Wandering America
August 2007 - Part II
We were featured as "RVers of the Month" for August 2007 by RV Resources
| Another Polish Treat Well, we did it again - another Polish meal; however, I almost lost my title as a Polish Chef. We had Russian Pierogis and the recipe left out a lot of little secrets about making them. The ingredients were all correct but the technique was missing. What I did not realize was the importance of the consistency of both the farce (filling) and the dough. My first attempt had the dough way too moist and it stuck on everything, the counter, my hands, the fork, etc. So I called for the expert and Paulina came to my rescue, She also informed me that the farce was too moist as well but we were able to work with it anyway, it just made it a little more difficult (messy) while forming the pierogis. But "all's well that ends well" and the pierogis were delicious, thanks Paulina. Russian Pierogis are filled with a potato mixture called farce that includes dry cottage cheese, chopped onion (finely chopped and slightly fried), a little sour cream to get the consistency of the farce just right, seasoned with quite a bit of pepper, and salted to taste. The dough is made with flour, water, and salt (an egg is optional). However, the key to making pierogis is in the technique itself which I will not go into here. Once the pierogis are prepared they are boiled in water with a little salt and canola oil and then fried in butter or canola oil. Paulina was a good teacher and I will attempt this task again.  Because Paulina enjoys Italian Meatballs I prepared some to have along with the pierogis and Judy made a chocolate cherry cake with chocolate frosting for desert, Yum, Yum. This dinner was not for those counting Weight Watcher points because it will definitely "eat" up your daily allotment as well as the weekly bonus points and probably some of tomorrow's points also.  Our guests were Joe, Shawna, Magda, and, of course, Paulina. It has been fun getting to know these young people this summer and we will surely miss them. Joe leaves for college this week, Shawna will be off to school after Labor Day, and Paulina and Magda will be returning to Poland in September after doing some traveling in the USA.    Buns Vs. Rolls Speaking of food the one thing that Judy and I have not been able to find west of New England is Hot Dog Rolls and that has been very disappointing to us. Try as we may, we have not been able to explain to our friends in the mid-west or the south what the difference is between buns and rolls. Well, here are a couple of pictures of hot dog rolls that we hope will help. We prefer the rolls because you can toast them, either on the grill or in a frying pan, and they don't split apart on the bottom when you put your hot dog into them. Besides hot dogs you can use them for tuna, crabmeat, lobster rolls, etc.   Internet on the Road People often ask us how we get internet while we are traveling. Up until now the answer varied depending on our location. We have WIFI capability on both of our computers which means that we only need a "hot spot". Quite a few campgrounds have WIFI available, some provide it free and others charge a fee for the service. Also, most libraries have WIFI service which means that you can sit in your vehicle outside the library and get online. Many fast food establishments provide WIFI service for their customers, so you can have a cup of coffee and/or a sandwich and get on line while sitting at a table. While at Lake George Escape we paid for Time Warner's Road Runner service which is through the cable television hookup provided by the campground. However, with all of that said it was still a hit or miss proposition and we needed a more permanent solution. In March Norm Payne (seeya-downtheroad.com) set up an EVDO system which included a Merlin S720 Air Card from Sprint, a Krocera KR-1 router, and a Booster antenna with a Wilson 3 watt amplifier. I kept in touch with Norm making sure he was happy with his set up and he has been so far; so I went ahead and purchased the same system. This provides us with our own WIFI system which means we are a "hot spot" wherever we are located. The only downfall for this system is that we will not have coverage everywhere while we are traveling as the signal is only available wherever there is cell phone coverage; however, we will be able to get online most of time while we are traveling around the country. This system provides both Judy and I the ability to get online at the same time (we don't share well) and should one of our friends be parked next to us, we can provide him/her with the password and they will be able to get online as well.    A Stranger Along the Way We typically don't stop for strangers along the side of the road but we just had to stop and hear about this guy's story. He stands firmly in front of the local Hasquvana store in Warrensburg, New York which has really different operating hours (7:30 to 8:00, 12:00 to 12:30, and 4:30 to 5:30) which means I wasn't able to get the details. I'm sure he has an interesting tale to tell and we would have enjoyed hearing it. But, I can tell you that he is carved entirely out of wood and that there was a lot of detail put into his creation.  An Unexpected Surprised In March we visited one of Judy's friends from way back in the 80's when we lived in Connecticut. Her son accepted a pastorate in Speculator, New York and, being that we were close by, had invited us to attend his installation service on Saturday, August 25th. When we arrived we noticed that one of the speakers was Kurt Carlson whom we had known while worshiping at Second Baptist Church in North Stonington, Connecticut. He along with his wife Elaine and son Alfredo had made the trip to northern New York. Later, before the event began, Dick and Connie, also from North Stonington, arrived as they were vacationing in the area. It was an excellent installation service with very good speakers who held your interest. Afterwards we were able to sit and visit with our old friends at the reception that followed the service. There was a lot of catching up to do after twenty years.    Winding Down Being that we are winding down here in the Adirondack Mountains, we didn't do any sightseeing in the past two weeks. It's time to get the RV ready to roll. Our site was located right next to a heavily traveled intersection in the campground and the dust has been unbearable at times, that means lots of cleaning both inside and out. Between the dust and the pine trees the top of the rig was absolutely a mess, I washed the roof once and need to do it again. Then the entire coach needs to be washed, I will wax it once we get to Maine. We have been getting together with our fellow workampers for the final farewells. We went to dinner with Tom and Anne who also travel with a ragdoll katt named Banks (he lets them live with him in the motorhome). Next we went to dinner with Bob and Chris to a nice Italian restaurant named Sergio's. Very good food, but quite pricey - we had lobster ravioli, Yummy!   Banks Anne and Tom Silbernagel arrived at Lake George Escape twenty minutes before we did back in May. That first day, as we were out walking about, we stopped and introduced ourselves. As I was looking in the door of their motorhome a katt appeared. As it turned out they have a pure bred creme ragdoll katt, just like Alex. His name is Banks and he is smaller than Alex but shares a lot of the same coloring. Banks' tabby katt markings on his face are much more pronounced than Alex's and he is absolutely beautiful to look at. Ever since that first day we've visited often just to spend sometime with Banks., Whenever we knock on the door we can hear Tom holler, "Banks, your friends are here!" - we are definitely katt people - meow!!!!    Something New on the Website There two new buttons located on the menu bar on our Home Page. They are entitled "From Darrell's Chair" and "Judy's Corner" (yes I finally cornered Judy). Please go ahead and check them out for yourself to see what they are all about. Until next time, happy and safe travels to all. |