Cooking Day

I had only two events today, so I spent the morning and afternoon cooking. Just now I had what is very nearly the most flavorful thing I have yet eaten in Kazakhstan: A felafel with baba ganouj. I am very pleased with how they turned out, though I might put the felafel back into the refrigerator again tomorrow to try and get them crispier.

I also made 3 side dishes, so that my meals can have a more mix-and-match flavor. The first is cole slaw, though next time I will need to chop the cabbage more finely. Adding lemon juice is very good. The second is Korean Carrot Salad, which had too much vinegar the first time I tried it. It has been diluted with some water, but I haven't tried it again yet. I might add some garlic and horseradish, though I may also save those for the next salad I make. The final side dish is colcannon, which is an Irish dish of mixed cabbage and mashed potatoes. I tried it immedaitely after I made it and was very pleased, but it remains to be seen how well it will store in the fridge.

Tomorrow I will make a potato pie, which with the pasta in the freezer, will give me 3 main dishes and 3 sides. I earlier made latkes, which were going to be my breakfast (with the colcannon), but they failed miserably to store in the fridge. They turned black, probably because the potatoes were very old that i used. I have newer potatoes, and I may try to make hash browns, but I don't really understand how to fry things, so I might wait until I can get someone to teach me that skill. I will try to remember to take pictures.

I am in the process of looking for cooking lard or vegetable shortening. I believe I can make lard from Sala, and may do so later, since I've never used lard and I would like to try and make pie/pastry crusts with it, but not in the immediate future. Nobody seems to know what shortening is, and I may have to try and buy it in Almaty, or a Ramstore somewhere.

In other news, the snow is now melted, and this morning was characterized by huge wet puddles and acres of deep, sticky mud. It was a warm day, however, almost 10 above, so a lot of the water has evaporated or otherwise drained, and some of the mud has stiffened to the point where it can be walked upon.

My attention was drawn earlier this week to men in bars who order [sto gramm], which is 100 grams of vodka, or about 2 full shots, drink it at the counter, and walk on. The seem to be mostly older folks.

Anecdote:

A few students were speaking with me this week.
"Where are you from?"
(me)"I'm from California!"
"Ah, no. Um, motherland?"
"I was born in Ireland."
"Ah! We knew you weren't American"
"Why am I not American?"
"Americans are aggressive, yes?"