Pancho cake

 

 

Eera showing me the cake!

Yanna and Tom being silly!

 

Tom and I were invited to Olya's birthday celebration yesterday. She served this awesome birthday cake called "pancho" that is one of the tastiest cakes we have had here in Russia. It had sour cream and cocoa inside. I could not find the exact recipe but I think this one comes close:

- "Zebra" Cake recipe -

Cuisine: Ukrainian, Russian, Yield: 8 Servings
· Ingredients
4 ea eggs
2 c flour
2 c sugar
300 g yoghurt
2 ts baking powder
2 tb cacao
1 c sour cream
1 c sugar


· Method
You'll need two separate mixing bowls
In each:
Mix 2 eggs + 1cup of sugar + 150g of yoghurt + 1 ts of baking
powder + 1cup of flour. Add 2 tb of cacao into one of the bowls.
Stir the batter thoroughly. Pour a tablespoonful of white batter
into the centre of a frying pan (or any vessel you use for baking
cakes). Then goes brown, white, brown till the bowls are empty.
Bake the cake till done.
Cream: whip 1 cup of sour cream with 1 cup of sugar. Put it to a
fridge. Cut the cake into three horizontal parts and spread
the cream over each of them. Use your
fantasy and combine various creams, jams.
When you cut the cake you'll see that slices will have zebra
stripes on sides.
Recipe source: Luba Vasilenko,Kyiv-Ukraine, circa 1999
Posted by Yuri Timohin http://www.ruscuisine.com

Reality check

For the most part I am a very optimistic and easy going person.  I look for the beauty everywhere I go.  I look for the similarities between me and the person in front of me.  I always assume the best about the other person and look for the lesson in each situation I face. 

These past few weeks have been very busy for us with counseling.  Tom is the psychologist and I am his translator.  It has been eye opening to become a part of Tom's professional life.  We had not worked together since our days at Dad's video store back in Kansas.  

I have a great deal of respect for what Tom does.  I used to envy him going off into the workforce each day and being with people while I was busy at home with little ones.  Now, I see the reality.  He was not off having fun at work.  Well, not all day anyway!

Some appointments are rewarding and seeing the progress that individuals, families, and couples experience brings joy to my heart.  But, carrying their burdens around with me is difficult.

We don't talk about it much because of needing to keep the confidence of those we work with.    But just know that we work with everyone, those who can pay and those who cannot.  Those who are influential church leaders and those who are doubting God's existence.  

Emotional, spiritual and relational pain has no prejudice, it falls like rain upon us all.  However, some are more resilient than others in how they handle it.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers... and know that while I may post about food, train rides or silly things that happen in our daily lives, we are hard at work and the load is not always easy.

Salmon Burgers!

 

For dinner last night I thought it would be fun to try something new. I found a simple recipe at Cooks.com for Salmon burgers, and used what I had in the fridge to create a salad to go with it!


Apple, Cabbage and Pine Nut Salad
1 med size granny smith apple
1/2 cup red cabbage
1 small head of chinese cabbage
2 TBS pinenuts
Ranch dressing to taste

Dice apple and cabbages and place in mixing bowl. Add pine nuts. Coat with Ranch dressing and enjoy! 

thought for today

 

  

Tom went to the dentist today... I went along to translate for him.  He is doing well now just resting.  He had to get one tooth filled.  His dentist was impressed that he had gone twelve years without seeing a dentist.  She said that if all of her patients mouths looked that good without seeing her, she would be out of work!!  

A taste from childhood

 

One of my favorite activities during my preteen years was going to Skateland North with my brother John. After he DJ'd at the skating rink we would go to Church's or Popeye's (along with hundreds of other hungry skaters) to eat and we always ordered strawberry soda to go with our meal.

I found strawberry juice in the supermarket today. Along with that I purchased some carbonated water. Add ice, mix the two liquids to your desired level of sweetness and you have Strawberry soda!

the joys of summer

Fresh fruit is delightful part of summers here in Krasnodar. Tom found these great peaches at the outdoor market and to my dismay the photo does not transmit to you the joy of tasting how sweet they are!! We have been enjoying them in fruit salads, served with granola and yogurt for breakfast, using them in smoothies,  or just eating them plain!!

What are you doing with your fresh fruit?!

The joys of unlimited internet

One of the benefits of having unlimited internet access now is being able to actually watch the news and not just read it!!  

Here is a link to one of the sources we are enjoying right now... a Russian news program in English:  Russia Today