Here in
Russia a lot of products are different from the states. I was truly surprised
by square pillows and wide rectangles of butter. In my head there was no other
way for pillows to be but rectangular. Here they are definitely square. They
are super comfy and I can actually say I prefer them to the pillows from home.
The first time I saw the butter, wide and wrapped in tinfoil, I thought, “I
wonder what the butter dishes look like.” Surprisingly enough, they are
shaped to fit the butter.
They
condiments come in squeeze pouches
instead of bottles or jars. I think it is particularly genius, you don’t have
to get mayonnaise on your knuckles when trying to get the last bit out. And the
mayonnaise is really delicious here. I don’t know what ingredients are different
from the mayonnaise in the states, but it is richer and more delicious. Magic.
Magic mayonnaise. There are a lot of different types of ketchup for sale, but
they do have Heinz, which is what we buy because it is the closest to what we
expect to taste when eating ketchup. We
found some Heinz barbeque sauce which is really good and tastes very authentic.
We
haven’t really found a good mustard. The first attempt at finding mustard left
me with 12 ounces of ground horseradish. I just assumed it was mustard and without
even tasting it used it in the dressing for a pasta salad. Did you know that
vinegar can come in different percentages of dilution? Well, I did not. I
bought super strong vinegar, mixed it with horseradish and raw garlic, threw in
a little olive oil and served it with dinner. It was painfully horrible. Pretty
darn inedible, and it was a real pity because I used about ten dollars of
salami. I have learned my lesson about tasting the condiments before they go on
or in anything.
One of
the best parts of my Russian kitchen is the electric kettle. It is incredibly
handy to have boiling water at hand in moments. It is awesome for cooking and
cleaning. I don’t know why there aren’t more of them in the states, but I
imagine it has to do with being more of a coffee culture than a tea culture.
Speaking of coffee, we really haven’t had any really good coffee since we got
here. We brought a percolator with us, but that took forever to brew and the
results were pretty icky. They do sell coffee makers here, but they don’t sell
filters. So, we have been drinking instant. It could be worse. It could
definitely be better, but I’m trying not to forget that it could be worse. One
problem it has solved is the great coffee debate in the Voth household. I make
it too strong, Dave makes it too weak. Now we can customize. Thank you, Russia!
Our
house came with a kettle, but we ended up having to buy one to replace the one
that Dave set on fire while trying to burn down the house. I guess he was
actually trying to make coffee, but he might as well have been trying to burn
down the house. He filled up the kettle and put it on the stove and then sat
down to eat breakfast. Soon, the kettle started smoking and he thought, ”That is weird, it usually doesn’t start to
steam up that fast.” There were of course flames, then he yelled, “Meggan, come quick, there is
a fire!” Well, I put the baby down in her crib and ran towards the kitchen and
he yelled, “Open the front door!” He ran out and threw the kettle on the
driveway. So, we had to buy a new kettle.
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