I want pierogi and kielbasa

What brings into existence an angry, hungry Polish monster?
a) another night of pizza,
b) lack of Polish food supply in current living location,
c) looking through old traveling photos and seeing her parents enjoying good Polish food,
d) all of the above

The answer is clear.

Happy palak paneer and sushi!

I mean, Happy Valentine's Day! We celebrated it the Palmer style - Indian restaurant for lunch and sushi for dessert. And yes, it can be done...
Personal favorites today: the entire menu of Passage to India. It's always superb, but today it reached a new level. Especially enjoyed the cucumber salads! My favorite chicken tikka masala was more tomato-y than usual, which only showed to me that the meals are prepared from scratch - it's always different, yet delicious every time. Plus, I think I like the more-tomato-approach to the tikka masala.
Sushi - great, but not excellent. I am truly impressed with Sanders' sushi night and this meal did not compare. Good adventure, though!

Chinese New Year

On February 13th we attended the Chinese New Year party organized by UND Aerospace for the Air China students. We had delicious food, although I would have liked to celebrate it for 15 days, as they do in China. Favorites of the evening were the dumplings, jiao zi. Preparation of the dumplings is compared to packing good luck inside them.
I learned how to say happy new year in Chinese, but by now I forgot it all...

Blizzard Brett

As the blizzard passed through town, it left me with some memories:

• Getting my car stuck and paying a guy with a truck $50 to get it out of the snowbank;
• Walking my dog in the blizzard, as he will not calm down until he has his exercise;
• NOT going to school...

The highlight of the day included building a sleeping fort in the living room and watching movies!

Asian Dinner Party

Joe, you make the best pot stickers in the world (from scratch)! Also featured Asian beef salad with homemade dressing, chicken lettuce wraps and shrimp fried rice. I provided sushi, which is not pictured because you all know that I am a sushi pro! The feast was followed by laughs during a creative match of Catch Phrase; exam-cylinder-child is certainly the last resort hint for test-tube-baby...

Palmers' New Year Palooza

We welcomed 2010 in style by throwing a party at the Palmers' Palace. Good food, great company, and Jackson sure enjoyed being fed little smokies by everyone when I wasn't looking. It was little sad to say goodbye to 2009, as this was the year of many adventures and life changing events. But I can only hope the new year will bring even more surprises and good fortune. Happy 2010!

Noth Pole Dakota

After the long drive from Wyoming we came home to every North Dakotan's dream - snow shoveling. We do not own a snow blower, and our shovels were not up for this task. Fortunately, we are blessed with good friends and Mark showed up to help. Here are some photos commemorating this special day.

Avid knitters

Since picking up the skill of knitting from a friend, I hardly let the needles out of my hand. Melissa and I have been working on various projects; scarfs, headbands with flowers (check out my talents below!), booties for kids. Ufda, it is a lot of work!
PS Did I spell "ufda" correctly?

Snowshoeing in the Mountains

Enough of the lounging around and munching on Christmas goodies! Snowshoeing seemed like a perfect opportunity to get fresh air. We drove to the other side of the Teton pass where we found beautiful snow, unlike on the slopes of Jackson or Teton village. Great weather, fluffy snow, fun company; that's all you need.

Ninja

Since I have made the commitment to run the half-marathon in May, I have been slowly preparing for it and trying to run outside when the temperatures are at least positive. Between the North Dakota winds and mountain cold I needed a good balaclava, since I have been borrowing one from a friend. Well, Aaron and I both got our wishes!

Sleeping Indian, Sleeping Knight

The Sleeping Indian mountain in Wyoming reminded me the Sleeping Knight, or Giewont, in Poland. The old legend says that when Poland is in danger the Knight will wake up and defend it. The old joke is, "so what is he still doing there sleeping?", as Poland has been attacked many times.
Giewont is first, followed by the Sleeping Indian. Similar, aren't they?

Can you see the moose?

Preparations for Christmas

Is this more fun than actual Christmas? Sometimes I think so. My favorite pre-Christmas activities include shopping for gifts, baking cookies and making gift baskets.

Pearl Street Meat and Fish Co, Jackson, WY

Today, Lynne Marie and I went out for lunch to a wonderful little shop, which not only included a deli, but all kinds of other products that you may not find elsewhere.

Admiring the delicatessen.
Home-made soups and breads. Famous chili was featured. After a long time of pondering what I should have for lunch I opted for a sandwich with one of my all time favorite foods - smoked salmon.
Cakes! Too bad I did not have room in my tummy for dessert...
Left upper corner - seaweed salad. The clerk offered a sample and it was delicious!

More candy, please!

Before going to the play of "Alice in Wonderland", Melissa, her friend and I stopped by candy store, Yippy I-O and picked out a good snack for the following few hours at the theater!