I always feel like some cowboy without a horse heading off into the bottom lands, across the flat and then up the other side again. (Or, if it's been a rough day- I feel like a hobbit heading into the dead lands around Mordor.)

So, umm, oh yes- Louis L'Amour- well, he'll do...although I have yet to get into a gunfight- real or otherwise. I still wonder if you really could 'eat' that much lead, keep on shooting, walk into the desert, collapse and manage to survive, but anyway.

life

It dawned on me today that it's Christmas Eve Day...which you tend to forget here, since Xmas is celebrated according to the old calendar (Georgian? I'll have to check that one)- which is Jan 7. So, it's life as usual here; nearly the whole month of Jan, though, will be 1 celebration after the other, by the time they celebrate New Year's, Xmas and then 'old' New Year (2 wks after 'new' New Year).

One of our friends is dying. She's often been ill, but this fall, her family finally convinced her to go to the Dr- diagnosis? Diabetes, high blood pressure, liver and kidney failure. She's 43. And has always reminded me of my own mom. Anyway, they live in a village 'at the end of the world'. Had a night train into Odessa; fish sandwich at McD's for b'fast (at 6am); 1 hour by bus to Yuzhniy (a port city on the Black Sea- and it's COLD in Yuzhniy); 30 min bus ride to the end of the road...and then 20 min walk through the fields to the village. I forgot what it's like when it's muddy...wow! Thankfully, it was mostly frozen today. Still managed to add a few inches to my height by the time I got where I was going.

Anyway- spent several hours with them. It reminds me again that it's not easy to die and it's not easy to watch someone you love go that last stretch. Especially when that someone is the mom that took care of you always- that took care of everybody. Both the sick lady and her hus are deaf, so that complicates things as far as communication (for me). Hard to know just what to stay. So you just hold a hand and stand there.

I'm at the neighbor's for the night- also our friends, also deaf. The boys were here the end of last week and will come again this week. What more? Don't know- I guess I'll keep you posted...

Sun afternoon

Here in Simferopol, one of the larger cities in Crimea with Rachel. Rachel is a med student from Malaysia- and she is a good cook! I think her mom must be, too! Here's what we had for lunch:

"Pusu"
soak the pusu (dried tiny fishies!) in water till soft; grind garlic with the mortar and pestel, and add fish and grind some more. In a bowl, mix flour, diced onions and fish/garlic mixture; add salt, chili powder and water. Drop by spoonfuls into hot oil; fry both sides well. Eat! (Dip in chili sauce- this is Malaysian chili sauce- very red and nice n hot!)

Also, rice with chicken curry

to drink, sweet corn syrup mixed with mostly water and some milk (also sugar)

wow! so yummy!

Here's the Cook!

And the satisfied customer!

How's this?

Hmm, why can't I post pix? I'll see if this works...and if it doesn't, well, you're stuck with an ultra boring post till I get back to my laptop...

The pic (if it posts) is JennaMae Nicole and she just turned 3! Yes, she's related to me (unlucky child)- my sister's. Word is that she got a giant toy horse (not sure how big exactly) that she insisted on taking to bed with her (but her Momma snuck in and took it out once JM had fallen asleep). And, she's being rather protective of the horsie- snarling at any sibling that gets too close.

guess

Can you guess who has a birthday Dec 23? Well, here's some hints: she's not chubby (that sort of amounts to an inside joke); she's a tiny bit older than me; she has connections in MI, IN, IL, WI...and South America; she's one fantastic gal; she's got an adorable little nephew who's in hot competition with my nephies for being all-time cutest ever!

Since I didn't get a card out- either snail-mail or ecard- I'll get her this way! Happy Happy Birthday, Karla! Too bad I haven't figured out how to post pix from my iPAQ...so you really got lucky! Ha! Hope it's a great day!

xo

double ok

can someone tell me, please, how to get rid of all this dead space on the sides of this page? I'd like to change the format of this thing but the choices in the 'template' setting aren't all that whippy...any ideas? I'm really really open to suggestions...

trying to figure out the blogger

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and you thought you have a rough life...this was on the 'interesting images' yahoo photo stream this am... yikes

Note: This is a rodent with babies, yes. Sure it's, only a rodent (I thought mouse- it could be a rat, how do I know?) and I really really don't like 'em... BUT- that pic just sort of evokes sympathy in me... talk about sleepless nights and not getting anything done during the day, either...I'll bet at least one of them is always hungry...and does she have to bathe them all???

ok

It's been awhile; we've been on the go. Back to Auntie H's (where she worked her magic on me again...then, since 'John Johnovitch' has been sour lately- maybe drinking? he's her hus. At any rate, she needed a break- so she came back into town with us to spend the week with their daughters- sat beside me on the bus and rattled my ear off- I understood about 2 out of 3 words- this happens because, no matter how long you're here, there are some thought processes that, turned into words, just don't make sense unless the mind that did the processing was imprinted and formed in the same basic environment as yours- which is the mind that's trying to process the information for you to understand...that makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? I'm convinced of it, anyway... Also, there was a lot of background noise- road noise and a loud, Amer-dubbed-into-monotone-Russian incredibly stupid movie going on- ahhh yes, more 'progress' in Ukr... let it be known that having a single moment of relative silence might nudge your mind into digging around a bit and trying to figure out if it is content or not...) Nice parentheses statement, eh?

Ok- anyway. Bill got back from Africa; when he went through Poland, he picked up the mail (Yay- way better than Santa Clause has a hope of ever being.) SOMEBODY'S mom (!!x0x0!!) knitted 2 scarves and a hat (the hat matches one of the scarves) and sent them to Pol. B sent our stuff to the capitol via bus; last night, Sharon W put it on a train to our city. This am, sometime between 5 and 6, Sharon A headed off to the station to meet that train. Just before 7, back she comes- ahhhhh... I LOVE my 2 scarves and hat. They are so great...they are 'haha-I-have-them-and-you-don't' great; they are cuddly and warm; they are nice and thick; they are pretty; do you want to hear more??? :) They are from MY MOM!!! I was going to take a pic with S' cell phone and post it but turns out her phone doesn't have a camera...hmmm... you'll just have to imagine it...and some other day, I'll post pix. I have never (never!) had a hand-knit scarf and hat set (!so this is all fun for me!) and I've never been able to wear a hat because of my hair or head or something...but this one works! And the super cool thing? My hair stick pokes through...ok, we might have to do something drastic, like change the 'do' for the winter... ahhh... now you know... (for all of you who get bored with this kind of chatter, just come back another day!)

Confession

Or, What A&C never knew...

That last post is bringing back a flood of memories, including this one (and then I have to try to sleep since our train gets in shortly before 5am):

After 9 months in Ukraine, I had the thrill (it was believe me) of 6 weeks in Germany, summer of 2001.

Linda S and I left Kyiv together, arriving into Berlin (after nearly 48 hours on trains)...in the middle of what turned out to be Europe's annual Love Parade...ummm...well, it was umm...shocking to say the least, after growing up, living and working in the MidWest and then spending a year in 'post-Soviet' still very protected Ukraine (girls who are close friends walk down the street holding hands for no other reason than that they're close friends, if you know what I mean). The Love Parade is a gay and lesbian festival and I guess I'll leave it at that- except to say that L & I both had roaring headaches from the crowds and noise before we got out of the Berlin train station. In fact, one more thing- it was so bad that I was nearly in tears, thought Berlin must be the modern 'Sodom and Gomorrhoa' (sp?) and nearly had a panic attack knowing that I couldn't just get on the first train heading back east to Ukraine. I was relieved to find out that this was far from normal for Berlin or Germany.

Back to the story. After several very special annual mtgs there in Germany, I had some time with Allen and Cami N, who were living there at the time. It was blissful. Mik was a happy bubbly 2 1/2 (or 3?) year old, Mich was just learning to walk and A & C were so 'my age' so Amer and so 'just-what-the-doctor-ordered'. I came home from conv with them; Cami sat in back with the kids and I was in front with an excellent view, unfortunately, of the road and the speedometer. Well, after 9 months of buses that seldom went 60 mph, the autobahn with no speed limit terrified me. I kept telling myself, "This man's wife and kids are in the back seat; he's not driving like a maniac because he's not a maniac and his wife and kids..." Thankfully, I got used to fast cars and fast (and good) roads again before the summer was over...and when I was home, loved driving just as much as ever!

Another day

Tonight, Sharon and I were waiting (for hours) in a train station in northern Crimea. I was dying (I'm sure) for something...so was Sharon. We finally decided that we were dying for ice-tea...and you can get several kinds- S likes Lipton's lemon; I like Nestea's peach. Off I went on a hunt...

Now, the thing about Ukraine is things have changed faster than your average toddler can empty a cupboard (Hi Chloe! I saw my own niece JennaMae in action, so I know what your mom means when she says you're fast)! So, 7 years ago when I arrived there was no such thing as ice tea in a bottle. Nor was there ice coffee (that's important) in a bottle. L'viv (population around 800,000) had 1 store with grocery carts (GROCERY CARTS!!- when you're down, go there just to push the cart and choose your own products off the shelf- loiter and linger to make it last) and it looked like a warehouse with skin disease. There was also a McDonald's about 20 min from our apt and we ate there once a week for sanity's sake. Kyiv was a total rush because you could find Oreos and Reese's PB Cups there, not to mention, Kyiv was just plain cool...in fact Kyiv is still just plain cool (I mean, they have a TGIFriday). Buses were a total nightmare 'back then'- the most common bus was big, red, ancient (called 'Icarus') and one memorable trip I was sitting just behind the driver and could see the speedometer-which rarely got over 70km/hr (that's about 43 mph) and it wasn't at all unusual to have to stand at least part of the trip, sometimes for hours AND you invariably snagged something as you maneuvered the aisle- there were always sharp things sticking out, lurking, in fact, in dark but impossible to avoid places. And, something I just remembered- all winter you saw people approach their seat, turn around and deftly flip their coats up so that the outside (which shows, you know) wouldn't come in touch with the seat- which was likely dirty. Back then, DeAnn and I decided that we'd make our first million designing and selling a contraption that people would wear (sort of like a hoop skirt) under their coats- they'd push a button and it would flip the coat up out of harm's way, saving precious moments of 'grab-that-seat-before-someone-else-does' time.

Now, buses are mostly clean, snag-free and 'new'; they run many more buses and we seldom have to stand anymore. Even Izmail and Drohobych have multiple really nice 'grocery cart' stores- if you don't like bazaars or stores where all goods are on shelves behind the counter and you have to ask for everything, you seldom need to go to either. I don't know when I last saw someone flip their coat up to sit down- there are 'European drycleaners' all over; I guess it's easier to take care of long coats- plus seats are cleaner.

Tonight we're on a train and when we got our sheets, they were still damp... And that brought all this to mind. It's the first time in I don't know how long that's happened, although it used to be common. So, that's why I suddenly got fired up enough to do another post... That, AND, remember I said we can get bottled ice coffee now? Well, see, there was only 1 ice tea anywhere near the train station tonight- so I gave it to Sharon and got a coffee for myself (which she doesn't know- Hi S!)...significant because I can keep myself awake and hyper much easier in the 'new and improved' land we live in than 7 years ago! Oh yeah- and I can get on the web and surf it for a mere UAH 20/month (the equivalent of $4) with my handheld and cell phone- it's a decent 'faster-than-dial-up' connection...so I find that I can blog from stations and trains and buses- as long as my carrier has a tower nearby... It's a rough life... ahhhh

Auntie H

I came east to be with Sharon Accola and Ala for December. Fri, we went out to the village to be with Auntie H and her husband. When my folks were here a few years ago, we went to see them. Auntie H fixed us a special dish because we were guests- macaroni with fried meat. Interesting taste- texture sort of like organ meat but 'not quite'...Bill got smiles around his eyes (after the 2nd meal) and said, "Do you know what it is?" "Well, no..." "Cow udder" "Huhhhh?" "Yup- first you boil it then fry it." Oh my. My dad the dairyman was finished eating right then and the rest of us wiped out soon after.

More about Auntie H. They live in a village at the end of a perpetually muddy road. The house is typical for the village- 1 story,1 door, chilly, damp & not particularly convenient. BUT unlike most village houses, it has Auntie H in it. The first time I was there, we gathered up all the chairs and stools in the house (not that many) and set them on both sides of the hall (before they had gas heat, this was the warmest place in the house). There was 1 footstool right by Auntie H and she said to me, "You sit here and be my daughter!" Well, I don't suppose it's hard to imagine my feelings for her. No wonder that, even though I didn't know them well- they were in Bill's area, after all, not ours and nearly 24 hours travel time from where we were- no wonder I had to take Mom and Dad out there! Auntie H is not pretty to look at- she's had a hard life and she's probably been in survival mode most of it and it shows. I used to think she was an old lady (she certainly doesn't look young and has 2 grown daughters)- she's 2 years older than my dad. She is 100% loving mom and really one of the best cooks I've met (I mean, it wasn't her fault that we'd never EATEN udder before).

This time she parked us at her kitchen table, dished up soup and salad and made sure there was plenty of bread and butter and cookies and tea and I think there was more, but anyway, you get the picture. Then she says, "I got a letter..." and her eyes got sort of leaky. She pulls this letter out- it's from Bill who's been in Africa the last 2 months. She gives it to us to read and says, "He signed it 'your son'." Well, that made her whole month. She loves us all but she especially loves Bill and V, who first went to see them.

I'm having a hard time really portraying this like it is. The house is still cold, very damp, nothing is easy there and never has been easy (although it's better, by far, than it used to be). But, walking into Auntie H's is like finding a well-tended rose garden after slogging through the barnyard.

There will be more changes after the new year- but for now, I'm happy to be over here with Sharon and soaking up some of Auntie H's special care again. I'll be so rotten nobody'll be able to stand me!

xo

one more thing

This little charmer turned 5 a few days ago! Happy Birthday, Little J! My sister's oldest...

ahhhhh.....

and this sent to me by a really nice person... This is a shelf in some store in the Seychelles. The other sides of the cans are in Arabic... I'll volunteer to do the label in Ukrainian- how do I let Pepsi know???

It's all relevant

You already knew that...I found it out all over again last Weds... [Aside: Loran S says it really is all relevant: if you have 1 hair in your soup, it's TOO MANY; if you have 1 hair on your head, it's too FEW...]

Well, 5 hours on the road, with one change- OK- we need to be in Lu by 7pm for a 'rather important engagement'...think 'take-turns-standing-in-front-of-people-and-sharing-something'; trip from here to Lviv: 90 min; Lviv to Lu: 3 hours...that's actually only 4 1/2 hours total travel time. So, leaving here at noon should surely get you to Lu in plenty of time for a 7pm 'rather important engagement', right? Well, I'll just remove the suspense right here. No that is not enough time. Yikes. Let's just say that Don told us the order would be Viorel first, me next, then Trude then Don (V's closer to my mom's age- No, I wasn't so pleased with that arrangement but I don't make the plans now, do I?)...so all during this 'un-fun' trip when we're getting more and more sure all the time that We're going to be LATE, not only am I trying to collect my thoughts, I'm wishing I could go first. SO, we arrive, wait at the bus station for what turns out to be a poorly choreographed cab (is that a real phrase?) and then fly up the stairs with all our junk, dump it in the kitchen (No, I did NOT get to visit the "little girls' room" first- that might be TMI...who knows?) and then plop down in the front row and try to look calm, cool and collected (Note to self: pat your 'recently-set-free-from-scarf-and-hood-hair' down in the kitchen, NOT the front of a room with too many witnesses)- oh yes, and add to this that our dear deaf friend (legally deaf but she manages to converse all right) hollers from the back of the room "Anita! ANITA! What, can't she HEAR me?!"-flustered (understatement) I turn around and WAVE of all things... groan. Well, we were only 10 min late; no, they hadn't started yet... AND- it turns out that the longer V spoke the calmer I got... go figure. I'd even settled back down to fairly a normal heartrate and bloodpressure (for the circumstances) by the time it was my turn...

We went on the next am to a city east of there- had a really nice visit with 2 girls and spent the night with them in their dorm room (on the 9th floor of a building that does NOT allow students to use the elevator...that, my friends, included us, too... this explains why we checked everything but the absolute necessities into overnight baggage check at the bus station first)- anyway, that was fun! They're great kids; T & I finally went to bed (2 of the roomies were away so 2 empty beds- just right!) and then they sat up doing a ton of homework- I actually can totally relate to that. We did it, too, Deb and I, at Purdue a few years ago...

Next day- to KP- D went over to his colleague's for the night and we had his big beautiful house all to ourselves for the night. [Someday I'll have to put up some pix of it- he's a carpenter and has a truly beautiful house- plus, he just plain has good taste.] Sat we went out to see a dear old man out in the 'boonies'- ahhh, I can't explain this setting- you'd have to see it. It is back a long winding road 'over the river and through the woods' as well as down the ravine, through the valley, out of the ravine and then do it all over again; some of the most beautiful autumn scenery I've seen is along this route. It reminds me of the bluffs along the Mississippi north of LaCrosse, WI, actually... up by Ettrick...

So, finally got back into town and eventually on another bus then another bus and on to the next place. Were there till this am; now, we're HERE! Here was a hot shower, laundry and French fries for supper again... (Did you want the recipe??) and 2 cups of strong coffee...which is why I'm having a hard time shutting up and going to bed! But, I must...so-

Farewell! Loved all the weekend posts everyone! toodles