Oh yeah…I have a blog!

I’m BA-A-A-ACK! 🙂

I spent the last 3 weeks in Europe (Slovakia and Czech Republic to be specific) teaching English through a ministry called Josiah Venture (AMAZING trip– loved every bit of it!), and visiting my dear friends Dave and Angie who live in Prague.

I didn’t forget about you -dear readers- and although I haven’t baked in WAY too long, I did enjoy a feast of new foods and tried to photograph them along the way- so enjoy!!!

Camp food:  really amazing!  This was a typical lunch- always soup- usually with cabbage, although this was a lot like egg drop soup I thought- all of the soups were GREAT!  Then rice and meat after the soup.  I loved how pretty this particular pile of rice and chicken was– very yummy!

Dinner was light- and often a sweet meal.  This is called Bukti (spelling??) and its a sweet bread.  One variety was filled with a preserve and dusted with sugar.  This variety was covered in a pudding.  You’ve gotta love a country that serves dessert for dinner!!!  YAY!

Bukti--I've been promised a recipe for this and I'm excited to try it!

On a camp hike we found these wonderful wild blueberries

And then there’s Kofola– a cola made popular during communism as a much cheaper alternative to Coke or Pepsi- it seems as if everyone in the country is CRAZY for this beverage– it’s everywhere!  I thought it was ok, but it has a bitter aftertaste- I will keep my Pepsi 🙂  Another beverage popular in both Slovakia and Czech Republic is Vinea- a fizzy non-alcoholic soft drink that tastes like a sweet wine– LOVED it!!!!  Wish they made it here in America!

Kofola!!!

Too much Kofola..

Once I reached Prague there was a feast of new and fun foods– starting with a trip to Old Town Square and my first experience with Trdelnik- a yummy sugar-covered pastry that unrolls in a spiral as you pull.

Then there was the ice cream— called zmrzlina in both Slovak and Czech (it took me a week to learn how to say it!) it is a wonderful creamy ice cream (like Italian gelato) in a ton of fun flavors (my favorite was coconut!!!)

They also had lots of ice cream bars that put our bars to shame!  I had a Magnum extra caramel bar at Karlstejn Castle while waiting for our tour that was the BEST ice cream bar I’ve ever had— YUM!!!

Dinner?  Why Kangaroo, thank you!  Dave and Angie took me to a favorite local restaurant where Dave graciously offered me a taste of the kangaroo he’d ordered.  It was wonderful, but I LOVED the dish I ordered- smazeny syr– or the biggest hunk of cheese you’ve ever seen fried and served with tartar sauce– YUM!!!!!!

Smazeny Syr!!!

And my favorite food moment of this trip– a slice of Medovnik (honey cake) and coffee on a terrace overlooking Prague…

Medovnik was absolutely WONDERFUL!  It had a sweet molasses-y taste with a wonderful cream filling alternated with a thicker sweet paste.  I have a recipe…I have the ingredients…   TIME is all I lack!  I have a busy fall ahead of me and my posts will be fewer I’m afraid.  I do hope that you enjoyed my little food tour of Slovakia and Czech Republic!  This post made me hungry– time for dinner!  :)r-