Sarmale cu Smantana

I remember eating sarmale as a little girl in Romania. After all these years, I still craved their delicious flavor. I told my husband all about it, and how much he would like it. When I returned home for the first time last October, I was so excited to {1} eat sarmale again and {2} have my husband try it. I just knew he would love it.

The first time we ate sarmale was at Saveta’s house on Saturday night. I wish that we would have taken a picture of it. But to give you guys a visual, here is a picture I found.

{photo credit: danagrad.blogspot.com}

Sarmale {stuffed cabbage} is a traditional Romanian food. {Actually, I think it’s a pretty traditional European meal with different variations found throughout Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, etc}. It’s made by taking pickled cabbage leaves and stuffing them with different types of meat {usually pork or lamb}, rice, onions and different seasonings. It simmers in a pot for a long time, usually in some red sauce. It is traditionally served at weddings or for Christmas dinner. {Maybe someday if I ever master the art of cooking sarmale, we will eat it for Christmas}. To me, this is true comfort food. I could eat a whole pot by myself. I kid you not. It is so good. And I think that’s due in part to the fact that for me, it has many memories attached to it.

In Romania, we had something called smantana which is similar to sour cream, only the consistency is thinner. I had to google the correct definition, but it is basically a dairy product that is made by souring heavy cream. And for some reason it just tastes better than sour cream. Albina made a lot of soup for us, which I loved, and we always put smantana in it. We also poured it over stuffed bell peppers and of course, sarmale. The combination of the delicious sarmale with smantana drizzled over it was so good.

I hope that I can learn how to make this dish in the traditional Romanian style. I want to have my kids grow up eating sarmale. It just seems right.

And when we return to Romania this fall, I’ll get to eat it again.

Blue, Yellow and Red

I noticed something yesterday while working on the blog. My color theme is blue, yellow and red. When I drew out my template I told Jenn that I wanted the color scheme to be yellow and blue with some red.

Notice something familiar between the colors of my blog and this….

{Photo Credit: Google Image}

I didn’t even realize the similarity because the colors of my blog are a bit different {especially the hue of the blue}, but the color scheme is the same. This is probably only interesting to me – but I had to document it.

I think that means I am a true Romanian {at heart}.

Albina

Yesterday morning, Albina called me. I love to hear her voice and how she says “Hello”. We only talk a little on the phone because I speak very limited Romanian. Then we get on Yahoo IM and chat away. I use the help of Google Translate to speak to my family. I’m so thankful for that tool. Sometimes I get so frustrated with my inability to remember and speak my native language. I can understand more than I speak but it is frustrating for me because I am never able to truly express my feelings. I am more determined than ever to learn {or remember} the language. I just have to. I have so many questions and without the language, the story of my family will remain largely untold. I want my children to know their heritage. I want to know my heritage. I want to know their life stories. I want to know the story of my parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Anyways, since Albina called me I decided that today I wanted to tell you about her.

This is Albina. And I love her. A lot.

Albina is my mother’s older sister. Out of 4 siblings, she is the third oldest. She was married to Ion and has 1 son and 1 grandchild. She worked in a shoe factory for 32 years. She makes everything. She grows and cans everything herself. She sews and knits. She gave me a pair of really thick wool socks she knitted herself. She is the best cook. All of her food was wonderful. She makes the best soup I’ve ever had. Her food is true comfort food. I think she is the hardest working woman I know.

But the most amazing quality I noticed about her was her loving disposition. She cares for everyone. She envelops you with such love that it feels like a nice warm blanket over you. That is the only way I can describe her quality. She is comfort to me. When I think of home, I think of her. When we finally saw each other face to face, she hugged and kissed me. And it felt like I was truly home. Being close to her makes me feel like I am closer to my mother. Even after all the years that have passed, she never gave up hope of finding me. She just kept searching and praying. It feels good to never be forgotten. I was a part of her life. Her sister’s only daughter. A little girl she loved like her own child.

I hope someday {soon} I can fully express to her {in Romanian} how much I love her. She saved some of my mother's belongings for me. My mother’s traditional dress and head scarf are one of my most treasured possessions. Her dress hangs in my closet and sometimes I just like to hold it close because I miss my mother. I hope to be as kind and loving as Albina. She serves all those that she meets. She is always happy. I truly admire her for her strength. She is a woman who has survived many hardships and yet maintains a strong faith and a loving disposition.

Albina, I miss you. And I love you more than I could express.

Romanian BBQ

This activity was one of my favorite things to do while we were in Romania. I am sure there is a correct Romanian word for it, but since I don't know it, I’m just going to go with a Romanian bbq.

Our first experience with this was Friday night at Saveta’s house. After dinner, we went outside to cook the meat {some sausage} and sit around and visit. It was a pretty cold night. My aunt Zamfira came down and sat with us.

{Sorry for this b/w photo. It was taken with the video camera.}

On Saturday night, it didn’t seem nearly as cold as the night before. After dinner everyone went outside to sit, cook the meat and talk. My cousin Ionica even turned on some music for us. You can read about that here.

In this photo you can see how the meat is cooked. It is actually a really neat thing they have. It cooks the meat pretty quickly and evenly. Saturday we cooked meat and potato wedges.

After the meat is cooked, everyone heads back inside for some food, laughter and conversation. The meat and potatoes were excellent. We were so full from dinner, but we just couldn't stop eating the meat and potatoes. They were really delicious.

Although we couldn’t speak Romanian, it was fun to sit around and spend time together. I could understand some of the conversations and was proud to be able to somewhat translate it to my husband. We just loved to be in their company. It was very enjoyable and relaxing to be together as a family.

Fill a Backpack

I’m so excited about this little project because I think it will be lots of fun. Just to give a little background, on our last trip (see Trip Updates) we weren’t able to bring that many toys for the kids because all of our luggage was filled with necessities such as blankets, clothes, shoes, medicine, etc. We brought toys that were specifically given for the kids, but other than that, we didn’t take anything else. We felt that it was more important to bring the necessities.

I thought it would be fun to Fill a Backpack for each of the kids with different toys and goodies. I’ve purchased these three backpacks for the kids. The pink one is for Gabriela (obviously), the Iron Man is for Andrei and the Mario is for Cristian. I am really excited to fill these backpacks with all sorts of goodies for the kids.

Here’s a little information about the kids and some general ideas of what to put in each backpack…

Gabriela (girl, age 6): Barbies, baby dolls (can also include accessories), slippers, pajamas, underwear, socks, toothbrush, markers, colored pencils, coloring books, jewelry, play makeup, nail polish, hair accessories, etc.

Andrei (boy, age 5): cars, trucks, small balls, soccer ball, action figures, markers, colored pencils, coloring books, legos (but not too small), slippers, pajamas, underwear, socks, puzzles, games, etc.

Cristian (boy, age 3): cars, trucks, small balls, action figures, markers, colored pencils, coloring books, large legos, building blocks, Lincoln logs, slippers, pajamas, underwear, socks, etc.

I’ve also got some handmade goodies that I am really excited to make for them. I’ll post more about those projects later.

If you would like to donate any thing (whether new, used or handmade) to put in these backpacks, please let me know.

Thank you for your help. :)

Math and Me

I have no more brain power because that’s what happens when you study for a math final. I am almost positive this happens to everyone who studies for math finals. And if it doesn’t happen to you, then you’re one of the lucky few and I envy you.

Wish me luck! And if you don’t hear from me, then it means I passed. And I’m leaving it at that.

This is Maritza. And she is an angel.

You see, without Maritza my story would have remained a silent one. I would have never reunited with my family had it not been for Maritza, her website and her genuine kindness. When I first started searching for my family, I didn’t know where to start. I had posted a question on Yahoo Answers asking about genealogy in Romania. A lady emailed me Maritza’s website. To my surprise, her entire website was all about the village I came from. As I read through her site, I saw that she had helped other people find their ancestry in Romania. I got brave and e-mailed her asking her about my family. She responded immediately and called on her friends in Ipotesti to start investigating. One minute I was searching for my family and the next minute I was talking on the webcam to my brothers. Each day she kept e-mailing me more information about my family. I remember those moments like they were yesterday. How I stalked my computer day and night waiting for more e-mails. We constantly talked back and forth.

She is an angel. She once told me that she likes helping people with their genealogy. It’s a hobby. What an amazing hobby, huh? She does it because she loves genealogy. She told me that she was touched by my story and that she wanted to help me. I am not the only person she has helped.

Maritza – if you read this, I want you to know how much I love you for your kindness and for the angel that you truly are. With out you, my miracle would have never happened. One day we will meet in Ipotesti and I will kiss your cheek with my tears of gratitude. I could never repay you for your kindness. There are not enough words to express how I feel. Your kindness has changed the course of my whole life and brought me home again. You are an angel in my life.

Cu dragoste,

To check out Maritza's website go to: http://pagesperso-orange.fr/ipotesti-suceava/index_anglais.html

Thank You

I want to give a huge shout-out to Jenn from Munchkinland Designs. A couple weeks ago I hired Jenn to design my blog for me. I had seen her work on another blog and was really impressed with her style. I already had a vision and a template drawn out, and I had been attempting to work on the design myself but it was too much for me.

Working with Jenn was such a great experience. She truly brought my vision to life. THANK YOU Jenn for your hard work and total awesomeness! I LOVE it. Or I am IN love with it. I don’t know. But it makes me very happy!!!