VALENTINE MANDALA

THE SOUP COMES FIRST - THE NUTS COME LAST : HUNGARIAN / HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN STEREOTYPES

 

This Hungarian / Hungarian American stereotype is certainly true about me.  It's that Hungarians love their soup and start most meals with soup.  It's one of those stereotypes that does no harm and so it's one I like.

I usually have soup only, or soup as a starter for mid-day or evening meals.  The broth is a wonderful way to get all the water you need without drinking water.  The heat is good for your sinuses!  You can use whatever needs using in the fridge or garden.  You can low simmer broths for hours made of the same.

Over the last several months I've cooked big pots of soup almost weekly and of course I share.  I've tried new recipes using spices including paprika, of course, but also coriander and cumin.  I've used yellow peas, lentils, kidney beans, black beans.  Green, yellow, red peppers.  Cloves of garlic.

I've used cracker crumbs to create the not-Kosher version of matzo ball soup.  Basically you mix eggs, a little water, and olive oil , then throw the cracker crumbs in.  Mix it up to a sticky consistency.  Put it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  Bring water to a rapid boil.  Put spoonfuls into the boiling water.  Let the balls rise to the top and stay there three minutes.   Take them out with a slotted spoon and put in the broth, which you can enhance with your choice of celery, carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, etc.

If you are a polite person, here in America  you scoop your broth and soup away from you to the far north of your bowl.  Slurping too loudy is considered rude.

So what is not true of this stereotype is that it always has to be "Goulash."

I recently ate soup at a new Japanese noodle restaurant which features three different broths and five levels of hot.  I'm not into hot.  Their claim to fame is that they simmer their broth for 24 hours.  They say what makes a good broth includes an ingredient called SOUL.  Everyone is wild about this place, which opened as a minimalistic hole in the wall, and has been so busy the waiters are going crazy.

WHAT INGREDIENTS IN HUNGARIAN COOKING WOULD MAKE FOR SOUL?

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A SENSE OF HUMOR BADLY NEEDED

A sense of shame and embarrassment over a President who I've come to abhor is only somewhat balanced by watching Saturday Night Live parodies of him and other elected officials before and after the impeachment debacle. Lampooning and mudslinging are part of the American tradition - opinion and artistic freedoms are important.  Probably every American President has been ridiculed publicly but never has it been more intense and divisive.  And yes, I think American is going to endure this for a total 8 years in office. I imagine VP Mike Pence secretly desirous of the Presidency, of having numerous supporters in wait, even plans for how he would appoint to the cabinet.

Never have their been more unfilled vacancies in the State Department.
Working for Trump is a great way to get fired and/or ruin your career.

Elect him if you want more senior citizens homeless in the streets, if you want more school children to have diets lacking nutrition, if you want more people forced to fake it and become members of churches to get their needs met.

Sorry to say.

LES BROWN Quotation

Shoot for the moon, because even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
-  Les Brown

ADMIT YOU'RE HUNGARIAN AMERICAN and OTHERS WILL TOO

I discovered recently that when I say I come from a Hungarian heritage, people I've just met say they are too.  Often of a mixed European heritage here in the United States, I wonder if others have looked into that part of them that comes from an ancestor who came here with a Hungarian identity.  I've learned so much I didn't know by researching and writing this blog and I hope what I have to share here will help you better know Hungary - then and now - and Hungarian culture.  I keep reading around DNA, tribal heritage.

Like everyone, the holidays distract me from perusing my genealogy and family history writing and I have just so much more to do!  In 2019 I started following lines that go back into what is now Slovakia and also seeing some Slovak or Czech surnames appearing in what was once and is now Hungary. I know that eventually, perhaps even soon, every line I explore will come to a dead end.  If I can link to even one family on the Maria Theresa census I will be happy.  There is that potential with certain surnames I'm researching.

WINTER FIR FOREST

WHY I DON'T POST STATISTICS TO THIS BLOG

Over the years I've developed the habit of checking statistics and also noting which posts seem to be of interest.  I have my ideas about what I'll be posting and when and don't write just to get hits, but I still like to check these. Sadly, though I think of my effort as successful, Russian bots drive up stats artificially.

Though I send information to Google to note and block these referring sites for me and all other Bloggers, these sabotage statistics in a way that makes them far less real and helpful.  Recently a techie told me he uses Word Press where he blocks the entire countries of Russia and China.  

It's a shame because I have nothing personally against citizens of Russia or any other country who are sincerely interested in learning about Hungarian or Hungarian American genealogy.  I know that many ethnic Ukrainians lived in what was part of Hungary and I welcome their descendants to my Blog.

Just saying.

PEACE PALOMA

UDVOZLET A MIKULASTOI

PERFECT PINE

THREE FOXES and LOG SLED

THANKSGIVING

THE MOST AMERICAN OF HOLIDAYS!

QUESTION FOR READERS: ARE YOU CONSIDERING MOVING TO HUNGARY?

Considering the turmoil of the Presidency and Presidential Elections here in the United States of America, as well as the desire of some Americans to live in Christian society, as well as the inability some face to retire in the United States financially, I've been wondering if my readers are considering MOVING TO HUNGARY.

As I understand it, in order to gain Hungarian citizenship, speaking the language is a requirement and it's not easy to learn.  However, it might be more easily learned living in Hungary.

Your COMMENTS please!

HUNGARY AS A CHRISTIAN COUNTRY ACCEPTS CHRISTIAN REFUGEES

In recent times Hungary has been criticized for an anti-immigrant stance, a build the fence (if not the wall) policy.  While I'm not in favor of building a physical wall as a boundary between the United States and Mexico, I'm for a strong defense of our country. 

I'm sympathetic to this in Hungary because I understand that Hungary is first of all a small country (which would fit in the state of Indiana) and cannot economically or physically absorb millions of people from anywhere.  It was once three times as large.  Secondly because Hungary struggles or refuses to help it's own impoverished population, which includes Roma (gypsies) and the homeless (who are stereotyped as alcoholic loosers) which I personally do not think of Christianity in action and thus feel should be helped first as native Hungarians. Founded as a Christian country and with a Constitution which states it is a Christian country, Hungary became so after hundreds of years of the most horrendous experience with Moslem Turk invaders who killed off most of the population and destroyed towns, infrastructure, churches. Heroics in battles against the Turks resulted in the formation of a new nobility.  In recent times Hungary has decided that the country WILL TAKE IN CHRISTIAN REFUGEES. 

HERE ARE SOME ARTICLES TO CONSIDER:

THE GUARDIAN : VICTOR ORBAN DEPLOYS CHRISTIANITY

EXCERPT: Only 15% of Hungarians say they attend church on a weekly basis,but 80% identify as Christian. Orban, who started out in politics in the late 1980's as an anti-Communist activist with little time for religion, found God in the 1990's, and even remarried his wife in a religious ceremony.

IRISH TIME : REFUGEE HOSTILE HUNGARY URGES....

EXCERPT: Addressing a Budapest conference on threats facing Christian communities, Mr. Orban warned that "the fate of Christians in the Middle East should bring home to Europe that what is happening over there may also happen to us."

"Europe, however, is forcefully pursuing an immigration policy which results in letting extremists, dangerous extremists, into the territory of the European Union," he told an audience that included church leaders from the Middle East.

HUNGARIAN RESEARCHERS and THE SHOAH FOUNDATION at USC.

USC has been in the news lately for college entrance cheating scandals and sexual harassment charges against a campus doctor as well as senseless murders near campus. Located in an old part of Los Angeles known to have a high crime rate in recent times, this old institution is still said to provide the best and perhaps the most expensive in Southern California. USC is also known for the SHOAH Foundation, which has recorded the testimonials of HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS. 

OVER 50,000 interviews 56 countries 32 languages - including HUNGARY.

ACCESS TO SHOAH FOUNDATION (Partial Information)

My understanding is that you can go into the archive and use databases there, but also there is some access through other institutions and libraries via the Internet/Databases.  Notice that the video is put out by PROQUEST.