Windows to Russia
I got sick!
Summer Flu Sucks and I got it. I am so weak right now, could not drive to the village, but I am alive….of course I would never be grouchy!
Maybe I will post tomorrow?
Svetochka has been tending to a sick bear. She is happy I am alive again…
Svetochka is the best nurse in the world…
WtR
Today Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians honour the 1,030th anniversary of the Baptism of Kiev Rus – the mass baptism of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, his sons and boyars that Christians celebrate as the start of the faith in 🇷🇺🇺🇦🇧🇾 pic.twitter.com/KbsjPSidmP
— Russia in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) July 28, 2018
WtR
Old post reposted: “Originally posted on July 23, 2007” – Finally found one of the old posts that has been destroyed. This post was attacked when it was on Blogger Blogspot and now I was able to repost…
Hello,
I sat and drank my famous cup of coffee, then I started thinking. Why did I come to Russia? The most obvious reason is that I have fallen in Love with the most beautiful Woman in the World, but at my age, is there more to life than just blind love? No! (There is Not!)
I had made up my mind many years ago to never fall in love again. I had been through enough. So I had a life that was comfortable and safe.
Then I met Svet, by pure luck and my life changed for ever. Svet was the catalyst to bring me to Russia. Now the question is, Will I stay in Russia? Yes!
For you see Russia is more than just a place, Russia has become my home. The saying, “Home is were the heart is.” is very true.
I look at the sky in Russia and it feels good. I buy vegetables from the local market and they taste good. I see strange homes and buildings, but they do not feel strange. They seem normal! I look at huge high rise flats and I enjoy looking out over the city at 20 stories up.
Then I look at my wife and my dog Boza! I call them my two Turkeys!!
Posted on July 23, 2007
That’s when I realize that I would live anywhere in the world with them. All the other items are just icing on the cake as we say!
So, “Home is where the heart is!”
WtR
PS: Wish Boza was still here…
Stavropol is ready to settle up to 50 Boer families, according to the region’s Deputy Commissioner for human rights Vladimir Poluboyarenko. He told RT exclusively there is already a plan for settlement of roughly 500 families with their own cattle near Stavropol. The official also said that out of the four million Boers, representing eight percent of South Africa’s population, fifteen thousand Boers want to move to Russia. A Russian delegation is due to come to South Africa to work out a more detailed…
Source: First 50 families of farmers from South Africa may soon resettle in Russia — RT Business News
I have been watching this progress. It is interesting to me and I think it can be a win win for all. The situation in South Africa has gotten very bad for white farmers and it looks to get much worse. Russia has to weigh and measure the situation and we will see what happens…
New South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa communicated in an address to the South African nation’s parliament in Cape Town and made it clear that his priority is to heal the divisions and injustice of the past, going all the way back to the original European colonists in the 1600s taking land from the indigenous tribes…
Lets see what happens…. Russia is talking with them right now…
Boers are good people, yes they are farmers… 😉
WtR
The document was adopted at the session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on 14 July 2018 (Journal No 42).Today the plenitude of our Church is commemorating the Holy Grand Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, and recalling with gratitude how 1030 years ago, thanks to this chosen man, mighty in spirit, a watershed event in the history of the Slavic peoples took place. By the action of the Omnibenevolent Holy Spirit, the Prince freed himself from pagan delusions, embraced in faith the Only-Begotten Son of God Jesus Christ and, having received the holy Baptism with his brothers-in-arms, brought the salvific light of the Gospel to Rus’.
Why do we call the Baptism of Russia the watershed in the history of our peoples? We do so because it changed forever the entire Slavic civilization and predestined the further course of its development. It was indeed the decisive turn from darkness to light, from wandering in the dark of false ideas to finding the divinely revealed truth and salvation.
Therefore, this Saturday 28th of July, 2018…
Moscow. July 24. INTERFAX – This Saturday in Moscow and Moscow suburbs a wave of bell-ringing will take place, which will mark the celebrations on the occasion of the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.
“At 12:15 the bells will ring in all the churches in Moscow and the Moscow region, where it is possible, starting from the bell tower of Ivan the Great. The general sound of the bells will add joy to all of us on this anniversary day,” said Press Secretary of His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill, Priest Alexander Volkov, on Tuesday at a briefing in Moscow.
Interesting and another tidbit for you to know…
WtR
I have put together this recipe before, but this is just too simple and too wonderful not to give another recipe for these Russian taste treats. This is a better recipe that I have altered. I am just not into major kitchen work anymore and the easier the better…
Who does not love pancakes?
I intentionally cut the sugar way back. We eat too much sugar in stuff and life is better without being too sweet… 😉
Ingredients: For the pancakes
250 g flour
500 g milk
10 g sugar
pinch of salt
3 eggs
Ingredients: For the cottage cheese filling
400 grams cottage cheese
2 eggs
(If you have a sweet tooth, added about 20 grams of sugar and or what ever you desire.)
Grab a big bowl: Mix eggs, salt and sugar in the bowl. Then add the milk and flour and continue to hand mix. (Wire whip helps.) Then after a few minutes, add the oil and mix aggressively and you will see it smooth out from the addition of the oil. (No! You need to whip it more! Okay that is better…. Is it thin like water? No! Add tiny bit more milk!)
Now: Heat (medium temp.) up a oiled frying pan, before adding the pancake batter, also add a little bit of oil between every pancake. (Simply, pour the mixture thinly into the hot frying pan.) Turn the pancakes over and fry until brown on both sides. These are thin like crepes…
Once you have fried all the thin pancakes, stack and set aside…
Strain the cottage cheese (if it contains liquid.) Better yet use a dry curd cottage cheese. Mix with eggs, (you can add sugar if desired.) Mix it well…
Place one table spoon of cottage cheese mixture in the middle of the pancake and fold around it to wrap it up. Fry in the already hot frying pan, with oil, on the sealed side first. Fry for a few minutes, then turn over and fry until slightly crispy. I flip them three or four times and even set them on edge if needed. You want to make them crispy, not burnt…
Serve with sour cream and or caviar…
WtR
PS: Yes you can pour honey, jam, syrup and all that good stuff on top of them. But do not blame me if you grow outwards instead of upwards…
Zakuski (from the Russian plural закуски [zɐˈkuskʲɪ]; singular закуска, zakuska) is a Russian term for warm, hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, entrées and snacks, “supposed to be used with every [shot] of vodka or any other alcoholic drink.” The word literally approaches a meaning of, “Something to bite after.”
These appetizers are typically served at banquets, dinners, events and receptions in Russia and other typical styled Soviet countries. A extensive choice of zakuski constitutes a general beginning to eating and drinking. usually, zakuski are already laid on the table while guests are referred to what is the dining room…
Standard zakuski consist of cold cuts, cured fishes, combined salads, kholodets (meat jelly), pirogs or pirozhki, various pickled greens which include tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, sauerkraut, pickled mushrooms, deviled eggs, tough cheeses, caviar, canapés, open sandwiches, and breads…
But; raw garlic, raw onions, raw fish and raw just about anything fits the bill when drinking vodka. A simple wrapped sweet or confectionery is appropriate and a simple cracker will allow the drinking to continue. Drinking with out zakuski is considered rude and bad manners…
Have a nice day. You learned something new today…
WtR
“Putin orders construction of world’s longest bridge
The question of building a bridge between Sakhalin and the mainland has long been discussed, for decades. It has long been a dream of the people living on the island,” Putin said at a meeting with Sakhalin Governor Oleg Kozhemyako on Tuesday. Putin said he instructed the Russian government to work on the feasibility of the project. The Russian president noted that this would make life easier for people: “You can come, leave at any time of the year, in any weather.” Sakhalin is the only remaining region…
Source: Putin orders construction of world’s longest bridge — RT Business News
Holy Smokers dilly…
You think they may just get started on this?
I hope so, what a bridge…
WtR
I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and thinking about how Russians adore hot tea. This is not a admiration that I seem to be able to adapt to being from America…
Tea in Russia is an integral part of of the culture. Seems all Russian people, just like my wife have a real love for it. Whether you take it with a splash of milk or a slice of lemon when not feeling good; whether you brew it with a teabag in a porcelain cup or in a samovar (picture to left); in Russia is likely to be party of your daily life. In fact, despite the best efforts of the Coca-Cola Company to promote soft drinks, people in Russia drink more tea than all other drinks put together. That sort of popularity raises the status of tea from mere drink to cultural institution…
There are two different legends as to how tea was originally discovered:
Around five thousand years ago, The Chinese Emperor Shen Nung (Divine Healer), was revered as a great teacher of agriculture and herbal medicine. He took pride in teaching his people the value of cultivating the land and the wisdom in boiling water to make it safer to drink and believed that it also increased longevity. One day, while working in his own garden, Shen Nung was enjoying a cup of steaming water when he noticed that a few leaves of a nearby camellia-like bush had blown into the imperial cup. Sipping the concoction he discovered a drink that was refreshing, relaxing yet exhilarating and increased his sense of well-being…
And – so tea was born…
The Japanese legend traces tea’s beginnings to Prince Bodhidharma, (also known as Daruma) who was a missionary monk. He was instrumental in bringing Buddhism from India to China and Japan. During his mission Bodhidharma began a nine-year meditation in a temple, built in a cave, in Canton. Growing tired after endless months of staring at a stone wall, he fell asleep. When he awoke, Bodhidharma was so disgusted with himself for sleeping, that he cut off his eyelids and threw them to the ground. It was there, according to legend, that the first tea plant grew, providing Bodhidharma with the leaves with which to make an elixir that kept him awake and refreshed, for the remaining years of his mission…
And – so tea was born…
While a 2007 a survey showed that 85 percent of Russians drink at least one cup of tea a day. It is said to have been introduced to Russia in 1616 when a Cossack by the name of Tyumenets returned from a diplomatic mission to Mongolia with samples of Chinese tea. From that point on it started the trip to become Russia’s main drink!
Russians have become such devoted tea drinkers that as a nation they are the third-largest consumers of tea (behind China and India). Today, Russia’s thirst for tea is satisfied by production in Georgia (which has now developed into the seventh-largest tea producing region in the world) as well as imports from China, Taiwan, India, and Sri Lanka…
I myself will have a cup of tea with my wife once in awhile, but coffee is my drink. I grew up on iced tea and to me hot tea was always, for when you are not feeling well…
What about you, is Tea your main drink?
WtR
Khychin (Хычины) is a thin flat bread made of unleavened dough with a filling of potatoes, cheese, and or meat with fresh grass type veggies (Like dill and parsley.) The dish very very old and is the type of food that can be cooked upon a large flat rock heated by a fire first and or upon just the coals of a fire. Khychin is believed to be the Sun, hospitality, wealth and generosity all wrapped up together in one dish. It is a dish to feed your guests when they come over and it gives a wonderful future and prosperity in return for all…
Lets make Khychin (Хычины) with potatoes and cheese..
For the Dough:
1) 200 ml – Kefir (You may want to use butter milk and or sour milk! Kefir is a required taste in life…)
2) 250-260 g – Flour (plus for counter top to roll out dough on)
3) 2 – Eggs
4) Salt – 1/2 tsp
5) Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp
6) Sugar – 1/2 tsp
Enough – Vegetable oil to fry with and or Pam spay stuff… (Only if needed, should be fried dry…)
Enough – Butter to melt down and baste each bread with, after frying…
For the filling:
1) Mild yellow or white Cheese – 150 grams (Or if you like sharp cheddar is good.)
2) Green stuff (parsley, dill, coriander) chopped 1 healthy handful of the stuff…
3) Potatoes boiled and mashed – 150 grams
4) Salt to taste…
5) Pepper to taste…
If desired even garlic can be added…
Mix ingredients in a big bowl, all except for the butter, knead until a soft, plasticly dough. It should gently stick to your hands, but not wet sticky. Form a ball from all the dough, place in a greased and or non stick container, covered with cloth and leave for 1-2 hours. In a warm place…
Mix the filling in a bowl, grate the cheese or grind it up. Add chopped greens, salt and pepper to taste. Then, stir in the mashed potatoes. It should be not too wet and able to be easily formed into 6 identical balls of product…
Go ahead and divide the dough that has been sitting aside into 6 parts. Roll each part into a ball, lay them aside…
Sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll the ball of dough into a circle with a diameter of about 4 inches. Place one of the balls from the filling in the center of the circle, lift and carefully wrap the filling with dough and seal the seam with slightly damp fingers, Pinch the seam shut. Turn the whole thing seam down and roll it again to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Also prepare the rest of the six dough balls the same way….you must roll gently to not allow the filling to try to escape. But if all products are dry enough to start with? All is good… Just think stuffed pizza…
Fry the pancake like doughs in a well-heated dry if possible, but good non stick frying pan on both sides (brown them to an even almost burnt in places), just like delicious pancakes. Some people have a favorite cast iron skillet and know what to do. Remember once the dough starts to swell and puff, turn it over to the other side. I like to flip them several times….sometimes you need to use oil to keep from sticking to the skillet…
Ready cookies spread out on a plate with a pile, wipe each with butter. Before serving cut each into 4 parts – so they will be easy to eat for little fingers…
Serve Khychin warm, but remember the filling (cheese) can be dangerously hot…
You can make these with any filling you desire. They are made with meat and other veggies all the time. You can oven bake them. You can make dessert treats from the dough balls with a sweet filling. You are only limited by your imagination…
Your family will eat them as fast as you make them… 😉
Oh, it is Russia and you might want to get a bowl of sour cream and dip them in it….or maybe some caviar spread across the top…
Yummy…
WtR
PS: Theses are excellent with spinach and cheese inside.
Oh My!
