Wednesday, 24 June 2009 17:43
Now that the title of this post has that song well and truly stuck in your head...
We turned on the AC this week. I know it's cruel to say that, when those in Maine and Upstate New York are suffering with a cold, wet summer. In Krasnodar, however, the sunshine abounds, as do the houseflies. Window screens are a rarity here, unless you make them yourself, so when our windows are open, the flies pour into the house. (How thoughtful of the humans to provide such a nice living room for them to rest in; a kitchen with such abundant crumbs to feed them!) At this moment, with the windows shut and the AC on, I count upwards of 30 flies in the living room alone. They'll all have to be killed, of course, which means someone will be busy washing windows this weekend.
Speaking of "Skip to My Lou" (see title of post,) an alert reader e-mailed me a news clipping from America that touted the benefits of kefir. This tart, yogurt-y, buttermilk-y beverage is a staple to Russians, who have long known that it's loaded with calcium, protein, fiber, and probiotic bacteria. I use it as a substitute for buttermilk in recipes, and drink it when I have an upset stomach. (It's also, by the way, supposed to help you lose weight!) Like most new discoveries in the Ethnic-Food-Becomes-Trendy cycle, kefir is cheap here, but expensive in America. Still, if you haven't tried it, you might find it well worth your while. In the summertime, we even make a cold soup out if it. Very refreshing!
Tomorrow, I'm off to pick cherries at a friend's house. I plan to fill the freezer and have cherry pie for Thanksgiving. I love this time of year!
