Ziti and Sunshine

So the Belorussian-American cooking night we had Saturday was incredibly fun and enjoyable. It all started with my urge to make some ziti a few weeks ago, and then my friend Sviatlana wanted to see how it was made, so we decided to make a party out of it. We cooked, drank beer, and socialized. It was just really fun, and we are planning to do it again next weekend (only to not cook for so many people next time - we fed 12!) I have some pictures on my website.

I made the ziti, actually two batches because we had a lot of people, and everyone loved them. I was so happy that it turned out well, and it is so easy to make. I made one with meat, and then one with some frozen spinach because there were some vegetarians there. The only thing was that I didn't have any 9x13 pans, so I ended up using two cast iron pots and the tray from the oven. It was pretty hilarious, but everything turned out well. My friend Andrew said that that the meat one "tasted like home," which was really nice.

Sviatlana made a Russian salad, which consisted of: rice, fake crab, corn, red pepper, onion, and mayonnaise. It was really good, and tasted like something that Americans would eat at a picnic or something. Some people didn't like it, but that was because they didn't like mayonnaise I think. It was really easy to make, and it sort of reminded me of macaroni salad plus sushi, if that makes any sense.

Today for our class Prague as a Living History (the one where we walk all over Prague), we went to this huge nature preserve in the middle of the city. Apparently during this big suburban construction boom during the 1970s, some environmentalists in the communist government decided they wanted to save this huge patch of land. It is on the top of this huge hill that overlooks the city in all directions, and there are trees, bushes, fields, paths, and rocks. It is just so beautiful. Plus, today was so sunny and warm out, it was the perfect day for hiking around on a hilltop. Living in the middle of this big city, I have really been craving green spaces and nature. I am definitely going back there.

This looks like it is in the middle of the country, but really it is this elevated plateau smack dab in the center of the city. It was pretty amazing. I will probably take more pictures of this place when the trees are green and stuff.

That's all for now!