• Russian Gourmet: Kompot

    When I was growing up© the ultimate summer non-alcoholic drinks were kompot and kvas. Kompot is a fruit drink made by boiling available fruits with sugar and then letting it chill. I am not sure if there is any recipe for a kompot, almost any imaginable fruit and berry can be used. Apples, peaches, plums, pears, strawberries, blueberries and especially sour cherries make the most delicious drink in about 20 minutes. Just cut the fruits (you don’t even have to peel the apples if you don’t feel like it) and add all of the ingredients to the pot of water. It still should be mostly water, it’s a drink not a meal. When it boils, add sugar to taste. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes – no need for the fruits to disintegrate. Turn the heat off and leave covered to cool down. Kompot is the best when chilled and it only gets better after a day or two. In winter dried fruits can be used but dried fruits sold in this country are infused with sulfur dioxide to make them more presentable which coincidentally kills their taste.

    Kompot tastes so good that people used to preserve (can) it for winter when not too many ingredients were available. It’s not some colored chemical compound that kids drink nowadays. Give it a try, you won’t go back!

    Soon I will be making kvas and will post about it then.

    P1010140 P1010139 P1010136

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  • Old Photos: Cars

    With the current events affecting the American car industry these photos showing (in my opinion) the best-looking American cars ever made are even more bittersweet.

    New Kansas City Courthouse
    New Kansas City Courthouse © Time Inc.Eliot Elisofon
    Traffic outside the Jackson County Courthouse.
    Traffic outside the Jackson County Courthouse.© Time Inc.Eliot Elisofon
    Ray Hill handing out assignments to drivers who will pick up voters.
    Ray Hill handing out assignments to drivers who will pick up voters.© Time Inc.Lisa Larsen
    Enos Slaughter- Kansas City Atheletics
    Enos Slaughter- Kansas City Atheletics. © Time Inc.Francis Miller
    Street Scene Independence, MO, US
    Street Scene Independence, MO, US .© Time Inc.Alfred Eisenstaedt
    Former Pres. Harry S. Truman pointing to nearly completed library building.
    Former Pres. Harry S. Truman pointing to nearly completed library building.© Time Inc.Frank Scherschel
    View of Dwight D. Eisenhower parade down Main Street, with Ike and Mamie watching from balcony.
    View of Dwight D. Eisenhower parade down Main Street, with Ike and Mamie watching from balcony.© Time Inc.Ralph Crane

    And lastly:

    ROTC cadet Lieutenant William Ackenhauser snuggling in front seat of car with his date Joanne Warren, with tray attached to the vehicles open window at the Nu-Drive-In restaurant.
    ROTC cadet Lieutenant William Ackenhauser snuggling in front seat of car with his date Joanne Warren, with tray attached to the vehicle's open window at the Nu-Drive-In restaurant.© Time Inc.Myron Davis

    Try this in your Smart Car.
    Note: I try to use local photos, I am sure there are better ones to be found in other locations.

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  • In My Day: Medicine

    It’s no surprise that I find a lot in common with people 30 year older than me – we share similar memories. But since I am physically not old enough to retire to a front porch where I’d whittle and chase kids off my lawn, occasionally telling educational “in my day…” stories to anyone who would listen, I have to resort to occasionally posting these stories on this here blog. Just like it says in these unfunny pictures old(er) women share on Facebook: “age is nothing but a number”, and my number is 67. I wish the Social Security would agree.

    In my day we didn’t go to physicals, the physicals came to us…

    © Time Inc.Bill Ray

    …and while the entire class and Lenin himself were watching, the annual health inspection would commence.

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  • Checked Off My Bucket List: Colonia del Sacramento

    Previously…
    Colonia del Sacramento or simply Colonia is the oldest town in Uruguay.

    Day tours to Colonia available for purchase in Argentina from a variety of sources such as Buquebus include a round-trip on a ferry, a dinner, a tour and transportation around the city. There is not much of a tour (luckily our guide was fluent in English), dinner is average and the transportation is hardly necessary – the historic part of town is perfectly walkable and is close enough to the port. The big difference is the ferry: a newer ferry can make the trip across the river in one hour and the older one takes 3 hours. Since we bought our trip the night before, the faster, more expensive boat was sold out so we took the three-hour tour. My suggestion would be to get on the faster ferry if possible, forgo the dinner and the tour, and explore the town and find food on your own.
    The ferry is nice and comfortable and due to a sell-out we were upgraded to the first class seats automatically and for free. Interestingly, at the passport control in both ports the Argentinian and Uruguayan border officials are sitting side-by-side, stamping your passport with both exit and entry stamps (no visa is required for the US citizens), so you don’t have to go through the procedure again upon arrival.

    If you have a free day in your itinerary, I would highly recommend a trip to Colonia. There is something charming (I am pretty sure this is the first and likely the last time the word charming  is used on this blog) about this town with old cobblestone streets leading to the river; with brightly painted ancient buildings; with a weird mix of trees lining the streets where palms, cacti, and aloes are just as common as European varieties; with numerous restaurants and souvenir shops; with antique cars parked on the streets just for looks, and even nicely preserved Soviet cars. Colonia beckons you to wonder around, explore, take photos, see the sunset, have a coffee at one of the outdoor tables near a restaurant, or just relax watching the boats on the river. On the day we visited Colonia the weather changed from overcast to rain to sunny and the following photos reflect that. Overall, it was probably the most enjoyable side-trip during our visit to Argentina.

    Argentinian Navy
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  • Old Photos: Even More of 1938 Kansas City

    Starting with this post and continuing here, I promise this is the last one using the set of photos from 1938 Kansas City. There are many reasons why I do this, but the main two are: I enjoy it and I feel like somewhat of an explorer, possibly drawing attention to the photos that haven’t been seen for many years if ever. Any old photos of this quality are fun to browse through but I especially enjoy finding the ones related to this area or to my previous life in the USSR. You may find all my previous photo-posts here.

    Just like the previous batch, this one ends with some vintage NSFW, not that I am trying to compete with TKC, but the fact that a Life Magazine photographer even submitted these in the end of the 1930’s is in itself amusing. Interestingly enough, this is not a unique occurrence in the Life Photo Archives, I had few more shared in my post about the Persephone.

    All the photos are linked to the larger images, feel free to click and look at the detail.

    © Time Inc. William Vandivert
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