A Lithuanian Lunch.

Lithuania has some food I like and some food I really don't like. Nevertheless I've managed to gain all the weight I lost in Fiji and then some. Darn those good foods. Don't worry, China will heal this.
Anyway. Remember the days when we used to get food from the school? The first few weeks we loved it and thought it was delicious. By the end of month one we were sending food home with Hannah to her host family. By the end of month two I dreaded going to lunch and breakfast got more boring. By the end of month 3 I was begging Mikele to cancel all the food and let me cook for myself. However in all of this sometimes we got dinosaur eggs. There is no way to describe what a dinosaur egg is, but I will try. It is the shape of an egg, and huge. It is like the texture of playdough and slime mixed together. Chewy and slimy. There is a surprise pocket of meat in the middle. It's also stretchy. You totally want some right now don't you?

We thought maybe this traditional cepelinai would be better if it came from a restaurant or home.... One time Rachel ordered it in a nice restaurant... it was a step up but... we still didn't like the dinosaur eggs.
So today... when we got invited to lunch and found out we were making the eggs. We were nervous.
Apparently they take a very long time to make and it is a huge process. It is. We learned first hand. It was also fun.
The first problem though was that they didn't know I was vegetarian. Oops. I have now learned to make it very clear that I don't eat meat before I go to anyone's house. Especially in Lithuania. So when they found out... it was no bueno because this dish relied on the meat. Their dad literally went to the store to buy me varske (cheese) to go inside. I felt so guilty! He said let me go get some milk products. Then he brought back mozzarella, Parmesan, cottage cheese, and string cheese. He cut them all up and had us sample them and even showed us how to pull apart the string cheese. By this point I felt so guilty. I hate being an imposition and I really don't like when people have to cater to me.
We played with Kamila and Julia and then helped to cook. We started by juicing the potatoes and then straining them through mesh. You take the liquid and drain that in order to pull the starch off the bottom of the bowl.

This is what creates the outside of the dino egg. Then you have the meat mix for the middle or for me the varske. You flatten this thing out in your hand, fill it, and then squish it all together. Then you boil it for 40 minutes. It was quite the process.
While they cooked Daniel came over and we all played Monopoly, in Lithuania.

Then we ate.
I don't have much to say.
Except then they tried the cheese one and said it was really gross and I needed to eat the meat one. I felt so bad but I stuck with the I'm full.
More games.

They had the cutest yorkie!
Then tea time! With a full tea set and everything. It was so cute. We had a traditional cake that in English is Johnny cake, chocolates, cookies, tea, and oranges. I was so full I was going to puke. They were so nice though and kept giving us food.
After that we played some more and then headed home.
They gave us boxes of chocolates and our own Johnny cake. They also gave us dinosaur eggs to take home.
Oh! And it was my first time in a Lithuanian house! That was neat!
When we got home we were supposed to go into town and do all the Christmas fun at the markets but the girls were already on their way home.
Talk about sad! I want to see town so badly! :( I hope we can go next Saturday before the ballet. Fingers crossed.