Guest Post on Mummy in Provence

Today, I have the honor of being a guest on a blog, Mummy in Provence.  MiP lives in Southern France with her baby and husband, although her heritage is not French.  She talks about Breastfeeding, Elimination Communication, Baby Led Weaning, living in a foreign country and in general, is very interesting to read and talk to. 

Her series, The Global Differences in Baby-Making, has featured fascinating Mummys (or Mamas as I call them) in Qatar, Turkey, and France, with many more to come, I am sure.  Of course, when Mummy in Provence was looking for guest posts I jumped at the chance, as a fellow Breastfeeding, Elimination Communication, Babywearing, Immigrant Mummy/Mama.  Please check out my post about being a Polish Mama in the US and comment.

Also, I will be sharing my recipes for Fresh Mushrooms Soup and Stuffed Rolled Beef in the Warsaw Style shortly...

Na razie!

My First Guest Post: Nachinka by Dine and Write's

In my search on Twitter a few days ago for fellow Poles and other Slavs and Eastern Europeans who blog, I discovered Liv from Dine & Write.  Her blog is about cooking, her background is Polish and Danish, and she also speaks English.  All in all, she's very interesting to talk to and of course, a member of Ze Bloc Blog.

Here is her guest post:

The ultimate Slavic comfort food

There are some heavy hitters in terms of Slavic comfort food: perogies, cabbage rolls, nalesnyky... These are all very well and good, but for me, nachinka trumps all of these. Nachinka, for those who are yet uninitiated, is a thick, baked cornmeal pudding. It may be thought of as the Slavs' answer to polenta, and many versions exist. My version is traced to my maternal grandmother's mother. As I write this, I just finished eating the last few bites of the nachinka I prepared earlier in the day, taking care to scrape up the delicious browned bits at the bottom of the pot. It's remarkably easy to prepare; detailed instructions follow. Smacznego!

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 cup yellow cornmeal

5 cups warm milk

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

4 eggs, well-beaten

1/2 whipping cream or half-and-half

1 tsp baking powder

Assemble your ingredients (cute whisk is optional).

Saute onion in oil over medium heat until translucent.

Slowly and thoroughly stir in cornmeal.

Constantly stir over medium heat until cornmeal thickens (~10 min).

Continue stirring until mixture is very thick.

Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, cream and baking powder. Reserve 4 tbsp for topping.

Stir egg-cream mixture into cornmeal until thoroughly mixed. Remove from heat.

Scrape cornmeal mixture into a deep, well-buttered casserole. Pour reserved egg-cream mixture over the top. Bake at 325 deg F for 45-60 min, or until nicely browned.

Enjoy as a stand-alone dish or as an accompaniment to ham or chicken.

 And that, dear readers, is nachinka.  Each golden forkful is a trip to my grandmother's sunlit kitchen, where a well-worn gravel road runs past the sizable garden, something always smells delicious, and peace is found.

********

After reading this recipe, I recall having this as a child and cannot wait to go to the store to buy cornmeal and whipping cream, my two missing ingredients.  Smacznego is right!

Ze Bloc Blogs

I have been on Twitter and googling for some time, searching for other Mamas online who share in my experiences, history and food preferences.  I was trying to follow the advise I have heard so many times about blogging, you know the term "Find your tribe".  Oh so much easier said than done.

A couple of days ago, a conversation between several very talented Mama bloggers and myself led to the Bloc Blogs.  Or more specifically Ze Bloc Blogs.

What is Ze Bloc Blogs?  Some of us are Lithuanian, others Russian, Polish, etc.  We all share a special connection.  We all share a common heritage of being (or being married to someone) from countries once called the USSR, and of course, a love for herring.  In fact, our darling mascot, Xsusha, is a part of our badge.

If you are a fellow blogger who would be interested in supporting and conversing with fellow women who are from Central or Eastern Europe, grab our button and visit each of us as we share our stories. 

Some stories are about certain recipes served for particular occasions, or washing floors by hand with a rag because that's what we know best, or your father's apendisitis under Communism (I haven't shared that story yet, have I?), or even your travels back. 

Of course, that is not all we write about, but you get the idea.

Whatever they may be, these women are funny, smart, and have a different viewpoint worth reading as they raise their children.

Classy Chaos (Polish)

Motherhood in NYC (Russian/Jewish)

Vicki Boykis (Russian/Jewish)

She Suggests (Ukrainian/Jewish)

Like the Vodka (Married to the Russian)

Rima Rama (Lithuanian)

Mom Photographer:  Ewa Samples (Polish, but we will forgive her for living in Always-Sunny-California)



Of course, this list is intended to grow...  Enjoy!  And to my fellow Bloc Blogger Mamas, I raise my vodka glass and say "Na Zdrowie!"

And the Stylish Blogger Award, as well!

Wow, I feel so flattered!  Both Dawn at Megwetch and Kortney at Kortney's Krazy Life awarded me with the Stylish Blogger Award.  I don't typically do Blogger Awards but since I got three (I also received the Versatile Blog Award), I really should accept, no?  So, ladies, thank you!

Here's how it works...

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

Seven More Things About Me:

1. I love going to the local farm and picking my own vegetables whenever possible.  I love bringing the kids with me so that they learn where food comes from.

2. I have bad arthritis in my hands and wrists (well, that's not a fun fact)

3. I love just getting in the car and driving and getting lost.  Grid pattern roads make me really irritated.  You can't get nice and lost on them.

4. I got married on a mountain to my (man) Best Friend before God, family and friends

5. I love yoga but I never have time for it

6. My (woman) best friend used to live in the apartment I lived in as a child.  She and I have been friends for a decade now and I feel blessed to be a part of her and her child's life.

7. I will eat almost anything twice.  Once, to see if I like it.  Twice, to see if maybe the first time I didn't like was because it was cooked wrong.  Except for brains and spinal column.  It's not being picky, though, I wish I could try that as well but after the Mad Cow Disease scare years ago, I just don't feel safe doing it, until I knew the cow, sheep, etc. for years prior.  So, that will never happen.

Now for the 10 blogs that I have recently came across that I would like to give this award to:

1.  The Corkboard (This blog gives a great glimpse at what international adoption is really like, by a woman who was adopted from overseas, and then felt called to do so herself)

2.  An American Economist in Gdansk

3.  Bieganski the Blog

4. Honest Mum A Greek/Cypriat Mum in England, the writer of Love Letter to London, the inspiration to my blog post A Love Letter to My Hometown Wroclaw

5.  The TRUTH About Motherhood  I love how honest this Mama is, however, warning, she is honest! lol Her Throat Punch Thursdays posts at first shocked me too much to read but once I did, I realized the people she was talking about (one example: A mother who shook her baby to death), well, yeah...

6.  Kuchenne Bajki i Nie Tilko (Kitchen, Fairytales, and more...)  She hasn't not been feeling well so has not been able to blog like she enjoys to but I thought perhaps sending her some blogger love would make her feel better, at least in spirit

7.  My Search for Real Poland

8.  Amy the Wicked is a blogger in Poland who just started but is really fun to talk to

9.  Grafted Families

10.  Nemi Habibi (Another one Google translate is worth using to see her delicious recipes)

11.  I have to mention also the blog My Stolen Recipes

 

I know, it said to list 10.  Well, it was very difficult to limit to 10, I wanted to list over 50!  I hope you go explore these bloggers, and others and stay warm during these cold winter days.  Remember, spring is coming. 

Also, check out my List of Other Sites I Love About Poland...

Na razie!



I have since recieved the award from Anulia's Kitchen as well!  Thank you so much (Dzienkujem bardzo)!

Versatile Blogger Award

Imagine my surprise when I saw on Twitter that Time Crafted awarded me, among others, the Versatile Blog Award!  Thank you so much!

Here are the rules to go along with the Versatile Blog Award:

1)  You have to Thank the person who awarded you & link them back in your post.

2)  Tell everyone 7 random facts about yourself.

3)  Pass the award on to 10 new Bloggers.

4)  Contact each Blogger and let them know you’ve passed the award on to them, & let the “giver” know you accept the award.

First, seven random facts about myself:

1.   I like butter on my sandwiches.  Not all sandwiches, but if it's a lunch meat sandwich, I like butter on it.  Maybe some mustard.

2.  There is a video of a herd of African Elephants rescuing a baby Elephant from the mud.  I have seen that video countless times and every single time without fail, I sob like a baby.

3.  Right now, if my freezer, I have 4 packs of unsalted Butter and two small plastic tubs of Smalec (bacon fat).

4.  I don't have a favorite color.  Rather, it depends on what the item is that dictates what color I prefer for it.  I know, it's strange.

5.  I look forward every year to going raspberry picking with my husband and children.  We spend all day driving around and picking just a few berries off each bush we find, so that the local wildlife still has their food.  I, also, at my old house had an entire corner of my yard just filled with raspberry and blueberry bushes.

6.  I love jewelry.  Not because it is shiny.  But because every single piece I own has a story behind it and makes me think of someone special to me.  I love pulling it out with my children and telling them the stories behind each one.

7.  I know some of my recipes seem (and probably are) high fat.  But I think now is as good a time as any to say that I am not overweight.  I am actually very healthy (Thank you, God, and may I have many more years this way!) in body and weight.  The reason why, I believe, is because I refuse to eat anything that doesn't taste amazing.  Especially high fat or calorie foods that might not taste as great as a low fat or lower calorie food, or another high fat or high calorie food.  That's such a waste to me.  I also diversify everything I eat, fats, vegetables, meats, grains, everything.  That way, I get as many different nutrients as possible each week.  Oh, and of course, my parents made me eat all my vegetables as a child, whether I ate the meat or grains or not.

So, there you have it.  A quick glimpse at me. 

Ten Blogs I Love:

And now, to pass on the Versatile Blogger Award.  There are so many blogs I love!  So, I really find it hard to just mention 10 but here are some blogs which are lesser known and I love for their own individual reasons.

1.  Ewa Samples blog MomPhotographer  She is an avid photographer and takes some great photos.  Her little one looks amazingly like my little one, as well. 

2.  Homestead Revival

3.  Polish Wedding Blog

4.  Tu i Teraz  (this blog is all in Polish but Google translate doesn't do a half bad job translating it if you aren't blessed to speak and read Polish, like me)

5.  Manana Mama.  Talk about some cute pictures.

6.  Moja Kuchnia w USA (My Kitchen In the USA)  Another Polish Mama living in the USA, like me and Ewa Samples.  Google translate again can be used to read her blog.

7.  Alexandra's Blog, Notebook with Recipes.  I just discovered her the other day and she has great baking recipes... Plus, check out her Blueberry Pierogi.  Mmmmm...

8.  Hayseed in the City.  This funny, Christian Mama home schools and does all sorts of fun activities that perhaps might inspire others.

9.  Pink & Pistachio, also known as Ockstyle.

10.  Helen Clyde

I wanted to list a bazillion more but I can't...  However, I also received another Blogger Award (twice!) so I get to list others there!

Also, check out my List of Other Sites I Love About Poland...

Hope you all have a fantastic day!  Do Widzenia!  See You later!