Mondays and Wednesdays

I have heard it's either tennis or golf.  Expat wives tend to choose a sport, and the choices seem to be either tennis or golf.  If I were to include our specific expat location, I would need to replace the golf with bowling. :)

My choice is definitely tennis.  Many years ago I participated in a couple small tennis camps, nothing intense, but enough to give me some basic skills (strong emphasis on the basic).  Over the years, I have occasionally picked up a racket and hit a few balls over the net.  Recently, another wife invited me to play tennis.  When her daughter was visiting this summer, she brought her racket, and they found tennis courts.  Luckily, her daughter left her racket, and I have been able to use it.

Our Monday and Wednesday mornings are spent at the tennis courts.  The weather has been absolutely perfect.  We have not encountered any rainy mornings.  Each morning has been sunny, warm (but not hot), and usually a light breeze blowing.  Linda is extremely patient and helpful, and has done an amazing job of teaching me some additional skills.  I forgot what an incredible workout tennis can be, a great cardio workout to start your day.

We have next week to continue our Monday and Wednesday morning tradition, and then I am off, jet-setting for our next R&R.

The other day, we had fun taking pictures. :)

We are currently trying to locate and reserve courts to use when the weather gets cold.  Our current courts are only outdoors, and we have been told there are covered courts in the area.  Hopefully it works out, and we can continue through the cold, wintery months.

A lucky find and a delicious creation

During a recent grocery trip, I stumbled upon a lucky find in the baking section.  Each trip, regardless of whether I need anything particular, I always browse the selections.  Many times I do not discover anything new, or worth buying, but this time I found packets of shredded coconut.  I know, big deal, every grocery store has shredded coconut.  It was a big deal for me, it was a first and lucky find.  I didn't know what I was going to make, but I was determined to create something delicious.  As I like to refer to as "Russian hoarding syndrome"  I quickly snatched a few packets (being nice to leave packets remaining for any other fortunate expat wives).

I now had shredded coconut and the question, "What am I going to create?!?!"  First thoughts were something sweet, but I eventually decided on Coconut Cashew Chicken.  We were going to take our coconut, and "travel" somewhere tropical with this dinner.

First step was to cut the chicken breasts into tender sizes and soak in a creamy coconut milk and yogurt bath.  My extreme dislike for raw meat (worst part of cooking) means no pictures, but it was happily "chilling" in the refrigerator.

Time to make the coating.  Coconut and cashews finely chopped in the food processor.   Throw in some chocolate and this would make an AWESOME ice cream topping.  Gosh, I'm such a fat kid. 

Coconut and cashews were mixed with bread crumbs.  Coating done, set aside.

A side dish to accompany the chicken.  Coconut rice.  In my never ending quest to increase vegetable consumption, I added onions and peas to the rice.  To add the coconut flare, I replaced some water with leftover coconut milk that was not used in the chicken bath.  

Cooking foul.  Rice is sneaky, it will fall out of the smallest opening in a bag.
Rice:1 Virginia: 0
I must mention this, I was able to control my OCD long enough to finish preparing the meal BEFORE vacuuming!!
Rice:1 Virginia: 2
(one point for not letting the rice bother me and one point for OCD control).
Hey, I'm the cook, I make the rules in the kitchen! :)

A little rice sauna.  

This next item is basically what convinced me to make this dinner.  An extremely yummy dipping sauce.  Everything found here except Argo cornstarch.  The recipe called for guava jelly, but I substituted with the Orange Marmalade with Champagne.
 Consider it Mimosa in jelly form, what isn't there to love!?!?!

So yummy. 

Chicken with coating, ready for the oven.
I prepared the coating, rice, and sauce, then waited until Ryan got home to coat the chicken and bake.  It worked out really well, plus Ryan was able to do this step.  

Hungry? Starving!

A meal isn't complete without lots of color.  Throw in some fresh sliced bell peppers and let the feast begin! 

Ironically, or more like typical, I visited this grocery store again this week, and there was NO shredded coconut to be found.  Good thing I was a hoarder and bought extra packets.  Now the question is, what will I do with the rest?  Look for a sweet treat blog posting in the near future.  :)

The sad expat wife...

One quiet evening in Novorossiysk, Russia, a sad expat wife sat at the dining room table.  She was browsing numerous websites, gazing at a variety of beautiful clothing, shoes and handbags.  Her retail therapy withdrawals were consuming her thoughts.  Kate Spade latest arrivals.  New fall collection at Banana Republic.  Boots, boots, and more boots at Macy's.  Perfect sweaters and cardigans at J Crew. Too many lovely things to choose from.  Only one obstacle was in her way......living in Russia.  While this little expat wife was hunched over her laptop, lost in the world of online retail therapy, her husband snapped a photo.

 
Her husband thought the sight was entertaining.  He giggled at her misery.  She only continued to browse, thinking to herself, wait until November, I will go to all these stores and buy all these beautiful things. 

A sad tale, about a sad expat wife.  Consider it materialistic, humorous, or whatever your opinion may be.  If you have any sympathy for this little expat wife and her consuming retail withdrawals, think of her on your next shopping trip.  Guaranteed you will find her at malls in Texas, Illinois, and Indiana come this November. :)  And a sad expat she will no longer be, withdrawal symptoms conquered.

Next tale in this series......the sad expat wife that must cram all her purchases in her suitcases. :)

Much love to the fellow expat wives reading this.  I know you personally understand. 

Bowling Part 2

I must admit, I am starting to wonder about my choice of activities.  I have now bowled twice in the pass two weeks.  If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it was during the winter prior to our Russia move.  Ironically, it was with Chevron, and a couple of the ladies I have recently bowled with.

Bowling has never been a major choice of entertainment, and has always been a very random, few and FAR between event.  I am contemplating my recent choice of activities, because I always correlated bowling with an "older" generation (no offense to ANYONE).  With my recent bowling trips, I am learning that it is not bad, and can actually be a really entertaining time.  My slight change of opinion may be caused by my slight improvement in skills.  I threw (rolled?) fewer and fewer gutter balls. :)

One thing I know for sure.  A group of American women in a Russian bowling alley really causes a scene.  We are all about dancing, cheering, screaming, and trying to "drive" the ball with our hip and hand motions.  The bowling alley is not a quiet, relaxing setting when we are present.  Judging by the facial expressions of other bowlers and employees, I am guessing they find us "entertaining."

Monica, Stori, Kim

Winner for "most improved."  Margie started rolling plenty of spares and strikes.  

Always adorable, Linda. 

Happy dance. 

Granny roll.  

STRIKE. :) (right, Stori?)

Linda earns "best bowler."  Turkey, 3 strikes in a row!!!  Maybe we are all just really excited to go home for Thanksgiving. :) 

Group shot, minus Linda (thanks for taking the picture).
Back row, from left, Tami, Margie, Monica.  Front row, Kim, me, Stori. 

 

Now we just need to add our husbands to the mix and see what happens.  Definitely should make things interesting!  I think bowling is going to become a regular, especially when winter arrives.

A Turkish Evening

I have become slightly obsessed with a couple food blogs.  Not only has it inspired me to try new culinary creations, but it has also inspired me to take more food pictures.  The pictures on the food blogs are fantastic.  I love to read about the cooking process, and greatly enjoy pictures that accompany each step.  Needless to say, I am inspired to put my food pictures on this blog.  My apologies if you are not interested in reading about our dinners, or seeing pictures.

Earlier this week, we had a Turkish evening.  I recently came across a recipe for Turkish burgers or kofte.  During our trip to Istanbul (last year), Ryan and I greatly enjoyed the Turkish food.  The variety of seasonings added a certain warmth and depth to the food.  This recipe included many seasonings (luckily I had all but one, and found a substitution for the missing) it also included a whipped feta sauce and cucumber-tomato salsa.  A definite keeper, and a lot of fun to prepare.

Unlike the food blogs I frequent, I have not perfected the art of cooking AND taking pictures.  I get too involved with the cooking process to stop and take pictures (or maybe it's the fact that I am dancing to Pandora radio too much).  Some may think this is annoying, to post pictures of food but for me, it's a hobby and something I have enjoyed more since our move to Russia.

The recipe calls for store-bought pitas.  No pitas here, so I made my own.  Only picture taken during the entire meal preparation.  

Love the colors of the cucumber-tomato salsa. 

Finished pitas.  I was proud of myself for this accomplishment.  

Turkish burgers.  Love the steam rising off the burgers (no smell capture option available on my camera). 

Since sweet potatoes are nonexistent in this area, I have become obsessed with roasted carrots.  I would not be surprised if Ryan and I develop an orange glow to our skin.   

Full dinner.  Our friend, Linda joined us for dinner.  She brought the grapes which I thought were the perfect addition!

Finished product.  The evening of this meal, we were all too excited to dig in, I forgot to take a picture of the assembled burger.  Luckily, I had leftovers for lunch and was able to snap a photo prior to digging in.  

Again, as I mentioned earlier, cooking has become a serious hobby.  Feel free to bypass any food postings if you are not interested.  I will do my best to "warn" readers of a food rambling.  If you see something you like, feel free to email and I can send you the recipe!!

Saturday Hike

Yes, you read the title correctly.  Ryan and I went hiking yesterday.  The weather has been very beautiful.  Cool, fall weather has slowly moved into our area.  At first I was disappointed by the cooler temperatures, and the realization that my beach days were ending.  I needed to find new activities to fill the day.  What better idea (!?!?!) than to go hiking?

This hike did have a purpose.  Every Sunday, Ryan has been mountain biking.  Originally I did not want to know what his biking trail looked like.  I assumed it would be better not to know and therefore not worry (even more) about his safety.  Chevron safety moment, he does wear a large number of protective padding, helmet etc. (I will need to try and get a photo of him with everything on).  Besides all his precautionary measures,  he has returned with multiple popped tires, cuts and "road rash" on his leg.  Curiosity got the best of me.  I needed to see what this biking trail was like.

Start of the first hike.  Seriously, who bikes this!?!  This crazy guy does. :)

View of the Black Sea.

Looking across the port to our city. 

Large mushrooms.  

View from the beginning of our second hike. 

And he wonders why he pops tires?

I finally was able to see where he bikes.  I successfully survived the hiking.  Only a brief moment of panic and screaming when a few huge burrs became attached to my pant leg.  I will admit this now, I initially thought it was some spiked bug on my leg. :)  When Ryan was removing the burrs he asked me if I realized it wasn't a bug, "Duh, sweetie, of course I knew it wasn't a bug." "Oh, because judging by your screaming, I could have sworn you thought it was a bug." :)  I lied, totally thought it was a bug.

One conclusion I have come to.  I am not a good hiker (big shocker there).  I really enjoyed our hiking in Canada because we had stopping points along the way with cool things to look at, and an ultimate destination to reach.  I felt like our hiking in Canada was rewarded.  The hiking yesterday was not as rewarding.  The majority of the time was spent staring at the ground, watching where I was walking.  Ryan has a tendency to "barrel through" his hikes.  No time to stop and take in our surroundings.  Either way, I will go hiking again, I am determined to realize why everyone loves it.  Personally my next hiking trip would be in a more exotic location.  Next travel plans?!?!  :)

Baking Presents

I have learned from living in Russia, and maybe it's true for anyone living in a foreign country, that when it comes to birthdays, celebrations, or just daily life, nothing makes one feel better than a little bit of "comfort" food.  In my opinion, "comfort" food to an expat is something that you can't easily find in your current living location, it's food that one must make themselves, from scratch, and usually put forth an effort to collect all necessary ingredients.  Other times, "comfort" food can simply be an item that has made the long journey from the States, in an overstuffed, overweight piece of luggage.  For example, a few weeks ago, during my Russian plague illness, a good friend left a small gift on my doorstep.  It contained two simple items, a packet of Gatorade powder and a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup.  Nothing could have been more appropriate or more comforting at the time of my illness.  Comfort food, nothing can make you feel better, faster.

This leads me to my blog today, baking presents.  We attended a couple dinner parties this week, as well as celebrated a couple fellow expat birthdays.  Novorossiysk does not provide much in terms of shopping for a small gift.  Pickings are slim, therefore, I rely on my baking talents to provide a lovely present.  It is no easy feat trying to bake here, our ovens are what I call "PlaySchool" ovens.  They are tiny, spastic, and continuously (sometimes effectively) try to sabotage your baking.  Baking my presents provide me with an opportunity to try something new, while at the same time providing the recipient with a bit of comfort from home.

Red Velvet Cupcakes.  My contributions to a dinner we attended at a fellow expat's apartment. 

A birthday present.  No Harry and David or Planter's Nuts in Russia, so I decided to make my own.  Sugared Cinnamon Almonds. 

Honey Roasted Cashews

This picture is simply for my own entertainment or anyone else living in Novorossiysk.  I needed bananas for the next recipe.  In a city where overripe, blackened bananas are common place, the one time I went looking for overripe bananas, I could only find good bananas.  My attempt to "sun" the bananas. 

Banana muffins.  LOVE this new recipe, much lighter than "traditional" banana bread.  Gift for an afternoon tea, and birthday gift (for a lovely woman whose husband ate all the previous muffins before she even had one). :)  

Nothing says Happy Birthday like Funfetti cupcakes!  I had way too much fun making these little guys.  The batter with all the sprinkles made me happy. :)

Yum, yum.  Felt like kids.    

All recipes have been bookmarked and will definitely make another appearance in the future.  Who knows, maybe you will be the recipient?  :)