We had a number of good adventures this month. We went to the car bazaar on the 11th and bought a new VW Golf -- hooray! We really like it and can't wait to drive it. It might be about 3 weeks before we get the keys in our hands, though -- there are a lot of hoops to jump through and a lot of paperwork to submit. Two of the school's mechanics came with us, as well as the school director (who likes a day in the sun with a bunch of cars -- this was his third trip there!), a fellow teacher acting as translator for us and the mechanics, and three other pairs of teachers looking for new cars. It was a long, long day in the sunshine, but with good company and a successful catch of car booty, we were pretty cheerful about it.
We took some amazing hikes this month, too. There are some beautiful places up in the mountains of Almaty, and so many trails heading into dense forests and crystal-clean glacier water gushing from the peaks. There are a lot of teachers at our school who like a day on the trail, and are willing to go for the fun of it without having to race to the top (thankfully for me and my sea-level lungs). We even got to stop at a delicious Georgian restaurant (the country, not the state!), and replenish valuable fluids with some local brews. Nice.
One very cool thing we did this month was an Iron Chef challenge at our friend, J's, house. J made up a whole bunch of rules about how teams would be formed, how much time could be used, and which ingredients were mandatory... she also allowed us each to bring our own "secret weapon", which was any item from our own pantries. The mandatory challenge ingredients this time were puff pastry, carrots, zucchini and mozzarella. I got paired up with another friend's husband, P, who had an awesome idea for a stir-fry with the carrots, zucchini and his secret ingredient (peanut butter!). I brought in my secret ingredient from my pantry, Pumpkin Pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, etc.) and made a tiropita-type cheese pastry with the Pumpkin Pie spice on top. And we won! So, so glorious! We get to be judges next time.
How will the Iron Chef Brooke spend the next month? Choosing the next challenge ingredient, of course! I wonder what people would do with the horse-meat sausage I see around town... ? :D
We took some amazing hikes this month, too. There are some beautiful places up in the mountains of Almaty, and so many trails heading into dense forests and crystal-clean glacier water gushing from the peaks. There are a lot of teachers at our school who like a day on the trail, and are willing to go for the fun of it without having to race to the top (thankfully for me and my sea-level lungs). We even got to stop at a delicious Georgian restaurant (the country, not the state!), and replenish valuable fluids with some local brews. Nice.
One very cool thing we did this month was an Iron Chef challenge at our friend, J's, house. J made up a whole bunch of rules about how teams would be formed, how much time could be used, and which ingredients were mandatory... she also allowed us each to bring our own "secret weapon", which was any item from our own pantries. The mandatory challenge ingredients this time were puff pastry, carrots, zucchini and mozzarella. I got paired up with another friend's husband, P, who had an awesome idea for a stir-fry with the carrots, zucchini and his secret ingredient (peanut butter!). I brought in my secret ingredient from my pantry, Pumpkin Pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, etc.) and made a tiropita-type cheese pastry with the Pumpkin Pie spice on top. And we won! So, so glorious! We get to be judges next time.
How will the Iron Chef Brooke spend the next month? Choosing the next challenge ingredient, of course! I wonder what people would do with the horse-meat sausage I see around town... ? :D
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