Last post in Budapest for a while...

My computer imploded today. My huge praise report is that I lost no documents or pictures or even that video I made of me ordering coffee! As of now, the only losses are my internet bookmarks, which are sad, but really, maybe it was a way of simplifying the number of things on my "to-do" list.

At any rate, I will be packing my computer up tomorrow and I will be traveling to Balatonlelle to work on getting a camp ready to open. So excited! Hopefully it's good and at the end of the week, there will be a camp that's ready for kids to invade!

Prayers, as always, are much appreciated.
Peace!

*~*~*

One of the most asked questions (second, in fact, to "what's the weather like?") has been "what's the food like?" I have covered this topic on a couple different occasions, but really, it's one of those things that I can't say enough about. Food has a huge importance in everyone's lifestyle... flavor, quantity, quality, appearance, background... you name it and someone can go into great detail about their food situation.

I recently found this quote about the great market halls of Budapest.
... "I’ve found that there are more stands selling meat than grocery or any other product. Draw the conclusion and you’ll understand the health problems of Hungarian society. Meat with meat and some more meat. Veggies? Sure, give me some potatoes!"
It's funny 'cuz it's true.

Anyway, I want to introduce you to 2 traditional Hungarian foods: gulyásleves and kürtőskalács.

Gulyásleves (goulash soup) is traditionally cooked over a fire in a giant cauldron and it's usually only made for huge crowds and celebrations. I've only had it traditionally cooked twice and both times were at village celebration days. Beef, tomato and paprika are the base ingredients. Some add potatoes, some add onions and peppers, some add other veggies... all it all, it's a soup (WITHOUT pasta, as many Americans make it) and you eat it with bread.



Kürtőskalács (Chimney cake) is another traditional festival food, although many have started marketing this for everyday gastronomy. It is made from flour, milk, sugar, butter, egg and yeast - make it into a dough and roll it out into long strips, then wrap the strips around an oiled roll thing. Then, you paint it with more oil and roll it in more sugar... then roast it over some hot coals, turning it to roast evenly. When it's brown, you take it out of the warmth, roll it in a topping of your choice (chocolate, cinnamon sugar, coconut, crushed poppyseeds, or walnuts). Then take it off the roll thing and let it cool - then enjoy!