Turkey

Today marks our seventh month at post, although I'm not sure I should really count it as seven months in Moldova because I sort of spent a month of that out of the country; first in the US and most recently in Turkey. I was just telling Michael Ball the other day while I drove him to work how before we got here, I kept imagining how different life would be in Moldova for us. How the boulevards and plazas, the people & society seemed so foreign at that time, but now, I don't even give a second glance when I drive past them. I guess part of feeling "at home" involves being able to ignore your surroundings.

Every year Turkish Airlines decides to come out with a crazy deal on fares to all sorts of interesting places from Chisinau, including Istanbul. So, back in January we decided to book a few flights and plan a spring getaway with some friends.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't particularly excited about going. I don't know if I had just been watching too many documentaries about poor Moldovan women who had been trafficked there or if the recent bombing of our Embassy in the capital was tainting my opinions. After all, it was a sober reminder that we are not as openly embraced in many parts of the world as we are here in Moldova.

I was aware that the Ottomans ruled a shockingly large portion of this part of the world back in the day, but I must admit that I didn't know much else about Turkey. I knew a few factoids here and there...like the fact that in the Romanian language the majority of the words {yes, plural & very telling} they have for "bribe" have Turkish roots. Therefore, I began researching the place and created a Pinterest Board {naturally} with some ideas. Our friends also did some research and planning {most of it I might add} and the result was delightful.

We absolutely loved Turkey. It helped that it was significantly warmer than Moldova, but in general it was just lovely. The people were warm & hospitable, they love children {which is a plus when traveling with three of them}, the food was great, the terrain plush & mountainous, and they have more ruins & historical sites than they know what to do with. We spent a few days along the coast and visited a Crusader Fortress, then spent a day road-tripping from ruin to ruin including Pammukale, where there are thermal pools famous for being the same ones Cleopatra swam in, a few days near Ephesus in a little town in the mountains called "Pleasantness" and the remainder of our time in Istanbul, visiting the Spice Market, the Hagia Sophia & Blue Mosque, and on Easter Sunday took a boat ride on the Bosphorus River.

Traveling with kids also brought back many memories of my own childhood, where my parents took me when I was that age and how I viewed the world at that time. I have vague recollections of them taking me to the ruins of Teotihuacan right outside Mexico City and to museums with Diego Rivera's famous murals whenever we had visitors. I also remember the many road trips we went on as a family, within the US and back and forth between the US & Mexico.

Personally, I welcome anything that prompts me to stop for a moment and reflect on my life, on the wonderful people who have surrounded me and on the many rich experiences I have been blessed to have had, however little they were probably appreciated at the time. This trip was just that, and I am grateful for the opportunity. I might even have to go back there before we leave Moldova if Turkish Airlines has a crazy sale again!

Oh, and I took a ridiculous amount of pictures, which I have {graciously} curated down to a handful for this blog entry.

Crusader Fortress

Windmills along the Coast

Painted Bird in a Terraced House | Textile Market | Library

Library in Ephesus

Thermal Pool | Pammukale

In the little town of "pleasantness".  Couldn't agree more...

There is a story that the village was settled by freed Greek slaves who named the village Cirkince (meaning "Ugly" in Turkish) to deter others from following them. The village's name was changed to Sirince (meaning "Pleasant") in 1926 by the governor of Izmir Province. 

Temple to Artemis

View from our Hotel Window on Easter Sunday | Istanbul

Hagia Sophia

Boat ride on the Bosphorus

Did you hear about the race between the lettuce and the tomato?

The lettuce was a "head" and the tomato was trying to "ketchup"!

Well, that's the best vegetable joke I could come up with after scouring the internet for some clever way of introducing this blog entry. I signed up for this quasi-CSA program started by a former Peace Corps Volunteer here in Moldova who married a Moldovan and stayed here to work on their farm, Eco Valley. Every week I get a magic mystery bag full of fresh veggies.

As delightful as this sounds, it does create a unique set of challenges, as I don't want any of it to go to waste. Some things have a longer shelf life than others and some can be frozen to preserve them, although this is not the case with all. Lettuce happens to be one that doesn't freeze very well. And the first couple of bags from Eco Valley that I have received have had quite a bit of it.

So I have had to come up with some recipes to eat up all these greens...and even though I discovered a number of recipes that involved cooking the lettuce {the likes of casseroles & soups} the thought if it still kind of creeps me out. Here are a few that I actually did make.

Salad
Our latest salad kick involves greens, goat cheese, green apple, roasted pecans & an olive oil, garlic & honey-lemon dressing. We have our friend Hannah to thank for this magical combination.

Spring Rolls
From Eco Valley I used radishes, spring onions, lettuce & spinach. I supplemented with carrots & shrimp and would have loved to have added some fresh herbs such as basil, mint & cilantro {honestly, if felt like a crime to omit them} but alas, I did not have any on hand. I made a simple peanut dipping sauce to go with them.

Lettuce Wraps
I didn't have the ingredients to make this P.F. Chang's version, so I improvised and they turned out alright. It was my first time making the crunchy rice noodle thingies {I used this gal's blog for guidance} and I am proud to say I only burned a few.

Green Smoothie
Spinach, Green Apple, Pineapple, Mint. If I would have had a few other ingredients {yogurt? juice? berries?} on hand I probably would have added them in. And I would try to use my immersion blender instead of my food processor...or invest in a real blender some day since the consistency ended up being a little too chunky for my liking.

And the runner-up veggie jokes were...

Why do potatoes always argue?

Because they can never see eye to eye.

Why did the carrot get embarrassed?

Because it saw the chick "pea"!

Why shouldn't you tell secrets in a cornfield?

There are too many ears!

Some thoughts on Traveling…

My capacity for self-deception becomes evident to me every single time I travel.

First, I have this delusion that I’m some sort of “experienced” traveler, that I “pack light” or only take “the necessities” when I hit the road. But when it turns out you’re THAT lady at the airport, with a long line of impatient travelers behind you, madly scrambling about and shifting the contents of your suitcases all over the place to not go over the limit {who knew the giant tub of guacamole you bought at Costco would weigh so much and also be considered a liquid or gel by the TSA?} it really causes you to reflect on the nature of your packing skills, or lack there-of. I might add it is also thoroughly embarrassing when you can’t even lift your carry-on suitcase {sans-guacamole} up to the overhead compartment because the rock-like contents {cheese, books, assorted jars, unreasonable amounts of electronics, bark collars, what else of course?} prevent you from doing so. This, in turn, reinforces the fact that you are a weakling and also raises a few suspicious eyebrows as to what could possibly weigh so much when the strong man you have managed to recruit also experiences a certain level of difficulty lifting your ridiculous suitcase.

My friend Val “shattered my glass” about this a few years ago when she told me, in passing, that she always thought of me as the type of girl who “always carried around a bunch of bags.” Much to my chagrin, she was right. Even on short road trips where most people would probably bring 1 bag, two at most, I somehow manage to have to make multiple trips to the car with all my junk; there’s the “snack” bag and then a cooler "bag" for drinks or snacks that need refrigeration, my dog’s bag, my own bag, a camera bag, my purse, a hostess gift if we're going to someone's house…I could go on…you can see I am an absurd human being and fit the description perfectly of "a girl who carries around a bunch of bags."

Another imaginary characteristic I like to pretend I possess, is that I think {somehow} I will manage to use all of those hours on planes and connecting airports in some kind of a productive manner. Reading the plethora of books I managed to stuff into my luggage, writing letters, listening to sermons or podcasts, maybe even writing “blog” entries or ideas…I even consider sleep productive under the circumstances, but before I know it, I’ve generally spent the entire time watching a few kids movies, usually some sort of drama, a Bollywood film & a handful of documentaries or tv shows. For the record, “Wreck it Ralph” was my favorite of the kid’s movies I watched this time around, “English Vinglish” was actually pretty good as far as Bollywood films go, and “Siberia Teaches” was a very interesting documentary about urban snowboarding in Siberia {side note: while trying to find a link to this documentary I stumbled upon this amazing music video of Ethnic Siberian Music}.

I suppose one could argue that watching movies isn’t entirely non-productive. It keeps me up-to-date with some significant cultural elements of American Society {and Indian Society for that matter} and prevents me from being swallowed up by boredom, I guess.

For some reason I am also always thinking that I’ll get unprecedented amounts of reading done while I am traveling. I have never been on a trip where I actually wish I had another book and didn’t. And yet, I generally pack at least 2, sometimes 3. I try to rationalize this by claiming that the genre of the book will have some sort of effect on my desire to read; sometimes a girl just wants to read a novel, or sometimes a book about economics…you never know which Steph will show up on the plane. But I never finish more than one. Most of the time, I don’t even finish any.

When I studied abroad in Cuba, I was going to go on a little side-backpacking-trip through the southern mountainous region, including scaling their tallest peak, Pico Turquino. I had a small backpack, which needed to have supplies that would last me about a week. Some of that time was going to be spent on trains, buses and otherwise promising places to read a book {nevermind that I have a tendency to get a bit queasy}, so what did I pack? Super high-tech and light-weight camping equipment? Nope. A hard-cover copy of the Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoevsky. Have you seen that book?!? It’s HUGE! Did I even have a headlamp for reading in the wilderness where we were camping you ask? The answer is no. Did I read any of it? Not that I can remember. Did the Cubans think I was an idiot? Probably.

Catching a ride for the first 1000 meters...

Group shot with the bust of Jose Marti at the peak...

***I am happy to report that I finished one book on this last trip: “Ethnic America” by Thomas Sowell {I love that guy!} which I would highly recommend. He is brilliant and insightful and I only wish he hadn’t written the book in the 80’s because I feel like he kinda left me hanging…but nonetheless it was super interesting.

With the amount of traveling I have signed myself up for, I better start making some changes…or else you may hear about this in some unfortunate later blog post. 

Alex's Banana Bread | A Recipe

I still remember the first time I made this recipe...in it's original plain Banana Bread form. My roommate Katrina had given it to me, which she apparently got from some friend of hers named Alex, whose name is scribbled on the note where I have kept it all these years. I have a clear memory of making it at our apartment in college: I believe I tried to name our apartment "the nest" since my nickname was "the bird;" the name never stuck, but I like to think it did. It was in this apartment that I truly began to delve into the world of cooking and baking, well, that and Adam Woods' kitchen in Manayunk.

I will forever be indebted to him for instilling in me an enthusiasm for cooking, and more precisely, cooking for others. He used to cook us meals all the time, and I have vivid memories of going to the grocery store with him to pick up ingredients or swinging by the Italian Market in South Philly to find exotic spices. On one unfortunate outing, I had us running around to all the spice shops in town looking for a mysterious brazilian spice called "nails". Years later, when I learned portuguese better, I discovered that Brazilians {sneakily} use the same word for "nails" as they do for "cloves." Who would have known? I guess cloves do kind of look like little nails. Adam was always up to creating some new fusion of ethnic cuisines or sitting down discussing philosophical questions regarding food: if he had to pick one global cuisine he would have to eat for the rest of his life what would it be? He didn't think it could be Chinese because he didn't think he could survive without cheese. But it was the pleasure he took in preparing food for others that really struck me.

When my friend Thea's Mom was visiting us during my senior year, she told Thea that she thought I should become a cook. When Thea told me, I thought it was a little strange because her Mom didn't really know me that well and I wasn't even sure I had given her anything to eat, but she said she saw me baking up a storm in our kitchen {cornbread, en mass, in case you are curious} and could tell how much joy I got out of it.

This recipe brings back many of those memories for me, of living in that apartment and of being surrounded by such lovely friends. It has morphed over the years: I added brown sugar to the top, added walnuts, took off walnuts, added chocolate, added chocolate AND walnuts, made as muffins, made as a loaf, the possibilities seemed endless. My favorite is its latest version: Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Frosting. The recipe eventually made it's way into my "Cloud Cookbook" {so I can pull it up easily wherever I am in the world}, but retained the same name: Alex's Banana Bread. Who this mystery person is will probably remain a mystery, but their recipe has given delight to many-a-palette and even made it's way into someone's wedding.

Alex's Banana Bread

3/4 cup sugar
3 mashed bananas {the original recipe from Katrina says 3 mashed "nanners" which strikes me as completely fitting coming from her}
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a reasonable amount of chopped dark chocolate {4-5 ounces?}

8 ounces of butter, softened
2 ounces of Dulce de Leche
4-6 cups of confectioner's sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch-o-salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix the sugar, oil, & "nanners" in a medium bowl {I do it by hand and use a whisk}. Add the eggs, vanilla & salt and mix until just incorporated. Then add the flour and other little powdery things, and mix until just incorporated. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until...you guessed it, just incorporated.

Line a cupcake pan with liners and fill them about 2/3 full. Bake until they're done...yes, it is an ambiguous amount of time but such is life. I couldn't tell you how many minutes that is, because if you are making mini cupcakes it takes less time than regular size, if you have a crazy eastern european oven with indecipherable settings it might burn half of your cupcakes and leave the rest doughy, so you're better off just keeping an eye on them, watch their tops get golden, maybe poke and them about 10-12 minutes in and if your finger doesn't leave an indent and it kind of pops back out, they're done. Pull 'em out and let them cool.

For the frosting, beat the crap out of that softened butter, add the Dulce de Leche {make sure it is at room temp}, add the salt and vanilla, and slowly add the powdered sugar, alternating with the milk until you can get the frosting to a nice consistency, not too soft, not too firm. Pipe or spread on cooled cupcakes. You can drizzle melted chocolate and top them with banana chips if you feel inspired.

Culinary & Creative Projects: an Update

Blackberry + Basil + Goat Cheese | Hand Pies

A few months ago I posted about how I intended to occupy myself in my spare time here in Moldova, especially through the winter months. It turns out it mostly involved reading, pinning, learning how to be a better photographer, making food & volunteering at various non-profits.

Reading: not doing so well in this department. Don't think I've finished a book in a while although I started a handful. I'm about half way through Ethnic America by Thomas Sowell. I love that guy. If I don't finish it by the end of the week it'll make it's way onto my carry-on.

Pinning: doing this to an extent that makes me question my own sanity. Some people visit museums to see beautiful works of art...I go to Pinterest...it's pretty much the same thing, just a lazier version, right?

Learning how to be a better photographer: hmmm...it depends on how one defines "learning", because I have completed about a fourth of that online class but don't feel like much of it is sinking in. Does it count as "improving my photography skills" if I just download apps on my tablet that do most of the dirty work for me?

Culinary Projects: I have actually done quite a bit of this, although there are still plenty of things on my list I would like to try: Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurts, Marshmallows {Take II: this time using a candy thermometer which, turns out, is rather crucial}, savory crackers, canning, I would like to get better at making Pizza crust, I got a great pie recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but I would like to make my pies look prettier, expand my bread repertoire, and I still need to try making good puff pastry. **Also, I need to get better at documenting my culinary projects, but that involves making these things during precious daylight hours and having the cooperation of the weather to provide me lovely natural light, which turns out is pretty hard to come by here in the winter months. Who knew it would be so gloomy here?

Chocolate + Banana + Dulce de Leche Frosting

Volunteering: this has been a little more sporadic than I would like {although this will hopefully change soon}, but it does allows me the flexibility to do things like decide to hop on a plane to America mid-winter to help my friend with her new restaurant for a few weeks or help friends move to a new apartment across town.

Well, I'll be absent from the blogging world for the rest of the month...so don't miss me too much!

4 months at Post...

I had the mildly bewildering realization the other day that we have been at post for four months now...which is 1/6th of the way through our first post...which seems crazy.

Calendar by 1Canoe2, available {here}

In some ways, it definitely feels like we've been here a long while; I've been to Romania 3 times already, had visitors come from far away lands, picked up a stray dog and found it a good home, and already spent three major Holidays here {more if you count the fact that Moldovans sneakily celebrate two Christmases and two New Years Holidays, thanks to the Russian Orthodox Calendar, which we dutifully observed, happily}. But seriously, one sixth of the way through is not an insignificant amount of time, and there's so much we still want to do! I had never envisioned myself ending up in these parts of the world in the first place and since we live in uncertain times, who knows if I will ever be back. Therefore, I will share with you our current bucket list, assuming this is our one chance to visit these parts with relative ease:

• Romania. We need to go back to Bucharest for an actual visit, preferably when the weather is nice. We also want to go camping in the Transylvanian Mountains, visit Brasov and all sorts of cool castles, monasteries & churches {again, when the weather is nice}. We might also make it back to Iasi at some point since it is the closest place that shows movies in English. You can tell we've been here for a while when driving 2+ hours {5+ in wintry conditions} seems like a reasonable thing to do to watch a movie...in a movie theater...in English.  

• Ukraine. Odessa is only a few hours away, and we should definitely make it down there sometime in the spring. I'm a little nervous about the language though...they apparently only speak Russian and Ukrainian over there but it's supposed to be really nice.

Odessa Opera House

• Spain. The plan is to go to Catalonia in April. Spend some time in Barcelona, catch a few Barcelona games at Camp Nou {if we're lucky they might even make it to the Champion's League Semis}, visit all the awesome Gaudi creations, & eat some tasty food. Then, we want to head up the coast to Costa Brava, and then inland to go hiking in the Pyrenees. For a visual compilation of my daydreaming/trip planning click here. 

Spanish Pyrenees

Catalonia

• Italy. Meeting up with some friends there in September...I plan on eating more pasta and tomatoes than is probably reasonable. 

• Turkey. Michael Ball has crazy ideas of going down there in the summer for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup. Rumor has it they also have awesome food. And awesome architecture. 

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

• Brazil. Yes, I am aware that Brazil is nowhere near Moldova, BUT, they will be hosting the World Cup in 2014 and I would hate to miss it. The following two are in Russia & Qatar and I am far less likely to go there in 5 and 9 years, respectively {or ever, for that matter}. Plus, my hunch is those places won't quite have the same atmosphere as, say, Rio de Janeiro. Plus I'd get to visit all my relatives. Plus it's going to be awesome, the land of futebol and the beautiful game. It's a Win-Win-Win situation.

Poster from the last time Brazil hosted the tournament...

• The Land of the Free: Texas America. I am actually heading to the US in a few weeks here. The trip was a little hastily put-together, but I am super excited about it. I am going to help my friend Anna @ the new restaurant she just opened up, Blackberry Market and also will be spending all sorts of time with all sorts of people I love. I will be eating unhealthy amounts of avocados and Mexican Food, Sushi, Indian Food, Thai Food, basically anything that is not pickled, doesn't belong in a stew or isn't a sausage. And I will be stocking up for our Consumables Shipment...which will contain lots of salsa among other assorted items. We will be back in the US at some other point before our tour is up, but the date is yet to be determined. 

• Moldova. There are still a number of places I would like to visit within the country, like Soroca and the country side, but again, nothing is really as fun to visit in the winter as it is in the summer, so we're holding off on those till warmer days are here. 

• Croatia & Albania. A good friend of mine mentioned going on an Eastern European Tour including those two countries...I don't know too much about them but I'm game if she ends up coming out here.

Albania

Croatia