THE ISEUM : A TEMPLE TO GODDESS ISIS - ARCHAEOLOGY - THE ROMANS IN HUNGARY : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #19

As so much of what is now Hungary was part of the Roman empire expansion, we find archaeology sites such as a Roman temple of Isis. But what's interesting about Isis is that she started out as an EGYPTIAN GODDESS, and eventually the Romans believed in her too. The temple is from the 2nd century AD.

After initial excavation in the 1950's one temple was significantly reconstructed.  There is also a museum. 

ISEUM DAVARIAMUSEUM HUNGARY Some people think this is the finest museum in Hungary.

After four years of excavation, a large complex of buildings was discovered. In more recent history there is a museum of historical religion. The Savaria Carnival is an event held usually in the summer in which tourists can get a feeling for what life must have been at the time when Roman's were living in the area and worshiping Isis. 

If you go to this website on Google, you'll be invited to translate it into English.  You'll find that there is a database featuring magazines of interest such as the Vasi Review - cultural studies.

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to bring up all posts on this theme.

STRAWBERRIES

 

LIPTO as a HUNGARIAN PLACE

This video presents postcards of Hungarian Lipto County, which is now Liptov, Slovakia, but still has a Hungarian majority. Beautiful mountains and interesting architecture!  Part of many a Hungarian-American's heritage. The poster, Sicambria, has some other videos up that are also interesting.

That said, for hundreds of years people of various ethnic backgrounds, Slovaks, Germans, and others, lived in this area, and many intermarried. Religious differences payed out too.  The Germans were mostly Catholics and many but not all were from Southern Germany. Some of the Slovaks were Greek Catholic, as were the Carpathian Rus (Also called Rusyns) and Ukrainians.

There are controversies over the nobility and who was or was not of original Hungarian ancestry or really Slovak or Czech.  

Lipto is an area where Bogamar, one of the sons of one of the original Magyar tribal chiefs, Hauk Palko, who came into Hungary, spawned. There are a number of surnames associated with nobility coming out of this area and those lineages. You can use Hungaricana databases for the Marie Theresa Urbariam and see.

Most Americans who are "2nd" or "3rd" generations since immigration here are mixed heritage.  I know someone who is 3rd generation on one side and 4th on the other who has claim to 16 different European ethnicities!  (What fun her genealogy searches could be!)

So I tend to think people are the ethnicity they feel themselves to be, that they feel they can relate to and feel comfortable with.  And of course, our surnames tell the world about one of our ethnicities and it is from our surnames that other people assume what our ethnic identity is.

C 2023 Magyar American BlogSpot

PUMPKIN PASTA SAUCE : UP THE NUTRITION ! : FOOD BANK RECIPE

American food banks get and give away a lot of pasta, in particular the typical "spagetti" also called Number 8.  Now this is a lot of carbs for the food value and you can get fat on carbs and still be starving for vitamins and minerals even though pasta does have wheat protein. The best way to add value to any pasta is the vegetables and herbs and spices that go with. Pumpkin adds lots of nutrition value to your meal.

When I was growing up we called spagetti "noodles," a term that seems to only be used now when the pasta is in a soup. Now the trendy term for noodles is pasta, and there is so much fun to be had with different sizes and shapes, all of which can be used for this recipe. I always break my spagetti Number 8 into thirds which makes it easier to eat, although you might have a fork swirling technique that loads the long cooked strands.

The reason you get cans of pumpkin puree in Food Bank bags is that most people only think of pumpkin for the autumn season and to bake pies for Thanksgiving. So stores and people donate the cans. It''s spring and summer time and you can make use of that pumpkin. 

Cook pasta and drain it.  Set aside.

Skillet pan on medium heat and add:

One or two tablespoons of oil; olive oil is best.  If you don't have that you can use butter, lard, or coconut; 

One large garlic clove chopped small.

Let the garlic cook for about a minute.

Should you open the can of pumpkin and find it has settled and it is watery be sure to drain the water with a sieve first.  You want the texture to coat the pasta. Add the pumpkin puree to the skillet.

Also add about one third cup of grated parmesan cheese.

And a couple tablespoons of warm milk or cream. (Room temperature is fine.  You just don't want refrigerator cold.)  Full fat coconut milk is a good substitute and used with coconut oil will give a somewhat flowery taste.

Slowly stir together all the ingredients for about 3-5 minutes. If you notice that the paste forming appears to be too thick you can add a tablespoon of the water from the pasta, which has some starch in it.

Then gently scoop the cooked pasta in and stir to coat it with the pumpkin sauce.

A sprinkle of more parmesan on top is nice.

Makes about four servings but I won't blame you it you eat it all yourself. This should nicely coat about 8 ounces of pasta which is about half a typical box.

You may also want to add onions or celery, chopped small so that it will cook enough in a minute or two. A little salt, a little pepper... 

Pumpkin is noteworthy for having over 200% of your daily Vitamin A. Over 30 % of Vitamin K. and over 25% of your copper.

C 2023 Magyar- American BlogSpot

EMMANUEL PAHUD : FANTASIA PASTORALE UNGHERES

A lovely piece of music from the Italian Academy of the Flute, Emmanuel Pahud, musician.

EIGHT PETALS

 

OLD MAGYAR ALPHABET

 

BUKKABRANY VILLAGE MUMMIFIED FOREST : BUKK NATIONAL PARK : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #18

Bukki Nemzeti Park 

In 2007 in the village of Bukkabrany, archaeologists discovered that beneath the ground at 60 meters (around 200 feet) down the trunks of swamp cypress trees.  These have been dug out and are on display at the visitors center of Bukk National Park.

According to this article that appeared via Rueters the trees were living at a time when the Carpathian basin was a fresh water lake.

RUETERS: HUNGARY : CYPRESS TREES RARE FOUND "Instead of petrifying -- turning to stone -- the wood of 16 Taxodium trees was preserved in an open-cast coal mine allowing geologists to study samples as if they were sections cut from a piece of living wood."

*** The village itself is being considered for a Paleo Park (and I don't mean the diet!)

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to get to the entire series on this theme.

HOW TO NAVIGATE GOOGLE BLOGGER

Now that you've arrived at MAGYAR AMERICAN, a Google BlogSpot, you may not know how to get around it so that you can easily read past posts.

There are three options.

One is to use the SEARCH embedded in the sidebar of the blog.

You can also to scan through the ARCHIVE posted in the sidebar.  I have the titles of posts showing there.

Third is to click on a TAG below a post for a label of the topic you're more interested in. Which will bring up all the posts that have that label. For instance, if you're in a genealogy series, click on the label for that series, and it will bring up the entire series.

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you find some interesting posts!

BOUNTIFUL ROSES

I can imagine the smell of roses - with a touch of cinnamon. 

 

GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

 

LENTIL SOUP ! NO BROTH? FOOD BANK RECIPE

What to do with the bag of dry LENTILS?

LENTILS PROVIDE protein as well as having other outstanding attributes.

LENTIL SOUP

Here's a Lentil don't:

There are different colors and types of lentils. When boiling or using for soup, don't mix the types together as they need different cooking times. If you have regular lentils (the pale brown-green type) and say, red lentils, you will need to cook them separately and put them in the soup at the end of the cooking time. In general lentils usually do not need long cooking times like dry beans and, as they break down a bit, they will thicken the soup. Lentils can also overcook and turn into mush quickly. However, the cooking lends a bit of flavor to the broth. Don't use the little round black lentils for this recipe which are sometimes called "French lentils."  Those are much better as an add-in to a rice dish. The green-brown lentils should simmer to cook in about 25 to 35 minutes.

Broth. I haven't seen broth given out too often in food distribution bags, so you will probably have to provide your own. Some bullion products are mostly salt, even contain the salty food preservative MSG (which I'm wary of) but if you do not have the time to cook up a broth using veggies or chicken, you can use the packets that come with those dry noodle soup packages as your broth base!  I believe a major brand brags that there is no MSG in there. (Use the dry noodle for another recipe!)

One way to flavor a broth, is to make "stock." You to throw in the parts of the veggies you didn't want to eat in the water, such as carrots and stems, and boil to simmer them. Remove them from the broth before including the veggies you do want in the soup.  You may also throw in bones recently saved from another meal.

For about a gallon of broth, use about two cups of lentils unless you want a very thick type soup.

Tradition is that carrots go into the broth as well as a BAY LEAF  (Greek Laurel) and onions. They say Bay leaves add SOUL. But you are being adventurous as well as thrifty so we have to think about what we have in the garden or on hand.

Skillet cooking veggies and spices first:

Cut up whatever veggies you have into smallish pieces including kale, celery, cabbage, onions, garlic, carrots, and cook them first in a pan till semi soft, with some olive or coconut oil...  garlic first, onions next, then the celery, just a minute or two between, overall about ten minutes over low heat. Kale is called a nutrition superstar packed with vitamins and minerals. Cabbage has vitamin C, more than citrus. So do peppers. Then mix all these veggies in your broth. Tradition is to use the celery ribs.  I use leaves and all.  (Leaves that are going yellow should be plucked.)

This pan is also where to put spices that need the cooking to release their powers. For an East Indian flavor consider adding cumin, curry powder, or even the masala type spices that are sold in small boxes. Of course your favorite paprika can please. One teaspoon or less is usually enough to spice up a gallon of soup for European tastes.

You can also use cilantro as a garnish or include it or parsley into your soup.

If you use canned vegetables, they are already cooked, so add them and the juice in the can at the end of the cooking, so they don't turn into tasteless and limp veggies. 

You can also use rice (about one third cup dry is about one cup cooked) or potato. Rice can be white or brown and I suggest that, while it will cook in broth, timing is important, as it will do so in about ten to twenty minutes.  So I cook rice separately. rinse it, and put it in the soup towards the end of the cooking. By putting the rice on the side, some of your family may decide they want the soup without it. Both are starches and I think should be added towards the end of the cooking.

Now, some people cook the lentils on the side, then put half in a blender, so adding two different lentil textures to the broth. If you have no broth, you can easily make a lentil-rich dish that will go over rice or potato instead.

C 2023 Magyar-American BlogSpot

ROSE WREATH

 

HUNGARICANA DATABASES FOLK MUSIC! CHOOSE A REGION and PLAY THE MUSIC!

Check out the MUSIC!  Hear a song that your ancestors may have sung. In some cases the sheet music is also available!

https://zti.hungaricana.hu/en/

What a wonderful opportunity to hear music from the nation of Hungary!

MONTH OF MARY : APPLE BLOSSOMS and LITTLE ALTARS

My childhood memory is of going into an old apple orchard and cutting off branches that held blossoms, putting these in jars or vases on the window cill near a statue of Mary.  (We did not do Maypole dances.)  What might have been especially special was the knowing that honoring Mary was honoring mothers, perhaps all females, and that we were girls.