Conquering Hurdles – PursuitOfPaprikash

Still in Pursuit – Part Two

November 14, 2016

It took about ten minutes of staring before I noticed the bold letters staring back at me. The words that are very clearly stated. The words that I wrote. I was staring at my website, reacquainting myself with it and missing it, wondering how it has been so long since I’ve posted something on it, when I finally noticed them. LIVE. FAIL. LEARN. REPEAT. I have been beating myself up for throwing my blog on the back burner and letting it get old and moldy. We’re talking about the kind of mold that warrants just throwing the pan away. I completely neglected my website, my blog, but most importantly my story. I failed to fill you in on the pursuit. I failed to even keep up with it.

Let’s see, what was it again that had me pretending I was too busy or didn’t have enough to write about? Oh, yeah, FEAR. Boom! MIND BLOWN. For the longest time I thought the only kind of justifiable fear was evoked by Micheal Myers or that possessed girl from The Exorcist. But, fear of following your dreams? Going after what will make you truly happy? Why would anyone be afraid of those things? Weird. I know, I’m sure none of you have ever experienced this type of fear so I ‘m on my own (winky face, nudge, nudge), but this is the learning part of the equation for me. I have learned that fear can create old and moldy things in your life, but it doesn’t mean those things are garbage.

I didn’t throw the pan away. I am getting down and dirty with the mold, the failing and the learning. It is gross. Grosser than the bathroom stalls at an Irish Pub after a night of too many whiskey shots (I worked at one for five years, I have real data). Worse than newborn baby diaper changing kind of gross. No one likes cleaning poop, but you gotta do it. So, I’m going to keep dealing with the mold until I get my clean, shiny pan back. Who doesn’t love shiny, new things?!

So, here I am again, still in pursuit (hence the part two) of my restaurant and I’m not giving up. Sometimes following your dreams takes longer than you think. Sometimes fear of the unknown causes you to shut down. Sometimes decisions can be hard so you stop making them. And then, sometimes, you’re sick of dealing with shitty baby diapers so you decide to put your big girl panties on and start taking steps forward. Baby steps, but steps none the less. Eventually, hopefully, you’ll be off and running.

I’m taking steps back into action and the momentum feels good. Really good. Before I tell you what’s currently on my plate, however, let’s do a little Wayne’s World time warp shall we? (Cue hand movements and strange mouth sounds.) Last I wrote I was in Hungary visiting family, learning Hungarian recipes and practicing self-control from too many pork products available (which isn’t a bad thing). Unfortunately, Andy and I’s time in Hungary had to end (a.k.a. we ran out of money) and we had to get back to the reality of working and making money again. We returned to Alaska, spent this last summer appeasing tourists, working long hours and saving money. Opening a restaurant takes a lot of money. But, I’m on my way.

The summer is behind us and I am enjoying the peacefulness that finds Skagway in the winter months. This winter solitude has allowed me to rediscover my pursuit and reignite my passion. I have been cooking Hungarian food for friends and plan on keeping bellies full of it all winter. I am learning how to be a Bold Badass Businesswoman! I am creating start-up cost spreadsheets! Did you know a booster seat costs fifty-five dollars?! Thursday will be my first shift on the line at the restaurant I work at! On Friday I get to be the lunch lady substitute at the school!

I am learning how to put myself out there and things are happening! Visions of my restaurant are dancing in my head.

I’m living. I’m failing. I’m learning. I’m going to repeat those over and over again. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Conquering Hurdles, Cooking, Hungary, New Friends

Pig Magic

January 20, 2016

This one is for all you pork lovers out there. It’s for the countless pieces of crispy fried bacon that have turned our gloomy mornings into a salty, savory delight. For the BLT; it would be nothing without that glistening piece of pork. For the many slices of salami that are carefully placed on a serving tray and when combined with cheese and crackers make any event tolerable. For anything wrapped in prosciutto. Enough said.

I told you a while back the pork in Hungary was on a different level. Everywhere you look there is a different pork product being cooked, smoked, conserved and consumed. The pig is the prized animal here and it is given the utmost respect. For lunch today, I’m having pig’s feet. It’s the real deal over here.

I know. I’m sorry. I’m sure I’ve made you drool all over your electronic device, salivating for some of this pork I rave about (okay, maybe not the pig’s feet) and now you are going to have to let everyone know you are not available because your phone or computer is broken due to pork. Really?! That is the most amazing reason for a malfunction ever!

Well, I hope your device still works because I have a story to tell. About pork. An entire day devoted to pork. You may never truly understand the magnitude of Hungarians and their love of pork unless you come here for yourself, but let me help by taking you on a little pork journey.

It was a foggy, cold, Friday morning when Andy and I met up with our friend Páli. I had met with Páli’s daughter, Krisztina, a few days prior and asked her about Hungarian sausage making. I had heard it only happens in the winter and wanted to get confirmation from a true Hungarian. She wasn’t entirely sure about the timing of sausage preparation, but told me about another common winter time activity, the disznóvágás. She explained it to me, but all I really gathered was that it included butchering a pig and making pig related things. Pig related things? What could be better than that?!

I did a little research and found out disznóvágás literally means pig killing. It can be considered a ceremonial event and dates back to communist times when pigs were hard to come by. When someone was able to get their hands on a pig, it was a celebratory event and the entire community participated. During the winter months when the cold helps keep the meat chilled, families would gather together for the annual pig butchering and each family would take home a portion of the meat.

Nowadays, people either own their own pigs or purchase one, but the gathering of family and butchering ceremony remains true to tradition.

We were told to meet Páli in front of the Saint Háromság statue at 9 o’clock in the morning. He knew some people who were having a disznóvágás that day and invited us along to partake. Right on time, Páli pulled up in his car. He asked where my car was parked, pointed in the direction behind his car, said a few more words I didn’t understand and pulled away slowly. As with most scenarios over the last two months, I recited the sentence over and over in my head to try and decipher just one word, any word! Oh, right. He wanted us to follow him in our car. Duh. Figuring out just one Hungarian sentence is like winning the Amazing Race. I’m living my own reality TV series over here.

So, we followed Páli. I thought the pig killing would be out in the country, naturally, but we drove just a few blocks in town and parked in front of what looked like an abandoned building. We were greeted by five guys, one of them being Páli’s friend and two women. We were introduced, some words were exchanged (something about Americans), a few laughs followed and suddenly Páli was saying goodbye. It turns out he had things to do, but wanted to get us to the disznóvágás. We were there alright. In the middle of someone’s property with a family we had never met, not knowing what we were about to witness; all with a limited Hungarian vocabulary. Talk about diving right in? Rolling with the punches? That’s all we could do. Thankfully we had gotten pretty good at it over the last few months.

Before we could think about what to do next a flatbed truck pulled up and started backing into the yard. You guessed it. On the back lay two pigs already split in half and ready for butchering. I was a little disappointed we missed the actual killing of the pig, but I had just cut a rooster’s neck the previous day so I couldn’t be too greedy.

As soon as the truck stopped it was go time. Everyone there started scurrying around the yard setting up for the day’s events. Each person knew exactly what to do and how to do it. You could tell this wasn’t their first pig rodeo. Andy and I did our best to stay out of the way, but when pig is being thrown around and fires are igniting it is hard to be a calm observer. I was enthralled! Like a kid in a candy shop except better because it was pork! Like an adult in an all you can eat bacon store! I was too excited to remain calm. I thought of every Hungarian word I knew so I could spark up conversations. We were strangers to these people, but they were so kind and generous, offering coffee, pogacsa (little biscuits) and even palinka (the local spirit). After a few shots, even Andy started speaking Hungarian. It didn’t take long before we felt like part of the family.

I leaned in and listened as much as I could to document every detail, but it was much too big of an undertaking for one person to keep track of. It takes a community to butcher a pig. Lots of practice and many hands. There was so much movement all around me. Cutting, grinding, mixing, tasting, weighing, stuffing. A few of the guys tried explaining certain steps to me, but I really only understood about 20 percent of it. All I could do was continue taking pictures. Hopefully my pig butchering picture board will be enough of a guide when I butcher my own pig. Some day. I’ll be sure to invite you all.

The day went on with smiles, laughter, hard work, a little more palinka and some serious pig magic. It was a day I’ll never forget.

Now, you’ll have excuse me. There is some bacon calling my name.

This is how the disznóvágás went down:

The pigs arrive. These were around 200 kilograms a piece. Each pig is split in half and the organs, head and other insides removed, but saved for good use.

Three wood burning stoves are lit with large cauldrons placed on top. The pots are filled with water and brought to a boil. They hold the head, organs, and other internal goodies which, when soft, will be ground up and made into one of two sausages: véres hurka (blood sausage) or májas hurka (liver sausage).

The butchering continues with all the common cuts of meat separated. I’ve never seen butchering done with such speed and precision.

The meat table.

The shoulder meat, some meat scraps and pieces of fat are ground up to use for kolbász, the most popular type of Hungarian sausage.

Handfuls of sweet and spicy paprika are added to the pork along with ground onion, garlic, salt, pepper and other spices. It is then given a nice, long, hard, hand massage to fully incorporate the flavors. Note: You can’t be afraid of raw pork at this point. Grab a good size pinch and taste it! This is the only way to know if your mix is perfect.

The stuffing begins! Pig and cow intestines are used for two different sized sausages and some sort of magical intestine ladder is created for efficient stuffing.

Some of the kolbász along with the blood and liver sausage is baked in the oven and eaten fresh (the day’s lunch) while the remaining sausages are smoked and cured for later enjoyment. As for the rest of the pig? It will bring months of joy to it’s happy, pork loving owner.

Conquering Hurdles, Hungary, Paprikash

Still in Pursuit

November 6, 2015

To my dearest readers,

Are you still with me?!

Gosh, I sure hope so.

I must apologize. Here I went and created this website, told you all about my dreams and plans to get there, hopefully got you all excited and then I managed to drop off the face of the earth for the last few months. Sorry to be such a tease. It was not intentional, please know that, but the last three months have indeed been a whirlwind; running all over the earth, hurdling time zones as if I actually enjoy track and field.

Without much internet in Skagway, I sort of forgot or stopped caring about computers and technology. I got swept up in the moment of living and experiencing Alaska, which was a beautiful moment to get swept away in, but I forgot about telling my story even though it was still happening.

It IS still happening. I have things to share! I promise to tell you very soon.

Don’t get me wrong, it was really nice at times to leave the gadgets aside, but I made a commitment to you and this chronicle, but most importantly to myself. I have to tell my story. It is what will help me turn my dreams into reality. That is how I function anyway; the more I talk about something, the more likely I am to make it happen. My 2nd grade teacher once wrote on my report card, “Sara is doing very well in all of her subjects, but she talks a lot during class.” I’ve been doing it for too long, I can’t shut up now. This is my opportunity to talk to all of you out there and there’s no teacher around to say shhh.

Last I wrote, I was in Skagway trying hard to keep all the cruise ship goers happy and fed, but mostly just working hard to save money so I could get to Hungary. You may already know this, but I made it!! As I type, I take glances out of our tiny, A-framed house kitchen window to the rose bush outside that is still managing to give us flowers. It is only three thirty in the afternoon, but the sun is already falling fast towards the horizon. The house was my grandmother’s, who, if you recall, was the remarkable woman who sparked all of this crazy traveling all over the world. Now, here I sit near the banks of the Danube river, anxiously awaiting the next two months of my life here in Hungary. I have stories coming. No more teasing. Seriously, the pork products here are out of this world and are sure to make for a good story. I’ll tell you more about that later, but I assure you there will be much more action this time around. I’m still in pursuit so you’ll be hearing from me again very soon.

Oh, and thanks for sticking with me. It’s really nice to be back.

Alaska, Conquering Hurdles

The Gold Bukowski

July 28, 2015

For some reason, tonight, I thought of Charles Bukowski. I was standing outside and envisioning him standing on the streets of Skagway. Of course he was smoking and drinking, but he was doing more than that. He was living, breathing, loving, hating and cursing with Skagway. He found the joy, but didn’t mask the indisputable reality. This mixture of emotion made me smile. Not because I wanted to revel in the same set of emotions as him, but because I had a moment that felt as poetic and real as does all of his writing. Whether or not you have read his work, know this, he speaks his own truth. He doesn’t sugar coat, say the right thing, wait for the timing to be right or falsify himself for better societal acceptance. He is and he does. Some people hate him, some people love him. I’ll let you decide.

I guess that is what I felt tonight. This town makes me feel real. I feel alive. I don’t worry about what shoes I wear or what I accessorize with. Sure, I brought my earrings and makeup, but no one gives a shit about whether your shoes match your outfit or if you’re wearing the right color given the season. You do and wear what you want for you and only you. You dance like nobody’s watching. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. God knows the Disney cruise folks don’t care; they are only concerned about placing as many Mickey and Minnie stickers around town as possible. We know you were here Disney cruise, no need to leave us a momento.

The point is, Skagway is what it is. Sometimes we have eggs, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes I wish I could make a quick trip to Target for a new top. The next day, I love that my old, ragged t-shirt from high school will do just fine and instead of spending hours roaming aimlessly through those perfectly arranged ailes, I cook, play softball, take a hike in the woods or just sit idly, gazing at the magnificent mountains around me. It took me a few weeks to find the right hot sauce, but I found some! In Juneau, a plane ride away. Totally worth it. Tapatio on eggs? I will travel many miles.

I have been reminded of the real joys in life. The ones we forget about, take for granted, excuse for something or someone showing us the better, more efficient way. There is more to life than new cars, wireless internet and 24hr gas stations. There are many luxuries that we have come to expect, but Skagway has reminded me, or maybe forced me to live simply and simply live. It takes planning. It takes patience. It takes a couple of deep breathes. But, it ends with a shrug, a smile and a set of shoulders with not an even an ounce of weight to carry. It’s not like we are without electricity and the modern amenities, but we don’t have everything. It’s a tiny town, with only a barge carrying our weekly supplies. We are lacking some of the conveniences and luxuries one could find in a big city, but Skagway has more life, love, laughter, music, community, serendipity and history than most cities could only hope for. There may not be much gold left up in those mountains, but the true gem that remains is Skagway.

For lack of a better and more concise way to explain everything that brings me joy in this town, I have come up with a top ten list. It is in no particular order. If you ever get to Skagway, I can only hope that we share some of this list.

1. The sound of my boots on a real, wooden boardwalk. Nine blocks long. It makes me feel like a bad ass.

2. There seem to be more bike racks than parking spots. Driving is actually less efficient in this town (especially when tourists are crowding the streets) and when you can do all of your errands on a vintage bike with a basket, why would you want to be stuck inside a metal box.

3. There is a true, old, local hardware store. If they don’t have it, you don’t need it.

4. I have two windows in my apartment. Both look out to the mountains and one even shows off a glacier.

5. Instead of Target, we have Skagway Swap. It gives an entirely new meaning to the phrase, one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. There is a better selection than Target and much better prices!

6. There is very little WiFi in town. Sure, it makes keeping a blog a bit difficult, but I have rediscovered things other than web pages, Facebook and Netflix. Things like the local library, NPR, and writing letters.

7. The tourists huff and puff and think the alcohol has gone to their head because of the elevation. Sea level is about eight blocks and five feet away people.

8. People are genuinely nice here. They want to have a conversation with you. We say hi on the sidewalks and wave to each other on the streets.

9. In just a short 3 mile hike, you can feel as if you’re at the edge of the earth.

10. It turns out, the residents of Skagway are still finding gold to this day – in their own way perhaps.

Alaska, Conquering Hurdles, Paprikash

Something Substantial

April 29, 2015

I think I left off with throwing the going to Alaska card at you. I mean, I couldn’t give you all of the details right out of the gate. My father always taught me to save a wildcard or two to really keep the game interesting. Keep the players alert and attentive and then really take the game with a powerful last hand, the kind no one saw coming. I’m not the world’s greatest card player, but I grew up learning to build runs and pairs with my grandfather. Trying to stealthily grab all nine cards in the rummy pile, organize them so meticulously to orchestrate the last winning (hopefully) trick and slam my cards on the table as hard as he did. I guess it’s the suspense and the unknown that always kept me interested in playing cards. The thrill of the chase. The surprise of the draw. I love surprises, big and small.

I think it is my love of surprises that has led me on this pursuit. Surprises keep life fun and interesting. They keep us on our toes. They remind us of childlike joy and emotions. At least that’s how I see surprises. I’m sure some people despise them, but I think those people need to let their guard down and just let things happen – get rid of the white board and day planner and let the day surprise you. You never know, you may find yourself in Alaska someday.

Oh, yeah, ALASKA! I suppose you want me to let you in on that part. It was actually really hard for me not to tell you all about it in my last post, but I had to get you hooked right? Isn’t that what we learned in writing class?

It was many months ago when the Alaska idea came up. I was sitting with Andy (my boyfriend) and enjoying a Hite, a traditional Korean beer. It was only my second beer so I don’t want you to think I was all drunk and ready to start crushing cans on my head when I made the decision. But, in the words of one of my favorite breweries, things get a little bit more honest after two beers. Thank you Two Beers Brewing, you make wise decisions and delicious beer. Yum. Anyways, I have had a trying year. I’m not going to get all Young & the Restless on you, but let’s just say I had a year that tested my comfort levels, increased vulnerability at times, and forced me to step back and take a hard look at things. Shit, I’m sure glad I had my very own soap opera episode. We all know we’ve had some version of it (maybe not the six husbands, mother as your sister-in-law and little, weird, witch woman, but a toned down version?) Whatever the scenario, we just have to accept it, learn from it, and get through the muddy road.

It had been a year and I needed something substantial. That’s all I said to Andy. I had been wanting to spend a few months in Hungary for several years, but the cards just didn’t fall right. Turns out it takes a few dollars to get to Hungary and even a few more to live there and work for little to no money. “Do you want to go to Alaska?” That’s all Andy said to me. Supposedly there is money to be made in Alaska. Money I could use to get to Hungary. I said YES! I said it immediately. I said it confidently. I said it without hesitation. Have you ever had that feeling? The no doubt feeling? Like, really, seriously, no doubt? If only every decision in life came that easily.

So, here I sit in Skagway, Alaska. A little, touristy town of 920 people, wooden sidewalks and not a single stop light. YES! I’m already here! Of course I will tell you more – there is a lot to tell! It took us 36 hours to get here, did you really think I would leave that part out of my chronicle of adventures? I have a few more cards to play. I hope you are up for the surprise. Until then, I have to prepare for our first home cooked meal in Skagway. Any guesses as to what it will be?