Creature comforts

-
As I have mentioned before, food is a pretty big concern for us, and for most people overseas and far from home. When I was younger, I loved sweets. Nowadays, I still like sweets, but overall I tend to gravitate more toward savory foods. In Germany, we were very lucky  (depending on how you look at it) to a) have a great bagel shop across the street from us and b) have a lot of Dunkin Donuts. 

Here in Sarajevo, aside from the oddball 'Italian doughnut' booth at a winter market, neither are present. So if you have a craving for one or the other, you really have only one option. DIY.
   
That was my day yesterday. The end result being we had donuts and bagels, and a house that smelled like a donut shop. 



  Today has not been that ambitious. It was, for the most part, an ugly grey rainy day where for a brief ten minutes we saw a ray of sun. And then it went away. I did end up making more bagels today (because, bagels), but not the donuts. 

Today's bagels!


  Because we still have a bunch of donuts, and I needed to pick up more shortening. Which is actually a thing you can buy here, and it is called biljni mrs. So if you bake, and you are going to be posted here, now you know the word for vegetable shortening. You're welcome!
P.S. It looks like this: 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tutorial: Repairing the dust cover on your furniture or box spring bed.

-
Image
Do you have a pet or small child that has trashed the underside of your Drexel or bed? Are you nearing your PCS and looking to fix the damage before somebody comes by to inspect your furniture for damage and bill you accordingly? Then today's tutorial is for you! This is a pretty easy repair to perform on your furniture, and the materials you will be using are inexpensive. All you need are the supplies, time and patience. Let's begin. What you will need: staple gun and staples scissors flat head screwdriver Sharpie or similar permanent marker needle nosed pliers material for the dust cover - you can use the internet and get yourself Cambric Uphol Fabric , or you can use black landscaping fabric , which gardeners use to line their flower bed (and protect plants from weeds) if you have a local supplier at post. . As you can see from the photo above, this ottoman's dust cover has met with an unfortunate fate. In this shot I have already removed two o...
Read more

Modo dictu

-
Image
 As mentioned in an earlier post, we went home on R&R to Florida for the holidays. It was awesome, and the weather was pretty amazing our entire time there. We did it for the usual reasons (family, friends...holiday at home!). Getting a break from the air pollution ( which was horrible our first year at post in the winter ) was a goal as well. We also went back for medical checkups. You might be saying to yourself, "Why would anybody go home on R&R and get routine medical exams done?"   Maybe you've never run into this problem before at a post during your FSLife, yet. I know how it sounds. I have thought the exact same thing, word for word , in response to someone else saying it to me. It's ok if you think i'm just a crazy crank who is never happy and or paranoid after reading that. I have some days when I think that, too. But for those of you who don't know or have not guessed it yet, the answer is because post does not have local providers on t...
Read more

Zen and the art of Drexel maintenance.

-
Image
As we near the end of our time here in Sarajevo, the urgency of 'getting stuff done before packout'  has increased. One of those things would be the furniture we don't own, but have to take care of while we're at post. The Drexel. So, if you are getting ready for you first post, already at your first post, or an old hand at this but looking for other ideas to make your life easier (and take less of a hit on your pocketbook at the end of a tour), keep reading.  I like saving money, and I don't like to spend it on things I don't have to (like damages to furniture I don't own), so I try to keep embassy furniture as clean as possible over the course of a tour. This is no easy feat because the furniture has a tendency to wear easily (poor fabric, weak seams, poorly designed casters, etc.). But when you add kids, you are pretty much guaranteed stains, all the time. That you will need to clean, all the time. So, this week has been solely focused on fixing ...
Read more