Borsch

My chopping mess.

If you live in the northeast region of the United States then you've probably heard of borsch, if you haven't let me introduce you to this yummy east European soup.

I believe borsch originated from Ukraine but it is a staple soup throughout east Europe. It is known for its distinct deep purple color and the perfect way to warm you up, all the while
providing a nutritious meal. The base for the soup are beets and it can be prepared many different ways.

The delicious recipe I'm passing along comes from my friend Uliana, who has many times warmed me up with her version of borsch.

Moldovans use pepper kernels

                            Borsch

chicken breast

chopped potatoes

chopped onions

grated carrots

cannellini beans

lot of salt

pepper 

fresh chopped dill

fresh chopped parsley

chopped green onions

thinly sliced cabbage

peeled and grated beets

lemon (squeeze lemon onto beets to preserve the full color of beets)

sour cream

Step 1: Boil one chicken breast, reserving the broth. Shred chicken and set aside.

Step 2: Chop potatoes and onions. Fry partially for quicker cooking.

Step 3: Bring reserved broth, potatoes, onions, and carrots to a boil. Add water.

Step 4: Add beans, chicken, salt, pepper, dill, parsley and green onions.

Step 5: For the last 10 minutes, add cabbage and beets.

Step 6: Serve soup with a dollop of sour cream.

Eastern European yumminess! 

Where Is The Hot Water?

Living in Palestine taught us the value of having water. During the warmer months we had to ration our water, a lesson quickly learned our first year. Once we ran out of water for four days, which was really tough on our home life, let alone at school. Try telling second graders to hold their potties as long as possible. All this to say, those experiences in Palestine helped us with our water issue we are dealing with in Moldova.

Pots put to use. Hot water please!

In the beginning of September we noticed that no hot water was coming out of our faucets. No problem. We'd give it a day before questioning as little things like this can be common. We were patient and gave it two days. However, we soon found out from our neighbors that no one had hot water and it would be off for two weeks as there were issues with the contractor who built our apartment complex. Well, weeks passed into months and we still don't have hot water.

This isn't my complain post. It is just my reality post and how things can operate in Moldova. Evidently everything came out and we learned that the contractor owes the only gas company in Moldova 2 million lei ($155,000). Naturally, the gas company stopped supplying the gas. However, it is the tenants who suffer the consequence.

How have we adapted? Mike showers at the gyms, Josiah gets bath water heated on the stove and I travel to someone's house to take a shower every 5 days…gross...I know. Dishes and laundry are cleaned in cold water. We attempted to sterilize Josiah's cloth diapers in the bath tub with heated stove
water but they began to leak. So we are using disposables.

Juju helping sterilize his diapers.

The biggest problem is heating our apartment. Our radiators heat with hot water. No hot water equals no heat. As the city turned on the block housing heat, we found ourselves bundling to keep warmer. So when are we getting hot water? The new date is at the end of November. Will we get hot water by then? I hope so! Until then we will be grateful that we DO have water and hope the weather doesn't turn extremely cold.