Budapest, Finally!

Well, we are here. Actually, we have been here for several days but I have not had the energy to blog. After many many tearful goodbyes, insanely long waits in airports and our first true freakout (of which there will undoubtedly be many more...) we have had a succesful first couple days here in Budapest. I am on a computer at the hostel so I cannot post pictures, I will do that later this afternoon. We have done a lot already, even though we are supposed to be taking it easy. Stay tuned for pictures!!

One Week...

Well one week and one day. I can barely believe it. I haven't posted in awhile because my days have been filled with packing, planning, thinking and counting days. There aren't that many more to count. We will be in Budapest soon.

Corpse Flower

Ok, I confess... I've been a bad blogger lately. I missed my own birthday post- though John sort of made up for it by showing the teapot that we painted together. It was a great birthday and this week has been filled with sewing and painting- I am desperately trying to finish several projects that have been sitting idle for awhile. And there is only 3 1/2ish weeks left so...I've been busy and creatively spent.

Though here is my new obsession, as of today.

WARNING: Horticultural nerdiness follows.

Corpse Flowers, aka Amorphophallus Titanum.

These are beautiful, unique, rare and deathly stinky flowers- two of which are currently blooming in the US. One named 'Lois' is blooming at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, while another older plant dubbed 'Perry' is busy doing his stinky thing at the Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Native to the rain forests of Sumatra and growing up to 10 ft tall, this plant emits a corpse-like smell, in hopes of attracting flies and beetles for pollination. The deep purple-red leaf resembles a piece of meat and is the temperature of a human body, deepening the smell and fooling flesh-eating insects. The plants only bloom once or twice in 40 years, and even then just for a few days- a momentous occasion indeed.

For example Lois in Houston is expected to bring in 11,000 visitors today alone (the museum usually only gets about 1,000 visitors on any given weekday), while Perry has his own webcam set up so you can watch him bloom along with watching hordes of people holding their noses, coughing, children exclaiming- "That doesn't smell like a flower, it's so big momma! Why are there lots of flies in here?" - just heard those ones. Lois was coaxed open by a pile of rotting bananas laid nearby and here's the best bit- a couple is getting married at the museum today, stink and all. What an unexpected wedding gift, fun for all!

So while I should be getting ready for our quick trip to Denver this weekend, I'm watching a webcam of a Corpse flower bloom.

The Cooking of Vienna's Empire

While we were in Vallecito, we came upon a small bookstore called the "Book Shed". It literally was a shed outside an old woman's house, selling used books for $2-$5. We decided to check it out, as much of our vacation was spent reading. Imagine my suprpise to come upon a weathered old cookbook entitled "The Cooking of Vienna's Empire", a Time-Life book published in 1968. I picked it up, hoping to find some Austro-Hungarian recipes. I did. There is a whole chapter with charmingly outdated yet beautiful pictures of Hungary, representing the still Communist regime, though the book is about the cooking of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. So I have taken to calling it, "an out-dated book of out-dated recipes"- that is, the Communist take on Austro-Hungarian cooking. It is fascinating; examining a regime examining a former regime.

I didn't buy it the first time around, choosing a historical fiction novel set in Renaissance Florence instead. Though when night rollled around, I couldn't stop thinking about the faded technicolor photographs; the sweet smell that only old book pages can exude. So in the next few days I obsessed over returning to the Book Shed, (which kept strange hours, naturally) yet finally leaving with my cookbook a mere two days later.

The cookbook is a gem, in perfect shape yet still retaining the qualities of an "old" book. After reading an entire history of Hungarian cooking (which is fascinating by the way, including Gundel, gulyas and paprika) I decided on bacon-dumplings for Sunday dinner. This is actually under the "Austrian Provence" section, yet it sounded too decadent to pass up. The book also provides a lot of information on the former Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and other Communist gems.



Here are some picture I took of the beautiful Hungarian photographs.

The cover, showing some beautiful pastries:

The opening "Hungarian chapter":

Csardas cooking:

"The country fair flourishes in a Socialist land":

Balaton fogas, curved into its traditional shape:

Traditional Hungarian dress:

Gorgeous paprika spread:

Copyright date:

The recipes all look delicious...and I am so happy to have a bit of history on my shelf.

Edit:

We have been trying to teach my 7 year old neice a touch of Hungarian. She is just learning to write in English and decided to write on my arm this afternoon:



Gotta love the adorable misspelling: "egen"

Vallecito!

This past week my family and I went on vacation to beautiful Vallecito lake in Colorado. We rented a cabin that had the most amazing deck overlooking the forest and lake. It was a much needed break from reality. No technology, no TV, just reading, relaxing, drawing and eating. Here are some highlights from the trip:

The beautiful view from our deck, the lake glinting through the trees in the morning sun:

My mom at the end of our "breakfast horse ride", which entails riding horses up a mountain, eating an amazing breakfast cooked by the wranglers in a meadow, and then riding back down:



Mango margaritas at Pura Vida, the local Costa Rican/Mexican restaurant (these were so unbelievably good, we went back for them at least three times...well that and the blackened mahi mahi sandwiches):



The horse ride up the mountain (which unfortunately was ravaged by a huge forest fire in 2002, but is thankfully exploding with aspens now!):

A particularly beautiful view on the way up the mountain, overlooking Vallecito valley. This is actually a little unnerving considering that your horse is the only thing keeping you from toppling thousands of feet down the mountain!:

The kids on the fishing boat that we rented:

John enjoying the "beach" by the lake:

Another view from our cabin:

Ahh Vallecito.. There is no better place to clear your head, relax and mentally prepare for the next few weeks...preparing for Budapest!!

Selena Gomez's "Round & Round"

Yesterday I was watching the Disney channel with my niece as I often do, trying to tune it out for the most part. But as I looked up to see Selena Gomez's new music video, I was shocked to see that the video was filmed...why, where else but Budapest?? The video opens up on a shot overlooking the city, and then does a strange fast zoom in on Parliament. Upon seeing this I exclaimed "Oh my God, that's Budapest!" No one really believed me since the rest of the video is mostly just close ups of Selena singing and walking down streets. There are some nice brief shots of the Duna, Chain Bridge and Fisherman's Bastion however, but they go by too quickly. The rest of the video was spent wondering why one earth Selena Gomez was shooting a music video in Budapest of all places. And do you really think Disney would foot the bill for one music video abroad? Well, as it turns out, no. She is filming a movie there, so I suppose it was rather convenient to shoot a music video there as well.

Here's the video, for anyone who may be interested:



Though honestly, it's best watched muted...

Lavender in the Village Festival

So today was an event that we have been looking forward to for many weeks now: The Lavender in the Village Festival. We (John, my Mom and I) were volunteering for the Los Poblanos Organics tent selling produce, memberships, t-shirts etc. This is the program that we get our weekly box of fresh fruits and veggies through, I know I've mentioned it before. So when the opportunity came up to volunteer for them, we thought what we usually do when faced with such a decision- why not? We have been trying to fill our time with interesting events so that it goes by faster (7 1/2 weeks and counting!) but that's a different post altogether...

This festival is an annual event, all about the wonders of lavender (plus a few other fun things). There were a lot of interesting tents- lavender crafts, goat cheese, wildlife/bird rescue, yurt living, massage, henna, a beer garden and live music. We also played with, petted and oohd and ahhd over the most amazing, adorable 1-week-old baby goats.

We went an hour before our shift so that we could look around and participate in some of the festivities. Unfortunately we missed out on the free massages, but we did get to pick our own lavender and check out the yurt. For lunch we had bratwurst (made on the premises) with green chile relish. We sampled and bought red chile raspberry jam (unbelievable, tongue-tingling goodness) and lavender honey goat cheese. This was a "special edition" goat cheese, just for the festival. It's safe to say it is the most interesting, delicious goat cheese I have ever had. It was amazing to see little kids, adults, everyone go crazy over the organic fruits and vegetables. Organic does taste better, and it's great to see people being so enthusiastic about it.

We were working alongside of LPO interns all day, including one guy who is studying in Montreal. We mentioned to one of the other interns (who makes beautiful clay honey pots) that we were moving to Budapest but want to intern on the farm in the meantime. (Why not?) As we were leaving this intern said to us "Well, we'll see you on the farm, or if not- have fun in Budapest", which caused the Montreal guy to stop in his tracks, "Wait, what, Budapest? Are you guys Hungarian?" Us: "No but we speak a little" Him: "Oh well, Viszontlatasra!" Us: "...." We were so flabbergasted that we didn't even ask him why on earth he speaks Hungarian (he's from New Jersey) but it was a great/strange end to our day of hard work. Well- to reward you for reading this novel (is anyone still reading?) here's some visual aid:

Some of the beautiful produce we were peddling:


Yours truly, working the cash box!:


Outside of the yurt, plus a very nice solar oven:


Inside of the yurt:


Me, cutting lavender in the field:


My mom, winning over the crowd:


Lots of lavender hanging to dry:


Bunch of lavender:


John cutting himself some lavender:


John replenishing the carrot supply:


A beautiful crow:


Darling baby goat:

Have you ever heard of Scrapple?

Well, I hadn't either. But today at our local hangout, one of the waitresses brought back a bag of it from her trip to Pennsylvania. It caused quite a stir among the staff, and it wasn't long before a plate was brought out for us to try. Our waiter googled it and found this from Wikipedia:

"Scrapple (Pennsylvania Dutch) is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then panfried before serving. Scrapple is typically made of hog offal, such as the head, heart, liver, and other scraps, which are boiled with any bones attached (often the entire head?."

Congealed pork "mush" didn't really sound like anyone's idea of a good meal- the cooks brought out an old pan so as not to "scrapple-up" the restaurant's.

I must admit, the taste wasn't awful- it wasn't particularly good either - but the texture and the appearance was what really took the cake:



Somewhere between cat vomit and a smushed turd. I think I could learn to like it, if I could just blindfold myself while eating it.

Vizum and You're Going WHERE?

After several weeks of worrying, we got our visas today. I'm so happy to be in possession of our passports again, and they have just become all the more valuable. Having had my passport stolen in the past (which, 5 years later - a month ago - a detective found in a storage unit of a woman arrested for 200+ counts of identity theft) I am always slightly nervous about it- I protect it *slightly* neurotically. And now I have even more reason, due to this official-looking visa:



In other news, I've noticed a funny phenomenon lately. Whether due to not really caring, or faulty knowledge of geography - people can NOT for the life of them remember where it is that we are moving to. Today was a new one from my dentist: "So when are you going to... *looks confused* Belgium?" "Hungary, August 18th" (a date that I repeat what seems like 50 times a day.) We've also heard Turkey, Bucharest, Bulgaria, Bangkok and a myriad of other cities/countries starting with a "B" (i.e. Budapest). This usually happens when the news of our impending move is second-hand, but still, it never ceases to amuse me.

Breadzilla!! Or, Dear God! Did I Add Too Much Yeast?

After looking through the storage shed (see previous post on opening locks) and finding my journal from this past summer in Provence, I was reminded of something that I will never forget; eating goat cheese fougasse in an open-air market in Aix-en-Provence. I thought it would be nice to recreate this heavenly bread, and so the recipe search began. After many blog/recipe/cooking sites later, I determined that what we had was not fougasse. This was a soft, sweet bread, while fougasse is a hearth-style, crusty and savory bread.

I decided to improvise. Working in a French cafe for a year or so in early college left me with a keen taste of different french breads. I decided that the "fougasse" that we had had was more of a brioche, studded with chunks of creamy, stinky cheese. Coupled with a ripe, juicy peach? Dear God, the thought brings a tear to my eye.

Today I made braided brioche, with Roquefort cheese stuck in the cracks. It was fine at first, but the seemingly over-active yeast made me dub my creation "Breadzilla", as I had visions of the rising beast bursting from my oven onto the unsuspecting city below.

Regardless of how much it rose, it was unbelievable. Certainly different from what I remember tasting beneath the soleil Provencal (but really, could anything ever be that good again?) yet still delicious in its own right.

A truly gorgeous braided brioche, peppered with Roquefort, ready to rise for a second time:



And a shot from the oven monstrosity, ready to rise into oblivion:



And finally, the end product, barely able to squeeze onto a cookie sheet:



Bonus:

Aix market where said "fougasse" was bought and consumed:

The TB Test Saga

I have been trying to get a TB test since last Thursday. It really shouldn't be this hard. I called several weeks ago to schedule it and was given an appointment on Thursday evening. After having my blood pressure, weight, height and temperature taken (not to mention waiting in the waiting room for 20 minutes) I was told that I could not get the test since no one would be there to check it on Saturday. Ok, receptionist error I suppose. So the nurse told me to come back Friday morning and someone could read it on Monday. It was only later that night that I realized Monday was Memorial day so clearly no one would be there to read it then, either. So I went in on Friday morning and told them about this, and asked if I could come in on Tuesday instead. They were way more confused than the situation warranted and after much calling of the nurses and looking at the computer they realized yes, the nurse had indeed made a mistake.

So they scheduled me for today at 11.

After explaining to the once again very confused receptionist that they told me I only needed to see a nurse to administer the test, we waited. And waited some more. 11:30 rolled around and I decided it would be wise to check in at the front desk on the status of my nurse, in which I was told that they were all running 30 minutes behind schedule.

Finally I was called back after several more minutes and sat in triage while my nurse prepared the needle. She explained to me that there would be a "bubble" in my skin where all the fluid was. She couldn't get the needle in at first, and she asked me if I was alright. She got it in eventually and said "Ok, are you ready?" and I nodded and promptly felt a shower of cold liquid on my inner arm and an "Oops" from the nurse's mouth. She said the bubble had popped, and the liquid shot out the other side. Yum. So I held a cotton ball on my inner arm while she looked for another TB test, consulting another nurse on what gauge needle she should be using. All of this inspired much confidence in me, let me tell ya. So she preps my arm again and puts the needle in, and says in a sing-song voice, "Here comes the BUB-ble!" and I felt my skin expand. I looked over to see a giant fluid-filled pustule on my inner arm. "Huh", I managed to mutter. She assured me the bubble would go away in a matter of hours, so I made sure to take a picture as soon as I was done.

Behold, the bubble, the smaller, failed bubble and my strangely sparkly skin:



Fun stuff.

Trying to Open a Broken Lock As Told By A Seven-Year-Old

This is a list written while John and I attempted to get the storage shed open upon finding that the key was no longer able to open it. I think it speaks for itself but I especially like numbers 7-8 "think, feel", 15 "look up/ close eyes and whish" and 24, "hi five". This pretty much accurately describes everything we did.

Rain, Sunset, Singing and...Luau??

Last night my niece had a performance with this little singing group that she belongs to. It was held at the house of the woman who organizes the group. I have never been there before but was told it was way out on the west side (we live in the Northeast heights). Well, after about a 50 minute drive to the far, far west side through the pouring rain, we were distraught and more than a little annoyed when we walked into a packed house: think 100 people in one living room type of packed. The performance was "luau" themed and was supposed to be outside in the backyard. Since it was raining it wasn't really an option, and it was proposed that the performance should be rescheduled to Friday evening. After such a long drive through the rain, this was frustrating to say the least. After the crowd got a little shaken at this suggestion, we decided to wait out the storm. We all set out blankets on whatever bit of carpet we could find; upstairs, downstairs, by couches, in doorways. There was something slightly ironic about drinking through an umbrella straw on a blanket, in a strange living room, in the middle of nowhere, in a giant rainstorm. Yet after the food was gone, the rain thankfully was too. It turned out to be amazing outside with no sun blazing onto us. The performance was cute, even though our niece was only in two of the songs. Since we were on the very edge of the city, beyond the backyard was just desert, nothing else. This combined with the heavy clouds made for the most beautiful sunset!



Albuquerque really does have the most gorgeous sunsets.

Ninja Warrior

John and I have been doing something very interesting lately. We have been helping a friend from my step-dad's Hapkido class make an audition video for Ninja Warrior! Hopefully once it's done I can show a little sneak-peek of it. If he gets selected, you better believe we will be front row in Japan watching him compete!

Photo credit to g4tv.com

Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage

After reading many of my American English teaching comrade's accounts of eating Hungarian stuffed cabbage, I decided I should bite the bullet and make some for Sunday dinner. I really should get used to cabbage, even though those crunchy leaves are slightly intimidating to me. I wanted to see if we would like it, and to my absolute delight, it was delicious! I found the recipe online, along with many many variations. Some had sauerkraut, sour cream, or paprika, yet I chose one that I dubbed to be for more "sensitive" pallets since my whole family would be eating it. I have no idea how traditional this recipe is, but it was amazing! Here is the recipe I used, taken from Cooks.com:

HUNGARIAN STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS

8-10 cabbage leaves (lg.)
1/3 c. rice, cook until tender & drain
1 lb. hamburger
Salt & pepper
Pinch of thyme
1 lg. onion, minced
1 egg, beaten
1 c. water (saved from the pot boiled cabbage leaves)
1 c. tomato juice
1 tbsp. meat paste (or bouillon cube)
cornstarch to thicken sauce

Parboil cabbage leaves 5 minutes (just long enough to wilt, save 1 cup water for later). In bowl mix hamburger, salt, pepper, and thyme. Add rice, onion and egg; mix well. Shape into 8 to 10 small rolls and wrap each into a cabbage leaf. Tie securely with string or toothpick. Put in a good sized saucepan. In another saucepan, put tomato juice, water from cabbage leaves, meat paste or bouillon cube, parsley and a little salt. Heat and pour over cabbage rolls. Cover and simmer 1 hour. If desired, thicken slightly with a little cornstarch.



I loved being pleasantly surprised.

Taekwondo for Autism

For a few weeks now John and I have been participating in an autism-related project. I have been around people with autism and disabilities my whole life, since my Mom is the head of the Southwest Autism Network. They recently put together a "peer-group" activity for adults with autism in which they are able to work side-by-side with people who don't have autism (me and John). This particular project is a Taekwondo class. We all meet at a dance studio every Saturday afternoon and participate in an hour long class, led by Logan, a black belt in Taekwondo. We take turns holding bags so the other can punch, kick and do combinations. It is a great way for the people with autism to get into a routine, follow direction, get a workout, and have fun with peers! It has been so fun, and feels really rewarding at the end of the day.

Here is what the studio looks like:



There are curtains that can be pulled to cover the mirrors in case it proves too distracting, and a "break area" over to the left when things get a little overwhelming. You can also see a board against the wall that has Velcro for pictures showing which step is next, (Bow in, warm up, stretch, punch etc) something that is really helpful for the people with autism.

I couldn't think of a better way to spend our Saturdays, and it feels really amazing to be helping out the autism community!

Sleep?

I had another fit of Budapest-induced insomnia last night.

Our apartment building:



Credit to Jack and Cathie Holmes

Improptu Snail Funeral

So a snail in our pond died today. Well actually, judging by the smell, he probably died when I found him floating on Friday, but stuck him back on the side, hoping he still had some life left in him. As per most of my "insignificant" pets, he had a funeral. I made a cross out of sticks and grabbed one of our lillies from inside, and my family and I said some "words" which consisted of my 7 year old neice saying that "I only knew you today, on your death day". It is was pretty funny- as much as a snail death can be... here's his "headstone":



Have you had a snail funeral lately? I slightly suggest it.

Wine Label Spotting

I have a love for great wine label art and I have been known on occasion to buy the wine with the prettiest label (advertising sucker). My mom found this gem when shopping for wine for our Easter ham dish. Feast your eyes:



I just adore the label. Three legged disembodied head with wings? Well, why not!?

Bonus picture:
Hungarian flag Easter egg!

Makos Kifli, a Birthday Treat!

Yesterday was John's birthday, and so I decided to make one of his favorite desserts for him: Makos Kifli! These Hungarian cookies are made by wrapping a sour cream butter dough around a ground poppy seed filling. "Makos" means poppy seed, while "Kifli" means crescent. These are most certainly a labor of love, so John's birthday was a perfect occasion to make them! This is the recipe I used (modified slightly) along with some pictures!

Ingredients:

* Dough

1 1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 egg yolks
2 2/3 tbsp sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* Poppy Seed Filling

3/4 cup poppy seed, freshly ground
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp milk
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream together butter and egg yolks. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Mix in the flour until smooth, gather the dough into a ball. Turn out onto floured surface, and roll into a smooth log. Slice the dough into 24 equal size pieces, rolling each into a ball (about the size of a walnut). Refrigerate while making the filling, it makes the dough much easier to work with. In a saucepan, combine all of the filling ingredients. Over low heat, stir constantly about 5 minutes until mixture thickens slightly. Take off heat and let cool. The filling should be easy to spread, if too thick add a touch more milk. Preheat oven to 350. Flour work surface and roll each ball out one at a time to about 1/16 inch thick. Spread some filling on the inside (one or two spoonfulls) and roll up the edge closest to you, continuing until the it is in a roll shape. Pinch the edges to seal, and curve into a crescent shape. Place on a greased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Continue until all of the Makos Kifli are rolled, and then bake until very lightly browned. Cool, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

The dough, ready to be gathered into a ball:



The dough rolled into a log. Baguette, anyone?:



The dough balls, ready to be refrigerated:



One dough ball rolled out, ready for the filling:



All finished rolling and filling, ready to bake!:



Finally, ready to be devoured!:



Happy Birthday my love!!!