Daily life

Inspired by the Polish Village of Zalipie

November 2, 2018 by polishhousewife 6 Comments

Inspired by the decoratively painted homes, the painted dog houses, the painted everything in the village of Zalipie, about 40 miles northeast of Krakow, I’ve done some ornamental painting on the cement block wall that fences off our back garden from those of our neighbors. Something I’ve been thinking of doing for years.

a small building in Zalipie, Poland decorated with floral paintings with a little snow on the wooden shingle roof

The Village of Zalipie

Surely, you’ve seen photos of Zalipie. They make the rounds on Facebook and Pinterest periodically. The comments and posts that accompany the photos give the impression that this is a tiny little village, where every single house is heavily decorated.

I pictured something akin to the Ethnological Park of Wielkapolska, with a lot of whitewash and folk art added – a place where one could amble between one quaint painted cottage and the next. While I only know Zalipie from online photos, my best and most accurate description of the lovely flower covered village comes from my travel blogging friend Jonny Blair, the author of the website Northern Irishman in Poland.

In his post on Zalipie, Jonny tells us that the village has a Bed and Breakfast, a pub, and a fire station all appropriately decked out in the flower motif. The village was a little more sprawling that he had anticipated, making it difficult to find everything on foot.

Headlines I’ve read about the village give the impression that every structure is covered in painted flowers, charming as it may be, that is an exaggeration. Reports vary, but 20 – 30 buildings in the village are painted with flowers, many are not. It’s a little off the beaten path, and well worth the effort, I’m sure. I just wouldn’t want to you be disappointed if you make the trip.

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History of Zalipie’s Painted Homes

The tradition of painting flowers began well over 100 years ago when soot covered surfaces were painted white and then decorated more colorfully. Interestingly enough, their paint was made from a powdered dye and milk which I guess isn’t all that far-fetched considering tempera paint used was mixed with egg yolk in medieval times, and for all I know, it still is.

a tree in the Polish village of Zalipie decorated with a painted floral motif

©Jonny Blair, used with permission

The most popular decoration for the houses was flowers, and the tradition has grown and become more popular, putting the village on the map of many travelers. Think of the commitment to keep this up! Over 100 years of floral painting means a lot of touch up, something they continued even during World War II.

One of the most famous painters was Felicja Curylo, her home was heavily decorated with flowers and is the one most often featured in photos of the village. It’s now become a museum, but has recently been closed for renovation.

Bringing a bit of Zalipie to our home

For decades I’ve toyed with the idea of paining something on our fence other than the HOA prescribed earth-tone house paint, on the inside of the wall, of course. It was the painted village of Zalipie and the encouragement of my friend and colleague that finally put my paint brushes in motion.

Why is it that there are so many fun projects in my head, and so few of them are actually started, and even fewer are actually finished? I’m definitely better at starting projects than finishing them, somthing to which my husband and daughters will attest.

I was sharing the usual photos of Zalipie with my friend, who happens to be an artist, over lunch one day. She is a big fan of bold uses of color and encouraged me to decoratively paint much more of the wall than I have. Who knows? Perhaps there will be more.

Recently, she was riding along with me, when I made a trip home at lunch one day. She lives closer to the university, in a more historical, more colorful part of town. As we pulled into our driveway, she said, “you know this doesn’t even look like Tucson to me. It could be anywhere in southern California.” That is so true. The homes are stucco and very beige. They could fit in anywhere in the southwest.

Ours has just gotten a little more unique. At the encouragement of our daughter, also an artist, I used stencils rather than attempting to do something freehand on cement block (a difficult surface on which to paint!). While a floral damask pattern might have been more truly Zalipie, I found some great stencils inspired by Talavera pottery, in keeping with the Mediterranean feel of our stucco walls and red clay tile roof.

I’ve seen outdoor acrylic paints, but considering the intense Arizona sun, I bought sample sizes of exterior house paint. Hopefully, I won’t need to touch up as frequently as the ladies in Zalipie.

I’d love to hear about what you do to personalize your home.

Pozdrawiam,

Lois

Planning a trip to Poland

October 9, 2018 by polishhousewife 8 Comments

As I write this, it’s been almost four years since we returned to the United States after living in Poland for five years. When we left, we told friends that perhaps we would spend our summers in Poland in the future. Everyone leaves Arizona in the summer if they can! We’re both still working, so summers away aren’t an option yet.

We did, however, start saving for a return trip as soon as we’d both found jobs. $75 a week straight into the savings account. Now, some years and a few dollars later, we’ve made a return trip to Poland.

Planning the trip was enjoyable, but complicated. We ended up making a calendar of our two weeks to keep track of everything we were trying to do, and I’m pleased to say the actual trip lived up to expectations. I think this is due in part to the fact that we’ve made this trip frequently enough that we have some confidence in the arrangements that we made.

I’m sure some of you have made the journey to visit family even more times that we have and will have your own tips to share. But if that’s not the case, if you’d like to visit Poland but aren’t sure where to start, here are a few things to consider to help you become a confident traveler too.

Planning your flight to Poland

A little flexibility in your travel dates can yield big costs savings. We shifted this two week trip forward by two weeks once we started checking airfares. It reduced the price of our tickets by almost 50%. The same was true when I was planning to visit Ed in Poland on his birthday years ago. High summer fares were still in effect. Waiting a week or two to make the trip, made the flight much cheaper and gave us more money to do things with while I was there.

When selecting a flight, we like to have a two hour layover at every stop. It gives you time to change terminals if you need to and allow for a little cushion if you’re delayed. It can be done with a shorter layover if you’re lucky. I once had a ticket that only gave me 45 minutes to change planes in Frankfurt. It meant jogging through the airport (or at least moving as speedily as a woman in need of knee replacement surgery could move) and added some stress to my day, but I made the connection.

I consider two hours an absolute minimum for the first stop when returning to the US. You’ll have to go through passport control and collect your luggage to go through customs before rechecking your bags, and this can take a while. Sometimes, two hours isn’t enough, three hours might be more comfortable.

At the other end of the spectrum, watch for long layovers. A very long layover, if you know someone in the city, can have a plus side. More than once, I’ve spend the day visiting our daughter who lives in the Bay Area when I had a 12-hour layover at SFO as I was returning to Poland. The airline was taking care of my luggage and I had time to do a little sight seeing and grab a meal with her before going through security again.

I have also avoided some long layovers because the last thing I want after 18+ hours of flying is to have a 6 hour layover in the Denver airport before I can catch my final flight to Tucson.

This is why we often fly out of Phoenix rather than Tucson. It’s a larger airport with more flights in and out. The flights tend to be cheaper, offer more alternatives, with better connections. So consider larger airports that might be a bit further away, but have much more to offer.

As for the actual purchase of the flight, we search everything to get the best price with optimal layovers. Ed is a big fan of Kayak because he can compare so many options at once. I like to check Hotwire for a bargain. Sometimes we’ll see an airline flying our route, but something about the flights isn’t quit right, I’ll check the airline’s website and often find even better options at similar prices.

Some tickets on Kayak are actually being sold by travel agencies rather than the airlines. Be mindful of these, if you want to make a change you have to go through the travel agency. I ran into this on our trip. I had a very long layover and noticed that my carrier had two flights leaving for my destination, but when I asked about moving to one of the earlier flights, I was told that I would have to check with the travel agent, and I hadn’t kept their contact info handy.

Traveling from Arizona, on the western side of the US, to Poznan, it always took us three flights. Flying east, the first takeoff to last landing was usually 18 – 21 hours. Flying west, against the Jet Stream, we could plan on 21 – 24 hours. There are a lot of things to consider.

If I was traveling with our dog, that added a whole new level of complication. It might make sense to cut the number of flights to two by traveling to Chicago and the Warsaw on LOT, the Polish national airline. Knowing that traveling the last leg in our car would be much more comfortable for all of us.

Speaking of comfortable, when I made my first trip to Poland, I found the flight across the Atlantic to be unbearable. It’s long, you’re tired, the seats are too cramped to get comfortable and sleep. The claustrophobia of being in such close quarters for so long was an enormous source of anxiety for me.

I have no qualms about the flying, it’s the lack of personal space for such a long time. I asked my dentist who travels a lot what he did to cope with this. He said that he always got the the airport early and had three beers. My physician helped me find a solution that suited me better by prescribing something to help with the anxiety on long flights.

Finding a place to stay in Poland

Whenever possible, we like to stay close to the sites we want to see in a city. It just gives you more hours in the day. Again, we search all kinds of websites. For lodging, Ed likes Booking.com because you can key in whatever criteria you have, need on-site parking (not always a given), pet friendly, etc. It’s often possible to reserve a room and still have the ability to cancel. He also enjoys the map feature because map study comes highly recommended as you’ll read below.

I suggest that you check Hotwire again for bargains although cancellations are not possible. On one night as we were passing through Berlin, we stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, a few steps above our usual hotels. It seems to be a bargain on the weekends. The same room on a weekday, $440, definitely out of our price range. The one night was a fun treat.

Have you used AirBnb? I’ve used it multiple times in the states and have always had great results by considering the comments from previous guests. I booked AirBnB for both Polish cities on this trip. The result, very nice flats in exactly the part of town we wanted to be in, at half the cost of a 3 – 4 star hotel, and we had a washing machine in Poznan and could therefore pack fewer clothes. We also get the feel of a neighborhood rather than just the touristy or commercial spots surrounding major hotels. Both locations were places that I’d stay again.

There are other options for non-hotel stays. Just do a google search for vacation apartment rental in the locations you’re considering. I know people on short term work assignments who are renting furnished apartments for $40 per day.

I know many young people who find travel affordable by staying in hostels. Just a word of warning, in some situations, they only thing you’re being guaranteed is access to a bed. The room will most likely be shared with others. You may or may not have a way to secure your belongings, and the toilet may likely be down the hall.

Using your smart phone in Poland

We used to have two sets of phones, one American and one Polish. Our carrier, Verizon, now has a plan that can be added to your phone and made them usable in Europe, and I suspect that others do too. For $10 a day, only on days that you use it, we had our normal calls, text, and .5 gig of data. The $10 a day quickly adds up, but it does add a great deal of convenience.

Public Transportation in Polish Cities

The most common way to order a taxi in Poland is by way of text message (SMS). Send the address and time of pickup. The taxi company will respond when they have a driver, sending you the make, model, and color of the taxi that will be picking you up. Taxis are very affordable in Poland, and a great way to get around. Remember the legal blood alcohol limt is .02. So if you plan to have even one cocktail or beer, don’t drive!

As for taking the bus or tram, you’ll want to use the website or phone app jakdojade. It works in multiple cities and can help you plan a trip from one address to another, even giving you a map of the routes and showing the portions that you’ll need to walk. You can also buy and validate your ticket with the app, as I did when I hopped on a bus leaing my Warsaw AirBnB and heading to the Central train station.

Uber has come to Poland! We used it multiple times. In Poznan, most rides will cost you 10 zl or about $2.50. There were often predetermined meeting points for rider and driver. The map in the app will show you where to go to be at the nearby meeting place. This was something I hadn’t experienced before in Tucson, a very car friendly city. But I can see the need because a car can’t always get to or stop for a person on foot.

Traveling between cities in Poland

When thinking about travel from one city to another, most Americans think of a car, as in “we’ll have to rent a car or we’ll have to hire a taxi.” Remember the train! Rail service is excellent in Poland. Do look for express trains when possible. You can buy tickets at the train station (try to do this in advance if possible) or even purchase online (approximate a month in advance). We used trainline.eu and liked that they offered the ticket delivery by email rather than snailmail.

We have never used Eurail passes, but I will pass along a few tidbits. They must be purchased while you’re still at home. They can’t be purchased in Europe. You need to validate (time/date stamp) your Eurail pass when you begin using it, and be sure to make a reservation for the trains you intend to take.

Consider a bus, one of my Polish friends often takes holiday trips via motor coach. They’re very clean and comfortable. This same friends had a rude awakening when she decided to travel via Greyhound bus on a trip to the US. Her overnight trip from Las Vegas to Tucson was not the experience she had expected.

If you do decided to drive, we found that an international driver’s license was unnecessary. Rental car companies and the police if you were stopped wanted to see your American driver’s license. We had Polish car insurnace when we lived there, so now, I would probably buy the coverage offered with the car. I don’t know that my stateside insurance will cover me overseas.

All things money related in Poland

While Poland is part of the European Union, they are not part of the euro zone. Polish currency is the złoty, and it is divided into 100 groszy (cents); the exchange rate with the US dollar is about 3 to 4 złoty to one dollar.

In Poland, one exchanges currencies at a kantor. You’ll spot them because they always have a sign in front of their doorway advertising their rates for various currencies. Rates vary and will be less favorable at airports, train stations, etc.

We always found it more economical and convenient to find an ATM (bankomat) and simply get some złoty. We also used our debit and credit cards to make purchases almost everywhere. When given the choice, I make my charge in złoty becuase I think my bank gives a pretty good exchange rate.

I’ll warn you that there is a national obscession in Poland with people paying with the correct change. It’s not that they can’t make change for you, they just prefer not to. I think it goes back to the Communist days, when maybe there was a shortage of coins (and everything else). Clerks will grab coins from your hand if they see you have enough rather than breaking a bill.

Don’t let them take all of your coins because you will often encounter pay toilets in many locations (train stations and some gas stations come to mind) and will need about 3 złoty to get through the turnstile.

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Map study

My husband, Ed, a former fighter pilot is very big on map study. The first thing he checks is how to get from where he arrives to where he’s staying, and the same thing in reverse when its time to leave.

Google maps also points out attractions. You might find points of interest or historical significance near you by studying the map. You’ll also find nearby coffee shops and restaurants.

Check out other places you want to visit. Evaluate the distance from where you’re staying, is it a good walk? Will you need transportation?

Knowing the map, and watching our travel on it also helped us point out to a taxi driver that he’d taken us to the wrong location, same hotel name, wrong address, even though we had shown him the address on my phone.

Plan your visit to Poland!

If you’ve been thinking about visiting Poland, I hope you’ll go for it. The countryside is green and bountiful, the architecture is beautiful, and the people have a strength and history of which they should be very proud. I’m so glad that I’ve gotten to know some of it.

Pozdrawiam,

Lois

What is Bipolar Disorder?

March 30, 2018 by polishhousewife 10 Comments

“At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of. They should issue medals along with the steady stream of medication.” – Carrie Fisher

Hello Polish Housewife readers,

My name is Rachel, and I’m writing this guest blog to spread awareness for World Bipolar Day. Some of you may remember that last year my mother wrote a post about why this day is important to her — because I, her youngest daughter, have bipolar disorder. She talked a bit about her struggle to accept that I have this illness and the need for more open conversations about mental illness…. So here I am to contribute to the conversation.

At first when I started writing this, I wanted to summarize the nine years it took for me to get this diagnosis, but the more I thought about it, I felt like a better place to start might be to talk about what is bipolar disorder… Bipolar is an affective (mood) disorder, but like pretty much any other mental illness, bipolar is just a label for a cluster of symptoms. Even within the blanket term of bipolar disorder, there are four main types that describe the variation of episodes someone experiences. Beyond that there are still several more sub-types and classifications, but for now let’s focus on the basics of mood episodes:

Mania: high energy, decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, grandiosity or extreme irritability, high risk behavior, possibility for delusions/psychosis. Hypomania: similar to mania, but less severe symptoms(no psychosis). Euthymia: a state lacking bipolar symptoms(“normal”). Dysthymia: chronic low mood/mild depression. Major depression: loss of interest/pleasure in activities, sleeping significant more or less than usual, overall depressed and possibly irritable mood, suicidal thoughts (in severe cases psychosis can also occur during this time).

So, if we look at my lovely diagram, we see that BD Type-I(1) is the only one that experiences full blown mania. Often, people with BD-I will also experience depressive episodes, but depression is not necessarily required. BD Type-II(2) experiences episodes ranging from major depression to hypomania. Statistically, people with type-II tend to spend more type in depressive episodes than those with type-I, but again, that’s not always the case. Then we have Cyclothymic Disorder(3), which ranges from dysthymia to hypomania.

If you wanted to continue grouping up these states into affective disorders you would also see Dysthymic Disorder (ranging from euthymic to dysthymic) and Major Depressive Disorder (ranging from euthymic to major depression)… so where’s the fourth type of bipolar that I mentioned earlier?

Honestly I wasn’t sure how to draw it other than putting some squiggly lines with a question mark — Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (BD NOS)… This one is a bit more complicated. There are several sub-types that clarify the nature of this particular diagnosis, but basically BD NOS means that you experience episodes of manic and depressive symptoms that don’t fully meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) criteria for any of the other types.

Within all of these there are still more fairly basic classifications to consider… Are there psychotic features present? Mixed episodes? What about the speed of the episodes? As I mentioned, psychosis can occur in mania or major depression. Mixed episodes are when both manic and depressive symptoms occur at the same time — and trust me, that’s physically painful.

Then as far as speed, you have the kind of “standard” cycling which is as many as three episodes per year. These episodes can last months or even years. Four or more episodes in a year then falls under rapid cycling, generally meaning episodes last weeks to months, but then there are still shorter classifications of that. We also have ultra rapid cycling, which means episodes lasting days to weeks… and while four days is the minimum amount of time required for an episode as far as the DSM is concerned, there are still some people who go faster. Although it’s supposedly rare, some people can cycle between episodes within a single day. This is called ultradian cycling.

Why ramble off all of this information? So that you’ll have a bit more understanding of what this means:

Bipolar Disorder Type-I rapid cycling with mixed episodes and mild psychotic features

That’s me. Or at least, sometimes can it feel like that’s me. Without treatment, or when treatment stops working for any number of reasons, it can feel like I’m losing the battle — losing myself — to my illness as it prevents me from functioning. Crippling panic attacks. Uncontrollable sobbing. Suicidal ideation. Overwhelming rushing thoughts. Upsetting and sometimes terrifying delusions… to fight it, I see doctors regularly, adjust my life to follow my treatment plan, and constantly analyze my own thoughts and behaviors looking for any new or worsening symptoms… when so much of what you do revolves around fighting and anticipating to fight an illness, sometimes it feels like it’s taken over. However, my boyfriend really put it best when he found out about my illness and immediately hugged me and said, “I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t define you – it’s just a part of you, and that’s ok.”

It’s a part of me. Always has been, always will be. I will be taking medication for the rest of my life so that I can be at least what I call “relatively stable,” Relatively stable means that my episodes stay mild to moderate, and I’m able to fight them enough to maintain at least an outward appearance of being “normal.” If I absolutely have to cry in the middle of the day, I can hold it back until I reach the bathroom. If I’m feeling like I chugged 5 cups of coffee at 2am and my mind is racing around and around about the possibility of someone breaking into the house, I can keep myself in bed and argue over and over that my dog would bark if anyone was there until my antipsychotic medication kicks in enough to outweigh the mental energy and put me to sleep. I’m not suicidal. I’m not psychotic. My cognitive abilities aren’t horribly impaired. I’m able to be at least reasonably efficient at work, eat a reasonable amount of food, keep myself reasonably entertained, and get a reasonable amount of sleep.

It doesn’t define me, though. Most of the time I am able to function pretty well. I was even in complete remission for most of the last two years. Still, even while unstable, I’m still the same clever, analytical, funny(although sometimes awkward), musically talented person I’ve always been. I’m good at my job, where I repair musical instruments. I’m a decent cook. I practice krav maga and play video games in my free time. I have some close friends and a boyfriend whom I appreciate the hell out of, and I have two cute cats and a Corgi-Papillon mix, who you’d definitely want to pet but probably shouldn’t because he’s a rescue and doesn’t like strangers 😉

I want people to understand that “bipolar” doesn’t mean moody or dangerous. It doesn’t make someone a manipulative liar. It doesn’t mean someone is self-absorbed or stupid, and taking our medication every day certainly doesn’t make us drug addicts… It just means they’re sick. Sometimes more so than others. The disorder can go into partial or complete remission, but it can relapse due to stress, sleep disruption, drug/alcohol use, changes of the season, missing doses of medication, or any number of triggers — which aren’t always apparent. Some people with BD-I are able to function perfectly fine, while people with cyclothymic disorder are completely disabled. Some require one medication, while others require seven. One diagnosis isn’t intrinsically worse than another. It’s just a term to describe a cluster of symptoms.

Being mentally ill doesn’t automatically imply anything about who someone is as a person. It’s just like any other chronic illness. It’s just an extra challenge that some of us are faced with, and to get through it we need determination, education, and compassion.

“I’m fine, but I’m bipolar. I’m on seven medications, and I take medication three times a day. This constantly puts me in touch with the illness I have. I’m never quite allowed to be free of that for a day. It’s like being a diabetic.” – Carrie Fisher

Thanks for reading!

Candlemas Day in Poland and the Thunder Candle

February 2, 2018 by polishhousewife 15 Comments

For Americans, February 2nd is Groundhog Day offering a weather prediction; in Poland, where national holidays are mainly based on the liturgical calendar, it’s Candlemas, 40 days after the birth of Jesus. It commemorates the purification of Mary (in Biblical times, women were seen as impure after giving birth) and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (once the mother’s purification is complete, the grateful parents take the child to the temple to give thanks and offer sacrifices), and it marks the end of the Christmas season in Poland. Seriously, this is the day to put away Christmas decorations. Not to worry, after Candlemas, we can begin to think about paczki! Candlemas is traditionally celebrated by the priest blessing the beeswax candles that will be used in the church for coming year, and also blessing candles that the parish will use in their homes.

This has special significance in Poland because of the ancient Slavic protective ritual of the Thunder Candle. It is so significant that the holiday in Polish is Święto Matki Bożej Gromnicznej 🔈, referring to the Holy Mother of God and the Thunder Candles. The ancient Thunder Candles were lit during a storm to offer protection from lightening, and also from wolves.

Thunder candles are long and thick, may be decorated with religious inscriptions or images, fir branches and flowers, tied with a light blue ribbon to represent Mary. Today they are used for special celebrations, and blessed annually on this day to be recharged so to speak. The candle may be a gift at birth and used at First Communion, Confirmation, Anointing, or during a vigil before someone’s death, even being buried with the owner.

And that, my dear friends, is all I know about Candlemas Day in Poland and the Thunder Candle.

Pozdrowiam,

Lois

PS — Yes, I’m taking down our Christmas tree. I just love having it up, so I’ve gladly adopted this Polish tradition!

The Polish Cookbooks in My Kitchen

December 29, 2017 by polishhousewife 18 Comments

I hope you’ve enjoyed time with family and friends over Christmas and want to take a moment to wish you and yours health and happiness in 2018. There has always been something about this time of year that makes me eager to return to structure and routine after holiday festivities. Our youngest daughter, her boyfriend, and her dog left for California this morning, the last of our house guests. On Christmas, there were twelve people and five dogs in and out over the course of the day. Now, Ed is at work, and our pups, Ellie and Rigby are snoozing beside me as I write this. Since, we’re just finishing up leftovers, I thought I’d talk about one of my favorite subjects, Polish cookbooks.

There are eight Polish cookbooks in our kitchen, nine if you count an e-book on sausage making. Two are in Polish; the rest are in English. Fortunately, most of my Polish vocabulary, other than the basic niceties, is centered around food. If there are ingredients I don’t know, google translate can usually fill in the gaps. There are a few tricky things I can clue you in on:

If something translates as protein, they mean egg white
Carnation, that means whole clove
English Spice, we know it as Allspice (usually used whole, not ground)

One of my prize cookbooks isn’t pictured. Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans is out on loan to a colleague. If you’re reading this Stella, I wonder if you’re holding it for ransom until I return your tablecloth?

I thought I’d share a brief review of my books with you and when possible give you a link to purchase (by clicking on the photo of the books below) in case you’d like to add one of these to your bookshelf. The links that are from Amazon are affiliate links, which means simply that if you buy something after clicking on the link, Amazon will pay me a small percentage of your puchase. It doesn’t change your price, and helps to offset the cost of maintaining this website, and I thank you.

My first Polish cookbook was Polish Cookery by Marja Ochorowicz-Monatowa, translated and adapted by Jean Karsavina. The original was published around 1900. It is an American adaptation of a famous standard cookbook in Poland. The measurements are converted for American kitchens. With 53 soup recipes and 18 more recipes for soup garnishes, you know there is a good understanding of Polish cuisine. I’ve made a few recipes from this book and enjoyed reading many more. My one complaint would be that there are no photographs, and the photos are my favorite part of any cookbook.

My second Polish cookbook is one written in Polish that a bought at the train station in Poznan. While I have to translate everyting. I’m happy to say that it has color photos on every page! Regionalna Kuchnia Polaska, as the name suggests, presents recipes from seven different regions of Poland. I used the Rogale Swietomarcinskie from the Kuchina Wielkopolska section along with a baking session with the head of the Baker’s Guild to create my recipe for Poznan’s famous pastry.

My next Polish cookbook was Nela’s Cookbook by Nela Rubenstein, the wife of pianist Arthur Rubinstein. I love this book and reading it makes me love Nela. There are wonderful head notes with every recipe, giving the reader a true feel for this woman and the joy she took in preparing food for those she cared about. New copies are getting pricey, so I suggest selecting a used copy of this book which I highly recommend. The recipes are Polish, Lithiuanian, and American.

Polish Cooking is a small book recommended to by my friend Klaudia and gifted to me by my friend Elzbieta. It is written by Izabella Byszewska and photographed by Christian Parma. Besides recipes, it talks about typical foods for morning, afternoon, and evening. Recipes are identified by region. The color photos are lovely. My one complaint is that in this very small book, it’s probably 6 inches x 6 inches, and half an inch thick, the text is VERY small.

The next Polish recipe book I added to my collection was Wielka Ksiega Nalewek, the Big Book of Tinctures; it is written in Polish. My copy is from 2011, but there are multiple versions out there. This book was recommended to us by our friend Slawek. He mentioned it when we sampled his homemade raspberry liqueur, Maliniak. This book has convinced me that Poles have made an art form of steeping anything and everything in vodka. I’ve made several of the liqueurs. It’s a classic and must have if you enjoy sipping something yummy after dinner that is, of course, good for the digestion.

My next Polish cookbook, From a Polish County House Kitchen by Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden, I was lucky enough to win in a weekly competition hosted by a now defunct English language news website. I’ve cooked from this book more than any other, and enjoy reading the author’s head notes and the many color photos. Anne Applebaum you may know is a journalist who has written extensively about Communism and post-communist society in Central and Eastern Europe. She is married to Radosław Sikorski, a Polish politician and journalist, and they have a Polish country home. It gives me some perverse pleasure that the authors have had some complain about things that are not authentic or traditional, just as I have. Everybody’s grandmother puts her own spin on traditional dishes, and the authors have put their own modern, lighter versions in their cookbook.

I bought Rose Petal Jam because it is similar to something I would like to write one day, part memoir, part cookbook. I have enjoyed reading it but I haven’t cooked from it yet. Perhaps getting off the shelf today, will be what I need to make that happen. Author Beata Zatorska and her husband, photographer Simon Target have done a lovely job with this book. Whether you cook from it or not, you’ll find it a great read. The photos are more than just the food, it’s the countryside, the ingredients, family photos, an armchair peek into Polish life.

If you know an American cook who makes Polish food, chances are they have Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans. It seems to be one of the most popular Polish cookbooks and has been around for generations. I’ve made a few of the recipes, and have found them to be excellent. As I recall (remember this book is loaned out at the moment), this was put together by a group of Polish-American women and the proceeds were originally used to help with relief efforts in post-war Poland.

Polish Sausage, Authentic Recipes and Instructions is my most recent purchase, and one I have only perused so far. It includes a history of sausage making in Poland, a chapter on food safety, and more info on Polish sausages than I would have imagined possible, hot, cold, smoked, fresh, liver, blood, head cheese, you get the idea.

So that’s my lineup. What Polish cookbooks are on your bookshelf?

Pozdrawiam,

Lois

Quilling a paper art that dates back centuries

November 24, 2017 by polishhousewife 2 Comments

If you’re looking for something different to do with family or friends over the holidays, you might want to give quilling a try. Quilling is a centuries old practice of creating designs from rolled strips of paper. Originally done by French and Italian nuns in the 16th and 17th century, then taken up by genteel ladies. It can be as simple or elaborate as you want to make it. It consists of thin strips of paper that are coiled, shaped and glued. You can cut your own paper strips or buy bags of thin strips of pre-cut colorful paper at some craft stores or on Amazon. I’ve used a toothpick to coil my paper, but more serious quillers might use a special slotted tool. The great things about quilling is that it doesn’t take a great deal of concentration, at least at my level of expertise it doesn’t. You putter along coiling paper and holding it in place with little dabs of glue; it’s a peaceful setting in which to chat and reminisce or get to know new friends.

I introduced friends to quilling on a girls night last year. It made all of us more aware and begin to notice quilling when we came across it in other places. Did you see this cool stamp? That’s quilling.

My first quilling experience was in Poland. Sometimes, you just feel pulled to certain things. That’s the way I felt when I saw an open invitation on facebook to come and learn the art of quilling that night. Our leader was a young Turkish woman who was in Poznan as part of a volunteer exchange program. Her focus was on creating art by recycling, so the paper we used was recycled. One of the young Polish women in the group was our quilling expert and brought completed samples to show us, including a blown egg that her grandmother had covered in little colorful paisley patterns.

I must admit, the designs my co-crafters and I created were much simpler than the ones you’ll find on google, but who knows how elaborate my future projects will be, now that I’m experienced. I collected those colorful, glossy paper advertisements that Polish businesses are so fond of passing out of the streets, as in Las Vegas, but in PL they’re for more reputable establishments. These Polish ads will form the basis of my next project. I’ll keep you posted.

Want to give quilling a try? You’ll find all kind of inspiration online, including some basic quilling shapes on YouTube.

Pozdrowiam,

Lois

PS — the original version of this post went live on Tłusty Czwartek or Fat Thursday, the day that marks the beginning of the end of the Carnival season, all over Poland people will feel compelled to eat pączki (PONCH-kee), a very bready, scantily filled jelly doughnut. Yes, I realize my American taste in pastry is showing in my choice of words. 😉 While you can find a variety of fillings, the most traditional is a rose petal jam. Now that I’ve made my own pączki, I like them much more. Homemade is always better! 😉

Thanksgiving in Poland — Expat Holidays

November 10, 2017 by polishhousewife 4 Comments

Thanksgiving is one American holiday that hasn’t crept into Polish culture. The fourth Thursday in November is just another work and school day. It’s a strange feeling to know that your loved ones are gathering on the other side of the world without you. That your extended family’s day will be one of familiar and special traditions while all around you, everyone else is carrying on with their normal day-to-day life. We had several Thankgsgivings in Poland, and celebrated in a lot of different ways. I can’t say that a Thanksgiving abroad is better than one at home surrounded by loved ones; it is different but can be just as memorable.

I didn’t plan anything for Thanksgiving our last year in Poland, but at the last minute, we received two invitations for early Thanksgiving meals on Saturday. They were at different times, so we threw caution and calories to the wind and decided to do both.

Our first meal was with the Poznan International Church, a potluck meal with a very international flavor. There was, of course, turkey. Brooke, my friend from Arizona made sweet potatoes; we brought stuffing, And now it gets interesting; it was an international crowd as the name of the congregation suggests. We had two Indian dishes, some kind of spicy potato dumpling, and and spicy rice. Ed told Prethi, our hostess, it was the best rice he’d ever eaten. I hope she doesn’t think he was exaggerating; he was quite serious. Lots of pies and cakes, and an enourmous tiramisu for dessert. Then we hopped on the tram to make our way to Turkey dinner #2.

It’s customary to remove your shoes when entering a home – the collection as we were leaving turkey dinner #1

Dinner #2 at Sweet Surrender

Our second meal was with the staff and church family at Sweet Surrender, a ministry coffee shop where I used to volunteer in the kitchen. Our friends Monika (our Polish teacher) and James cooked all day, and again it was an international potluck, with favorites from the USA and as far east as Russia and Kazakstan. I would guess that James is in his mid-twenties. Armed with a degree in Christian Education, he’d come to Poland for a year of coffee shop ministry at Sweet Surrender. Shortly after his arrival, he found himself in charge of the coffee shop and the church. So he was part coffee shop manager, part pastor. He’s a very sharp young man and was up to the tasks.

I was so moved by the simple words he shared before we broke bread. It’s not the food on the plate that matters but the people around the table. He wanted everyone to know that he loved us and that Sweet Surrender loves us. Then he read Bible verses about always giving thanks. 1Thessalonians 5:16-18, maybe? Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Amen!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lois

PS – other Thanksgiving posts

An evening meal (after work for our husbands and school for her sons) with my friend Caroline & her family

One year, all of the American’s from Ed’s office took the week off for a road trip

Our daughter has Bipolar Disorder

April 18, 2017 by polishhousewife 14 Comments

World Bipolar Disorder Day

March 30th is/was World Bipolar Disorder Day (WBD); it was established by several international associations to bring awareness to bipolar disorders and eliminate social stigma. The date was chosen because it is the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, who was posthumously diagnosed as probably having bipolar disorder. It’s a date that is important in my life because our daughter has bipolar disorder.

A little information about Bipolar Disorder from their website:

Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Symptoms of bipolar disorder are severe and different from the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through from time to time. It is estimated that the global prevalence of bipolar disorder is between 1 and 2% and has been said to be as high as 5% and, according to the World Health Organization, is the 6th leading case of disability in the world. In order to address this global problem, we need a global solution. With support from leading experts from around the world, groups like ANBD, IBPF, and ISBD are supporting efforts to investigate biological causes, targets for drug treatment, better treatments, better methods of diagnosis, the genetic components of the illness, and the strategies for living well with bipolar disorder and this is just the beginning. Collaborations between research and advocacy groups are continuing to grow, and WBD is a tribute to the success of this strategy.

As I mentioned, one of our daughters has bipolar disorder, and she posted five informational items on Facebook over the course of WBD. Her dad and I both picked one or two to share on Facebook. She commented after that it was disappointing that there were few serious comments on the posts. She said that most of our posts and pictures bring a lot of comments. We have a large circle of supportive, encouraging friends, and yet there was nothing. She said that no one wants to talk about it or acknowledge it.

I can’t blame our friends. It was the middle of a busy work week and we just shared without giving our friends any context. That’s what I’m hoping to do here.

Bipolar and our Family

For the longest time, I would say, “our daughter has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.” Can you hear the denial in my choice of words? A doctor thinks she has it. Her mother, that’s another story. I’ve known her her whole life, I’m not so sure. I just wish she’d do what she’s supposed to do! I’ve recently gotten to the point where I’ll say “our daughter has bipolar disorder,” but it has taken several years.

There is so much that’s difficult about mental illnesses. You can’t see it, there isn’t a blood test to confirm it. I like something that Carrie Fisher said to a young fan who was recently diagnosed with bipolar and had asked for advice. In speaking about her own difficulty in accepting her diagnose, she had this to say:

I was told that I was bipolar when I was 24 but was unable to accept that diagnosis until I was 28 when I overdosed and finally got sober. Only then was I able to see nothing else could explain away my behavior.

When the treatments for bipolar seems to help, it just might be bipolar disorder. Our daughter, began to struggle academically early in her high school career. This gifted student, was failing classes, would do her school work, but not turn it in. I would daily get a call from the nurse’s office to pick her up because all she wanted to do was put her head down on her desk and cry.

It became apparent that the status quo wasn’t working. Our pediatrician diagnosed her with depression, gave us a referral to a psychiatrist, and told us she could no longer be our doctor. She didn’t deal with patients who had psych issues. After an adverse reaction to the first antidepressant he prescribed, that psychiatrist refused to see her until she’d been cleared by a pediatric neurologist. Can you imagine how long it takes to get an appointment with a pediatric neurologist in Tucson? About six months; we didn’t bother. One thing I’ve noticed in helping family members who needed care from a mental health professional, is that it can be very difficult to find, and if you need it, you probably don’t have the wherewithal to get it. By the way, her reaction, psychosis, is a common symptom of bipolar disorder when treated with antidepressants.

Fortunately, we found someone willing to treat her with medication and talk therapy. She was off and on antidepressants for the next seven or eight years. With the help of an alternative format charter school, she graduated from high school a semester early, with honors, and was one of the speakers at her very small graduation ceremony. She went on to college.

There were good years and bad years. At one of the low points in her senior year, a mental health professional said, maybe you have bipolar disorder.

Life has gone on from there with a more certain diagnosis and while trying scads of medications. She was on Lithium for a time, until it became toxic. She has been stable for over a year, so it would be proper to say she’s in remission, although she continues on a host of other medications.

She has been hospitalized when she was perceived to be a threat to herself, on short-term disability while attending out-patient treatment during rapid cycling. But through it all, she has managed to take care of herself (she doesn’t live near us), to hold a job steadily for several years, and maintain a relationship with a very understanding man.

Our daughter is not the only member of our family who has bipolar disorder. Some have been diagnosed; in some you just see it.

The Stigma of Mental Illness

In some parts of the world, there is still social stigma associated with cancer. I feel like we’ve moved beyond that in the United States. We don’t blame the patient, we don’t see them as less of a person, we don’t assume that they’ve brought on this disease themselves. Cancer patients can talk openly about their diseases, their prognosis. Their family, friends, colleagues, rally round with support and encouragement. Wouldn’t it be nice if the same were true for mental illnesses?

Our daughter works in a mostly male environment. She is one of the few Americans on staff; her co-workers and supervisors are from Eastern Europe and Asia. They joke about and make insulting remarks about people with mental health issues in a cavalier manner. Her work attendance is excellent, but if things change in the future, if she goes through a more difficult spell, I’m sure she’ll call out with “the flu,” as she did when dealing with Lithium toxicity.

It’s a pity that she can’t be open with these people because this is how they could learn, and possibly change their mindset. They know her to be someone who is intelligent, reliable, and hard-working. If they knew that she had bipolar disorder, and that someday, that might prevent her from being able to come to work, it would challenge their perception that needing a real “mental health day” means one is stupid, lazy, or shirking responsibility.

Bipolar and You?

Bipolar disorder is not rare. I work at a large church. Statistically speaking there are probably 50 individuals on our mailing list who have bipolar disorder, and hundreds more who have a parent, child, or sibling with bipolar, and yet, I’ve felt alone in this regard. Recently, a lay leader in the parish shared that her daughter has bipolar disorder, and that she feels it’s her ministry to offer emotional support to people who are in similar situations. We had a lunch, and shared our stories. There are similarities in our experiences, but, of course, there are differences too.

If this is something you or your loved one are facing, I hope you’re finding support too. You’re not alone, there are others out there, and I hope you’re finding them.

Pozdrawiam,

Lois

James Michener’s Historical Novel, Poland

December 27, 2016 by polishhousewife 11 Comments

As I was leaving Arizona to move to Poland, a friend gave me two books about my new home, one was James Michener’s historical novel, Poland. I must admit that I didn’t start it right away. I’d been leery of Michener’s writing ever since a senior officer in Ed’s squadron recommended Michener’s Iberia to me when we arrived in Spain in the early 1980s.

I checked out Iberia from the base library and renewed it a couple of times. I could not for the life if me get into the book. It remains to this day, one of the few books I’ve started and not finished. As I recall, the book starts with the formation of the geographic land mass that is the Iberian peninsula. There was no dialogue. I work on it for days and was never rewarded with any characters or conversation, ugh!

It was a relief when I finally did open Poland to find people and conversation waiting for me in the first few pages. The story opens with a government official negotiating with farmers about production during the Soviet times.

Then we’re whisked back into the past, to medieval Poland, a land of magnates and serfs. We follow families rich and poor through hundreds of years of history. It was an amazing history lesson!

Key points that I took away:

Polish kings were not Polish, and they were elected!
Serfdom was a form of slavery
Poland saved Europe and Christianity by defeating the Turks in Vienna
Poland ceased to exist, it was taken over by neighboring countries
Very brave people risked their lives to keep the Polish language alive

If your family is Polish, you may think these are things everyone knows, but I certainly didn’t learn them in school. Michener spent four years doing research before he published Poland in 1983. He met with historians, scholars who could tell him about Polish music and other arts, military experts, and clergy who could speak about the history of the church in Poland.

In the end I was glad that I had spent some time in the country before reading the book. It helped me to “picture” things, and knowing a few Polish phrases that were tossed about like Pan and Pani made me feel like I was in on the secret. In case you’re interested in Poland or world history, I highly recommend this book to you.

Pozdrawiam,

Lois

Sweet Charity Dessert Challenge

November 18, 2016 by polishhousewife 4 Comments

We joined hundreds of people for the Sweet Charity Dessert Challenge to sample some of the finest desserts and cocktails in Tucson. The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA) hosted Baja Arizona’s largest dessert competition to raise funds to support SAACA’s arts therapy programs at the our local VA hospital.

Here you see some spicy flavors of cotton candy.

The fourth annual event featured sweet treats and drinks from twenty-five restaurants, bakers, and mixologists. The servings were much larger than expected considereding how many they were serving and how many we were sampling.

If you’ve never attended, let me tell you that you’ll find a party atmosphere, complete with DJ, music videos, and laser lights in the ceiling. You’ll get to chat across the table with business owners and chefs. They will be happy to tell you about their creations, and answer you questions. You’ll receive a ballot sheet as you arrive and be asked, after making the rounds, to vote for your favorite in multiple categories.

One of my favorites of the evening was a cocktail prepared by the team from the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain. They served a butternut squash Old Fashioned. The squash was roasted with spices and steeped in a combination of spirits. It reminded me of a Polish tincture, steeping seasonal produce in alcohol! A very familiar process.

The folks from Dove Mountain brought some of the most memorable treats including a frozen Pumpkin Pop and a chocolate panna cotta.

The overall winner for the evening was Rigo’s Restaurant with a chocolate offering.

In my opinion it was an evening full of winners. Attendees got to connect with local business, a win on both sides. Everyone at the Sweet Charity Dessert Challenge got to support SAACA’s no cost arts and writing programming to veterans in poly-trauma, blind rehab and the memory care units, and that is something we can all call a win!

Many thanks to SAACA for providing two press passes for this event.

Newsletter

Daily life

The Village of Zalipie

Amazon affiliate – if you purchase via the links above, Amazon sends me a small commission

History of Zalipie’s Painted Homes

Bringing a bit of Zalipie to our home

Planning your flight to Poland

Finding a place to stay in Poland

Using your smart phone in Poland

Public Transportation in Polish Cities

Traveling between cities in Poland

All things money related in Poland

Map study

Plan your visit to Poland!

World Bipolar Disorder Day

Bipolar and our Family

The Stigma of Mental Illness

Bipolar and You?

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