traditions

An Easy Czech bread recipe / Jednoduchy recept na cesky chleba

2508473399_864ea92138 I know I have posted a bread recipe in the past but – thanks to my awesome high school friend Eva – I have an easier version for you. You don’t have to wait days and days until your dough ferments anymore, you just simply ad a package of yeast. Remember, bread-making is an artistry so don’t worry if your first one does not look like a magazine-cover snap shot!
PS: Also, if you have a baking stone, use that, but if you don’t just use a baking tray.
CZ: Sice jsem jiz v minulosti recept na cesky chleba publikovala, ale ted mam pro vas verzi mnohem jednodussi; nemusite kvasit svoje vlastni testo, proste tam hodite pytlicek s drozdim! Recept pochazi od me stredoskolske kamaradky Evy, ktera si ho velmi pochvaluje (a ja samozrejme take). A nevzdavejte to, kdyz se vam ten bochnik parkrat nepovede – to vite, peceni chleba, to je veda!!
PS: Jestli mate kameny pekac tak pecte chleba na nem, jestli ne, tak pouzijte tormalni pekac.

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Tagged as: practical, traditions

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Another Czech fairytale classics: “Cook, mug, cook!” / Dalsi klasicka ceska pohadka: “Hrnecku,var!”

hrnecku_var google image I got motivated from our previous fairytale discussion and dug out yet another Czech (and also Slovak?) fairytale classics, this time it is called ‘Cook, Mug, Cook!’ (‘Hrnecku,var!’). I was so happy to find a YouTube movie that goes along with it! It is a silent movie so anyone can watch it

CZ: Z nasi posledni pohadkove diskuze jsem se rozhodla ozivit dalsi klasickou ceskou pohadku, tentokrat “Hrnecku, var!” Diky Marice a jeji zlate dcerce Michelle, mam take ten anglicky preklad, tak je to kompletni. Dokonce jsem i nasla YouTube video!!

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Tagged as: children, traditions, YouTube

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The current Miss Czech Slovak US speaks fluent Czech! / Nynejsi Miss Czech Slovak US mluvi plynne Cesky!

Sandy Ptak /facebook image A beautiful Sandy Ptak doesn’t just have a Czech herritage in her (hence her last name ‘Ptak’, meaning ‘bird’ in Czech) but she also won the Miss Czech Slovak US for the year 2008-2009. She has been enjoying her queen days very much but the time is running out for her as the new miss is going to be elected in about a month or so during the famous Wilber Czech Festival in Nebraska (August 1st and 2nd). I did manage to get in touch with her just in time to do a short interview about her experience of being a Czech/Slovak queen in the US (by the way, she speaks fluent Czech!):

CZ: Krasna Sandy Ptakova nema jen ceske prijmeni, ale stala se take Ceskou/Slovenskou Miss US za rok 2008-09. Poslednich 11 mesicu si uzivala ‘kralovskeho’ zivota, ale cas uz se ji krati – 1. srpna se totiz na znamem ceskem festivalu ve Wilber, NE bude volit nova CS kralovna, ktera slavnostne prevezme zezlo na pristi rok. Sandy ale bude nadale sedet na trune neco pres mesic, tak jsem s ni stacila v rychlosti udelat rozhovor, aby jsme se dozvedeli, jaky ten kralovsky zivot vlastne je (jo, a abych nezapomnela, Sandy mluvi plynne cesky!!):

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. I already know that you are a 1st generation Czech and that you speak fluent Czech – that’s great! How did your parents ended up in the US? Were you born here? How was your upbringing?

- I am a fist generation American, born and raised in Anchorage, AK. My parents escaped Communist Czechoslovakia in 1980 and got to Alaska six months later in 1981. We have lived in Alaska the entire time we have been in the U.S. and I am so happy that we did. We never lost touch of our Czech heritage and we hold traditions by speaking Czech at home, cooking Czech foods, polka dancing and traveling to Europe to visit family among other things. In just a few months, I will be graduating from Portland State University with a double major in International Marketing and Management. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Czech Americans, festivities, traditions

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Czech-Americans in the 21st century: Questionnaire results – part 3 /Cecho-americane ve 21. stoleti: vysledky ankety (cast 3.)

istockphoto_2096987-toon-crowd1 Hi Everyone/ Ahoj vsichni,

This is the 3rd part of Ivana’s research paper on a current situation of Czech-Americans (myself included). I found these results rather intriguing (question no. 10) and also found myself pleasantly surprised at times (question no. 11 and 12). Check it out:

PS: for part 1 click here and for part 2 click here.

CZ: Zde je treti cast Ivanina veledila zabyvajici se situaci soucasnych Cecho-Americanu. Jsou to opravdu velmi zajimave vysledky, zejmena otazka c. 10 a otazky c. 11 a 12 mi udelaly velkou radost. Mrkntete na to:

PS: Prvni cast najdete zde a druhou zde.

• Question no. 10 asked about the knowledge of the Czech language among respondents (159 total). More than half, 82 answered positively, 77 acknowledged their inability to speak Czech. Out of the 82 respondents with knowledge of Czech language 31 also use it at home, 23 were relearning the language in courses. 11 respondents mentioned the way the knowledge of Czech language disappeared in their families, they all concurred in the assimilation forces and their parents desire to blend fast in the major American society from which arose the disconnection of passing the language to other generations. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: culture, Czech Americans, Slovak-Americans, statistics, traditions

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Czech-Americans in the 21st century: Questionnaire results – part 1 /Cecho-americane ve 21. stoleti: vysledky ankety (cast 1.)

google image Remember, when you guys were filling out a Ivana’s questionnaire in order for her to complete her Master’s thesis on Czech-Americans? Well, the results are here! Ivana did a great job and since it is quite a long and meaty essay I cut it up into parts (I did not want our brains to explode):

CZ: Pamatujete is lidicky, jak jste pred nedavnem vyplnovali Ivanin dotaznik? Iva ho totiz potrebovala k dokonceni sve diplomky, zabivajici se tematem dnesich Cecho-Americanu. Moc se ji esej povedla, ale jelikoz je to kusanec poradne prace, rozdelila jsem to na casti, aby se nam z tech informaci neprevarily mozky:

21st century – the Czech-Americans questionnaire survey

by Ivana Stavarova

Following the time line this chapter describes the lives of Czech-Americans in the 21st century. There are very little sources concentrating on this particular group of people now when borders are open and there does not exist any severe political, religious or social pressures that stand as push factors, especially any factors serious enough to push the citizens of an independent, free, and relatively prosperous Czech Republic to move to the USA and seek better lives there. [click to continue…]

Tagged as: culture, Czech Americans, Slovak-Americans, statistics, traditions

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Czech fairytale about the 12 months / Ceska pohadka o 12 mesickach

snowy forest/ flickr image To add to the diversity of this blog I decided I am going to introduce you to the world of Czech and Slovak fairy tales (and if you know all about them it may just be a good review for you). Since we are currently in the middle of – for some of us – quite the hash winter, there is no better suited children’s tale than the one about the Twelve Months (O Dvanacti Mesickach). I found it translated into English in the “Hudba in the Czech Republic” blog and that person did a marvelous job (Czech translation can be found here):

CZ: Ahoj! Tak jsem si rikala, ze bych mohla k pestrosti tohoto blogu take pridat treba pohadky. Vestina lidi ted dosti mrzne, tak jsem si rikala, ze je velmi vhodne venovat se pohadce O dvanacti mesickach, co rikate? Anglicky preklad jsem nasla na blogu zvanem “Hudba in the Czech Republic” a cesky preklad muzete najit zde (kliknete zde).

ONCE UPON A TIME there lived a mother who had two daughters. One was her own child, the other her stepdaughter. She was very fond of her own daughter, but she would not so much as look at her step-daughter. The only reason was that Maruša, the stepdaughter, was prettier than her own daughter, Holena. The gentle-hearted Maruša did not know how beautiful she was, and so she could never make out why her mother was so cross with her whenever she looked at her. She had to do all the housework, tidying up the cottage, cooking, washing, and sewing, and then she had to take the hay to the cow and look after her. She did all this work alone, while Holena spent the time adorning herself and lazing about. But Maruša liked work, for she was a patient girl, and when her mother scolded and rated her, she bore it like a lamb. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: books, children, fairytale, literature, traditions

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Christmas at our house – Czech style / Vanoce meho detstvi

The first tangible sign of Christmas was our (the kids) letter to Jesus. Yes, that’s right, in the Czech Republic Jesus brings the presents while Santa is on vacation ( I also remember bragging to my fellow classmates at school when I was about 7 years old that I saw Jesus’ feet just as he was flying out of our apartment window). When my brother and I were really little and didn’t know how to write yet, we would draw out the list of things we wanted for Christmas and put it behind the window so that Jesus could get a better look at it. My list always looked something like this:
1) dog
2) cat
3) Barbie

…..And I would usually end up getting a bunch of clothes that were 2 to 3 sizes bigger so that I could wear it for the next 8 years.

Second, getting the Christmas tree. I don’t remember much about that. The only thing I remember is how frustrated my parents would get trying to fit the stem into the tree stand. They kept trimming the stem down but somehow it never seemed to fit! But that is probably just a universal law….

Third, getting the carp. That event I remember quite vividly. Since I am a big animal lover, going out and buying a carp was a stressful day for me. I remember feeling so sorry for those fish at the seller’s stand, how stuffed they all were in this one tiny bucket with about 6 ounces of water in it and no room to breathe. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Christmas, communism, traditions

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Do Czechs celebrate Halloween? / Slavi Cesi Halloween?

Happy belated Halloween! Although I am not a big of fan of Halloween ( why the heck would I celebrate ghosts and witches and dead people??) I do like to dress up. You see, the Czechs don’t have Halloween at all; we celebrate the All Saint’s Day on November 2nd which is nothing like Halloween. People basically go to the cemeteries during the day and lay candles on their beloved’s graves to honor and remember them. “Well, do you guys ever dress up??”, you may wonder. And yes, we do! Except it is not on any particular day; it may be any day of the year and we call it the Carnival. I used to love carnivals when I was a kid. My mom would always make us our costumes, some year better than others, depending on if she was in a “carnival mood” or not. One time she made my brother a robot costume made out of old cardboard boxes and a bunch of aluminum foil. My brother won that year. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, humor, traditions

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Czechs and their love-hate relationship with fish / Miluji Cesi ryby nebo je nenavideji?

The Czech Republic, one of Europe’s largest fish producers, has one of the lowest rates of fish consumption. Freshwater fish like carp and sander are being exported to all over the world, meanwhile most Czechs eat fish (carp) only once a year during Christmas. The Minister of Agriculture, Petr Gandalovic reveals some possible explanations to this fish mystery:

customers have to prepare the fish by themselves, meaning one has to gut the fish – not a pleasant thing to do for most people
The stores now do offer filleted fish but it is still not common in the Czech Republic so people are a little intimidated by that [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: animals, food, traditions

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Czech potato salad / Cesky bramborovy salat

I love anything with potatoes (makes sense since it is genetically wired into my Czech genes): potato pancakes (Bramboraky), potato soup (Bramboracka), mashed potatoes (alone!), and most of all the Potato Salad! There are so many variations on this dish, and as my friend educated me the other day there is the “poor” version (potatoes, canned root of celery and mayo) and the “salad-for-the-rich” version, meaning that it includes “fancy” ingredients such as meat and eggs I chose to do the rich version just because it tends to be more interesting and also a little more tasty: [click to continue…]