I don’t know why I ever moved away from THIS!!
THAT amazing place is Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley. British Columbia. Canada. We spent a week here visiting my family early August. But being there was more than a visit. It really was like vacationing.
Summer. Sun. Lake.
Fresh Fruit. Family + Friends.
Babies. Super cute, teeny tiny newborn babiiies! One of them mine 😀
And of course FOOD! Amazing food from my mama’s kitchen.
That’s the short form of our vacation summary. I think the pictures show that we had a wonderful time out enjoying life at it’s best. Olivia got to meet Oma and Opa for the first time. And also here aunts, uncle and cousins – one is actually only 2 days older than her (we call them the twin cousins).
Strolling through my parents’ garden with all it’s flowers and ripening fruit (some of which went straight into our bellies) was so relaxing and zen-like. So was hanging out in the hammock (until the last day, when I flipped over backwards in it. Ouch!)
Konrad got wonderfully lost in time fixing and taking apart my sister’s semi-vintage moped. It’s running perfectly smooth now. Allowing everyone to take it for a joy ride.
And I had the best of times cooking with my mom. Ever since being pregnant with Olivia I started to crave many of the foods I grew up with, but unfortunately never learnt while I still lived at home. So helping her with this new mindset (and notebook in hand) was a special treat.
Well, EATING that same food was even better. All of the dishes can be classified as Russian/Soviet cuisine, or more correctly ‘from the cultures of the former Soviet Union’. Like Ukrainian Borscht or Uzbek Plov. I hope to share some of those newly ‘learnt’ recipes as soon as I get to recreate them without help 🙂
P.S. I remember why I moved away from Kelowna. It was to travel South East Asia!! Duh! Which was just as awesome food + weather wise. And sooo much better on many levels.
Upon returning we somehow ‘got stuck’ in Calgary. Which has a great food culture as well, and great economy. But the weather… oh the weather. We’ve had almost 2 weeks of solid rain in August!
I sure hope you all have better ‘end of summer’ weather.