Czechmatediary

If you are signing up for the “Czech contacts in the USA” don’t forget to LEAVE YOUR E-MAIL as well (plus the city/state where you live) otherwise people have no way of contacting you!

Thanks!

PS: If you would like to re-enter your contact WITH the e-mail go ahead, I will erase the old one of yours

Jestlize se rozhodnete zanechat vas konakt na postu zvanem “Czech contacts in the USA” nezapomente zanechat take e-mail, aby vas mohli lide zkontaktovat!

This is a classic Czech recipe that I used to love as a kid (and I still do). It wasn’t on my mom’s cooking repertoire but I learned to adore it from - believe it or not - the good old communist school cafeterias. There are a lot of slight variations of Paprika Chicken but the one I use has been created by Lada Kovarova (www.recepty.atlas.cz). I played around with the Czech metric system and converted it into the American “cup/tbs” system. I also played around with the recipe a little and added/tweaked some stuff to make it taste even better (and you can do the same!)…

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb chicken breast
2. 3/4 stick of butter (more…)
   
   If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

Role of Czech Americans in formation of Czechoslovakia

Up until the beginning of WWI the Czech-American community did not seem united; it was divided into different groups such as the Progressives (the opposers of the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues), Catholics, Protestants, Socialists and other groups. But one thing they did have in common: none of them had in their plan to form a free state for both Czechs and Slovaks, which is what the future brought.

Once the times got heated and the US declared the war (WWI) on Germany, Czechs and Slovaks quickly joined together to support the formation of Czechoslovakia. As a result, the Czechoslovak National Council (CNC) was established to fight for the Czech/Slovak independence in America. The CNC actions were pivotal in setting up the neccessary negotiations between T.G. Masaryk (you can find more on T.G. Masaryk at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.G._Masaryk), and the American president W. Wilson. T.G.Masaryk was at that time recognized by Allies as the head of the provisional Czech government. It was these CNC-led negotiations that eventually led in agreement on the formation of Czechoslovakia!

PS: By the way, did you know that if someone says “let’s meet by the statue” it automatically means among the local Czechs in Washington to meet by the statue of T.G. Masaryk? (http://krajane.radio.cz/cs/article_detail/935).

For details go to http://www.czechsinamerica.wz.cz/DPW/3-Diploma%20Work.htm

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Wenceslav Square in Prague filled up yesterday with hundreds of demonstrators who oppose the planned building of the missile defense radar facility in Brdy. The missile defense system is supposed to protect against ballistic missile attacks from hostile states threatening Europe as well as the United States. While the Czech Republic is supposed to host the radar facility, Poland is a strong candidate for carrying the actual defense missiles. The public polls show that 3/5 of Czechs do not agree with the planned radar facility, whereas 3/4 of inhabitants are demanding referendum. As far as the political parties are concerned, the Communists and CSSD are currently considered to be the greatest advocates against the radar facility, while ODS, KDU-CSL and the Green party are much more open to discussion on this topic.

Czech translation further bellow –>

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Czech Centre in New York is having an exhibition called “Meet contemporary Czech design”. It opens at the beginning of June and will run through September 12th throughout the different locations in Manhattan. Different Czech designer groups such as Prague studio Symbio will present product design, graphic design, decorative accessories, furniture, glass and jewelry. The show will also have a lecture on Czech design as a whole. The director of the Czech Center, Monica Koblerova explains the purpose of this event: “We want to show that we have great designers who can easily match up with the world’s top designer trends”. For detailed schedule of this exhibit visit www.czechcetres.cz/newyork/novinky

CZ: New Yorkske Ceske Centrum porada exhibici zvanou “Meet contemporary Czech design”. Od zacatku cervna do 12. zari bude mit New Yorkske publikum moznost tuto vystavu v ruznych castech Manhattanu shlednout. Ruzne umelecko-vytvarne skupiny jako je prazske studio Symbio zde presentuji nabytek, elektronicke pristroje, osvetleni, sperky a dekorativni predmety ze skla. Program take obsahuje prednasku o ceske designerovske tvorbe. Direktorka Ceskeho Centa, Monika Koblerova, dodava: ” Chceme ukazat, ze mame skvele designery dobre srovnatelne se svetovou konkurenci”. Pro vice podrobny program teto vystavy navstivte www.czechcentres.cz/newyork/novinky
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/magazin/vytvarne/index_view.php?id=253862

Not long ago I was really craving “burty” (Czech type of a sausage). Yet I felt like the mean sister from a famous Czech fairytale called “The Twelve Months” (O Dvanacti Mesickach), where an ugly lady in the middle of a snow storm ordered a bowl of fresh-cut strawberries: where was I going to get Burty in America?? And what tool am I going to use to bake them above the fire? (You may ask why coudn’t I just broil them in the oven…. It doesn’t taste the same!) After a long thinking session I solved both problems. Instead of the real Burty I bought a Polish Kielbasa (it really tastes almost the same) and I used straightened out wire hangers as a roasting tool. The only thing left was to find a good loaf of REAL bread. The only thing that came closest to what I wanted was this group of breads called “rustic breads”. Despite the fact that the weather outside was getting pretty warm I asked my husband to make a fire in our living-room fireplace. Meanwhile I myself started to prepare my “burty”. Now, any true Czech knows that the correct preparation of Burty truly is an art: the more cuts into the Burt one makes, the crispier and yummier it will be. –>

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Are you planning on visiting Colorado sometime soon? Why don’t you make a little side trip to Georgetown, a cute little town just outside of Denver? It is a hometown to famous Cafe Prague, a Czech restaurant that serves anything from a hotdog to Svickova (Beef roast in a special Czech creamy sauce) and Palacinky (Crepes - Czech style). The owner Martin Stribal says that his food is being sought after not only by the local Czechs such as famous hockey players such as Milan Hejduk, Martin Skoula, and Radim Vrbata or famous Czech American Madeleine Albright but also by the local bears (they periodically eat out of their trash bins)! Mr. Stribal says that even though the restaurant stays busy, Czech kitchen unfortunately won’t make them millionaires. Well the truth is that as good as our cooking cuisine is, it is still mostly a peasant style food, so one can’t expect to make a bank on it as some French and Italian restaurants do with their food. “Czech kitchen” and “Fine Dining” just don’t go together - and I am quite alright with it because there is nothing better than a slice of fresh baked Czech bread (Sumava…hmmmm) dipped into a bowl of Zelnacka (Sourkraut soup).

CZ: Planujete navstivit Kolorado? A proc si neudelate objizdku do Georgetown, roztomileho mestecka na okraji Denveru? Zde sidli mistni ceska restaurace Cafe Praha. Serviruji tu jak hotdogy, tak Svickovou, Vepro-knedo-zelo a ceske palacinky. Manazer Martin Stribal konstatuje, ze jeho kuchyne je zadouci nejen pro Cechy z okoli jako jsou slavne hokejove hvezdy Milan Hejduk, Martin Skoula a Radim Vrbata, ale take tu velmi chutna Cecho-Americance Madeleine Albrightove a pry i mistnim medvedum (pravidelne vyziraji odpadky)!

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The Second Wave of Immigration (1870s-1890s)

The Second Wave of Immigration is connected with the declaration of the Homestead Act in 1862, which enabled immigrants to obtain 160 acres of wild land and they would become its owners after 5 years of its cultivation. This Homestead Act brought Czech immigrants especially to Nebraska and Kansas.
Many Czechs were convinced to immigrate here (to Nebraska and Kansas) by American railway agents who looked for people to settle along the new railways. To begin farming in Kansas or Nebraska the farmers needed as much as $1,000, which was incredible amount of money at that time. That is why most farmers could not pay off their debt earlier than in 20 years. Families with a lot of children had a big advantage since they had their own free labor and that way could actually save some money from their harvest.

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More “Czech stuff” to do in the upcoming months!! With a little search one finds that this continent is just OVERFLOWING with Czech festivals this year (12 of them so far)….

Americky kontinent primo kyne ceskym denim!! Ceske festivaly se konaji v 8mi statech a vetsina z nich se chysta veselit vice nez pouhy den. Wilson (KS) na priklad bude parit cele tri dny…

Hillsboro,WI - June 8-10; http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=24112

Flatonia, TX - June 9th; http://flatoniachamber.com/

Tabor, SD - June 14-16; http://www.byelectric.com/~tabor/

San Antonio, TX - June 8-10; www.czechs.org

East Bernard,TX - June 9th; http://www.kkfest.com/

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