Food Glorious Food

Our first month in Saratov we spent a lot of time figuring out how to get food! Our host Natalia took me to a large supermarket on the outskirts of town on our first day here – the Supermarket Real. She was helpful in identifying the best juice to buy and figuring out what everything was. Things like flour and sugar come in much smaller amounts that what we are used to. She advised me on the best brand of toilet paper (imagine my surprise when I realized the orange toilet paper I bought actually smelled like oranges)! To the delight of Katie and Dylan she advised me to buy a “sweet cake for the children.” We were well stocked after that first shopping trip but quickly ran through the meat and fruit that I had purchased. Now what to do?

Thankfully I have a resourceful husband who likes to run. Ken would run in the morning and find local sources for food. Our most common place to shop is the local market. This is an indoor/outdoor market (for you PA folks it reminds me of Green Dragon/Roots but on a much smaller scale). This market keeps us stocked in fruit, bread and snacks. The fruit here has been a pleasant surprise. It is delicious. I wasn’t sure what kind of quality we would get in winter. We just had grapes the other day that were almost the size of golf balls! The snacks here have been fun to explore – lots of mysterious cookies and chocolate yummies. The kids like to go and try new snacks. We definitely have a few favorites! We can get meat at the market but have only bought chickens. The beef and pork are butchered to order and we haven’t figured out how to do that. It’s also not fun to order a pork chop with the pig’s head looking right at you! The kids are always eager to avoid the meat section of the market!

Ken also has discovered a small corner store near our flat. We always laugh at its’ name – Socialism. Yes, I have shopped at Socialism! The store is very tiny but carries a nice variety of items.

On one occasion when we were running low on meat and getting tired of chicken Ken ventured out to a store by the Volga. He stocked up on meat and other needed items and then trudged it all back home – he had sore arms for a few days. Then, we hit the gold mine! Ken figured out how to take public transportation to Supermarket Real! He made a trip to the store and I was giddy because the freezer was stocked with meat! We are planning a trip to the store tomorrow!

Cooking has been interesting. We only have a stove top, no oven! We believe that the microwave is a convection but haven’t figured out the buttons yet. I have had to be creative with cooking under these conditions. Imagine cooking with no stove and limited supplies (only fresh fruits, pasta, rice, some veggies and limited canned/prepared foods). It has been interesting. If you have easy stove top recipes, send them my way!

We have been eating out a little bit. There are lots of little café’s and restaurants that are cafeteria style. We also have a favorite bakery that is close by. Yesterday the kids and I ventured to the pastry shop and bought cake and piroshki (meat pie) to surprise Ken on his first day of teaching. It was yummy.

Eating has been different – no cereal for breakfast. The kids eat a lot of yogurt, bread and fruit. Lunch is bread, cheese, fruit, leftovers, or family sausage (hot dogs). Dinner is whatever I can create! I miss pretzels, cooking with an oven and my spice rack! I love all the fresh food, Russian cheese and the pastry shop!