Homemade Tortilla Chips (with no oven)

Good morning everyone! I'm continuing on a cooking spree, because I'm feeling quite ill and don't want to leave the house. Thankfully my lovely boyfriend has been bringing groceries home, so I can relax here.

Today, I made tortilla chips from a thin Russian bread called lavash. I couldn't find any tortilla chips here, so I reasoned that I could just fry some of my own. It turned out well, and the results go well with salsa and sour cream (the avocados here are questionable, so sadly no guacamole). It's very simple to make, but it requires constant attention!


Homemade Tortilla Chips

Ingredients and Cost:
Lavash (1 or 2 large pieces): 1.50 GEL
Salt: .50 GEL
Olive Oil: 4 GEL

2 large pieces of lavash will get you the equivalent of a family size of chips, and will cost about 1.75 USD to make. Simple, right?
1) Turn on a burner, cover the bottom of a pan or pot with olive oil, and wait for the oil to heat up. Have pieces of lavash, in the size of chips that you want, ready to toss in the pot.
2) Fry them until golden brown, flipping to ensure evenness.
3) Once the chips have been fried, carefully remove them from the pot, lightly salt, and place more pieces of lavash in the pot. Do this until you have fried all of your bread! You may have to pour more olive oil into the pan throughout this process.

Once all the chips have been fried and salted, let them cool, add some salsa or cheese, and feast!!

Thanks for reading :)

Mia

A Trip to the Doctor's

Good evening my dears! I have a lovely little anecdote for you today. It begins with me feeling suddenly ill at school, calling my insurance here, and having them set me up with an appointment at a clinic. I left school a few hours early, thinking that all would be well...

Dun dun dun.

The problems began when I Google Mapped the clinic's location, and realized that I couldn't walk there. Alright, I thought, I'll take a bus. Wrong. I got onto a bus that went down Chavchavadze Street, which is the main street by the clinic...and I missed the stop by a good 15 minutes. Realizing that I would be late, I hailed a taxi and shelled out the 5 lari to get there.

Once I got there, I felt secure in that at least I would see the doctor and get some help. Again, not exactly on point- no one at the clinic spoke English, and my Russian does not extent to specific medical conditions. I told my doctor what was wrong (I'll spare you the details, but it ended up being a UTI), she repeated it back to me with lots of hand gestures, and we went downstairs to the lab...which is when the real fun began.

Apparently, just to be safe (and my insurance is amazing), she decided to give me every test she could- I received an ultrasound (my kidneys are doing splendidly), a GYN exam (at which time I took this picture...fairly alarming), and finally a few samples, for which I had to return the next day. Needless to say, I looked up more specific vocabulary for my ailments when I got home, something I should have done before I went.

The next day went much better, and I ended up getting a few prescriptions, zipping over to a nearby pharmacy, and everything was fine in a few days.

Lesson of the day: if you're not a native speaker, and you don't have a translator, bring a Russian or Georgian dictionary with you to the doctor's. Believe me, you don't know the word for _____ [whatever you're sick with].

THIS SITE IS INCREDIBLY HELPFUL FOR JUST THAT: https://www.healthinfotranslations.org/

Thanks for reading!

Mia

Stove-top Coconut Cafe Mocha

Good evening everyone! For those of you who don't know, my current living situation is somewhat unique- I don't have a fridge, and every coffee shop nearby is alarmingly overpriced. DIYers, I think you know what's coming next...it's time for a crazy stove-top mocha recipe!

Stove-top Coconut Cafe Mocha

Ingredients and Cost:
Coconut shavings: .70 GEL
Vanilla sugar: 2 GEL
Turkish coffee powder: 5 GEL (varies)
Condensed milk (it keeps better outside a fridge): 1.50 GEL
Water

I found all of this (aside from the coffee, which I bought in a small cafe on Rustaveli) at the new Smart store on Rustaveli Ave. As you can see above, the total cost for these ingredients is about 10 lari (around 7 dollars), and you will have the majority of each ingredient left over for future recipes!

Now for the baking!
PLEASE NOTE: If you prefer your coconut shavings to be melted as opposed to floating on top, add them when you add the Turkish coffee.
1) First, put about 6 cups of water into a pan.
2) Add two tablespoons of your favorite Turkish coffee, stir, and wait until it starts to boil.
3) Turn down the heat to its lowest setting, and spoon in two tablespoons of condensed milk. If you have a sweet tooth, add more!
4) Stir the mixture to ensure the milk is distributed evenly. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar, and continue stirring.
5). Turn the heat up once more, until the mocha is at your desired temperature for drinking. As soon as it reaches that temperature, add in a tablespoon of coconut shavings. They will float on the top (unless you added them earlier).

Makes 4 servings.

Ladle into a coffee cup, perhaps add some more milk, and enjoy!

Thanks for reading :) I'm off to organize some pictures, and get in a nice workout.

Mia

An Unexpected Tour

Good evening my dears! As some of you know, I've been in the Republic of Georgia for about a month now (I've been awful about blogging, that will be remedied). I've been living in Tbilisi, but mostly cooking for myself and just going to school.

Given the domestic nature of my life, I was alarmed when my parents decided to come and visit me last weekend. I've barely started exploring the city, much less acquired enough knowledge to give tours to someone else! So, when they got here, I did what any sensible person would do- I told them they needed a tour guide.

After my boyfriend and I negotiated a tour of the city, my family and I were picked up the next day by a smiling chain-smoking man by the name of Dato, and a lovely English and Russian speaking tour guide named Tamara. We then embarked on an epic 4 hour tour of the city, visiting places that I'd never heard of, alarmed churchgoers (it was Sunday), and even spotting the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church!

 This is a picture of my parents in their palatial hotel on Rustaveli Ave. Notice the chandeliers...and the marble.

This is a view of Tbilisi from one of the many churches on the mountains here. You can see the old fortress on the mountainside, as well as the older buildings in Old Tbilisi. 

 Oh no, another church on a hill :) But really, it's a Georgian tradition! This is the famous church that overlooks Tbilisi.

 My parents conveniently arrived the weekend of Tbilisoba, which is Tbilisi's Days. There was a carnival in the streets, and horses everywhere. The smell of kebab filled the air!

 This is the Trinity Church, the most important church in the Georgian Orthodox Church. Every Sunday the Patriarch sits there on his throne and ministers to his followers. As you can see, it's massive, and covered in ornate decorations. The inside is cavernous as well, and filled with beautiful paintings of saints.

Well, that's all for now! Thanks for reading :)

Mia

"You're leaving the country again?"

Well, holy moly, am I bad at writing! You should see the journal Roy got me last Christmas- it has three entries. Obviously, I'm not the most prolific author, but I think that by having one of this blogs that I'm honor-bound to post in them every once in a while, especially when something major happens in my life.

The important thing actually happened about a month ago. Better late than never, right? 28 days ago, I finished my degree at UW Madison and FINALLY commissioned as an officer in the US Air Force. Don't get too excited, because that commission doesn't mean anything until I'm on active duty, which will be happening on ___. I had a date of 1 Oct, but I got it pushed back because of two other things that have recently transpired- 1) I'm going to Georgia (the republic) to teach English in August, and 2) One of my best friends, Julie, is getting married in December! Although it will be difficult to reconcile these two events, it's going to be a lot easier now that I won't be in Intel School in Texas.

Don't get me wrong, I've wanted to actually do something useful in the military for years, but you have to take advantage of the opportunities that you find in life, and this teaching job (1st-6th graders!) is absolutely amazing. Not to mention the fact that Roy is coming as well! We'll hopefully be living in the same apartment, and teaching in the same town. Depending on when I EAD, we may have time to (finally) go to St Petersburg, and at the time of year I've always wanted to go during!

I'll also be doing something a bit strange by coming to Julie's wedding in early December...and then flying back to Georgia to finish teaching. I have my reasons, the Georgian government officials in the Department of Education are contract sticklers. But make no mistake about it, she's worth every penny!

As for what I'm doing right now, I currently maintain a building and its nighttime financial transactions, as well as doing quality assurance, a.k.a. I work the night shift at the 7/11 in Madison. Not too exciting, but it's money, and the people are friendly. I think if the third shift were more exciting, I'd be less happy about working it...

On a side note, today is Daddy Day. Thanks for all you've done for me Mel, I know we haven't always gotten along, but you always tried your best to give me a better life. Most people don't know that I had to be talked into going to college instead of the military, and then talked into taking the Air Force scholarship I received and not the Marine Corps one. Part of me will always wonder what would have happened had I taken a different path..but then I stop being crazy, and realize that this was definitely the best path for me. Thanks for everything, Dad.

Mia