A Man of Many Talents

Last week we had Austris and his children, Daivis and Lalita, over for dinner and fun. Austris, a good friend, is a cook at a local vegetarian restaurant, and came prepared to show me how to cook rice "the right way". I have now been introduced to the wonders of clarified butter and homemade curd. While we were waiting for the rice to steam, he built the tallest domino tower I've ever seen, which, as you can see from the picture, delighted one and all! Austris, a man with very deep religious convictions, is currently a member of the Hare Krishna faith. He brought some of his Church's traveling leadership to our apartment a couple of weeks ago so that Russ and I could meet them. They also are very gentle, sincere people. We had an interesting, informative conversation - everyone came away understanding each other better by the end. Afterwards, I couldn't help but contemplate what rich, unusual experiences I get to have here on a daily basis.

Rollin' in the Dough

One afternoon I went to my friend Zane Senkane’s house to teach her and the her boys how to make cinnamon rolls. Jekabs (6) and Gustavs (3) , her older boys, used to be a little leery of me - this tall woman whose words were nonsense to their ears. But today they met me at the door with hugs and full-on grins. Gustavs chattered away at me and I was actually able to understand a lot of what he said. I guess the good news is that I can finally understand a little Latvian. The bad news is that I apparently have the vocabulary of a 3 year old. These little boys were so excited to help with the baking – they measured (with supervision!), stirred, and kneaded with great delight. When it came time to roll out the dough and form the pastries, Jekabs learned the string-cutting technique and did a great job, so pleased about his new skill as he cut the tube of dough into separate rolls. We let the rolls raise again, then baked and frosted them. What great little chefs! I wonder how many batches of cinnamon rolls I've made over the past 3 years. Sometime I'll have to "guestimate" it. Must be thousands . . . .