thought for today

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.

Mother Teresa

I know that I used this quote back in November... however, when things get a little crazy here, these words express how I feel about what we are going through. Please keep continue to keep us in your prayers!

Maslenitsa

Yesterday was the beginning of Maslenitsa. One of my students brought in blini (Russian pancakes)and explained that this holiday is about saying goodbye to winter and welcoming spring. Pancakes are to symbolize the sun. Hers were quite tasty. She spread a cream cheese mixture inside and rolled them up. Yum!

After this week the Lenten season fast begins here so that is another reason to enjoy pancakes with butter for a full week!

Beignets... inspired by The Princess and the Frog

If you have seen the movie then you know that in the cafe scene this treat is one of the dishes featured when we see Tiana at work.

The French word Beignet (ben-yay) means 'fried dough'. After researching recipes from New Orleans, reading about the history of the beignet on line, I started experimenting and came up with a recipe that my two trusty taste testers approved of!


Alida's Russian Beignets
1/2 cup water
2 Tbl sugar
1/4 butter
3/4 cup flour
Dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Oil
Powdered Sugar

To make the choux:
Combine water, sugar, butter and salt in saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring while the butter melts. Turn down heat and add flour all at once, stirring until the mixture forms a ball. Turn off heat.

After making the choux: Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, whipping vigorously with wire whisk, until mixture is smooth and shiny. Let sit in fridge for a bit to cool.

Drop by rounded teaspoons into hot oil. Fry a few beignets at a time until they are golden brown. Keep a watch on the temp of the oil so as not to cook too fast or burn the beignets.

Remove them with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels. Makes aprox. 2 1/2 dozen.


Tom and Spencer enjoyed this batch the best and we all think they taste like the Russian doughnuts that we love called 'ponchiki'.

Bon Appetite!!!

Aleksandr has big love for Tanya

I found this story on the website Russia Today, enjoy!

Biggest ever “I love you” painted with broom on ice

Published 04 February, 2010, 13:44

What can be more fascinating than fulfilling a dream? Especially if this dream is writing a love message to your own wife, in giant red letters on ice, and possibly getting into the Guinness Book of Records?

Aleksandr Kartashev from the Russian city of Rostov says his 2.5 kilometer-long “Tanya, I love you” is a gift to his wife Tatyana.

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“I was going to turn this idea of mine into reality last year but the weather was bad and I had no assistants,” Aleksandr said as quoted by Komsomolskaya Pravda daily. “And this time I was lucky – it was not cold and the ice was about 20 cm thick. And more than 25 volunteers were helping me – I wouldn’t have managed to write the biggest love message in the world by myself. I thanked them with hot tea.”

It took them two kilos of red food dye to paint the message on ice with brooms. The height of the capital “T” letter is 230 meters and the width is 170 meters.

The total length of the lines which form the message is 2.5 kilometers, and the length of the phrase is 830 meters.

Aleksandr’s wife Tatyana said that she is delighted, and is also planning a surprise for him for the forthcoming Valentine’s Day.

thought for today

Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.

Thomas Jefferson

I have what?

Before moving here to Russia I had heard of three types of colds. A cold, chest cold or a head cold. Last week I was out of commission for 4 days with back pain.

I called a medic (think nurse practitioner) who is also a massage therapist. She gave me a back massage and asked me questions about the type, location and duration of the pain I was feeling. After ruling out anything serious the diagnoses I was given was... a back cold.

So that is a new one for my list. Cold, chest cold, head cold and back cold.

it's all about the look

I was able to snap this with my cell phone while waiting for that #34 van that is approaching!

... her boots are the same color green as her coat. I love a girl who knows how to match her footwear with her fur!