Stahlke Adoption

Green Beans or Brussel Sprouts?

The soil in Ukraine is among the best in the world. When we were there, one could see how dark and rich the dirt was--not red or light brown like so many soils in the U.S. The emphasis on agricultural in Ukraine is evident in our children. For example, they love flowers, with the dandelion as the current flower of interest. Last week one of the boys made a necklace and headpiece solely out of dandelion flowers. He didn't use a base on which to mount the flowers, but rather wove the stems together. It was very beautiful. The children have told me that such flower necklaces and "crowns" are often worn for Ukrainian Easter.

For the second year in a row, the two older boys have planted a large garden in our back yard, with about fifteen different kinds of vegetables. All of the chidren love to eat vegetables, as long as they're raw, and their absolute favorites are tomatoes and cabbage. Jonathan and I have eaten very few cooked vegetables since August 2005, and we're starting to reintroduce them into our cooking. Cooked corn, either on the cob or loose, has been successful, but one of our favorites, green beans, has received a strong thumbs down. Yesterday, we decided to try brussel sprouts. Jonathan cooked them with lots of butter and lemon juice, and they were really delicious. We described them to the children as "baby cabbages," and they actually tried a few. Ruslan, our oldest, said they were pretty good, so I predict we'll be cooking them more often in the future. Bogdan asked us to describe the plant itself, and what it would look like in the garden if they planted it. He then requested that next time we eat "real" brussel sprouts (i.e., raw ones)!

posted by Stahlkes @ 11:09 AM