K saw a recipe and had to try it for breakfast this morning: poached eggs with spicy butter of Greek yogurt seasoned with dill.
Turkish Eggs
food and cooking
The Boy Returns
The Boy came back from Scout camp — and he wanted sushi.
And we wanted, for dinner, fried green tomatoes.
Smoking
Yesterday I smoked meat all day. I forgot to put up any pictures of it.
It was a lot of meat: ribs, loins, chicken.
“We have enough sandwich meat to last us to Christmas!” K proclaimed.
Grilling
K is turning dinner over to me over the summer. Time to fire up the grill!
Dill Soup
Orzechowiec
Fat Thursday, A Day Late
Baking
Decent?
K, on the evening: “Good time at the Y, good movie, decent beer…”
Someone’s turned into a beer snob!
Final Party
We had a dinner party this evening with people we know entirely because of K. One couple was K’s former real estate clients. They hit it off well, to say the least. The other couple K knew because she worked with the husband in surveying years ago. And their daughter does K’s hair. (No one does my hair. Well, K makes sure I’ve shaved it well.)
And K made her first ever meringue.
Thus ends our Christmas break
Still Cooking
More Uszki
Foods of Wigilia 2022
Smoking for the Holidays
In Praise of Pickle Soup
Like an aspic or a bit of blood sausage, pickle soup is one of those dishes that initially makes people say, “Hold on, now — are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Pickles belong on hamburgers and other sandwiches. Some of us even like it on the once-a-year hot dog we might eat. Dill pickle is a good flavor for a chip, especially if you’re already fond of sea salt and vinegar chips. You might skewer a pickle and bit of meat on a toothpick and call it an appetizer.
But in a soup?
Of course — where else? Tangy and sour are notes that pair well with just about any other savory flavor.
Late August Sunday
Last Day in Jablonka 2022
Here in Jablonka, we began our last day with rain and temperature keeping us indoors. It never rose above the high-50s, and it rained all morning before taking a short lunch break to prepare for an afternoon and evening of rain. Depressing weather to go with a day of mixed feelings: ready to go home, we’re both a little sad to leave the adventure here.
In the meantime, K flew out of our local airport heading to Newark for a funeral. In New York, it was sunny and lovely, and K got to see a friend she hadn’t seen for years. Still, the motivation for the trip was a tragedy. A mixture as here.
With the weather as it was, we had few choices this last day in Jablonka. We watched some television, talked, packed — and repeated it all.
And for dinner: kiszka heated on the stove Babcia uses for hot water.
Random Bit for Future Smiles
A regular during our stay here was was the Magno-Z commercial: we got to see that a few times during our month here. The Boy groaned each time it came on, but he still sang along with it.
Commercials, it turns out, are a great source for learning a language.
Final Wood, More Rides
First, breakfast — that old Polish favorite, salceson. It’s one of the things along with flaczki and tartare that I look forward to having while in Poland. (I’ve had tartare, and now I can check salceson off the list. Still looking for that bowl of flaczki.) Headcheese (I love that name) is available in the States, but I never buy it. It’s a Polish thing for me.
It is, I suppose, an acquired taste: the consistency is a little odd, alternatingly gelatinous and firm, but the flavor is quite pleasant.
After breakfast, we headed off to the jarmark. It’s Wednesday in Jablonka — there’s only one place to go!
The Boy still has money that’s burning a hole in his cliche, so we stopped at every single knife monger (is that even a term?) for him to look at the available wares. His concern was simple: he wanted something that he could use in scouts, but most of the knives were switchblade-esque: they didn’t look like the old switchblades you’d see in West Side Story, but they did have spring-loaded blades that flipped out at the press of a button.
“I’d better do some research before I buy one,” he wisely decided. (The verdict, as we predicted: such knives are not acceptable for scouting events.)
After we got home, the Boy and I decided to go for a bike ride. After a few kilometers, the Boy turned back. I continued.
It was the same ride as yesterday until the point at which I turned right instead of left. The route I’d mapped out earlier would drop me down toward Chyzne before turning back up toward Jablonka. However, I didn’t count on one thing:
Over a kilometer of deep, thick mud. Virtually impassible mud. I spent a good bit of the middle of the ride with one foot up on the only-slightly-muddy bank pushing myself along or, when the mud to got six or more inches deep, simply walking in the less muddy part and dragging the bike beside me.
After lunch (pierogi z borówkami), Z, a Georgian who rents from Babcia, and I finished up the wood. Even Babcia said we were done — there were no lurking piles that I had not noticed.
Listening to Babcia and Z communicate was a lesson in the value of hand gestures: he speaks a bit of Russian and almost no Polish; she speaks Russian fluently and no Georgian. Their conversations reminded me of Dziadek and Papa talking: I got the feeling neither was really responding fully to the other.
As for me, I used Google Translate to talk with him. I showed Babica and suggested she could use her tablet the same way, but her response was predictable.
Finally, the Boy and I took one more bike ride in the evening, this time through the fields between Jablonka and the two Lipnicas.
The sun was setting so we had to make our ride short. Of course, on the way home, we had to take a spin through his favorite riding location: the empty jarmark.
At the far end were long-abandoned stalls that had seen neither seller or buyer in years. It’s a testament to the changes in Poland: the jarmark is shrinking, probably because of the availability of items in Poland and, truth be told, the comparative lack of quality of many things sold in the jarmark, especially clothing items.
Berries and Corn
First, there’s this — always this. We’re closing in on the two-weeks-to-go mark.
Boys’ Saturday
We started with an early soccer game — 8:15. On the way there, we drove by his school at just about the time he’d be arriving for a normal school day.
Somehow, the boys lost their second consecutive game. I say “somehow” because for 90% of the game, they dominated. They kept the ball in their opponents’ half of the field, and I’d say they had at least 25 shots on goal. Their opponents maybe had 6-8 shots on goal — but one of them went in. That’s the only difference, but that’s the most important difference.
After the game, a little relaxation for the Boy, with a quote from a favorite movie of mine — modified, somewhat.
Late morning was honey-do list time — including getting some final details set for K’s new workstation.
I’m not jealous of her computer, but I’m envious of that desk!
Afternoon — bike ride. What else?
Hot dogs for dinner — the Boy on the grill.
