MMMMM! "Mon-tee"

Manty (or "mon-tee", if you need the phonectic translation is a tasty Central Asian dish made about twice a month by our friends here. I thought I'd pass along the recipe for you to try at home, although, without a very large steamer, it might be tricky!! I'll be bringing one home with me, so we'll have to have you over for a sampling of this delightfully, filling national dish!

First, make a pretty big batch of noodle dough. Any good, thorough cook book can teach you how to do this. I usually start with 2 or 2 1/2 cups of flour, and go from there. Cover, and set it aside to rest, while you mix up the filling.

The filling is a mixture of ground beef or pork, about 2 carrots diced up, a very large onion (or its equivalent) diced up really small, a couple of really large handfuls of cabbage- diced up really small, and some salt and pepper. Remember, a few posts ago, I told you that those are the only spices they use here?? If you have a pumpkin on hand, we like to substitute diced pumpkin for the carrot. You can also throw in some green pepper, if you like. Mix all this up with your hands.

Next, get a big dowel ready- maybe 2 inches thick or so...

Divide your dough into 4 pieces and roll each chunk of dough until very thin; be patient, this takes a while!

If you don't have a long dowel, you can do this with rolling pin.

Then, cut the dough into 4" X 4" squares.

Fill with about 2 T. of the filling mixture. Bring opposite corners up together and pinch. Then bring the other opposite corners together and pinch those. Last, take the corners on each side and pull together so they meet, and pinch. They should make a tidy little package like this:

Place on the steamer trays, then stack your trays over water to steam them. Everyone can join in, and have fun with this project!! Even the little ones like to help.

Steam these little guys for about 45 minutes, and serve with sour cream and loads of hot, fresh bread!

They are traditional eaten with the fingers, making a perfect conversation piece for a dinner party!! Enjoy!

This time I want to share a few pix from a city about 4 hours south of us. It hosts a spectacular mausoleum with the most exquisite tile work! Enjoy!

The inside is pretty plain, but very much alive, in the sense that it is a very active place of "worship". In fact, the people here believe that going here 3 times substitutes for going to Mecca!

The little person at the bottom gives you some perspective in how immense this place really is!!

The writing is Arabic, in case you were wondering :)

All handpainted these are!

Until next time,

Your SteppeSister

A Discourse on Rugs

Our area of the world is a haven for beautiful rugs! Rugs of all sizes, with bright, rich, vibrant colors. The people generally have few other handicrafts, as the art of a culture usually begins with what is needed. Historically, these people were a nomadic culture, and in fact, still were until only around 75 years ago! They lived in the traditional nomadic housing called the yurt by outside cultures. One of the most useful additions to a yurt was a rug to cover up the sand, dirt, or low grasses that the yurt surrounded. It had no permanent floor. So, early on, this culture practiced the art of weaving.

The traditional design is the "fleur de lis" shape you see in all these rugs. We have been told that this design resembles the shape of the ram's horns which symbolizes strength and freedom.

The rug above is made of hand spun sheep's wool, as well as hand-dyed. We understand from many that to add flowers and/ or animals was only practiced by the most expert of women weavers.

The rug below is made of camel's wool that has been felted. Of course, all done by hand.

The art is dying, quickly becoming lost. It is only being practiced in the small villages, and only a few old women even do this anymore. Instead, smaller, souvenir sized trinkets are being made, and even then synthetics are being added for convenience and ease. It is truly a shame!

The rugs are worth a fortune in the west, but many families are selling off these treasures for a song; apparently cell phones and satellite dishes are more important now. Do these people understand the heritage they are losing and trading off for something so much less valuable??

Here is one a friend of mine's mother made recently. She enjoys doing this in her spare time, but unfortunately her skill can never compare to the her foremother's talents.

I can expound on my theories about why the quality of these rugs, like most every other area of our host people's work, has gone south. Suffice it to say that the system of communism has taken its toll on creativity and work ethic. Although they've moved away from Communism, the devastating effects are entrenched. They are no longer careful or patient, which is sorely reflected in all areas of craftsmanship. Sad.

Let's Go Out to Eat!

Ever tried to go out to eat in Central Asia!!?? I think I'm quite ready for another adventure!

Let's start by saying there are cafe's! Loads of them! Like every other Soviet social and economic structure, there are far, far too many to sustain any of them very well. At the bazaar, the powers that were/be told everyone that they must sell all the same products in the same area or street or district or whatever. So, you go up one row, and you will find ALL the sellers that carry gum and cigarettes. The next aisle over will be car parts. And if you want to buy construction materials you have ONE choice of location; they are ALL on the same street. Convenient? NO! Good for the seller? NO! Communism at is "best".

Cafe's are no different. There are too many, and too regulated. Still.

So, you walk into a cafe' and what is the first thing they do? The waiter hands you a menu. This is quite possibly the biggest joke in the history of all mankind. Seriously, like do they really think that the menu is useful at all. Here's a sample conversation that we have had about 4 million times until we became wiser. It wavered very little- and was often verbatim:

Waiter: What will you eat?
Customer: Ummm... I'll have the XXX
Waiter: OK (leaves for about 15 minutes)
Waiter returns: We don't have that today.
Customer: OK, them bring me a YYY
Waiter: We don' t have that either.
Customer: Do you have ZZZ?
Waiter: I don't think so.
Customer: OK, WHAT DO YOU HAVE!!!!???
Waiter: We have ZZZ or XYZ.
Customer: Anything else?
Waiter: No.
Customer: OK, then bring me the ZZZ

(Sorry, this is starting to look like a genetics lesson, isn't it?)

Do you want anything to drink? Yeah, if it's cold. It's cold. Right, then bring me a Coke.

Ummm... excuse me. This isn't cold. Yes, it is. No, it's really not.

Finally we've ordered, and our food is on the way.

Waiter returns again: Sorry, we just ran out of ZZZ. You can have XYZ.
Customer: Fine, just bring it!

Here's the deal. If you've ordered fries, they will come out first, and cold, soggy and greasy. When you've choked down your fries, you will get your main dish. Sometimes, it will actually be cow hair free, which is always a bonus in my book. If there are no cow hairs, you might get lucky and have meat without the tendons attached.

The Coke has finally arrived. It indeed is NOT cold, and is too late to wash down whatever mystery pieces of this or that that were in your bowl. You are thirsty.

Did you know it actually might be a Federal crime around here to not order and pay 10 times too much for a bowl of dry, stale bread. Yup, it's that important around here.

Tip #4. Don't EVER leave your napkin on the table used once. By the way, they still practice the Soviet method of frugality, by cutting (yes, they actually hire someone to do this) the paper napkins in half! You can't even wipe your pinky with it, it's so small. Don't ever leave it on the table, they will take it away faster than a town hall meeting about the Healthcare Plan turns sour!

You know that kind of waiter that is intrusive?? Always hovering?? They love that here. We have to forcefully, and semi-rudely tell the waiters here to STOP pouring our drinks everytime we take 1 sip! I hate that! I can pour my own Coke- GO AWAY!

Okay, time to pay the bill... "Yes, honey, they DID just charge you $2 for a basket of stale, dry bread." "How much does bread cost at home?" "Oh, about 15 cents." "We're never going out to eat again." "Okay." "Hey, what does the menu say XYZ cost?" "Ummm... 250 tenge" "Then why does it say 450 tenge?" "Cuz they are ripping you off again."

After much animated, "Oh, we are very sorry!", the bill is fixed, and we pay. OOps! Don't have the right change. Waiter returns in about 20 minutes after having gone to the store next door to get change. He probably had a cup of tea while there. But lo and behold, they didn't have the right change afterall, so they will short change us about the same amount as the overcharge of XYZ. So, it all comes out in the end for us and them. NOT!

Long story short, we go out to eat VERY, VERY rarely. My food tastes better, everyone pours their own Coke, we get whole napkins, and we pay 15 cents for fresh bread.

A Lesson in Patience

Two weeks ago I started a 12 week series of quilting classes for 4 of my friends. Each one, at one point over the years, has asked me to teach her how to make the wall hangings found throughout our house. They are eager students, but very quickly discovered that the art of quilting is one that, aside from needing a keen eye for color and design, requires an exactness in measuring and stitching; neither of these is ingrained in this culture. It requires incredible patience and persistence- again rare qualities around here.

I never thought 8 years ago, that I'd be to a point that I could teach a class in the language I was learning!! But, gosh, this is sure a stretch! Although I CAN get my point across, and there is MUCH playing of charades, it is certainly not eloquent! Here I am teaching by showing, and learning patience MYSELF.

Each woman is making great strides, despite NEVER having used a rotary cutter, NEVER having measured using the Imperial measuring system, and NEVER having used an electric sewing machine. This little girl has just cut herself on one of the rotary cutters, and is clearly NOT very happy! Her mom really needs this few hours to do something for herself, so please ask that she could be blessed with this time for her!

The fabric they are using was all donated, and pre-matched according to a color theme. That way, we are at least guaranteed quilts that won't be mixing brick red with lime green (mostly). Sometimes, you just have to bite your tongue and make suggestions, but not push. Here are the first photos of their first completed blocks. Aren't they pretty??!

Another fun thing is that NariLoo will get to have a playmate once a week! She and her friend managed to really "beautify" the house last week in their own special way.

A Trip to the Village

Let's take a trip to the village- the countryside of our area, waiting to explored and discovered. There are some interesting things to contemplate, both delightful and detestable. One of the most detestable is the road that leads there. Can you imagine the main highway across a country looking like this?! There are no painted lines down the middle, and about as many potholes as there are mosquitoes in the evening air around here. Once we get there, we can show up to just about any neighbor's house and know we are going to get some amazing hospitality. First, they might offer you some fermented mare's milk, called "kumiss". People all over Central Asia drink this beery tasting, slightly alcoholic milk product. Before the Soviets came to this area, anything stronger was unknown. Here is how they collect the mare's milk. Serving an entire meal is certainly not uncommon, and if needed a place to sleep is offered as well.

Speaking of sleeping, here is how the littlest ones sleep. They love to bind up the babies in a cradle and rock them- a lot. See that little "pipe"?? Those are the ancient predecessor to Pampers!!! The pee goes through the little pipe, and down into a jar that is attached under the bottom. That gets emptied occasionally. Most villagers are very fond of their animals and most would have at least some of kind. Sheep and goats are the most popular, but the more wealthy ones would have a herd of camels or cows or horses. These baby camels will, one day, provide milk for the other fermented drink they love so much around here called shobat.

Life takes on a slower pace around here, there isn't much to do, and that breeds boredom and hopelessness. Those in turn breed alcoholism, which runs rampant in the villages. Some see moving to the city as a way to find work, and a change. The village, which could really use MORE work, not less, is losing people and work, which makes the problems worse.

Back from the village,

Your SteppeSister

The Good, The Bad and the WAYYY Ugly!

Yesterday was quite a day; it was emotional, bringing both joy and pain and a tinge of fright.


As I've mentioned many times before here and there, alcoholism is a rampant social problem. Most of you know that the SteppeSister family has been sent to do a job here. One of those tasks is bringing Words of life and hope to those who are lost and hurting.


For many years, I've had a burden for my neighbor. Like us, she is a bit of an "outsider" in our neighborhood, being from a different people group. Other neighbors have warned us to "be very careful of her, she has the evil eye!" I'm sure they think the same of us.


Perhaps this is why our sons are such great friends. Both have few other pals to hang around with, and neither seems to mind that they don't speak the same language. It's a great bonus that Macaroni can have a friend that won't laugh at his, all to obvious to everyone else, speech issues.

Anyway, I'm off-track. I went to visit this dear lady with a friend of mine yesterday, and about 10 minutes into our conversation her VEEEEEEEEEEERY drunk son showed up. Stumbling, stinking, and slurring, he proceeded to plop down and babble at us. His mother implored him, "to go take a shower, you stink", and "this is a ladies time, give us five minutes to chat". The volume was increasing with every heartfelt plea, but to no avail. Instead he, in his near comatose stupor, proceeded to pull the phone out of the wall, slam a few doors, and then wander aimlessly around the yard. This apparently wasn't satisfactory, so he came back in and began to tell us about his liver that was hurting him. He, at one point, reached out for my friend's hand so he could have her feel it, which pretty much freaked all of us out!!!

Again, he left after more screaming on his mother's part, only to have him reappear with a lit cigarette. You must know in this culture, having a lit cig. in the house, and especially around women, is a huge taboo. You just don't do that! When his mother reminded him of this, he simply reached out, took my friend's, not yet empty, tea bowl, and proceeded to use it as an ashtray!! By this time, the vodka was winning; he had no choice but to make his way into his bed and passout.

Thank God! He was out for a while, which gave us a wonderful chance to then share some encouraging things with her regarding the One who made her, and indeed sees her pain and cares. We also shared with her that we know a local man who runs a rehab center in town and not only has had wonderful success getting men clean, but also teaches them furniture making skills so they can start a new life with a hope and a future- both here and forever!

When I shared with her that I was starting a quilting class next week, she was very eager to participate, and acknowledged that it will be nice to have 3 hours a week just to do something for HER! I told her we'd be sharing each other's burdens and she really liked that idea.

Later that night, she had to make the the painful decision about whether or not to call the police to come and get him. The choice, although very difficult, was made easier by knowing that this man's 5 year old daughter (her grandchild) was in danger with him like this (this drunkeness has been going on for months). So, he is now in jail for 15 days according to the law. You can only imagine the hurt and pain and anger that must abound in that family. If you think about it, please remember them :)

Suffering alongside so many like this,

Your SteppeSister