Andrew's Big Day!

So this year for Andrew's celebration of his adoption I decided that we would recognize some of the culture and traditions of Kyrgyzstan.  It was fun, and at times me and my husband really thought we were back there.  I cooked some traditional Kyrgyz foods for this event, and all I can say after about 10 hrs of preperation is that I have a whole new respect for the ladies in Kyrgyzstan, and what they have to do, to accomplish the foods that they eat.  Making all the food from scratch isn't something I'm use to.  Yes, I cook, but I never realized how quick it is compared to what I did for this meal. Of course I was feeding 13 people, but I don't think it is unusual for the people in Kyrgyzstan to do the same.  Some of the traditions we tried, was eating on the floor.  It wasn't very comfortable, but it did give us a good feel for what they experience daily.  We also did some fun things, like everyone had to wear their slippers after coming in the door.  It gave us a chance to wear our Kyrgyz slippers.  Then, when we eat we waited and said the grace at the end of the meal, and after you do that, everyone has to stop eating.  I actually liked doing that, because it made everyone stay at the table, until everyone was doing eating.  We took lots of pictures of our fun last week, so enjoy, our Kyrgystan evening in our home, and Andrew I'm so thrilled that you have been in our family for two years.  Everyone loves you!

For Andrew's big day, I got him a pair of slippers that were from Kyrgyzstan.  I lucked out and found them on line.  I felt he needed his own pair of Kyrgyz slippers for his Kyrgyz dinner.

Also notice are beautiful Kyrgyz pillow cases that are behind us!  I love these!

Our slippers from Kyrgyzstan.  Alisha and her boyfriend Josh also have some but I didn't get a picture of theirs.

Andrew is happy as could be with both his Grandma's!

The Menu!

In Kyrgyzstan they serve cucumbers and tomatoes as salad.  So that is what I did!

This is Borsok.  It was fun to make, and tasted great with some jam on it!

This is Nan.  Flat bread with onions in it.  It reminded me of a Pita. It was also good!

These were the potatoe vereniki I made.  They took forever, and I'm not sure if I would ever make them again.  They did taste okay, but Alisha said the smell of these reminded her the most of Kyrgyzstan.  I had to agree!

These were the Shashlik!  We had to make these because Cain had these when we went to the Twelve Fireplaces in Kyrgyzstan.  It was our favorite meal while visiting Kyrgyzstan, so in honor of the Twelve Fireplaces, Cain was going to go outside and cook them on the grill, because in the middle of winter they went out and cooked our food when we were at the Twelve Fireplaces, but unfortunately despite our best efforts the grill wasn't working, even though we checked it the day before.  So Cain cooked them inside. 

We have to yet, teach Andrew and Matthew some Kyrgyzstan table manners, or should I say floor manners!  It was a bit tough for them to sit on the floor and eat without getting distracted.

Andrew acting like a baby!

The Kyrgyz boys with their dads.