Lecso - pepper stew (in this case with smoked sausage)

We had lecso the other day. I was a bit worried how it will come out, since we do not have the classic Hungarian paprika. But it was a success. Ok, so because of the bellpeppers it was a bit sweet, but it was still delicious. We found two smoked sausages at an old German butcher in Whitestone. One of them was called "Hungarian smoked sausage". (It does not remind me of anything I know) We bought both kinds they offered.

csumazas - taking the seeds out

majdnem ennyi az osszetetel - this is almost all of the indogredients

saute some onions - hagymat dunsztolunk

let the liquid dissapte - hadd foje el a levet

use a few tomatoes, half way in - par paradicsom ugy amikor mar felig keszen van

the German and Hungarian smoked sausage - a nemet es magyar fustolt kolbasz

almost done - majdnem kesz

Nemregen lecsot csinaltam vacsorara. Egy kicsit izgultam, mert itt nem aruljak a klasszikus magyar paprikat. Igy holland paprikat hasznaltunk, es nagyon finom lett. Edesbb volt mint az otthoni klasszikus.
Elmentunk Whitestone-ba, egy regi nemet henteshez, es ott talaltunk fustolt kolbaszt. Ket fajta volt, az egyikuk magyar fustolt kolbasz cimkevel kinalgatta magat. Nem emlekeztetett semmilyen magyar kolbaszra, de azert megvettuk, meg a masikat is.

Are you a morning person?

I am not a morning person... I wish I were. I can imagine my life as such. Getting up in the morning, not feeling upset or groggy and going for a walk in the meadow, feeling the dewy mist on my skin as I look at the rich colors of wild flowers. Okay, okay so I don't have the meadow in the close vicinity :) But I do have poppies in the garden.
So how about making a pot of coffee, while listening to Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, U2 and the soundtrack of Amelie.  With coffee in hand,  grabbing my recent New Yorker to read two of my favorite contemporary authors (Jhumpa Lahiri, Jeffrey Eugenides) in the summer reading issue. I sit outside in the garden, and marvel at the plants as they stretch from the early rain...  and sip my coffee and read. And it is just the perfect morning.

So how did this happen to me? I have noticed that if  I wake at an early hour, I feel fine. Yet I don't get up. There is something magical about fluffy pillows and my husband's warmth next to me. At a later hour, when I go back to sleep for another round of memory infested dreams and someone wants to wake me up.... well I am not in a great mood. So today I got up, almost like an experiment, to see how this would go. And it is a gift I could give more often to myself.

Nem vagyok egy reggeli ember.... Persze szeretnem, ha az lennek.  El tudom kepzelni, ahogy felkelek, es nem vagyok lelassult es almos es felig meg az alomvilagomban. Szeretnem ha a hajnali harmat csiklandozna, ahogy a reten setalok es gyonyorkodom a vadviragok szepsegeben. Jo jo, hat nincs ret a kozelben :) de van pipacs a kertben.
Mi lenne ha felkelnek, es foznek egy jo nap adag kavet mig Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, U2 es Amelie filmzeneje zummog a fulemben?  Es amikor elkeszult a kave, felkapnam a heten kapott nyari irodalmi szamat a New Yorker-nek, es megkeresnem a ket kedvenc Jhumpa Lahiri es Jeffrey Eugenides irasait. Utana kiulok a kertbe es nezem ahogy a novenyek orultek a hajnali esonek, es nyujtozkodnak... Olvasok es iszom a kavet. Jol hangzott, pont ezt tettem. Es ez a reggel csodalatos. 

Meglepo, hogy ezt magamrol irom, hogy tortent velem mindez? Rajottem, hogy amikor koran reggel magamtol felebredek, nem vagyok fasult faradt. De mert koran van nem kelek fel, a parnaknak a puhasaga es a ferjem olelese az agyban tart. Es kesobb, amikor amikor valaki epp akkor ebreszt fel, amikor probalom az almomban az emlekek es almok utcait vegig jarni, hat nem orulok. Igy ma felkeltem kora reggel, majdenm mint egy kiserlet, hogy lassam, milyen reggelem lesz, ha magamtol kelek. Es ez a reggel egy olyan ajandek, amit adhatnek tobbszor is magamnak.

My husband is cooking today - traditional Italian Sunday sauce (with meatballas and sausage)

We had a friend over for lunch, and my husband cooked traditional Italian Sunday sauce.This is a custom among Italians, when the family gets together on Sundays. There are meatballs, sweet sausage and spicy sausage in the sauce. We served the sauce with cheese ravioli, which I don't have a picture of. When our guest arrived, I forgot to continue to take pictures.
For appetizers we served home made roasted sweet peppers, artichoke hearts, stuffed pickled peppers with prosciutto and cheese, salami with fennel seed and mozzarella with tomatoes, olive oil and basil.

If this menu makes you hungry, here are the pictures to give an idea how to cook this meal.

 

Atjott egy baratunk hozzank ebedre. A ferjem hagyomanyos olasz vasarnapi ebeddel varta. Az olaszoknal nagy tradicioja van a vasarnapi ebednek, a ferjem csaladja minden vasarnap ezt ette, mikor osszegyultek gyerekkoraban. Van a paradicsom szoszban husgomboc, edes szalami es csipos szalami. Sajtos raviolival talaltuk, de nincs errol kepem, mert amikor megerkezett a vendeg, elfelejtettem folytatni a fotozast.

Tobb eloetelunk volt, itthon keszult roston sult edes paprika, articsoka, toltott savanyu cseresznyepaprika, sajtallal es prochuttioval, edeskomenymagos kolbasz es mozzarella sajt paradicsommal es bazsalikommal.
Ha kedvet kaptal a felsoroltak alapjan ... itt vannak a kepek, hogy keszult az ebed !

Books I read - Squirrel seeks Chipmunk + The secret lives of dresses

I went to the library to pick up Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, but someone put the wrong book on hold for me. 
Sad. I was really looking forward having it in my hand, as I have requested it months ago. I have a really fond memory of reading Sinuhe, The Egyptian by Mika Waltari, so I was ready to go back to Egypt for a new trip. For the record, I would love to go Egypt for real as well.
So there I am in the library, and thinking I can surely find a book that I would be interested in.... and I have found two of them. One of them is David Sedaris' Squirrel seeks Chipmunk. I have read David Sedaris before, it was a no brainer, and I have also heard some of the stories featured in this book on NPR. I have to say I enjoyed it a great deal, but he has other books that made me laugh loud on the subway, this one did not.
The second book I knew nothing about, Erin McKean's The secret lives of dresses. Have to say cover marketing got me. (She has written linguistic books, but no novel before this one.) I liked the story, even though at times it was predictable. I am happy with a little bit of magic and appreciating vintage .... with a splash of interesting characters.

Ma nagy izgalommal mentem a konyvtarba, mert vegre ram kerult a sor par honapnyi varakozas utan, es haza hozhatom Stacy Schiff Cleopatra cimu konyvet. Honapok ota a New York Times sikerlistajan van, es jo sokat kell varni ra. De sajna nem tudtam haza hozni, mert egy masik konyvet raktak felre nekem Cleopatra helyett. Szomoru. Tini korom egyik kedvence Szinuhe volt, es ugy gondoltam megertem egy ujabb egyiptomi kalandra. Remelem egyszer szemelyesen is eljutok Egyiptomba, nem csak a konyveken at.
Na de ha mar a konyvtarban vagyok, csak talalok valami mast.... talaltam is ket konyvet.
Egyikuk David Sedaris uj konyve, aminek a cime magyarul nem is vicces, mert mokust jelent mindket szo pedig csak hasonszoruek. Mokus keres majdnem hasonszorut? Na jo, szoval akkor ajanlom hogy olvassatok el angolul, mert magyarul meg nem jelent meg...bar volt mar jobb konyve, de nem hagynam ki. Olyan szerzo Sedaris, akinek a konyven hangosan tudok nevetni mikozben a metron utazom, es nalam ez ritka.
A masodik konyvre veletlenul talaltam ra, be kell hogy ismerjem, hogy a borito kapott meg, a konyvrol, ill. a szerzorol nem hallottam eddig. A ruhak titkos elete cimu konyv Erin McKean elso regenye. (Sok lingvisztikai konyvet irt mar) Nagyon tetszett a tortenet, bar sokszor sejteni lehetett, hogy fognak alakulni az esemenyek. Viszont jo volt egy olyan vilagba csoppeni, ahol a regi ruhaknak tortenetuk es ertekuk van. Szeretem a mult hangulatat a sorok kozott. Es a karakterek is erdekes emberek, sorsok.