Cold, wet, windy and once again I got caught in the middle of it.
Why does it always rain here on Tuesdays?
I walked down to the embassy to get a haircut and some household stuff at the Liberty store. It was grey, brisk and windy, but no hint of rain.
The minute I step out of the embassy, the heavens open and it rains to beat the band. Fortunately, I had on a raincoat with a hood, but carrying groceries in a driving rain while trying to keep everything dry, presented quite the challenge.
At least I was moving, which is more than I can say for traffic. The minute it starts to rain, traffic backs up for kilometers due to accidents and all you can hear are car horns blaring, as though that will really get traffic moving.
Incidentally, the USA usually gets very horrible marks when it comes to our embassies throughout the world. They are usually concrete cubes with very little architectural excitement to them. Compared to most, this one isn’t bad. Here is a picture.
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| US Embassy with a Seven Sister in the background |
Speaking of Moscow traffic, here is a clip sent by one of our readers, Judy, in San Diego. You need to have a strong stomach to watch this:
The dinner party last night was lovely, but lasted too long. We had invited two single women who are elementary teachers and live in our apartment complex to come and have a home cooked meal. They arrived about 6:30 and we had drinks until about 7:00. I made a Provencal Lemon Chicken; the recipe is similar to one that a friend sent me from Marcella Hazan. She only uses salt, pepper and two lemons, I use a bunch of other stuff. Basically, you clean the chicken and rub the inside and out with lots of coarse salt and then rinse and dry the chicken. You then take two lemons and soften them up by rolling them on the counter with your palm applying lots of pressure to break up the pulp inside and get them juicy. Pierce the lemons all over with a fork and then rub course salt all over the outside of the lemon and slip them into the chicken. Seal up the cavity, rub the entire chicken with salt and pepper and herbs de Provence, and place the chicken breast down in a roasting pan and place in a 350-degree oven for about forty minutes. I also like to put sliced carrots and quartered onions around the chicken and let them caramelize as the chicken cooks. Just before the time is up, raise the temp to 400 then take the bird out and flip it over and place it back in the hotter oven for another forty minutes. It should be exuding clear fluids, smelling like heaven and brown like a berry when you remove it. Transfer it to a cutting board, cover lightly with foil and let is sit for ten minutes while you place the carrots and onions on a serving dish, and drain the lemony juices into a serving pitcher to pour over the chicken.
To round out the meal, I made roasted garlic smashed potatoes with olive oil and Parmesan cheese and buttered green peas with mint. I cut up the chicken and got everything to the table where Cindy served while I placed the bread pudding into the oven and sliced up some whole-wheat baguettes. The ladies sure did love having a hot meal and they were very generous in their praise. After we had eaten and enjoyed some wine, I served the hot bread pudding with crème fraiche and real maple syrup. I made the bread pudding with old French baguette pieces and real dark Russian bread, which made for lovely contrasting colors. I plumped a generous handful of raisins with some local brandy for about two hours and caramelized a Granny Smith, cut into small pieces, with butter, cinnamon and sugar. I mixed that with the raisins and then tossed all of that with the cubed bread before adding the mixture of eggs, butter, sugar, milk, Ricotta cheese, cinnamon, nutmeg and fresh black pepper. I cooked it for forty minutes at 375 until everything had set up and it offered a bit of resistance when poked in the middle. Just what was needed on the first really cold night of autumn.
A few of you have asked for a bit more detail on what Cindy really does all day. Well here is all you’ll need to know, directly from Cindy’s article in the AAS Newsletter.
Arnold the Terminator is here in Moscow promoting Silicone Valley and hoping to get more American companies to come and do business in Russia. What he fails to recognize is that there is so much corruption and graft that most international companies just can’t make a go of it. IKEA has halted the expansion of its stores in Russia because they don’t like to be shaken down by every contractor and petty politician. However the American Chamber of Commerce loves to have him come over and play and he does great interviews. Here are some pictures of him in Moscow playing politician and tourist.
That’s it for today, Cindy and Wm
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| Arnie with Ambassador |
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| Just hanging on the Metro |
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| Great Earmuffs |
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| New Gym Attire |
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| Neither of them could decide what 8 track to play |
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