Home cooking- Tartars and Romanians

"I love home-made food, and I thought I was quite good, until I met my roommates family."

My roommate's name is Sibel, and she is from a lovely little town called Constanta, on the Black Sea, in Romania. Sibel is a blend of both Romanian, by birth and Tartars by family origin. They are a Turkish-like sub sect of the population (approx 23,000 people in Romania) and have their own language (a mixture of Russian and Arabic words). Sibel had always talked about the cuisine that was so common place in her family, and was so abnormal for almost the rest of Romanian cuisine and people. Her hometown sounds a lot like any hometown you would hear about in Italy or France... rustic, beautiful, old world charm, good people with great food. 

Sibel's mother, aunt, and sister-in-law decided to visit Prague for about 2 weeks (they are still here) and have been staying in our flat with us. When Sibel first said they would stay she also mentioned the possibility of cooking traditional tartars food as well. Now, anyone that knows me will also know how much I love food... really, any food, I don't discriminate.

Saturday was a terrible day here in Prague. There were flash floods in Northern Bohemia, which killed 5 people. There were small lakes on the street on the way to the grocery store; which is always fun to wade in, and the rain, well, it was just relentless! Today was the day that Sibel's family decided to prepare their traditional food! GOOD GOD! It was the best food I have ever had! Each recipe (a soup and then the main dish) took 4-5 hours of hard work in the kitchen. These are some dedicated ladies... and there were 3 of them... can you imagine how long it would take without the other ones help?

(from left to right): Aunt, Sister-in-law, and Mom- making dumpling-like rolls for the soup and main dish. Made by rolling dough to an almost non-existent width and then adding chicken meat, followed by a quick little crescent moon fold.

This step alone took the good chunk of there time... maybe a good 3 hours! They made the dough themselves, the chicken breast was mined by hand, and everything was fresh and made from scratch. Fantastic is not even a word suitable to describe this meal!

The little crescent shaped dumplings for the soup and main course. There were 5 of these chopping boards full of these little guys

I am beyond grateful for the meals that her family has made for us. I feel so fortunate to have tried the cuisine of a population of only 5.5 million people, 23,000 of which my roommate belongs to in Romania. Living in Europe has taught me that the best food is made with lots of love, care, and that even if you don't speak the same language a full stomach goes a long way to building  rapport with other people.

More info on the Tartars people here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatar_people

Bye Bye Dear Friend...DC has no idea what it is in for

" I am terrible at good-byes."

As I get older I have learned there are things that I am good at: teaching basic grammar, holding in depth discussions about anything that was in Newsweek, finding a sale. And then there are things I am not so great with: complicated math, talking to morons, and of course... saying good-bye to people who have been so good to me while living in Prague. It wasn't too long ago that Dear Elena left for Greece to pursue a life of luxury and kite boarding; Iveta recently told me that she is taking off to greener pastures, a.k.a. Frankfurt, Germany in September, and then it was Christina's turn to fly the coop and take off. Good friends are hard to find. (another older learned lesson). They are hard to find whether you come from the same country or not... and you're lucky to find a few in your lifetime. 

I knew Christina was planning on leaving for the U.S. for a long time, but that still didn't stop me from almost crying at her going away party. It took everything I had not to burst into tears... yes I teared up... I always do, but no tears fell. I have been so fortunate to meet so many amazing people living here... Christina save me a bed... I will definitely crash at your house in DC.

All smiles as she heads for the US the next morning- Christina and I

The group now minus one. Me, Bhav, Sasha, Christina and Jen

With out Sasha, skinny minny was getting McDonald's food

smažený sýr is good!

"Nothing is better than a fried Hermelin cheese with Tartar sauce!"

Because dearest Christina was leaving to go back to the United States I had asked her, "Christina, what is the one thing you want to do before you leave here?" Her answer, "Fried cheese."

When I first moved to Prague I fell in love with this creative and yummy little snack. It's literally a whole wheel of brie-looking cheese that they deep fry and then it comes with a side of tartar sauce and either potatoes (i opted for them, of course) or french fries. The other mandatory side dish is a salad which is really just cabbage, and LOTS of it!  Christina's husband, Ariel, accompanied us as did Dave. They both decided that fried cheese was not on the diet and settled for chicken.  And the fun ensues!

My Fried Cheese sandwich! It's great with a nice cold beer, or after a night of drinking.

Christina's fried cheese... the last one before going back to the U.S. for who knows how long. Her picture was much more appealing than mine.

Ariel, the husband, with his chicken. All of the yummy peperoni and cheese fell off of it. It was quite a sad face after the picture was taken... such disappointment!

Christina and I after our cheese. BTW, I am standing on my tip-toes for this photo!

The group- also standing on my tip-toes and then are more or less trying to be short for me.

The photographer and I. Such a cute picture!

We Finally made it- The Munich Diary

"Modern Munich"

I have been looking forward to coming to Munich ever since I was in college and heard all about Oktoberfest. I can finally say though, that I may never need to go to Oktoberfest after the drinking that was done while we were in Munich.. I easily gained at least 5 pounds (3 kilos). After a 5 hour bus ride, Dave and I were both very happy to be off the bus, checked into the hotel and off to the beer garden with Dad and Silke. The first thing that we all did was order the biggest beers possible; a lovely 1 liter mug of beer. Talk about quenching thirst! I had two of these behemoths and can say that I was quite tipsy once we finally left the beer garden. After our lovely drinks we took off of the city center for some sight-seeing. We came across another beautiful garden that was honestly, filled with alcoholics and homeless people. But hey, the flowers were really beautiful. We wandered into the pedestrian zone and saw all sorts of strange art.. i took a picture of my favorite and posted it below. Around 7pm we took a taxi to the English Gardens which are famous in Munich for their beauty, the surf area, and of course the beer gardens. It was a really great night!

My first authentic German Beer, so Very very happy

Two beers are better than one.

 O is for O'Brien. Even the German's love us crazy Irish

Dave and I loved the German art... does it look like anything to anyone else? Or just Dave and I?

Beautifully manicured gardens. I took this picture to show Katie all of the different color flowers she could use for her wedding

English Garden at Dusk

My new friends

Our night cap. Enjoying another tasty beverage created by the great people of Germany

Munich to Cinderella's Castle

" It's like Switzerland... but another country."

Part of the "Munich escape" was a great little trip that Silke had put together which involved going to Cinderella's castle! It took us quite a long time to find the Hertz rental car place, which was cleverly hidden with in the main train station. After 20 minutes walking around aimlessly we finally found the place. We were supposed to get a little VW, but since they didn't have that, they bumped us up to a BMW... not complaining!

Dad by his Germany car. It was stick and I was quite impressed with my father's driving skills

We left Munich mid-day and went by motor way for most of the trip. Once we veered off the main road though the country side was absolutely splendid! I just kept singing "The hills are alive... with the sound of music," I think most of the people in the car were annoyed with my soprano voice, but I think it's because they are just jealous!

My favorite picture of the Bavarian countryside... Alps, Cows, rolling hills of green, cute little archaic fences, clouds... wow.. it was amazing!

After a hearty salad, which was the best I have had in Europe to date, we started our small hike to the first castle. We went past this crystal blue lake, which was really breath taking. I have never seen a lake like this in the US, and while I know they must exist somewhere the only lakes that I personally know about are the brown ones.

I wish I would have brought my swimsuit

Picture with daddy before we went into the first castle. I wish I would have been able to capture it better, but alas, I was not.

One Step Forward! For my Two dearest friend in Prague!

"They say great gifts come in small packages, I am happy to announce that today... they come on sheets of paper!"

While surfing facebook late in the evening yesterday I came across a fascinating article that someone had posted on their facebook wall... and what did this article say? Well, the 9th circuit court (a court i have disagreed with on more than one occasion finally got something right) wrote that not allowing gays to marry is discrimination! The whole article can be read below. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am about this! This is a step forward in the right direction! And please do not tell me what we overthrew the will of the people. We also said that African Americans should not be able to marry Whites either (Loving V Virginia)... so that arguement is ludicrious!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/04/prop-8-overturned-gay-mar_n_671018.html

Rain Rain, Go Away... I am going to Cinderall's Castle Today

"Rain rain go away, I am at Cinderella's Castle today"

After an amazing salad (the best that I have had in Europe so far) and the first "parents home" we began our trek over to the lovely little white building behind Dave and I in the picture below. We still had amazing weather at this time, but that would all soon disappear and take on a more sinister apperance in about 20 minutes. The scenery/ landscape/ countryside was not adequately pictured by my camera, and for that, I am very very sorry. In the mean time, enjoy the pictures of us hiking up the side of the mountain!

Dave and I

Picture of the Parent's castle. Nice diggs right?

And... the rain began. We were under this umbrella for a good 45 minutes. We were also soaked, Dave more than me, once the weather turned better

After the rain.. moisture coming up the side of the mountain. It was beautiful!

After our Cinderella tour.. looking back over the parent's castle and the bluest lake I have ever seen! Oh Alps... you are amazing!

The castle!

This bridge was petrifying! It moved about 2-3 inches everytime you stepped on a new board.

After our bridge picture and back at the bottom for a healthy beer and pomme frittes!

And... it started raining again!! It didn't stop until around 10pm that evening and then was on again off again for another 2 days!