traditions

Hello all. 

I thought I should finally end the Blogmas 2021 "saga," thing. Let's go!

Day 17

On this day we had the chance to win another premium account, by participating in the contest on Facebook. 

Since I already won, I didn't participate again, even though I want and need one for my review site. But don't worry, there's still time in the future. And at the time i didn't have a good use for it. And others also want and need it, maybe more than me. 

Day 18

On this day, we were supposed to complete our Christmas gifts. I'm going to half-ass the description for this day. I can't really remember what i already said about the gifts i prepared.  

We did find this pig statue with a feather collar. We bought it for Anna's mom. She loved it!

Anna received mostly items decorated with a pink flamingo or red birds. But this piglet statue is fabulous and i can't say anything anymore. :) 

Day 19

For this day, we were supposed to have a positive attitude the whole day. 

What can i say? since i started taking my antidepressants, having a more positive attitude or mindset is far more easy than before. 

However, i don't think on this particular day my attitude was too positive. It's silly and ridiculous to think people can have a certain state of mind on command. Actors might be able to pull it off, as this is their job. 

Day 20

On this day, we were supposed to wear or showcase a Christmas sweater. The platform also offered a 50% sale for its premium account option. 

We don't have Christmas sweaters, but we have many pairs of seasonal socks. Mostly received as Christmas gifts. You can see one of these pairs in this entry.  

We still have and use it, along with any other we will still receive in the future. 

Day 21

On this day, we were supposed to talk about cooking for the holidays. I feel this topic is redundant at this point. I feel as if we already talked about holiday foods twice already. 

One of the stuff to be cooked on this day is the cozonac. We actually ordered ours this year. We also ordered one of the next beauties for Anna's parents. 

Apparently, it was delicious! The place where we ordered it from usually sells ice cream and it's super popular in summer.  

Day 22

On this day, we had another chance to win a premium account. No more comments here. 

Day 23

On this day, we had to make the life of another better, by donating stuff we don't need anymore. 

I'm actually a member of a local free-cycle group on Facebook. We donate there various items quite often. We also took many things others had no more use of. It saves us quite a bit of money, and people scratch one another's back rather often. 

The variety or value of the items being donated is rather high at times. 

Day 24

On the last day of Blogmas, we had to share good resolutions. And I'm not sure what this means. 

This means i don't have much to say to begin with. And the result is that i finally finished last month's daily challenge set by my platform, Over-Blog. 

I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year's Eve. :)

I think the next entry will be in the first 7 days of February. Until then, check out my site with reviews. At its current URL, the posts appear twice per week, on Mondays and Thursdays!

Until next time!

© Charly Cross 2013 – present. all rights reserved.

Hi all!

Let's continue with Blogmas in January. Well, if you were living in Russia, you'd be celebrating Christmas in January, actually. At least there's that, i suppose. 

Once again I'll batch a few days together, mostly because i failed to post it in December, as I mentioned in the previous post. 

Day 12

On the 12th day, we were expected to mention or make a list of our favorite Christmas movies. 

Just like with seasonal music or the wreath, I'm not a fan of such movies. 

I can't remember if we watched any movie in December. I did watch Star Trek The Next Generation. And yes, I'm more of a Trekkie, and definitely not a fan of Star Wars, sorry. :( Currently, I'm watching the Deep Space Nine series. 

Day 13

On this day, we once again had the opportunity to earn a premium or business paid account for our blog or site. 

This time I participated and ....

I actually won!!!! YAAAAAY!!!!! I'm really happy about it! :D 

Nothing more to talk about for this day. 

Day 14

Today's challenge was related to the food we planned for Christmas. If you remember from last year, i may have mentioned we usually have traditional foods we eat for certain celebrations. This link may refresh your memory.

One of the dishes you can expect to see Salad a la Russe. While the recipe is the same year after year, the design will always be different. This is the recipe I use, in case you haven't seen it yet. 

I made probably 3 plates and a casseroles of salad. The casserole went to Anna's parents, as her mother was sick and couldn't stand or sit for too long. As such, we offered to make the salad for them. 

These are most of the plates i decorated for this Christmas. I'm surprised to see just how clear and crisp the image and colors are. Well, If I'm not mistaken, these were taken with my new iPhone 8, so maybe this is why. 

For this salad, the carrots and almost everything should be cooked or pickled, including the carrots and pieces of red bell pepper. My carrots are boiled, and the peppers are raw. The salad is better with these 2 decor pieces as pickled. 

As a side note, the last image is the salad for Anna's parents.

Day 15

 I don't think I have much to report for this day. The admins of the platform said today's international tea day. or something along these lines. 

They asked if we prefer tea or coffee. Well, i prefer coffee, though I drink quite a bit of tea as well. If you want to know more about tea in Romania, this link can help you out. 

Day 16

On this day, we're supposed to go to the Christmas market. Last year we didn't have one. This year we did something organized, but it was disappointing. 

For starters, there was an entry fee, we needed proof of being vaccinated, to wear the mask, and it was MUCH smaller. Furthermore, it didn't even really have the usual stands with traditional Christmas food. 

And there was also no Kurtos Kalacz, or chimney cake, either. 

Here are some of the pictures I took at the event: 

Actually, it seems i lost the pictures from the actual market. These stalls are an "unofficial event" taking place in the heart of the city, in Union Square. 

The picture with a few chimney cakes being cooked, is from a several-year-old event happening at yet a different location. 

This year, we didn't buy anything from the Christmas market nor from these vendors. 

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello all! 

Today we continue with the blogmas for 2021. As you can see, I'm a month late with this. I was very busy back in December, and i couldn't finish it on time :( 

I'll try to catch up now, in January, as I'm not inspired to write about anything else. 

Without further ado, here they are!

Day 7

Giving a second life our entries. Hmm, this is something I'll need to think about and possibly write a separate entry. 

I guess, revisiting the entries and re-editing them to sound closer to our current writing style, yes? 

I probably should do this with some. This action is good when considering re-branding. Speaking of rebranding, this entry will tell you more about some other things to consider if you want to re-brand your blog, site, or whatever.

Day 8

For the 8th day, we had to create a wreath. If you remember from 2020's blogmas, on December 15, we had to do this. Except I'm not doing that sort of thing. We don't really care about Christmas in this house, except the gifts.

Instead, I arranged some magnets in a circle. Of course i repeated what i did the year before. This year I have different magnets I found at the dumpster (next to it). I got rid of the old ones, except for 2. The little doll with blond hair is not a magnet.

My favorite magnets are the pink Dutch clogs, the green building, the flamenco dancer, San Francisco Colorful Ladies, and the blue door from Morocco.

Day 9

For the 9th day, we had to enter a contest for a premium account.

I didn't win because I ddin't even enter. I checked the challenge too late. The next day, late. 

There's nothing more to say about this event. 

Day 10

For this day we were asked to write about "zero waste." I wrote something similar in July, called "why isn't all single-use plastic banned" or something among this line. You can read it here, if you haven't seen it yet. 

 I do want to say that i can't see "zero waste" being possible, at least not yet. The idea is actually to reduce the amount of waste we produce daily or weekly. Additionally, we should also reduce the amount of stuff we buy, and buy only if:

• we really need it 
• we really like it

Buying less means less waste and more money in our wallets. This is great!

Day 11

For this day, we were asked for Christmas gift ideas. We could also share what we bought to give away as gifts. 

Obviously, back then, I couldn't post what i bought. But now i can. Well, everything i bought was decorated with birds. The majority of the birds i got were flamingos. 

The most spectacular gift was the paper gift bag itself. This is red, with some sparkles. Then, I also got a set of 2 plates. These are also red, decorated with some flowers and birds. I think these 2 were the 

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello all!

I promised I'd post more often, but one makes plans and God laughs. 

So, on Saturday the 4rd i had to finish a project, and i focused all my efforts towards it. 

Let's complete the challenges!

Day 3

The challenge was to create a playlist for Christmas. 

If there's anything i dislike more around this time of the year, or in general, is Christmas music or songs. All of them. 

Instead, i prefer calming music, the type that allows you to relax and make you feel cozy, warm, and that generally puts me in a better and calmer mood. 

Lately, i listen most of the music the youtube channel "Cappuccino" puts out. I play the songs for autumn the most because .... see above. 

I have no more words. to add here. 

Day 4

For the 4t of December we had to decorate our Christmas trees. I'll just attach a picture of mine. 

It is placed UNDER a table because the space is small and there was no room. In the other room there are cats and i don't trust them NOT to ruin the tree. 

Since it's a small tree, i can't add too much on it. I also removed that santa or snowman thing. It was overbearing the tree and the other decorations. 

Day 5

For the 5th day, the challenge was very easy: we were supposed to relax with our families. 

This is just what i did, since i had just finished a complicated project and I was mentally tired and stressed. 

Day 6

We were asked to redesign our blogs in the colors of Christmas. 

Clearly, this is impossible for some people out there who try hard to keep a steady image. 

Personally, i like my blog the way it is, i don't want to change it for any celebration. I'm not even sure how to do that. Should i write this part in several colors? LOL

 Stay tuned for the rest of the entries tomorrow!

Hello!

It's already December, and this means it's Blogmas time! if you don't already know, last year i participated in the blogmas challenge that my blogging platform set up. :D You can read last year's blogmas at this link! 

If you're wondering why I wasn't present for the past few months, I'll clarify (a bit) after i complete the challenge for the day. 

As you can see, this is day 2. For the first day, we had to enter a contest for a premium account. Which i did but did not win. It's OK, I hope there will be other occasions. 

For the 2nd day, our "challenge" is to write a list of ideal gifts for this year's Christmas. This should be really easy, for anyone. 

Including for me. Or is it? Well, here it goes, in no particular order, though some are more important than others:

• A new phone
• The laptop's back to be repaired
• A bottle of Chanel no 5 perfume
• To fix my first sewing machine
• A pair of old/vintage tailors shears
• A premium account for my blog and site {will be live again starting January ;)}
• My geraniums to bloom more, the ones in water to grow roots
• My kalanchoe to bloom again

If you're curious if last year i had a wishlist challenge, I did. You can read it here. And for the curious, I had 5 wishes, and 3 of them came true :) Spoiler alert, not the serger or the "enough money to buy a house," but it's better than nothing. 

 And if you were curious as of why I went MIA ... I was extremely busy. and depressed. I started therapy and treatment.

I'm getting better and i hope to be more active from now on. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello everyone!

I'm not sure I was supposed to post anything today, but I realized this recipe wasn't moved from my old cooking blog. I thought it might be time I moved it. 

Quite honestly, I almost forgot I still had recipes on that old blog. 

As you'll see, the pics are very bad, undated, but they're from at least 2015. That's why they're bad and I don't have a visual step-by-step of the process. 

Ok, below you'll see the "original" post. Enjoy your reading!

Coming to Romania you'll want to try some traditional food, even though I don't believe there is any dish that is exclusively "traditional Romanian." What you'll eat instead is food almost every Romanian knows how to make, especially in the countryside. Sadly, eating this in the capital, might not taste the same as it would in some forsaken village, but this doesn't mean it won't be tasty.

Polenta seems to be every peasant's replacement for bread and therefore eaten mostly with other foods. However polenta is so popular it can be eaten by itself as well.. well sort of by itself. Mixing it with butter and some type of salty cheese will make it delicious and a dish that can be served as a stand-alone.

• 1 liter of water (or less)
• some cornflour, better known as polenta in some countries. [all i know its that it's dry, yellow, rough, and made of corn]
• some salt
• between 1 and 3 spoons of butter - margarine also works
• some cheese - feta cheese is just an example. Make sure the cheese melts, you'll thank me later.
• Optional:
  • black pepper
  • boiled egg
  • bacon or sausages

• Place the water with salt on fire and bring it to a boil.
• When it starts to boil, start slowly adding the polenta-corn flour. Make sure to mix in a circular motion with a wooden spoon. You're better off at mixing with its handle - it mixes better, trust me on this one. Make sure it boils well!
• Cut the cheese into small cubes. Best size? about half your thumb finger.
• Add the cornflour until the mixture thickens and sticks to your spoon. It is done when you have the impression you can form balls with it, without them falling apart. You'll want it rather thick and sticky than runny or soft.
• Add the butter and mix well. The butter will soften the mixture - this is what you want.
• Add the cheese and mix. The cheese will start melting - this is what you want to happen. ;)
• Add some black pepper on top after you serve on a dish or in a bowl.

This dish is best served hot, especially in winter, but having it cold in summer is just fine too.

I like it warm regardless of the season, lol. You could say this is a type of comfort food for me.

Here I had it with some fried soy pieces and some bell pepper. You can have it with sauerkraut, sausages, fish, and almost any other food that has sauce.

Bon Apettit!

PS: yes, all these failed pics are mine -_-' I need to make polenta again and to take better pics of the process. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present.

Happy new year! 

I have no idea since when you guys read my ramblings here. But with a quick search in my past entries, you'll see that at the end of each year, for the past 2 or 3 years, i tried to post some "End of the year thoughts". See here, here.

This time i decided against it. I have more reasons:

• All December I had work to do (my main job)
• I tried to do/did blogmas (see my recent posts or the link)
• I have this entry where i drew a bit of a line for 2020.

For blogmas day 10, we were supposed to talk about the Christmas menu. And I did. And i mentioned that, traditionally, in Romania, people like to make salad à la russe. 

I looked through my shared recipes and i noticed that i haven't shared this one yet, despite having made it quite a few times already. 

Well, now's the time to share the recipe! 

We wanted to make a lot of salad this time around because we really like it. This wasn't the best idea ever but we did it anyway, so here we go.

We used for the salad:

• 2.5 kg potatoes
• some 4 carrots
• 4 -5? pickled cucumbers
• some salt
• 1 big jar of peas (already cooked, drained)
• egg-whites from 1 or 2 boiled eggs

We decided to make our own mayonnaise, but to also buy some, in case I fail at making the mayo. I remember the first time I made mayonnaise - it was thick, yummy, and I was proud of myself. 

Most likely, after that, I was over-confident, as the next other times I made it, it didn't turn out quite the same. Oh, well, we live, practice, and then we become better. 

For the mayo I used:

• 1 egg yolk (from a boiled egg)
• 1 raw egg -whole
• some mustard 
• some salt
• oil (as much as needed)

For decoration: (you can use what you have on hand, these are the most common things you'll see in Romania, on this dish)

• black olives - pitted
• pickled red peppers
• pickled cucumbers
• pickled carrots
• fresh parsley (not other herbs)
• hard-boiled egg(s)

For this salad, we have to boil the potatoes and the carrots, then dice them. The dice shouldn't be too small, nor too big. You want the dice to be actually smaller, rather than larger, so that the salad would have a smoother appearance. 

If the dice are larger, the salad will look as if you made it with rocks and boulders instead of potatoes.

We decided to boil these 1 day ahead. And as you can see from my pictures, i boiled the potatoes for far too long. They shouldn't crack like that. The potatoes should be cooked, but firm for this salad.

Maybe I should have used red potatoes? I have no idea, but almost every time I try making this dish, I overboil my potatoes and they're far better mashed than diced. 

As you can see, I used larger pieces of carrots. I think by weight, the carrots are half the weight of the potatoes, maybe even less than that.  

Given the quantities, you'll need a very large bowl in which you'll throw everything for mixing. 

I suggest that on the day you want to prepare this, you first make the mayonnaise. If you don't want to make it, you better buy 2 bigger jars of mayo. 

To make things better, get the fancier, more expensive brand. It should taste better. The type and taste of the pickles, as well as that of the mayonnaise, are the secrets to this dish.

These 2 ingredients will make or break the taste of the whole thing and will decide if you like it or not. 

So, to make mayonnaise, you have to mix the hard-boiled egg yolk, the raw egg yolk, some salt, some mustard, with plenty of oil. 

The best tool for mixing, I noticed/learned to be the vertical blender part of your mixer. You add the oil bit by bit, and you might also need to add some salt and mustard from time to time. 

If you think the mayo looks too thick (almost like cream cheese) you can add the raw egg white as well. Try not to add it all at once as you could ruin the result, or it may take some time for the mayo to re-gain a decently thick consistency (yogurt-like). 

Once you figured the mayo out, cover it and put it in the fridge to rest. Now you can start dicing the potatoes, carrots, and pickles.

You throw these in the large pot/container along with the drained peas. For reference, I used the pot in which I boiled the potatoes after cleaning it.  

At the end, you can also throw in a hard-boiled egg you diced. This improves the taste of the salad. Don't forget to add some salt in with everything, or this will be a bit sweet and tasteless. This is not something you want.

As you can see, I diced my potatoes in sizes that are a bit too big. They should have been half that size, thus slightly larger than the peas. I also forgot to add the salt. And that's not the only thing i forgot to add. 

Now, it's time to add in the mayonnaise and to get your hand dirty. Mixing with a spoon is fine, but I feel I have better control over the mixing process if I use my hand. 

Once you're done, you can transfer the salad to other containers or plates, for decoration. I used 2 plates and a big soup bowl - i forgot its name. 

 And then, you'll need to use your imagination on decorating these. Nature-inspired decor (like flowers, or the sun) looks the best - somehow it balances out the heaviness of the mayonnaise. Red, orange, and black give it a nice visual contrast.

Above, you can see the decor I came up with. I had black olives in the fridge, but i forgot about them at first. I added some after, but i didn't take pictures anymore. 

Like i said, this is best eaten the day after you prepare it, so that the flavors mix in a bit more. We eat this usually on its own, but with bread. Extra pickles also work, as there is plenty of mayonnaise to make one nauseous. I think it's served before dishes with meat. 

I hope you can give this salad a go and that if you do, you'll enjoy it as much as we do. 

Bon Appetit! 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello all!

So today I'm supposed to plan the menu for Christmas. Except I don't need to because every year we eat the same thing. 

See, here in Romania, there are a set-in-stone celebration dishes. Everyone makes the same food. Rarely there's any variation. 

One of the first things that need to be made for Christmas, or any other big celebration that is, is the cozonac. 

I personally never made one, so I don't have a recipe for it. As type of food, this is a dessert. By the method used to make one, it is a bread. So basically, it's a sweet bread and traditionally it has a filling made of nuts and cocoa. Rum (the alcohol) or rum essence (flavoring) can also be used in the filling. 

Of course, nowadays it is very common for city folks to buy one or a few. In the country side, it is still being made the traditional way.

The cozonac found int he city comes in different shapes and flavors, with some of them better than others. 

Another dish that cannot be missing from the Christmas table are the sarmale. This dish comes from Turkey and if you know that dish you'll know this one as well. 

We have cabbage leaves wrapped around a filling made of rice mixed with meat. Generally, the meat is a mixture of beef and pork. I talked a bit about the filling in this article. 

You just have to take about a spoonful of filling mixture and put it on the cabbage leaf, then to roll or pack the whole thing neatly. We'll most likely receive some Sarmale, if everything goes smoothly this year, considering the virus. 

Sarmale are labor intensive and this is why they're kept for special occasions. These special occasions can include weddings and funerals, especially in the countryside. 

Another dish you'll see is the Oliver's Salad, though it's usually called Boeuf Salad or A la Russe. There's actually a small difference between Boeuf and A la Russe: the former has meat and the latter does not. Otherwise, they look the same and generally have the same ingredients. 

The ingredients are boiled potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles, black olives, and mayonnaise. Everything gets chopped and mixed together. It is usually decorated with olives, boiled eggs, and red pickled peppers. This salad i plan on making. I made it before, and i can't believe i have zero pictures as proof, though i had some pretty ones made. 

That's what it can look like and the link will take you to a recipe in Romanian. Google Translate can be your friend.

This salad should be made a day or two in advance, so that the flavors mix well. It's definitely a dish that tastes better at least the next day, and it has to be kept in the fridge. 

The taste depends greatly on the pickles used as well as on the mayonnaise. It's best to make the mayonnaise at home, from scratch as it tastes better than the one from the store. 

Many people would prepare many dishes based on pork, as they butcher a pig a few days before Christmas. The most notable dishes are steak and home-made sausages. 

Some people will replace the pork with a roasted chicken or maybe beef. 

This is it for now! see you in blogmas day 11!

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello everybody.

This entry is for both days 7 and 8 of blogmas that i decided to participate this in.

DAY 7

The challenge for Day 7 was to enter a contest. The prize of the contest was to win 1 year of premium membership. The contest was held on Facebook. 

We were 4 contestants in total and the result was that i was not the winner. But maybe other contests will be held in the future. who knows.

Since there was no topic to write about, I had no real thoughts about the challenge itself, therefore i didn't post.

DAY 8

Today's challenge or theme is to write or talk about the gifts we prepared this year for our loved ones. 

I prepared the gift for the most important person in my life. However, i can't really talk about it. now now. I did prepare the blog entry talking about it and it will appear on the blog on the 26th or 27th. 

All i can say about it is that something my person wanted for quite some time. I managed to make it in about 2 days in total. It doesn't really look like the exact item my person wants, but i still hope they'll like it. 

However, i can show you a sneak peak of the item. 

I also have a pair of trousers made of the same fabric - 'm wearing them as i type this. i use them as pajama pants. The fabric is very thin so it's perfect for summer and not winter, but i don't feel cold right now. 

We also play this Subeta game together, and i prepared some gifts there as well #spoiler, ooops - because my person reads my blog. 

You can't tell me how to spend my currency! >.< ;p 

This year we have spent a bit more than we expected, on certain products. 

Someone put next to the trash a bottle of white French wine that i already gave away to someone. You now me, i'm not ashamed to pick stuff from the trash. /leShock/ And mind you, the bottle was unopened. This is the only reason i got it. 

I also really needed to give that person something, though they don't/didn't fully deserve it. Here it wouldn't have been consumed anyways - i don't like white wine and my person is allergic to wine. 

I want to make at least one more gift for my person, but im not sure they'll use it. I'm pretty sure they'll like it, just not really use it. And if i'm right, don't want to make something that just takes up more space, collects dust and so on. 

I guess this is it for today. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello there!

Apparently there are 20 days to Christmas and now it seems to be the reasonable time for appropriate seasonal decors. 

It rather makes sense since it's not too early and not too late either. Plus, you can keep the decors on for longer, if you wish, or if you celebrate on January 7, like many Russians do. 

In any case, as i mentioned in previous posts, here and here, we never really decorated for Christmas in the years we lived together. 

As you can see, we managed to have a tiny potted tree before that we managed to somehow decorate. 

Sadly, this year there is no tree. Instead we have faerie lights. or Christmas lights. 

The failure comes from the fact they're too short. I didn't pay attention to what's written on the box. They are also cold light and about 8 different lighting modes.

We hang the lights on the curtain rod because we no longer have a curtain. Anna is allergic to dust and we have to limit fabric items like curtains or other home decor, as much as possible.

There aren't much decors this year because we had to save money for a new computer, which was postponed by a pretty urgent surgery for Anna as well as many medicines. 

I have some greeting cards i forgot to put out and i'm not sure i want to display them. but maybe i can still add some small things around the house. 

This is it for now. See you tomorrow.

December 18 update!

In the past 2 or 3 days, our living room became a bit more festive! 

On the 15th we went out to search for something and we came back with something else: glass, hand-painted bauble for the Christmas tree. 

We don't have a Christmas tree, so I hung it on the lamp. The cats won't be able to reach it there and I know it will be safe from other accidents as well. 

It is lunch time but it's so dark outside and indoors. i used the flash to snap this picture and the bauble looks black. it is actually beige and all the colors are more creamy. 

We also bought another set of faerie lights. These ones have a warm light. i placed them on the door to the living room due to technical reasons (proximity to an outlet). 

I think they pair well with the previous lights. 

If we add more stuff to the room, I'll update this entry again. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.