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CURRENTLY VISITING HAWAII!!

Hawaii

Hawaii
Akaka Falls

See the World for Free

The idea here is to TRAVEL THE WORLD regardless of time or budget. It dawned on me one day that even if I had unlimited time and money (which I definitley do not), I still couldn't see everything in the world that I'd like to see--I'm simply not going to live long enough to do it.

But I had a bit of brain wave and soon after the travel envelope was born. This is an actual physical envelope. I typed the name of every country in the world, plus every state in the US on little slips of paper which I then put into the envelope. In the beginning we (myself, my husband, Dave and daugher Catherine) would draw out a slip at random at the beginning of the month and that's where we would go---at least in our minds. We grab some books about the country from the library and put them in our bathroom to look at. We also check out some videos about the country if any. We check it out on googleearth, listen to the music, try the food, maybe even attempt to learn a dance or celebrate a festival.

After the first two years we discovered that even virtual traveling can be tiring, so we travel now whenever I happen to be in the mood.

It's great fun. I especially love it when people I meet have been to the place I'm "visiting" in real life, or get excited and have some virtual adventures of their own. I hope that anyone who comes across this blog will feel welcome to come with us on the trip!



You have a standing reservation to see it all!

Sep 27, 2010

Korzo!

I think this is my favorite tradition from any country so far.  After dinner on Summer evening towns close their main street for "Korzo".  People come out and walk up and down just to enjoy the air and each other.  What a great way to build a sense of community.  Sort of like a mobile front porch. 

Egg Tapping

You know the scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding where Tulla and her Dad crack a hard boiled egg?  This is done in Serbia--called egg tapping--you win if your egg doesn't crack.  I don't know what happens if BOTH eggs crack--which I would think would happen most of the time.

Christmas

Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7. Some of the traditions sound charming.  On Christmas Eve people gather branches of oak and bring them to the church courtyard and make a bonfire which symbolizes Christ bringing light to the darkness of the world.   The priest blesses the fire and the choir sings Christmas hymns. Afterward everybody gathers in the church to eat lent appropriate food (no meat or dairy).  On Christmas morning before opening presents you wait until Christmas is brought to you before you open presents.  A young child knocks on the door and puts a stick into the fireplace.  The number of sparks that fly up are the amount of good luck you can expect in the coming year.  The child is given a gift to thank them for bringing Christmas.

Great Science

Couple of great scientists were Serbs.  Nikola Tesla of alternating current fame, and Mileva Maric.  You probably can't place Mileva off the top of your head but she was a brilliant student and was one of the few women admitted to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in 1896.  Later she married Albert Einstein who probably owes a lot to her influence.

Sep 26, 2010

St. Nicholas Bread

Ok! As promised here's the Christmas bread recipe. I converted the grams into cups which is why the measurements are weird.  Also, you'll be using more flour than this--just keep adding until you get a nice bread dough consistency.

Warm up 2.1 cups of milk
In a big bowl put 1 TBL yeast and a tsp sugar--add a little of the warm milk and set aside while you do the next step.

In another bowl beat 3 egg yolks and mix in the rest of the milk.
In yet another bowl mix 4.23 cups flour, 1/2 c sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 TBL grated lemon peel and a little lemon juice, add 1/2 c softened butter knead until there is a fine texture.  Now, add the egg mixture to the yeast and then add the flour and knead until dough becomes a ball leaving the bowl clean (add added probably another 3 cups of flour to achieve this.  Let rise for two hours.

After the two hours you're supposed to mix up still more flour and water to make a dough for a braid around the bread.  Believe me it isn't necessary.  Punch down the dough and set aside a hunk (maybe two fist size).  I divided the remaining dough into two round loaves and put them on a cookie sheet.  Wrap a coin in tinfoil and hide it in the bread while you're forming the loaves.  Take the hunk you've set aside, divide into three, roll into long snakes and make a braid--put the braid around each loaf using a little egg and water to help it stick.  Let rise for another hour or so.  Bake for about 40 minutes at 350.  Delicious.  Whoever finds the coin gets good luck.