Thursday, November 03, 2005

Fall Vacation

Sort of. I had three days of working in Vilnius, and three days off in Vilnius. Even if half of it is working, a week in Vilnius is a vacation in my book.

The work was unbelievably fruitful: three days in a row of good results, which isn't all my fault; often I can't know enough about a project without attending the seminar to know it's worthless for my college. But this time it was a Tempus Seminar, an International Europass Conference, and a meeting with somebody important about a conference I need help planning, and all were very practiacally applicable to my department, my work.

The partying was awesome too. Saturday was so hysterically funny that my sister, Liepa, said the next day she actually thought she would die because she couldn't stop laughing at my antics, which included playing guitar and singing about what a great guitarist i am, coming in with a stupid, tight, mondo-retardo hat and tiny Europass backpack I'd gotten and stupid beard (I actually shaved secretly in the middle of the party to look retarded) and welcoming everybody to the international conference ad nauseum, and dancing like Daina's father with my eyes closed well after the music had ended. It was so hysterically funny that the next evening most of what we talked about was how funny it had been.

First the next morning, though (Sunday) we went to a restaurant, and after knocking on the door for several minutes and asking why they aren't opening, they reminded us of daylight savings time! :o But they let us in a poured us drinks, so they got a big tip. Rastenis sat next to me, so there was tons of homosexuality, his fag tendencies will never die. Also, in attempt to sober up he ordered a double cider. After drinking it he said he'd gotten drunker instead. Gedas: ka tu manei kad isiblaivysi tuo?! I gave my sister, Liepa, a bight of my soup and started talking about something, and before I realized it she'd eaten the whole thing except one bite after alledgedly having forgotten that it was my soup! Rastenis asked for a bite of my Giant Cepelinas, and I cut him one; he bitched at me to put a bigger meat piece on it, and I denounced him for looking a gift-horse in the mouth. Everybody laughed, and I thought it was with me, but actually it was at me, cause in Lithuanian the figure of speech is for looking a gift-horse in the "teeth" not mouth. I don't know why that's so funny, but it was. In the end I gave both him and Gedas a taste of my meat.

That evening was cool, my brother, Lokys, and I went out with Gedas and Juste, played Buck Euchre, drank some mugs of beer and then some pitchers* of beer.

Monday was a feast with Mommy: roast chicken, gravy (which I made), biscuits, apple sauce, stuffing, and...something else I think...then we went to the cemetary to put candles down for Senelis. I did not want to do this, but did anyway. This post is long enough without adding my feelings on cemetaries, or how tired I become after feasting.

Tuesday was lunch with Dede Valtas, Vilija, and Nephew Vytukas. Also good.

*at first i wrote "bitchers"

4 comments:

mrdarius said...

I agree with your uneasiness with cemetaries and laying candles.

What's you're gravy recipe?

Aras said...

Gravy

bring to a boil in a bigass skillet: giblets, celery (celery seed if you don't have celery), quartered onion including the skin (for color), 1/8 tsp. ground bay leaf (or a real bay leaf if you're clumsy measuring), thyme, parsley, salt and black pepper.

after the chicken's done, put the pan full of checken grease over a low heat and sift/stir in flour (wondra gravy four if you're lucky enough to be in the states, and you should bring some for thanksgiving, btw) til you've got a paste but all the flour is well melted.

slowly mix in the giblet stock into the grease paste. it's gotta stay thick enough for people at the table (Liepa)to say "wow it's so nice and thick!" if you gotta throw away half the liquid that's okay, who cares (but you should actually keep it to make soup in case there's leftover foul).

Aras said...

gravy p.s. to maximize the grease, which is very important, you should pick up the cooked chicken and hold it hole-down and shake it for a full half minute. well, at least ten seconds.

mrdarius said...

thanks. mine always come out way too this and greasy. i'll try yours next time.

do you have a soup recipe as well?

i'll see if i can scare up some wondra for you...

d

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