Panaderia 101 (Thanks Sara!)

One of the best parts of Mexico is the Panaderias. Panaderia means bakery. 

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Homemade Perogies - Courtesy of Heather!

One of the highlights while living in Russia was the lunches we shared at the school. Seriously, the food was A-mazing! We had perogies at least once a week, they’re like the Russian version of dumplings.

Left to Right: Anne, Meredith, Me, Wynter and Jade.

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Needed: Candy Sleuths

Okay gumshoes, here's the deal: Mindy in Bengbu is determined to leave with a certain type of Chinese candy, but is at a loss at where to find it. The candy in question:

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Trapped on a Tehuacan Roof

*Sara is in Tehuacan AS WE SPEAK. She details her adventures meeting an iLP director, consuming a mountain of meat, and being rescued from a laundry-laden rooftop.*

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BLINI

I learned how to make blini (also known as blinchiki) the first time I went to Russia when my family was adopting three of my younger siblings. I loved making it for my group in Voronezh this past fall! Just be sure to make enough because they are addicting. 

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Kyiv Waffles Anonymous

*Today's post comes to us from Christina, who taught in Ukraine last winter and consequently became addicted to waffles. This is her story...*

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A Letter Home from Desiree (who is in Zhongshan RIGHT NOW, you better believe it)

Here is a picture of the school where I teach. The Kindergarten is the red brick building on the right. This was taken from our apartment.

 It was just a crazy busy week. You'd think that being a teacher for 3 hours a day wouldn't be very time consuming. But I assure you, It actually is. Here is a breakdown of my average day :)

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A Tortilla Tutorial ~ Love, Emily

my first meal in mexico was easily my worst.

it was probably because i had different expectations.

and i wasn't used to any of these crazy things i was about to spend four months eating.

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La Comida: The Meal, According to Brittan

*Brittan Plante is adventuring in Mexico and runs the most amazing blog. Here she provides a comprehensive guide to host-family eatery in Tehuacan. Thanks Brittan!*

I know you've all been dying to know what I get to eat here in Mexico on a daily basis. Let me show you.

First we have my spot at the table:

This is where I sit every single day for every single meal. It really is my designated spot. If someone is in it when it's my eating time, they must move. And it's obviously not by my orders. It's basically a law and everyone is fully aware. Please note my water bottle. I brought it all the way from Utah to have this awesome experience with me.

Next we have the cereal. Every morning for breakfast I eat a bowl of cereal. Except once I had a tamale and some sort of drink thing. But other than that I have cereal. And then every night, before I go to bed, I have another bowl. I know, Heaven, right?

Azucaradas. A.k.a. Frosted Flakes.

Nesquik. A.k.a. Cocoa Puffs.

Other cereals I have regularly include: Choco Azucaradas. A.k.a. Chocolate Frosted Flakes. And Corn Flakes. No translation necessary.

Don't forget the milk:

Now let me tell you something. This is magic milk. It does not need refrigeration. Well, I know for sure that it doesn't need it before opening. I'm not positive about the after opening part, because it's all in Spanish, but believe me, I've tried to look because I'm obsessed about that sort of thing. Either way, each container is pretty tiny, so even if it does need refrigeration after opening (which we never give it unless I am the one to place it in the fridge, which I do do on occasion), we go through it quickly enough so it probably wouldn't matter. It tastes different than American milk obviously, but it's still good. I like it. But it's always warm with it not being refrigerated and all so I kind of miss cold milk in my cereal. Other than that, super delicious. I like.

Please note the blue bowl. There are exactly five of these bowls in this house, and they are the only bowls allowed to have cereal placed in them. All the other bowls are for other things. The first time I tried to get myself some cereal, I just picked a random plastic bowl and everyone had a little freak out session. "No, no, these bowls (pointing to the above species), these bowls are for cereal. That is for soup."

Ooooh. Got it. I'll remember that next time.

After breakfast comes lunch, as we all know. I am at the school for lunch, so mi madre packs me a little lunch everyday. It's really quite cute. It has a sandwich or two, a drinkable yogurt (I love those things) and sometimes an apple or something. The sandwiches come with a variety of insides. Sometimes it's just cheese (called quesilla or quesillo or something and it's delicious). Sometimes it's cheese with onions and tomatos. Sometimes it's eggs and ham. Sometimes it's this strange crystally jam stuff that is also good. Sometimes it's ham with other items. I never know what to expect. It's like a little present at lunch time when I open my sandwich and see what's inside. I've never had one I didn't like which is fabulous, no?

And it's so cute, because it's always wrapped in a napkin. That's what everyone does here. All the other teachers that get sandwiches packed for them have a napkin around theirs too. And I've seen it on commercials, too. I don't know why, but they just do. It's not like it's just a napkin, either. They put it in a plastic bag, but first is the napkin. Adorable.

Side note: There is one teacher who always gets hotdogs on bread and she hates hotdogs. It's hilarious.

In between classes I come home for another meal. I guess we could call it dinner since it's at like 4 and it's the last big thing I eat for the day. This is where the legitimate, homemade Mexican food comes in.

You may have seen some common themes, but in case you didn't, let me point them out to you.

1. Did you notice the green, slimy looking stuff? It's called nopalis, a.k.a. cactus, and I find it to be delicious. I don't know why, because really, it's green and slimy. The other teachers hate it. But I like it. Lucky me.

2. If you see nopalis, then there will almost always be beans nearby. They basically go hand in hand into a tortilla.

3. Speaking of tortillas, they are served with every single meal. Just trust that if they were not in the picture, they were nearby and I was about to be handed a stack. They are basically used as a utensil. You have your spoon, but really, it's unnecessary because you have your tortilla to put your food into and then you eat the whole thing and it's just great. I didn't realize this in the beginning, so I would eat my food with my spoon and then eat a tortilla along side it. They thought I was weird and that I didn't really like tortillas or something. So I've slightly adapted, but I still eat like an American, and they have accepted my strange ways. They still give me tortillas even though I basically disgrace them.

4. Did you see that salad in a couple of pictures? We eat that almost everyday as well. It has basicallly everything you can possibly think of including, but most definitely not limited to: lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, meats of some sorts, sunflower seeds, cheeses, nuts of all kinds, corn, green beans, etc. It's really quite delicious.

5. And then there is the bowl of soup. With almost every meal comes a little bowl of some sort of soup. It always has a red color to it, but it doesn't always taste the same. It is always good however, so it doesn't really matter. And just a note, you must always finish all the broth. And they give you a lot of broth. I don't know why, it's just what you do. (When I say broth, I am meaning oily water that is flavored. But I'm fine with it because it's really not bad. )

6. They also squirt lime onto everything. I love the smell, but I have discovered I hate the taste. So I just don't squirt lime onto anything of mine and it's just fine. However, I do like the lime and suger in water drink we have. That's good. Plus it's cold, which I like.

My favorite thing we have eaten thus far:

Now. I have been lucky. I have liked nearly everything I have been fed. Okay, I guess it's not luck, because really, I'm not even picky, so I basically like everything. And if I don't absolutely love it/like it, then it's at least edible and I don't have a prob. However, yesterday I was fed something that I really could not handle, and I had to stop eating it:

It's sheep in some sort of broth stuff. It was just the worst-tasting thing I have ever voluntarily put into my mouth. I tried and tried to just deal with it, so you should be proud that I full on ate four whole pieces of sheep before I had to stop.

So guess what I had to do. I had to pull the "Too Spicy" move. They told us about it in training. They said, "The mothers over there are really worried about the food being too spicy for you Americans so if you don't like something, just tell them it's too spicy and they will understand."

But guess what. Nothing I have eaten here has been spicy. I'm quite surprised. I thought everything was supposed to be spicy, but it's false. Well, LUCKILY for me, this truly was spicy. It was the spiciest thing I have eaten since being here, and it was actually the first thing I noticed in that first bite. Even Elvira said it was very spicy. So I said, "I'm sorry. It's too spicy, I can't finish it." And they were like, "Oh yes, that's fine, here let me take that from you." Not in those words, but you know what I mean.

I lied. But it was 100% necessary if I did not want to vomit.

As for the drinks, there is a lot of this going on around here:

That's right. Apple soda.

Everyone drinks it. It's delicious, that's why.

Thus is my life in food.

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How (Not) to Eat Sugar Cane, in Eight Easy Steps

*Kate ate a lot of crazy stuff when she went to Zhongshan in 2009. Here follows her tips for eating sugar cane, a popular local treat.*

1. Get bored waiting for the bus and find something you have no idea what it is.

(A likely candidate.) Then, accidentally order three of them.

2. Take too big of an enthusiastic bite and get splinters in the roof of your mouth. Choke a little, accidentally swallow some, and realize you actually have no idea how to eat this sucker.

3. Surreptitiously find someone else who is eating what you now recognize as sugar cane to model the correct eating procedure, but not so surreptitiously that bystanders don't realize what you're doing and laugh at your ignorance.

4. Take a smaller bite this time but still spill juice on yourself.

5. Chew and suck on that bite until it has the taste and consistency of paper.

6. Abruptly spit it out on the street.

7. Realize that you probably should have spit it out onto that designated pile over there.

8. Repeat. It's a tasty treat on a hot day.

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Forget Fashion Week... it is CHINA week.

*Hearken, all ye China-inclined... some new schools in Zhongguo have expressed interest in starting ILP programs! (!!!) The thing is, we need more volunteers. So. I am declaring this week Offical China Week. Get ready for all kinds of China this week on the ILP blog. Alumni, send me your Chinese madness, and longtime lurkers, get serious about next fall!*

For starters, here is a dangerously addictive dumpling recipe, courtesy of Jeanette:

饺子食谱

Those of you who have been lusting after those pot-sticking, wanton Chinese dumplings known as jiaozi, pine no more! Jiaozi may not be as delicious as baozi but they are still really delicious, and here are some instructions on how to make them.

Filling Mixture:

• 2 lbs ground pork
  
• I whole boiled cabbage cut into small pieces, water drained or patted off
  
• A couple handfuls of bean sprouts (water taken out) and chopped
• Three sprigs of green onion finely chopped
• An inch or so of freshly chopped ginger (FINELY chopped!!!)
• 2-3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 2 tbs sesame oil
  
• 2 tbs soy sauce (Or more, depending on taste)
• 1 egg
  

Mix all the ingredients together. You can buy wanton/dumpling wraps at most grocery stores (round ones are easier to wrap). Put a tablespoon or so of filling in each wrap, fold, and seal with water.

Heat oil in a wok. Fry one side until brownish then turn each dumpling over, then add a little water (it will steam considerably) and cover with lid and let steam for about five minutes until done. (Or you can move them to a different pan with water and cover and steam.) Check one to make sure the meat is cooked.

They're good on their own, but also with a little sauce. Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, chopped garlic and ginger, dark or rice vinegar, squeezed lime, and a little bit of sugar (and hot sauce, if you're daring) for a dipping sauce.

**Variations include replacing pork with shrimp or cabbage for celery. My school chefs liked to put a little chicken bouillon in the filling as well. Many, many thanks to Jeanette for this recipe!**

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Grandma Valia (by Tara)

I got home from Prague Friday night and was nervous to go home because just my Grandma Valia and great-grandma were there. Mom, Dad and Vova were off on a vacation to Egypt and wouldn't be coming back until Wednesday. Why was I nervous? Well, my grandma is the sweetest person in the world. However, she speaks as much English as I do Russian…maybe 10 words each. So she feeds me. A lot. And it’s really hard to communicate to her that I just can’t eat another bite. {But thank you so much; I am incredibly greatful.}

I went home and she was so excited to see me. The first thing I noticed was that the house was much less cluttered. And she had music playing loud. And she was singing. It was so cute! I could tell that she really liked having the place to herself.

She asked if I was hungry and I tried to express that I wasn’t hungry then…maybe later. She said something in Russian and then acted and said, “Valia, eat!” I took that to mean, “When you’re hungry say, ‘Valia, eat!’” I laughed and she smiled. She is quickly becoming my favorite person in the house.

I didn’t have to say, “Valia, eat!” anyway because she came in and asked me if I wanted soup an hour later. I said yes. Naturally, after the soup there was dinner. But I was impressed, the portions were smaller. It was some kind of eggplant/onion/chicken mix with mashed potatoes. Pretty good!

When I came out for the soup I handed her some chocolate nougat I bought in Prague. She said, “Oooohhhh!” so excited-like. She asked where from and I said “Praga”…as I ate she walked around and sang. There was a concert/show on the television that was pretty good. She sat there and ate her nougat like it was Christmas. She’d take a bite then close it up like she wouldn’t eat any more and then make a “what the heck, why not?” gesture and then have another bite. I don’t think she gets much sweets and she loved it! I couldn’t really finish the food, but I was sure trying. She made a “just one minute” gesture and pulled a brownie out of the fridge and put it on my plate. All I can say, is I think we just completely bonded. The chocolate was one thing we could both understand perfectly…no words necessary.

After dinner, I sat with her and watched the show and I worked on my cross stitching. She liked checking out my progress often and would say, “Horosho, horosho” which means “good.” She would sing and laugh and smile and say things to me that I didn’t understand. But she was clearly happy and I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

Today, I had to leave for church before I saw her. I drew her a picture of me, and arrow to a church and an arrow to home. Translation: I am going to church and then I am coming home. I wrote the Russian words for my name, church and home, thanks to my handy phrase book. When I came home she pointed to it and laughed. She then tucked it into her day book. I think she really liked my attempt. Then I got a huge meal.

She is off now visiting her brother who is in the hospital because he fell from the attic and hurt his back. It’s funny how much I can understand even though I don’t understand a word. So…now I am home and thinking about what a cute lady Grandma Valia is. And what an adventure this is! 

Tara Thornock  • Kyiv  • 2010

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An Ode to Baozi

Seldom have I been moved to compose poetry, but the depth of my
affection for this particular food is such that I have written a sonnet
(in the English style) dedicated to this the love of my Chinese life. Ahem.


Delicious, oily, stuffed and warm,
Emerging from your cloud of steam
I clutch you tightly in my arms
A dim sum lover's fondest dream.
Oh, moon-shaped hunk of love and bread
You tiny steaming masterpiece,
Stomach, heart and soul all fed
For seven point two cents apiece.
My dear beloved breakfast treasure
I'm coming for you if I can,
Thou simple, wondrous orb of pleasure
Alas! here's Sparky with the van.
Braving street sweepers for thee,
I heart you, baozi. Ne'er leave me.

Kate Bennion  • Zhongshan  • 2009

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Kristy • Zhongshan • 2009

Yep... I ate that.

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