A Semblance of Normality…

Our site, Windows to Russia has settled down and is back to a semblance of normality! We gathered a whole lot more readers over the last few weeks and is back full swing on the search engines again…

I have tried some new techniques to make the site run lighter on the server and we will see if it makes a difference…

Welcome to all the new readers!

from…

Windows to Russia!

Ikra ovoshchnaia (Vegetable Spread Recipe…)

In Russia I have enjoyed a tantalizing taste of vegetables that never ceases to satisfy the palate. They make a spread that I will say comes from this side of the world if not from Russia. We have also eaten this in Israel and was made by our Russian friends that live there. If anyone knows who is the originator of this recipe then let me know…

Lets make Ikra ovoshchnaia:

Ingredients:

* 1 medium sized eggplant (leave skin on)
* 1 large carrot (peeled)
* 1 large yellow onion (peeled)
* 1 celery stick
* 1 lb. fresh tomatoes (peeled)
* 2 cloves finely chopped fresh garlic
* 1/4 cup chopped parsley
* 1/4 cup chopped dill
* 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 tablespoon soy-sauce
* 2 bay leaves
* cooking / fry oil

Cooking:

1. Fresh tomatoes should be peeled, chopped and stewed for 30-40 minutes on low heat (after bringing to boil) to make a tomato sauce.

2. Chop eggplant into cubes, salt and put into well-oiled frying pan. Stew on low for 30 minutes, mix frequently, add more oil if pan gets too dry. Avoid burning the peel.

3. When the eggplant in the skillet gets soft and mushy. Then add into the same skillet – finely ground carrot, finely ground celery, chopped onion, chopped garlic, the previously prepared tomato sauce, black pepper and bay leaves. Mix cook for 20 minutes…

4. Then add the chopped dill, soy sauce, chopped cilantro and chopped parsley. Then cook for another 10-15 minutes. Stir frequently.

5. Careful not to burn the veggies. That will impart an undesirable flavor…

I love to eat this hot or cold and it is fantastic on a slice of black bread. I also try a variety of spices and find that it will become a multitude of flavors that you will never get tired of. You can also use the grasses that are your favorite instead of parsley and such. It also can be eaten as a side dish for a meat of your choice. Besides it is good for you and will make you grow big and strong… 🙂

Serves 6-8…

Yummy… (Time to eat!)

Windows to Russia!

Sveta and I Live in Korolev, Russia…

Right on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia is a very beautiful city that Sveta and I have the pleasure of living in..

It is called Korolyov or Korolev or Королёв. It is well-known as the cradle of Soviet and Russian space exploration . It was originally founded as Kaliningrad (Калинингра́д) in 1938 as the leading Soviet center for production of anti-tank and air-defense guns. (artillery plant) This was its main purpose until after WWII…

After World War II though the artillery plant was rebuilt and a modernization was put into effect. In1946 the city became the home for production of rockets, launch vehicles, and spacecraft under the guidance of the Russian scientist and academician, Sergei Korolyov…

The Soviet space-exploration program was born and raised in what we now know as Korolyov or then known as Kaliningrad . The name the city has now was official in July of 1996 the city was officially renamed in commemoration of Sergei Korolyov.

Lets mention what makes this city interesting: The OAO S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia. This city is responsible for IRBMs, ICBMs, “Sputnik” Program, “Luna” Program, “Mars” Program, “Soyuz” Spacecraft and dozens of others. The least of which is the ISS Space Station and MIR. Now that is almost as good as tanks… 🙂

A tidbit of information about this past closed city of the Soviet Union: It was a city classified as a naukograd (Russian: наукогра́д), meaning “science city”, is a formal term for towns with high concentration of research and development facilities in Russia and the Soviet Union, some specifically built by the Soviet Union for these purposes. Some of the towns were secret, and were part of a larger system of closed cities in the USSR, many built by forced labor from the Soviet Gulag. In the Russian Federation in post Soviet times, the term is used generally for about seventy towns that have concentrations of scientific research and production, and specifically, refers to a small number of towns that have been recognized for their scientific capabilities and hence get special privileges.  http://enNaukograd

So Sveta and I have found one of the most wonderful cities to live in, It is rich in history, culture and beauty…

Windows to Russia!

Russia Upset Over The Viktor Bout Extradition…

Viktor Bout extradited to US

The alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout has left Thailand after being handed over to US authorities…

Everyday the frail reset between Russia and America gets pushed farther aside by America. Russians question that reset and its sincerity…

This time the reset is tested by an illegal maneuver by America and the Thai government. The decision was not to be made until Friday of this week. Well it is Tuesday and they moved him out of Thailand in secrete…

It is clear that America wants to have Bout in custody for his allegedly extensive knowledge of Russian military and intelligence operations…

Windows to Russia!
  • Viktor Bout (childhoodall.blogspot.com)
  • Thai government agrees to Viktor Bout’s extradition (rt.com)
  • Thai government agrees to extradite Viktor Bout to the US (rt.com)
  • Thailand extradites alleged ‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout to the U.S. (theglobeandmail.com)
  • Russian arms dealer extradited to US (topinews.com)
  • Thailand to extradite alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout to US (guardian.co.uk)
  • Russian Arms Dealer Extradited to U.S. (time.com)
  • Thailand to extradite arms dealer to US (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
  • Thailand agrees to send arms suspect to U.S. (msnbc.msn.com)
  • Thailand extradites arms suspect to U.S. (msnbc.msn.com)

“Brest Fortress” The movie about the Siege…

Sveta and I watched a very good movie last night. It is a Russian made movie and not your glamorous Hollywood extravaganza. But it was an extremely well made, thought provoking, soul stirring, true story…

Yes – it like all major movies, has some discrepancies, but does that really matter. It will bring a tear in your eye no matter how tough you think you are…

Link to main web-page…

What is the movie about? Try the Wikipedia article; The defense of Brest Fortress took place 22–30 June 1941. It was one of the first battles of Operation Barbarossa. The Brest Fortress, defended by the Red Army against the Wehrmacht, held out longer than expected, and became a symbol of Soviet resistance during the Great Patriotic War, along with Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad that spelled the beginning of the end of the Nazi war machine. In 1965 the fortress received the title of Hero Fortress for the 1941 defense.  [pullquote]Read More Wikipedia Article[/pullquote]

The movie was very tastefully done and really tried to show the horrors of war but not leave you in a graphic shy mood after the film is over. But beware there are moments that will make you shudder…[pullquote]Brest Fortress held off 20,000 German Soldiers  with 3,500 Soviet Soldiers[/pullquote]

I am sure that they will have it with English subtitles before long and I suggest that everyone watch it. Even if it never had English subtitles you could watch this movie and never realize that it was in Russian. It is that emotionally charged throughout the whole film. If nothing else just watch the film for the wonderful acting that was presented in  the movie…

I will tell you that one of the main characters is a small boy. This boy had a guardian angel that had to work overtime during this siege as you will see…

The Brest Fortress held off 20,000 German Soldiers  with 3,500 Soviet Soldiers plus their families for much longer than the Germans expected. The Germans initially planned on a 12 hour operation that turned into a siege…

Windows to Russia!

Putin Gets A Bulgarian Karakachan puppy after sealing a gas deal…

A fluffy puppy was added to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s menagerie after talks with Bulgarian Premier Boyko Borisov on Saturday in Sofia.

Borisov gave Russia’s “man of action” a Bulgarian Karakachan puppy after sealing a gas deal. Putin accepted the new family member, hugging it close to his chest and kissing it on its forehead.

That dog is going to be huge…

Windows to Russia!

The Confirmation of Colonel Shcherbakov’s Spy Controversy…

I asked a question the other day in an article:
Was There a Turncoat in the Russian Spy Scandal…

I was not sure if the article that I based my article on was true or not. I felt it was true and the grapevine was confirming it.  It looks like it was true…

President Dmitry Medvedev told Russia’s once mighty spy agency on Friday to put its house in order after a senior spymaster betrayed a network of agents to the United States.

The Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) is grappling with the network’s betrayal by the head of Moscow’s deep cover spying operations in the United States, one of Russia’s most serious intelligence failures since the end of the Cold War.

“There should be an internal investigation and lessons should be drawn,” Medvedev told reporters at a briefing after the Group of 20 summit in Seoul.

Asked about a report in the newspaper Kommersant which broke the story, Medvedev said: “For me the Kommersant publication is not news, I knew about it on the day it happened.”

I understand that also this has caused some changes to be underway and that it is known that a lot of other information was gotten out of Russia by Colonel Shcherbakov…

Looks like the Colonel bought him and family protection in America with files of information he took with him. Colonel Shcherbakov was a trusted high ranking senior Russian official and thus one with great access to highly sensitive information, such as the identities and operations of operatives in the United States…

I would not want to be Colonel Shcherbakov or his family…

Windows to Russia!

Down Then Back Up – Windows to Russia – Down Then Back Up…

Sorry if you are having technical difficulties. For the last few days Windows to Russia has been experiencing a huge load increase due to several articles going crazy. We have one article that is on no less than 12 forums and other sites. This has caused a big server issue for us. The server load has jumped and it seems that we have reached the limit of our cheap but great hosting service…

Normal load is around 100,000 hits and 500 to 700 megs of bandwidth a day. But we have reached, (so far) yesterday a record 1,834,000 hits and 5 Gigabytes of bandwidth (in one day). I am sure that Russia Today is happy with the incredible number of downloads of their video.  This has been building for a week and we will see today if the weekend will take the edge off of it…

We do not blame the hosting service because we are the one’s getting what we pay for. So Sveta and I have to keep an eye out on the situation and if Windows to Russia continues to stay at this unbelievable level of activity, we are going to have to invest in a upgraded level of hosting…

Moscow Building 5000 Bomb Shelters by 2012…
Russia: Volga Automobile, Part 1 History!
Russia Developing A Russian National Operating System (RNOS)…

The three (3) links above are the main issue and we have to say that we like problems like this. 🙂  These three links have gone viral and are dragging the others with them now. So exponentially the site is growing…

We know some of you have had problems (e-mails) and we want to address that situation. The site has had at least a dozen (12) downtime’s that lasted for 3 to 5 minutes! This is not good and we suspect that all will be normal after the peak load eases…

Hundreds of people have been with us from the beginning and have seen Windows to Russia go through many growing pains. Please just be patient and realize that we will get this settled like all the other pains…

Thanks a Whole Bunch!

From: Kyle and Sveta

Windows to Russia!

I Like Tanks…

I like tanks! I like little tanks! I like big tanks! I like old tanks! I like new tanks! I like tanks…

How about some Russian WWII tanks?

I like them too…

Windows to Russia!

Related articles

Russian News on 11/12/2010…

Russian journalist out of coma after beating

MOSCOW, Nov. 12 (Reuters) – The wife of a Russian journalist who was savagely beaten by unidentified attackers said on Friday he had regained consciousness after lying in a medically-induced coma for almost a week.

Russian ambassador: Russian language will speed up modernization

Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov on Nov. 12 said opening a conference in Kyiv that the use of the Russian language is key factor for technological development of former Soviet states .

Lukashenko says he is not a dictator

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed accusations that Belarus is a dictatorship and said that delivering on his political promises was the secret to the success of his policy.

Russia hopes for arms treaty approval this year

SEOUL, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow hoped U.S. political infighting would not sink the New START treaty and called for ratification of the nuclear arms limitation pact this year.

November 12 in Moscow hits temperature records

November 12, 2010 in Moscow was the hottest day in 130 years of weather observation, the city’s meteorologists report. Today’s temperature is plus 9.1C degrees. The previous record registered in 2008 was 8.9C.

Weakening currencies paves path to protectionism – Russian Finance Minister

Russia's Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin says Russia is almost immune from other countries’ financial policies, and as a result, has more flexibility at global summits.

Lessons to be learned from spy betrayal – Medvedev

A newspaper report detailing alleged treachery in the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service that blew the cover of Russian agents in the US was “no news” for Dmitry Medvedev.

Father of Russian radio astronomy dies at 103

Naum Kaidanovsky, the man who built the world’s largest standalone radio telescope, has died at the age of 103 in St. Petersburg.

Russian child ombudsman does not rule out possible U.S. adoption freeze

Russian Children’s Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov may push for a freeze on adoptions of Russian children by U.S. citizens if Russia and the United States fail to seal an adoption agreement by early 2011.
Windows to Russia!