The Hostess with the Mostest, Not Quite

When I worked as a barista in college, one of my shift supervisors used to call me Marta Stewart because I had a little too much passion for plating pastries, stocking display shelves, and experimenting with drinks (mind you, this was way before Martha Stewart did jail time).  While I always publicly deflected these comments, I also secretly loved them.  While I had no desire to run a media empire, I did have a desire to spend my day practicing culinary and creative arts.  Today, I still aspire to the idea of being a domestic goddess and love it when care packages include issues of Martha Stewart Living, even if I can't find any of the ingredients to make recipes or do the craft projects.

This coming week I am preparing for the site visit of the Romania Peace Corps Country Director.  She visits the site of each volunteer once during their two year service.  The visit is informal and can be designed by the volunteer which is lovely, but it got me thinking about what I would actually like to be able to do as a hostess. This is dangerous territory for me because I love to entertain and stateside felt like I could hold my own.  In Romania, I feel woefully unequipped.

The first problem comes in my apartment.  No matter how much I scrub, I just can't get the floor clean.  I believe the flooring is still the communist issue linoleum product that is literally disintegrating, leaving it always vaguely sticky.  I have bleached, scrubbed and mopped but to no avail.  I just hate that it looks like I am living in filth.  There is also issue of the toilet.  I won't go into this too much, but each person who needs to use the bathroom in my apartment needs an orientation on how to actually get the toilet to flush.

In my book, part of being a good hostess involves baked goods, but as noted in my previous post, my American recipes don't like my Romanian ingredient substitutes and never quite turn out right.  However, on a brighter not I have been able to attain the goal of my previous post by sharing some somewhat imperfect goodies with another PCV, my landlords, and another English teacher.  Today, I tested an apple spice cake for the impending visit which was an utter failure and ended up bubbling out of the pan, leaving my poor oven a mess.  I still have a couple days until the visit and have one fall back recipe which may work if I can find the necessary ingredients.

I am guess the morale of this blog post is that even 21 months into my service I still feel like I am a beginner in some respects and haven't hit my stride in my Romanian life.  I have 6 months left and have come to the realization that I may never feel at home here.  I do know that I can survive here which is a great feeling, but I don't think Romania is a place where I can thrive and I am at peace with that.

Full Circle

A few days ago I was Skyping with my dear friend Lisa, when she asked me about the recipe for one of my favorite desserts, ginger chocolate chip bars.  I had totally forgotten about these gems.  Why?  I don't bake very often in Romania.  Baking here can be expensive and complicated.  Butter and eggs are expensive and ingredients like brown sugar are hard to come by.  Even when you find brown sugar it's not the same as the brown sugar I grew up with.  Here, brown sugar is not at all moist and comes in giant crystals more like sugar in the raw.  You can also forget about finding dark brown sugar, not to mention chocolate chips.

Yet I have always loved baking.  I love trying new recipes and sharing great finds with others.  I used to love bringing baked goods into the office at my previous job.  When I first started teaching in Romania last year I was excited to bring treats into my school to share with my fellow teachers.  Part of the goal of Peace Corps is to share American culture and I thought baking might be a great way to share and also make friends.  However, I did not account for the Romanian tradition of providing treats on your own birthday and the nature of my colleagues.  Each time I brought things into the teacher's lounge people were suspicious, "Is it your birthday?"  When I answered no, they would immediately ask why I had brought something, "Is it a holiday for you?"  One time I said, "No, it's Friday.  I am celebrating the end of the week."  The reply I got was a harrumph. No one brings treats into my teacher's lounge so perhaps I was breaking some unknown faux pas.   Eventually I just stopped bringing things in.

This school year I've done very little baking.  In the fall I brought cookies into the women's class as part of a lesson on cooking vocabulary.  For the holidays, I made cookies for the cleaning ladies at school that help keep my classroom tidy.  Yet in my conversation with Lisa, I realized that I miss baking.  I have decided to keep baking with the aim of finding more people to share it with and learning to moderate my own intake of said goodies.
 

The antibiotics I am taking for my sinus infection have helped me to feel a bit better, so I hit the kitchen.  Tonight I started with a spinach pesto quiche and a half batch of ginger chocolate chunk bars. The texture isn't quite right in the bars, but it's a start.  When I am happy with a modified for Romania recipe I aim to share them with friends here.

New Year, New Adventure?

As 2012 dawns, I found myself in the kitchen over a steaming pot.  Was a trying a new recipe for the new year?  Not exactly.  While I have been blessed with good health in PC life so far it seems that this luck has finally run out.  What was a common cold while I was in Budapest turned into a full blown sinus infection.  Thus I found myself with my head over a steaming pot of water and vinegar at the suggestion of a PC doctor.  While I can't say it's the most pleasant thing in the world; it does give me a little relief from intense sinus pressure.  I am now on antibiotics and hope to be better soon.

2012 also marks the beginning of the end for me here in Romania.  I will finish my service this year and head back to the States.  If I am being honest I am terrified.  It seems like every time I dare to look at the news in the United States the economic outlook grows bleaker and bleaker.  However, I have a few months to work on my resume and begin applying for jobs.  Here's to hoping the new year brings new beginnings.