Czechmatediary

Karen is one of my frequent commentators, a very pleasant American lady who currently lives in Prague. She has a blog called The Empty Nest Expat and writes bunch of interesting articles about her observations. One of her recent posts is contemplating about the Czech - still rather unhealthy - cuisine. Read her thoughts in a post called “Who will be the Czech Jamie Oliver?”.

CZ: Karen je jedna ze ctenarek Czechmate Diary, ktera se sama zabyva blogovanim, ale z opacne strany nez ja. Je totiz Americanka zijici v Praze a popisuje sve  zazitky a postrehy v blogu zvanem Empty Nest Expat. Clanek, ktery me tentokrat zaujal se pozastavuje nad - bohuzel stale jeste - dosti nezdravou ceskou kuchyni. Kdo Cechy vykoupi ze zaklete zeme brambor, knedliku a veproveho? To se muzete docist v Karenine clanku zvanem  “Who will be the Czech Jamie Oliver?”

Do you know Anthony’s Bourdain’s show called “No reservations”? If not, now is the perfect time to start watching it because this daring culinary chef  will be introducing Prague and its ‘crazy’ culinary art! Catch this episode  on Travel Chanel Monday, Feb 1 at 10 PM E/P.

CZ: Anthony Bourdainova show zvana “No rezervations” bude pristi tyden o Praze! Uvidime, jaky ‘blaznivy’ chod objevi v ‘te nasii kuchyniiii ceskeeeeeee…” ;0)

Divejte se v pondeli, 1. unora na Travel Channel a to ve 22:00 E/P.

It’s the beginning of a new year and it is time to crunch up some numbers: statistics, people, statistics!! What are we, the readers of Czechmate Diary, like? What do we hate? Find out more about yourself right here:

CZ: Je tu zacatek noveho roku, tak se pojdme podivat jak to vypada se statistikou. Jaci vubec ctenari Czechmate Diary jsou? Co mame radi? Co nesnasime? Naucte se o sobe neco noveho:

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I am not sure what to make for Christmas Eve dinner. Carp is out of the question - I have never really appreciated the billions of miniature bones you get with this fish anyway. I was thinking making a schnitzel and a potato salad or maybe a roasted chicken. What are you guys making this year? Maybe I will get inspired by your ideas!

CZ: Tak vam ani nevim, co uvarim tento rok k nasi Stedrovecerni hostine. Kapr to 100% nebude - stejne se mi nikdy nezamlouvalo tech milionu kosticek co v nich clovek najde (nebo nekdy take vubec nenajde!). Premyslela jsem o rizku s bramborovou kasi nebo pecenym kuretem. A co budete delat vy? Necham se od vas inspirovat…

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It is really getting close to Christmas and most of us are getting ready for some serious Christmas-cookie-baking marathon. I myself will be baking some more of vanilla crescents (there is never enough of those guys) and some vanocka. To make it easier for you here is a complete recipe list of them:

CZ: Vanoce se blizi a s nim i neodlucitelny maraton peceni vanocniho peciva. Aby se vam lepe peklo, udelala jsem list vsech vanocnich receptu tak si ohrnte rukavy a jde se do toho!

• Rum balls/Rumove koule
• Vanocka
• Walnut Tarts/Orechove dorticky
  
• Linz Tarts/ Linecka kolecka
• Vanilla crescents/Vanilkove rohlicky

December is here and with it comes the merriment of Christmas and a New Year…and food…and sweets…and Santa (Mikulas) and Jezisek!!! There are so many St. Nicholas celebrations (I counted 12 of them) out there so there is no excuse for you not meet the ‘real’ angel together with the devil and the holy man - Saint Nicholas.

CZ: Je tu prosinec a s nim take radost Vanoc a Noveho Roku…a dobrutek…a Mikulase…a Jeziska. Na nize uvedenem listu je 12 Mikulasskych besidek (!!), takze zadne vymluvy, damy a panove, jdeme se pozdravit s andelem, certem a Mikulasem :o)

1. Baltimore, MD

What: St. Nicholas Day celebration (Mikulasska)

When: Dec. 6

2. Astoria, NY

What: St. Nicholas Day celebration for children (Mikulas) (more…)

I don’t know how about you but every time I am offering someone a cookie in the Czech language I find myself in a very confusing and uncomfortable situation. To stay true to my Czech soul I want to say ‘susenka‘ but deep inside I know -  and you know - that ‘cookie‘ is NOT a ‘susenka‘! Susenka is a waffle-like sweet cracker where as cookie si something…..different; something which does not have its equal in the Czech Republic. Simply put, there is no correct translation for the word ‘cookie‘ and that saddens me. So I guess I will just keep feeling guilty about calling it ‘susenka‘ and wait for that wonderful day when someone else will discover a different, better-fitting translation for it. However, the same acute problem is facing the word ‘muffin‘. Excuse me, but what the heck would you call that in Czech? ‘Buchta‘ - for the lack of a better term??

Life is so hard sometimes….
My mom sent my bunch of Fidorkas and Milas for my birthday the other day and when my daughter asked me what it was I could finally, without guilt, say: ‘susenka‘ - true susenka.

VOTE ON THIS HOT TOPIC IN THE POLL BELLOW: (more…)

The calendar of Czech events for October is up so dig in!

CZ: Calendar ceskych aktivit je hotovy tak se do neho s chuti zakousnete!

1. Lutherville, MD

A. What: Concert - Celebration of Czech music

When: Oct. 7

B. Annual Czech and Slovak Festival

When: Oct. 25

2. New York, NY

A. What: Czech Street Festival

When: Oct. 3

B. Gathering of Czech Drummers (music performance)

When: Oct.27 (more…)

I thought about other fun little customs that  Czechs and Slovaks have and which are hard to get rid off even if one lives abroad for a long, long time.

PS: For poll no. 1 click here

CZ: Prisla jsem na dalsi drobne ceske a slovenske zvyklosti, ktere jsou nam pod kuzi zaryte tak hluboko, ze je tezke se jich zbavit, i kdyz clovek zije nekolik let v cizine.

PS: Anketa cislo 1 muze byt nalezena zde.

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I am definitely not an expert on Slovak cuisine so I called on for some help. Lubos has a blog called ‘Slovak cooking’ and one of his tasty recipes introduce us to the magic of traditional Slovak Sour bean soup (click here). It kind of reminds me the Sauerkraut soup which I have introduced to you in the past. It definitely looks delicious and healthy and it is scheduled for one of my next week’s dinner courses :0)

CZ: Jelikoz nejsem expert na slovenskou kuchyni, zavolala jsem si na pomoc Lubose. Lubos ma blog zvany ‘Slovak cooking’, kde se to hemzi dobrouckymi recepty, jako je napriklad tato zakysana fazolova polevka (kliknete zde) - prava, slovenska! Pripomina mi trosku nasi zelnacku: je zdava a brni vas po ni pusa. Tak dobrou chut, ja ji mam naplanovanou na pristi tyden!