Thanksgiving in Moscow

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday Brother Bobby, Happy Birthday Brother-in-Law Frank.

While it might be Thanksgiving in the USA, here in Russia it is Look At Your Car Engine Day.  Actually, I’m just guessing, but there is a so much evidence out there that it has to be true. In our parking area along there were three cars with their hoods up and two men (I think this is a team sport) looking carefully at the engine. Each team seemed to be doing the same thing; one would wave wildly at some part of the engine while speaking with a very animated tone, while the other would shake his head in the most dismissive of manners. They would then change sides and the whole process would start again.  I saw this happen no fewer than a dozen times on my ninety-minute walk.  Mine you, there are no tools in sight, no attempt to fix anything, just animated conversations about something under the hood.  Perhaps it had to do with all the rain yesterday, and then again it could be LAYCED.

Flat Stanley being Frisked

I can count to one hundred in Russian, I can say turn right, turn left, go straight, I can even sing a pretty good Russian Alphabet Song with the best of the three year olds, but apparently what I can’t do in Russian is explain to a police officer why I’ve attached a cut out of Flat Stanley onto a Russian Monument!  Cindy received Flat Stanley from some friend of a friend who is a teacher in Indiana and wanted photos of Flat Stanley in Moscow. Having done something similar for my granddaughter Kalie, I was only too happy to try and do this here in Moscow. When I did it for Kalie I was always greeted with smiles and a helpful attitude when confronted by authorities, but not in Moscow.  I suppose it is a crime to deface, however temporarily, any monument in Moscow, however in good weather I’ve noticed the area where I had Stanley, filled with young kids with beers and cigarettes so I didn’t think Stanley would be a menace.  Oh well, I did get some good shots of him in the Children’s Park near the Embassy and I’ll try and Photoshop him into some other Moscow pictures.

Stanley in the Children's Park happy to have escaped the law

Aside from my run in with the law, the walk today was just lovely, just getting out of the apartment was lovely, but the day was brisk, not to cold and the rain held off for the entire journey.  I left the house at 9am, which seems to be the height of rush hour and there were tons of folks heading to Metro stops or offices. I still can’t figure out the workday here. It appears to be somewhere between 9:30/10:00 to 5 or 6 pm.  During the walk I was trying to read Russian signs to test my new skills. There was on large billboard that had a picture of Bruce Willis on it and I kept puzzling out the letters.  I finally determined that it said something about Trust Me … Bank.  When I got home I was reading the Moscow Times and there was an article about Bruce Willis doing this ad for Trust Bank. What it says is “Trust, its just like me only it’s a Bank.  So, I did get most of it.   I also spent a lot of time on a sign on top of a large building in the distance. I kept sounding it out, trying to get the letters right and then all of a sudden it hit me, KinoCenter.  I raced to the building to see if I was right and there were all of these ads for movies playing at the KinoCenter and I felt like a little kid who had just gotten a gold star in grade school. 

Since the rain kept me indoors yesterday, I decided to spend more time on dinner than usual.  We had some leftovers from the chicken dinner and I had two eggplants so I decided to make a modified moussaka. I cut the eggplants into four slices, the long way and brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and oregano and baked them for about thirty minutes. While they were in the oven, I took all the chicken off the bone and cut up the leftover carrots, potatoes and onions into small bite since pieces.  In a bowl I combined about a half a cup of Parmesan, two eggs, a small carton of tofu and some herbs and spices.  I greased a small baking dish and when the eggplants were done, I place one layer of them in the baking dish, added a third of the tofu mixture and then all of the chicken mixture. I smoothed things out, added the rest of the eggplant and topped it all with the remaining tofu mixture.  I sprinkled more Parmesan on top along with three cloves of crushed garlic and placed it back in the oven for thirty-five minutes.   

Eggplant Moussaka

The Remains of the Bread Salad

I took the pan out and placed it on the top of the stove to let it blend together and cool for the next two hours.  I then prepared the base for a salad using carrots chopped two ways, one for crunch the other for maximum flavor.  I chopped up some tomato and garlic and mixed it all together with a bit of Ranch dressing and balsamic and let it set for a while.  When we were ready to eat, I heated the oven and placed the moussaka in to get it hot once again.  I cut two nice pieces of ciabatta bread that had gotten a bit stale.  I rubbed them with olive oil and garlic and placed them into the oven until they were crisp and brown.  I tossed the salad with some spinach and then took the hot bread out, place the pieces on salad plates, topped it with the salad and brought it to the table.  It was declared a new favorite salad.  The moussaka wasn’t half bad either!  I’ll post the photos.

Try as I might, I can’t seem to get the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on our TV, not to mention any NFL games.  It’s ok however since we won’t be celebrating today due to Cindy’s work and the fact that my turkey hasn’t yet arrived.  We are hoping for a Sunday celebration.  Speaking of Celebrations, “On October 29 Ambassador Beyrle hosted an Enchanted Ball at his residence, Spaso House, to mark the 75th anniversary of Ambassador Bullitt’s legendary 1935 Spaso House Ball. The ball inspired Bulgakov to write one of the most fantastical scenes of his renowned novel, “Master and Margarita.”  We were certainly not invited to this Enchanted Ball.

We hope you all have a marvelous day, while we might not be eating turkey, we are certainly thankful for a host of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the sun has come out and the sky has some pretty blue patches.  Best wishes, Cindy and Wm