Ukraine Food…Yummy!

The food in Ukraine is so yummy! Our first day here Natasha our translator took us to an open market, kind of like a farmer’s market, and we bought raspberries, new potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage. It is remarkably fresh and cheap! There are ladies selling their produce, flowers, and such every where you turn. And with the exchange rate, the prices are very low for us. A huge basket of freshly handpicked raspberries were 25 ghrivna or around $3.00.



So each morning, Kevin and I make our kasha (oatmeal) with yogurt (really creamy) and fresh berries. This is beyond delicious and holds us over until lunch. Kevin’s hoping that the daily oatmeal will lower his cholesterol numbers just like they show on the TV commercials.


Natasha has introduced us to a variety of Ukrainian foods: salo which is salted pork fat eaten on black bread followed with a slice of garlic; borscht - incredibly good even if it is hot outside; shish kabobs which is really just grilled meat; vernikis - stuffed dumplings; chocolate; tomato, cucumber, goat cheese, olives salad with a little oil & dill (scrumptious!), cabbage rolls - we told her we call them “pigs in a blanket” and she laughed and said she had never heard them called that before!

Kevin and I have ventured to the grocery store by ourselves as well. Most of the middle aisles are filled with things to drink, mostly beer and vodka. I really like the Coca Cola Light which is their form of Diet Coke. It’s sort of like a treasure hunt to go grocery shopping when you can’t read the labels. Once I thought I was buying salt, but instead brought home citric acid. Definitely not the same! One night we made sausage, sliced new potatoes, and onions at our apartment. Very good! Then, we used the leftovers scrambled with eggs to make a sort of hash the next day for lunch.

We are wondering what Bella eats. One day we got to feed her a jar of baby food that they brought us. She ate that like nobody’s business! However, she has not like the strawberries or juice we brought her--she just nodded her little head and said “nyet, nyet” (no, no) Yesterday and today, the orphanage workers asked us, using their own form of sign language, not to feed her. They patted their bellies, touched their mouths, and said “nyet.” We are hoping to get to watch her eat at a table with her groupa soon. She hasn’t been able to drink from a juice box straw or from our water bottle, so we are very curious, as they told us she is a very good eater?


As you can see, food is a very important aspect of being a Burckhard. Ha Ha! I am sure our little Bella will fatten up in no time...

Here's our Reece's Rainbow Families together at a Mexican Restaurant called Tequila House. It, too, was surprisingly good!



Paka…….Paula