From cathedra to a wedding / Katedráról esküvőre

Well, a lot of things have happened during the past month. I started working ( which means I became a mother 150 undergraduates in a blink of an eye), I was a photographer at an amazing wedding, and fall has arrived.

Even though I work only 2 or 3 days a week, work has been very tiring - but also rewarding and full of achievements - lately. I got more than 150 students, 70 of whom are Chinese. Yup. I leave you here for a second.

Besides struggling with our cultural differences and with getting myself understood, I really enjoy working with them. It's a challenge. A huge one, to be honest.

I also have students from Syria, Pakistan, Tunisia and Portugal, which means I am finally able to practice my English. Hurray! And I have to admit something: I fucking enjoy this.

If worrying about my new job wasn't enough, I have been invited to take photos at a wedding. I was nervous, I could not eat, I could not sleep, and I almost lost my bag and gear, but I made it. And some pictures came out quite amazing. This is the first time that I post any picture of the wedding, so I hope you are all feeling very special now.

Fall has also arrived, and today I harvested the quinces. They look amazing, but I am afraid most of them will have "little" surprise worms inside, as always. Anyways, if some of them actually turn out to be good, I will make some homemade quince liquor, and some apple-quince juice for my father. So fingers crossed (I haven't tried any of them yet). And look at the grass! Isn't it amazing?

Welcome to Ancient Rome ( in our backyard)! / Isten hozott az ókori Rómában ( a hátsó udvarunkon)!

Back in the day when we bought the house, we used to have a stone wall that held our iron gates. It was robust, beautiful, and as a result of its non-existing foundation, it looked like the leaning tower of Pisa. As it was dangerous to any pedestrian passing by our house, we had to have it teared down - which means we ended up with two huuuuge piles of bricks. We have been wondering for months what to do with them - as in the meantime, we had built a concrete wall instead of the brick one.

The front of the house with the brick wall, 1 year ago

After months of thinking and planning, we have decided to replace the ugly and disgusting slate wall at the back of the house with a "new" nice brick wall, made out of our 100 year old bricks. And the result? AMAZINGNESS!

                         

The back of the house, 1 year ago

The back of the house, 1 month ago

The back of the house, yesterday

Obviously, there's still a lot to do with the backyard, but now that it's starting to shape, I love the house even more. Happiness is Harta :)

New job, new hair / Új munka, új haj

I've been chasing local hairdressers lately. None of them answered the phone - they must be crazy busy nowadays... Anyway, I decided to take things - in this case, a pair of scissors - into my own hands, watched couple of youtube videos, and cut it for myself. I know it could've been nicer, and could've been more even, but I'm pretty satisfied with the result, so it's fine. And it was for free :)

The reason I wanted to have my hair cut is because it is a kinda ritual for me every time I get a new job. And so I did!!! I'm starting next Tuesday, and I'm already pretty excited about it. So new hair, new job, and a new chapter in my life. Life is great. So is my hair :)

Saci goes to the Olympics

Peter and I have started preparing Saci for the 400 meter relay of the next Olympics. She is very determined, her only condition is that she has to be the last team member to run. The reason for that is that while she is pretty good at getting and running with the relay baton, she is not very good at giving it to anyone.

Go Saci, go! We ♥ you!

(This is a picture of her after an exhausting practice)

Lavender syrup and the story of the growing grass / Levendula szörp és a növekvő fű története

As a good atheist, I have been praying for cold weather and rain ever since I planted the hayseed in the little area in between the lavender bushes. And tadaaaaa... The weather is quite chilly, 13-15 C in the mornings, and around 25-27 C in the afternoons. Last week I had the feeling that our yard will look like a Sahara landscape by now ... instead, we now have little grasslings ( I have a feeling that this word does not exist at all) all over the place already:

I also had to cut the lavenders, which means I ended up with a pretty big bouquet of amazing lavender flowers. I already put some lavender into my cherry plum jellies, but I have never used the flowers by themselves, so I decided to make some fragrant, pink-purple jars of lavender syrup.

I read somewhere that the syrup loses its purpleness after heating ... and so it did. Nevertheless, I now have 15x200 ml jars of lavender-awesomeness, and I'm pretty satisfied with the result, doesn't matter if it's pink, golden or whatnot.

To make the syrup, soak 30 g lavender into 1,5 liters of water, and make sure that the little purple guys are all covered by water. Let them soak for at least 1, preferably 2 days, strain and add 1,5 teaspoon of citric acid, and 1,5 kilos of white sugar. Wait until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil and let it bubble-boil for 4-5 mins. Pour the syrup into sterilized jars, and if you don't have a cool preserving and sterilizing machine than I do, keep it in the fridge for up to 1 year.

Fresh start and a bombed backyard / Újrakezdés és egy szétbombázott udvar

It's been a while since my last blog entry. Lot of things has happened in the past couple of months, some of them were extremely heartwarming, some, extremely heartbreaking.

In March, I lost my beloved grandma, who taught me that the joy of cooking and eating is an indispensable part of a happy and long life. Her favorite cookbook and rolling pin are now the jewels of my kitchen, and remind me to keep rolling, and enjoy life as much as possible.

To begin with, Peter and I have started the reconstruction of our back and front yards. There were times not too long ago, when the yard looked like a bombing site, then a landing site on the Moon, then, like a swimming pool. Fortunately, the local experts we hired did an amazing job, and the area in front of, next to, and behind the house is finally starting to look like it is in a civilized country. The paving is finished, all we need is some soil to fill the gaps, and some rain to trigger the hayseed to grow.

Last week, the  three of us took a trip to one of the most famous lavender nurseries in the country, from where we came home with 20 pots of beautiful, fragrant lavender. So yeah, by far, everything goes as planned.

Except...well yeah, except my work on finishing my dissertation. I know it's a weak excuse that the daily activities  - canning, the garden, Saci, cooking and painting stuff - consume all my energy, but they fucking do. So by far, content done: 2%. Damn.

                                             

Traditional Hungarian Buns - Cocoa rolls

This weekend I decided to bake some good old fashioned Hungarian cocoa buns.

They are called "kalács" ( calatsch), and they typically involve some yeast, simple flour, eggs and butter or lard. Imagine something super soft that melts in your mouth and is usually stuffed with jam, cottage cheese or nuts. Yeah, they are awesome.

Cocoa buns, rolls - or how we call them, cocoa snails - are by far the most popular buns (or scones) in Hungary. They are an inevitable part of the elementary school years, as they are one of the most beloved breakfasts of kids. They are sold in every bakery (and we have a lot of them here in Hungary), but surprisingly, it is quite hard to find proper cocoa rolls nowadays. The filling usually consists of butter, cocoa powder and caster sugar, but I decided to add some home made apricot jam as well. And what a great choice it was!

For the dough (original recipe here) :

500 g flour

3 tbsp sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2,5 g fresh yeast ( or a tablespoon of active dry yeast)

a pinch of salt

250 ml lukewarm milk

100 g melted butter

For the filling:

50 g melted butter
cocoa powder
caster sugar

apricot jam (optional)

Combine all ingredients for the dough until it forms a nice and soft ball. Knead it for 5 minutes, then let it sit for about an hour, or until doubled in size. After rising, put the dough on a floured surface and roll it to form a 30x40 centimeter rectangle around half a centimeters thick. Grease it with the melted butter, then spread a thin layer of apricot jam on top of the butter. Cover it with a thick layer of sifted cocoa powder and caster sugar, then, starting with a long end, roll the dough into a log and cut it into 2 cm slices. Place the buns in a pan covered with parchment paper, and let them rise for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Once the oven is warm, put the buns in and bake them for 20 minutes. Right after removing them from the oven, pour the mixture of 200ml of warm milk and a package of vanilla sugar on top - this will make them super soft, then sprinkle the buns with caster sugar. Enjoy! :-)

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Homemade Hungarian apple juice ( What the f. is juice? Pour me some apple drink, baby!)

This week we had our wine cellar renovated. It's not that it was in a bad condition, but instead of plastering, we wanted pure bricks on the ceiling, on the walls and even on the floor. 

Before the renovation started we had to empty the cellar, and we found a crate full of long forgotten homegrown apples. I baked some apple cakes, but almost 20 kilos of apples could make a lot of cakes ( and could also make us super fat), so I decided to prepare ( and preserve) some apple juice for my Dad, who loves apples and soft drinks. 

There's a saying that Hungarian apples are the best in the world - but they also say it about Hungarian women, therefore I am a bit sceptical. Nevertheless, I love all types of Hungarian apples and I believe they are truly extraordinary. Sweet, juicy, beautiful and delicious. Well. Not our apples. We have cider apples, which means that they are neither eaters nor cookers, and neither sweet, nor nice looking.  However, they make a wonderful apple juice (and great cider, of which we made 10 liters at the end of last summer).

For the apple juice, I peeled and cored 2,5 kilos of apples, and I cut them into bite size cubes. Right after cutting I put them in a large bowl filled with 3 liters of cold water, and mixed it with 0,3 kilos of caster sugar and a teaspoon of citric acid. I simmered the mixture for about 30 minutes, and once the apple chunks has softened, I pureed it with a hand blender. I found the texture just good enough, but if you find your juice too thick, you can still add some water to reach the desired consistency. 

After blending, I poured the juice into sterilized jars, and put the filled jars into my preserving machine. I got this machine from my man ( Peter) as a Christmas present, so today was its debut, and it performed just fine. I cannot wait until the fruit preserving season, as this machine will make it a lot easier ( and healthier!). But back to the topic. My jars sit in the machine at 80 degrees for twenty minutes, so I made sure that they can be kept for months, if necessary. In case you don't have a machine like this, you can use a bowl with simmering water, or you can choose to use some preservatives. 

And what about the apple juice or apple drink thing in the title? Well, I LOVE Dave Chapelle, and the grape juice skit is one of my all time favorites. So funny!

Clean house and a satisfied dog

I have to admit, I was a bit worried before adopting our dog, Saci ( Schatzi, a Hungarian nickname for Charlotte ). Besides the fact that she is 8 years old, she has to live in the house - a house we have been working on so hard for almost a year now. It's freshly painted ( white, of course), we have brand new pine wood floor, a 100-year old grand piano, and several beautiful pieces of furniture inherited from my man's grandparents. Moreover, almost everything is black and/or white - even the carpet in the living room, where both we and the dog spend most of our time.

So yeah, I was worried a bit before she arrived. I read books, watched youtube videos and read some more books, trying to adapt some of the advices I believed worth adapting. But my biggest help came from Vilmos Csányi, a world-renowned Hungarian ethologist specialized in dogs. In one of his books, he emphasizes the importance of rules and rituals for dogs: rituals that do not only teach us to be more deliberate owners, but give our dogs tasks and a sense of achievement every time they perform right in a given situation.

So we created some rituals, the first one being: never go inside the living room without your paws being cleaned first. Every time when we arrive from a walk, or we just come back inside from the garden, Saci sits down in the kitchen and waits for her paws to be cleaned. Sometimes, when she is too excited she rushes in after the third, but overall, she enjoys it. Lately - since the last couple of days were quite rainy -, she even needs a full-body cleaning with a towel.She does not seem to like it that much, but she certainly likes it more than the thought of being washed in the bathtub.

Rule number two: She has her own spot on the carpet covered with a small blanket, where she usually sits when not lying on the sofa. Yeah, the sofa... Saci has an obsession for sofas, they are her safe havens. This means that she is not interested in sleeping on the carpet anyway, but in case we sit on the sofa, she sleeps at her blanket on the floor.

Rule number three: No dog in bed.

Rule number four: Long daily walks, tasks, games and a lot of love.

That's it. I know that we are lucky to have a dog like Saci, since only after 3 weeks of living together,  she acts she's been living with us for years. But believe me when I say: with some simple rules, tasks, weary muscles and a mind kept busy, you will end up with a perfect dog and a clean house at the same time.

The grand opening / A nagy nyitány

It's been a while since I first though about starting a blog. I had one years ago, but that was a blog of a girl, not of a woman.

So here I am, 32 years of age, a woman living with the man of her dreams and the most incredible dog ever, owner of a beautiful house on the countryside, a researcher working on her PhD, an enthusiastic (and little overweight) cook and passionate hobby photographer. All in one. It was about damn time to start this blog, right?

But why now? 10 months ago, our life has changed when we bought an old house in the middle of the Hungarian countryside. I have to admit, I was a bit afraid of moving from Budapest, but the village we moved to simply topped all of our expectations. It is Danube-Swabian village with a flourishing culture, with freshly cut grass in front of every house and without the need to always worry about wether I have locked the front gate or not. We have homegrown figs, pears, plums, peaches, apples, spices and most importantly, clean, fresh air - things I missed so dearly while living in the capital.

My goal with this blog is to show you the beauty of living in the countryside, the joy of cooking (and eating!) great Hungarian food, and to share my experiences in renovation, refurbishment, diy interior design and on sharing your house with a mud-loving dog. Whoa.

 So welcome on board, hope you will enjoy the ride!

Elég hosszú ideje gondolkodtam már azon, hogy indítok egy blogot. Évekkel ezelőtt vezettem egyet, de az egy kislány blogja volt, nem a nőé, aki most vagyok.

Most itt vagyok 32 évesen, álmaim férfijával és kutyájával egy háztartásban, egy csodás vidéki ház tulajdonosaként, a doktori disszertációját író egyetemi kutatóként, megszállott ( és kicsit túlsúlyos) hobbiszakácsként és elhivatott hobbi fotósként. Igen, ez mind egyben. Épp itt volt az ideje blogot indítanom, ugye? :-)

De hogy miért pont most? Nos, 10 hónappal ezelőtt gyökeresen megváltozott az életünk amikor a magyar Alföld közepén megvásároltunk egy öreg házat. Bevallom, kicsit féltem eljönni Budapestről, de a falu, ahová költöztünk, minden várakozásunkat felülmúlta. Képzeljetek el egy Duna-menti sváb falut még mindig élő hagyományokkal, minden ház előtt frissen vágott, 3,7 centiméteres fűvel, s olyan légkörrel és közbiztonsággal, ahol sosem kell aggódnom, bezártam -e a kaput kulcsra, vagy sem. Az udvarunkban terem füge, körte, alma, szilva, barack, sok-sok fűszernövény, s a levegő olyan friss, amilyenről a budapesti forgatagban álmodni sem mer az ember.

Úgyhogy ez a blog azért jött létre, hogy megmutassam a vidéki élet szépségeit, a magyar konyha remekeit, és hogy megosszam veletek a tapasztalataimat, melyekre a ház és bútorfelújítások során szert tettem az elmúlt időszakban. Hú, ez szép lesz.

Isten hozott mindenkit az én világomban, remélem tetszeni fog! :)