From Russia With Love

[Ooooops]

Oooops, Slinger may be referring as you suggest to an electric hot water kettle, a chai-nik (чайник). I sometimes call them electric samovars myself although they're not a samovar really. 

It's a slippery slope, Mendy!    That way any thing that boils water could be called samovar ("self-boil")!       

[Larry1]

Or may be she's not a true believer that "way to man't heart lays through his stomach".

Oops, your remark reminds me of a little story.  A couple was about to be married.  They bought a house and were walking through it in preparation for moving in.  The  girl looked the guy right in the eye
and told him, "I can be good in any one room in this house.  And you get to pick that room."

[Slingerland]

Oooops, Slinger may be referring as you suggest to an electric hot water kettle, a chai-nik (чайник). I sometimes call them electric samovars myself although they're not a samovar really. If it is a чайник, that is a very thoughtful gift to make her feel like what most Russian kitchens have back home.

I think you're right, it's an electric pot.  Lori found it earlier in the week and thought it would be a good present, since Marina prefers tea over coffee.  What surprises me is that Lori shopped around, instead of getting a Korean tea maker like she uses... good intentions on her part, although she was off on what the "samovar" really is. 
 
Still, Marina was touched by the gift!

[mendeleyev]

Still, Marina was touched by the gift!

It was very thoughtful and so perfect a gift to make Marina feel more at home. You have good friends there.

[Faux Pas]

I think you're right, it's an electric pot.  Lori found it earlier in the week and thought it would be a good present, since Marina prefers tea over coffee.  What surprises me is that Lori shopped around, instead of getting a Korean tea maker like she uses... good intentions on her part, although she was off on what the "samovar" really is. 
 
Still, Marina was touched by the gift!

A little bit of irony, not long after my wife arrived she had asked me about a samovar and I had no idea of where to find one. Lo and behold my daughter found something pretty dang close and in Little Rock no less. It is basically an electric tea kettle. It's been used multiple times daily ever since

[Ooooops]

C'mon, guys, you don't seriously think that people drink tea from samovars in modern day FSU on everyday basis?   

[Faux Pas]

C'mon, guys, you don't seriously think that people drink tea from samovars in modern day FSU on everyday basis?   

Well I know of one from the FSU that does but, of course I wouldn't stereo-type 

[Ooooops]

Well I know of one from the FSU that does but, of course I wouldn't stereo-type 

Real samovar???





Or electric kettle?   


BTW, we bought real antique brass samovar in St.Pet in 97 for $50, kinda gambling if customs would let us take it out of the country or not.   We lost that gamble, so my Dad uses it at his dacha.   

[Vasilisa]

C'mon, guys, you don't seriously think that people drink tea from samovars in modern day FSU on everyday basis?   

Of course we do.
That's a typical Russian morning....
and evening....

[Ooooops]

Of course we do.
That's a typical Russian morning....
and evening....

 

[Slingerland]

Real samovar???





Or electric kettle?   


BTW, we bought real antique brass samovar in St.Pet in 97 for $50, kinda gambling if customs would let us take it out of the country or not.   We lost that gamble, so my Dad uses it at his dacha.   

Yep, Lori definitely found an electric kettle!     (BTW, Mendeleyev, Lori is my daughter...)
 
Thinking about the "samovar", I feel the same as years ago when I first married my ex and was trying to learn all the Korean "things" they use in everyday life.  I didn't think I would ever learn it all!

[Ooooops]

Thinking about the "samovar", I feel the same as years ago when I first married my ex and was trying to learn all the Korean "things" they use in everyday life.  I didn't think I would ever learn it all!

Did you have to buy a Kimchi making machine?   

[Slingerland]

Did you have to buy a Kimchi making machine?   

(shudder) My monster-in-law would make it herself.  Radish kimchee.  It smelled so rancid I would have to leave the room when they ate it.

[Belvis]

Something I've noticed is that she hasn't offered to cook for me, and I've also noticed she is not really looking for Russian-ish foods... not sure if that's actually important or not, but I'm wondering if she's not really interested in food.  Or if she's a really bad cook and afraid to embarrass herself  . 

I can be wrong but in my view women hate to cook at somebody else's kitchen. Different ingredients, ware volumes, heating time.
You could ask her directly if she likes to cook and her favorite dishes. Then tell her about your dream to taste her favorite homemade dish.
Are you talking only about work and music? 

[Slingerland]

I can be wrong but in my view women hate to cook at somebody else's kitchen. Different ingredients, ware volumes, heating time.

That's actually a very good point, given all of my utensils are biased towards English units, not metric.  But she's jumping in to help... since she's an engineer, she may be doing some mental experiments to get used to my cooking equipment and foods... so I'll follow your suggestion and ask her if she wants to do more.

Are you talking only about work and music?

No, the conversation really covers a lot of things, just they seem to be too mundane for the board.  We watch news together, and talk about what's going on... and let it lead into discussions.  We talk about our childhoods and what life was like growing up and in college.  In other words, lots of small talk to learn about the other, just like a "regular" date.
 
The trip to Eureka Springs was definitely good to learn things about each other.

[SANDRO43]

Radish kimchee.  It smelled so rancid I would have to leave the room when they ate it.

Must be similar to Vietnamese nuoc . The Romans, too, had a disgusting fermented fish sauce condiment called garum, and a similar preparation called liquamen which interestingly survives as the Italian term liquame for sewer effluent .

Pompeii mosaic depicting a "Flower of Garum" jug
with a titulus reading
"from the workshop of the garum importer Aulus Umbricius Scaurus"

Brand advertising is not a modern innovation .

[Gator]

(shudder) My monster-in-law would make it herself.  Radish kimchee.  It smelled so rancid I would have to leave the room when they ate it.

I like it.  The Koreans bury the mixture outdoors in clay jars to ferment for months.  I would think Russians would enjoy it except for the spicy chili peppers.   It is after all comprised mostly of cabbage.

[Gator]

Must be similar to Vietnamese nuoc .

Not at all the same except for the fermentation step.  The Viet Cong could fight in the field for weeks with nothing for food but a small bag of rice and nuoc mam (protein).    Nuoc mam literally translates as fish sauce, and I like it too.   How could you eat a spring roll without nuoc mam?
 

[mendeleyev]

BTW, we bought real antique brass samovar in St.Pet in 97 for $50, kinda gambling if customs would let us take it out of the country or not. We lost that gamble, so my Dad uses it at his dacha.

Any item over 50 years old must have approval to leave Russia. Art of any age needs approval. Same for Ukraine. I wrote an article on the rules and how to obtain documents and permission to take an item of antiquity, although rarely approved, out of Russia: http://russianreport.wordpress.com/culture-art/antiques/

A good friend of mine, native Ukrainian, now works for the FBI in some international counter terror group and a few years ago he attempted to take an old samovar he'd inherited to his home in the USA. Fortunately his brother waited at Boryspil to see if he'd make it thru--no way--so the samovar stayed in Ukraine. Some do make it out however.

That being said you can buy them on Ebay safely. The real ones have Cyrillic lettering and if electric have a 220 plug. The coal ones are going to be very expensive generally but even more authentic. Look for lettering like самовар (samovar) and a city name like Тула (Tula), etc, because you don't want to pay for a reproduction which typically has little to no Cyrillic and certainly no city stamp.

Sellers who describe them as "coffee urns" and other nonsensical terms know the least about what they're selling and it will likely sell at a much lower price than from a seller who knows what they've listed.

We have a samovar proudly displayed both in our US and Russian homes and they're great conversation pieces but I couldn't tell you the last year that we actually used one to boil water. We do use the "chai-nik" (water kettle) several times daily.



 

[ML]

That's actually a very good point, given all of my utensils are biased towards English units, not metric.  But she's jumping in to help... since she's an engineer, she may be doing some mental experiments to get used to my cooking equipment and foods... so I'll follow your suggestion and ask her if she wants to do more.

I have found it to be a very bad omen when the woman doesn't actually push to do some cooking . . . where ever she is.

I have been with many women, and those who don't offer to do some cooking usually turn out to be losers in some other important categories also.

No, I am not saying the man should look for a cook, cleaner and slave.

But beware of those who don't willingly and happily offer to do some of that.

I have taken several women on all expenses paid luxury vacations where I did some cooking.  Most of them also did some cooking.  But  with a few; when I gently asked if they wanted to do something, they replied . . . "No, I am on vacation."

[Vasilisa]

I have found it to be a very bad omen when the woman doesn't actually push to do some cooking . . . where ever she is.

I have been with many women, and those who don't offer to do some cooking usually turn out to be losers in some other important categories also.

No, I am not saying the man should look for a cook, cleaner and slave.

But beware of those who don't willingly and happily offer to do some of that.

I have taken several women on all expenses paid luxury vacations where I did some cooking.  Most of them also did some cooking.  But  with a few; when I gently asked if they wanted to do something, they replied . . . "No, I am on vacation."

lmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ML, you should visit the forum of the RW of the AM living in the US where they discuss cooking. So, one of the advantages of the American husbands in their opinion is the fact that in the US you don't have to cook that much, you can just buy food in the deli or try a restaurant or do drive through and the AM cook themselves, too and their  attitude doesn't depend on your cooking ability and complain that in Russia they suffered a lot cooking after work. 

[Slingerland]

 Monday… VACATION!!!!!  Woo hoo!!!!!  Although to be honest, the morning of our vacation, we slept in J .  But once awake, showered and finally caffeinated, we packed up the suitcases and hit the road.  Eureka Springs is a little country town near the Missouri border, with beautiful scenic roads winding through the Ozark Mountains.
 
On a normal trip I can drive from Little Rock to Eureka Springs in about three hours.  But I wasn’t driving in a hurry and we meandered through the mountains taking our time.  When Marina saw a tourist shop… especially an antique shop… we’d stop and browse.  Marina’s fascination with Amish furniture style still surprised me, given her other, more “refined” tastes.  Then again, as an Arkansas boy, sometimes I have my rough edges and I’m not that refined… so I’ll just sit back and appreciate her taste in “rough edges.”
 
We stopped for lunch at Leslie, Arkansas… a tiny little town with a wood-fired brick oven bakery.  I bought some tomato-olive focaccia and drove down the road to a scenic overlook, there to have a picnic lunch.  Sitting on the rocks next to her was an incredibly beautiful, peaceful feeling; after our light lunch, she leaned back against me as we watched a hawk soaring through the hills.  But after a few minutes, the unyielding rock conquered my soft, 50-year old bum and it was time to go back on the road.
 
I must admit to playing a prank on her as we drove.  Marina like classical music, jazz, and some rock crossover (such as Chicago.)  I like jazz, crossing into Chicago and Earth Wind and Fire, and there to classic rock.  We took turns with the radio: an hour for her, and hour for me, back and forth.  But I had prepared a little tease for her. 
 
When we were deep in the mountains, the radio faded some, so I plugged in my iPod and started my little joke.  First, my playlist played “Moonlight Sonata.”  This surprised her, and brought a big smile… she was impressed that I had thought about her.  Next was a cover of “Corazon” by Woody Herman which she also liked.
 
And then the next on the playlist:
 
 
Yes, “A Fifth of Beethoven” by Walter Murphy.  Straight from the disco era.  At first she thought it was the real thing, until the drum set kicked in.  She gave me this strange “What the Hell?” look… followed by shock and recognition.
 
“Howard, I haven’t heard since I was little girl!” she laughed, and then (dying with laughter) she threw her decorum to the wind and started disco dancing in her chair, imitating John Travolta. 
 
I wonder what the other tourists thought when they saw us…
 

[Ooooops]

(shudder) My monster-in-law would make it herself.  Radish kimchee.  It smelled so rancid I would have to leave the room when they ate it.

I looooooooove kimchi!!!        And you are lucky that Marina didn't miss "seledka" too much while visiting you...   

[Ooooops]

I have taken several women on all expenses paid luxury vacations where I did some cooking.  Most of them also did some cooking.  But  with a few; when I gently asked if they wanted to do something, they replied . . . "No, I am on vacation."

"All expenses paid luxury vacation" means what?       Condo with a kitchen and daily trip to the market?   

[Slingerland]

I looooooooove kimchi!!!        And you are lucky that Marina didn't miss "seledka" too much while visiting you...   

In all the mixed American-Korean relationships I know of, kimchi always raises strong feelings.  Either people love it or hate it, with no middle ground.  I tried it... tried both cabbage and radish variants, but I just can't stomach it. 
 
So... you guys who love it are WELCOME to it... I'll just keep the bulgogi for myself  .