Be a Tourist and Learn some Lingo

Prague Castle

 

There are about 2,000 castles (some just ruins) in the Czech Republic.  You probably can't throw a rock and NOT hit a castle, but only one of these castles is impressive enough to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records - Prague Castle!  So, of course, that's where we have to go. 

Listed as the biggest castle complex in the world, Prague Castle has been the home to the Kings and Queens of Bohemia (what the are was called long ago), the Holy Roman Emperors, and the presidents of Czechoslovakia and now the Czech Republic.  Since 880, it has been built, destroyed, rebuilt, burnt, restored and added on to according to the whims of the monarchs.  Because of that, the Prague Castle is a great example of many different types of architectural styles.  The castle includes many different buildings- St. Vitus Cathedral, Basilica of St. George, a monastery, several palaces, towers and halls, as well as, formal gardens.  Many of these are now museums or public areas that can be visited. 

The castle is also home to the Czech crown jewels which include the Crown of Saint Wenceslas.  The crown was made for the coronation of George IV in 1347 which makes it one of the oldest in Europe.  But don't get any ideas about trying it on, an ancient Czech legend says that anyone unfit who places the crown upon his head will die within the year.  Just legend you say? Well when the Nazis occupied Prague and took over the castle, Nazi govenor Reinhold Heydrich tried it on as a joke and was assasinated within the year.  Sure, he probably would've died anyway but I'll still keep my hands off the jewels just in case!!

A few Czech words....

If you are going to be travelling around you might want to learn a few words in the native tongue.  I might suggest a more comprehensive lesson then the one I'm about to give you :)  The Czech language has it's own alphabet and many different sound combinations than we are used to but give it a shot!

hello - ahoj    good day - dobry den     good bye - na shiedanou
thank you - dekuji    you are welcome - neni zac     please - prosim

1- jeden      2- dva     3- tri      4- ctyri       5- per
6- sest        7- sedm   8- osm    9- devet    10- deset

We hope you enjoyed our visit to the Czech Republic.  My kids have really been playing with their puppets and, in fact, we have our own "Puppet Museum" in the living room.  It's just like visiting Prague (no, not really).  If you make the pot roast recipe I can tell you that the leftovers make a great hash for breakfast and the dumplings are great with gravy! 

On the Menu: Czech Food

Dobrou chut!!

It's even on the ketchup!

That's the Czech version of "bon appetit" or "enjoy your meal" and I hope you enjoy the recipes I have for you today! My husband was all gung-ho to try some Czech Republic food when I told him how most of the dishes are either meat and sauce over dumplings/potatoes or sweet and fruity.  He especially thought it was great that the country is the #1 consumer of beer in the world.  Meat, potatoes, donuts and beer (!!) makes this my dear husband's dreamland.  I think he's talking to a travel agent tomorrow :)  Actually, the food did sound pretty good.  Lunch is the main meal in the Czech Republic and it typically will include a soup, the main dish of pork or beef served with a sauce and side of dumplings or potatoes, a salad that has a sweet dressing or a dessert.  As I mentioned earlier, the Czechs love beer and the also have hearty snacks to go with the beer, like utopenci a.k.a "drowned men", which is a pickled sausage, or syr smazeny, fried cheese (yum.) I found some good blogs that have tons of delicious sounding recipes they are CzechRecipes.blogspot.com and EmperorsCrumbs.com , I am positive there are many more to explore but these two looked good!  With all the choices of recipes I had to chose from I picked 2 that sounded like something my kids would eat.  I don't always pick the right ones as you can tell from previous posts and I suppose I could just only pick cookies and cakes and be a winner but I TRY to put healthy food in them too.  So I chose a dilled pot roast that I could cook in the slow cooker and some dumplings because who doesn't like dumplings!!!

Koprova (Dilled Pot Roast)

For the recipe you will need:

• 3lb chuck roast (or any roast?)
• 1 T fresh dill - chopped
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp fresh dill - chopped

1  Coat both sides of roast with salt and pepper and dill.
2. Put in slow cooker with the water and vinegar and cook on low for 8 - 10 hrs. Mine was actually done in 7 !
3. Remove the meat and keep warm while you make the sauce. 
4.  Turn cooker to HI and add flour (mixed with a little water to make paste). Cook 10 minutes.
5.  Add sour cream and dill and serve with meat and dumplings.

Knedliky (Czech yeast dumplings)

For the recipe you will need:

• 4 cups flour sifted (or not, I never sift)
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 cup milk - warmed to about 105°
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar

1. Mix yeast with 1/4 cup of the milk and the sugar in a sm. bowl.
2.  Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.
3. When yeast has dissolved and bubbled up (10 mins.) add to flour mixture.
4. Add rest of milk and eggs and combine to make dough.
5.  Knead dough into ball and place in bowl, cover with a towel and let rest for 1 hr.  It should double.  Mine did not really double and I'm not sure why!  I think my milk was not really warm enough?  Or I kneaded it too much? Or the yeast was old?? Who knows?
6. Divide the dough into 3 loaves and set them on a platter to rest (covered) for 30 minutes.
7.  Boil some salted water in a large pot and when boiling put the big ol' dumplings in the water. 
8. Cook (covered) for 7 minutes, then flip them over and cook for another 7 minutes.
9. Remove the now HUGE dumplings and let them cool a minute or two and them cut and serve.  The traditional way to cut them is with string.  Put the middle of the string under the dumpling and cross your strings and pull to pinch off a piece of the dumpling without mushing it.  Personally, I found a sharp knife worked fine.

This meal was filling and pretty good!  I think my dumplings should have been fluffier and it was probably because they didn't rise properly.  The meat was really tasty. I was worried the dill would be overpowering but it was very nice.  I always have a problem getting a thick sauce from anything crockpotted - anybody else have this problem?  My dill/sour cream sauce was delicious but I think it should have been thicker.  Whatever!  My kids ate this!!!  YEAH!! They skipped the sauce but liked the rest so I am a happy Mommy with a happy Husband and two wonderful kids.  Life is good. 

P.S. The leftover dumplings are delicious the next morning with butter and jam!!

Puppets!!!!

The Puppets of Prague

Well, not just Prague, all of the Czech Republic loves puppets!  But really, who doesn't love a good puppet show right??  Ever since the string marionettes were introduced to the region, around 1563, the people have really made them a part of their culture.  Early puppet shows travelled from village to village performing for the people.  The audience was mostly peasants because the shows tended to make fun of the monarchy and nobles.  It was a way of commenting on the world and the news of the day in a friendly and joking way.  Also, it told the legends and folk tales that carried on the Czech tradition to the younger generations.  The families of puppeteers would pass on their beloved puppets to the next generations and many of these original puppets are now featured in museums.  Puppeteers are now headliners in theaters and no longer roam the countryside and every June the city of Prague hosts the World Festival of Puppet Art!


We're going to have a go at making our own puppets- both the marionette and hand puppet!  Hand puppets I've made but the marionette is a new one - wish me luck and read on to see how it goes.....

A String Marionette

For this project you will need:

• sticks for controlling wand
• cardboard tubes
• styrofoam ball
• string or yarn
• glue or stapler
• markers
• skewer or something to make holes in head
• felt

1. Using a skewer, chopstick or something similar poke a hole through the styrofoam ball.

2. Cut a slit about 1 inch from top of cardboard tube.  This is one arm hole. Repeat on other side and slip a piece of felt through both holes to make arms.
3. Get a long piece of yarn and wrap that around the piece of felt that is inside the tube with the ends coming out the top.

4. Use the skewer to push that yarn through the styrofoam ball and out the top of the head.  Tie a knot and now the head is attached to the body.
5. If you are using a short tube, cut out some legs from another piece or cardboard and attach to finish the body.  If using a longer tube, make a long slit and staple the legs at the bottom and top of the slit.
6. Tie the two sticks in an X shape to make the wand and wrap string to hold it together.  Tie the string from the head to the middle and a string from each hand to the controller.
7. Draw faces, clothes, whatever you want on the puppet and HAVE FUN!!

We named it Peppy the Puppet :)

The marionette was a little involved but fun.  We also made hand puppets out of white paper bags and markers.  Then my kids and some friends put on an impromptu puppet show!

 

I wished I had thought to videotape them!  For some reason the puppets all had high-pitched fancy British accents!!

Week 25: Czech Republic

Czech Republic: the Heart of Europe

That's their nickname, "the heart of Europe", so let's learn a little about the Czech Republic.  I am coming into this week not knowing anything about the country, in fact, I didn't even know that it wasn't called Czechoslovakia anymore!  Apparently, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are two different countries now.  Actually since 1993, oops, I totally missed that memo!

Anyway, it's kind of sad that I don't know more about this country since my mom's grandfather immigrated from Czechoslovakia as a young boy.  I guess he didn't want to talk about it much once he was in America, and he's long since dead, so the stories are never to be told- so sad to lose that bit of our heritage.  I'll just have to learn about it myself.  Back to the nickname, since the country is located pretty centrally in Eastern Europe and Prague, the capital, is an amazing city over 1000 years old, the Czech Republic is a starting point for many travellers who tour the area.  It is a beautiful, mountainous country and considering that it would fit in the United States 122 times but that there are 2000 castles and ancient ruins in the country, it's safe to say there is a lot of history!

This week we will learn a little of that history and "visit" some of the castles, especially Prague Castle, which is the biggest castle in the world!  We will eat some traditional dumplings and learn a few phrases in Czech and we will make some puppets and put on a little puppet show because the Czech people are big fans of puppets!!  Having grown up on the Muppet Show, I have to say I love a good puppet myself!!  I'm looking forward to learning a little about the land of my ancestors - just look how beautiful it is!!