It’s winter here in Zambia!  This means cold enough weather that our noses run in the house, and it’s actually comfortable to wear jeans during the day.  For me, it means that I’m finally warm at work!  After 9 months of skirts and sandals, I’ve pulled out my wool dresses and boots again.  It’s still not very African to wear boots, but at least I can use winter as my excuse to survive the air-conditioning at the freezing Embassy.  For the first time, Jake and Eli do NOT want to get in the pool.

And it’s not hard to convince anyone to get into a warm bath.

Cold also means warm kitchens.  Mike and I have been trying some new recipes, like this spanish tortilla,

Warm Brown Sugar Brie Bites,

Moroccan Chicken with Olives

and Calzones.

But what would a warm, cozy kitchen be without tradition?  What would it be without soup?

Ahh, borscht…. the boys’ favorite.  Complete with cmetana (probably one of the only Russian words the boys still remember).

You can take the family out of Ukraine, but you can’t take the Ukrainian out of the family…

Love and miss you, Ykraina.  Always.