Around the World in the Hetzel Kitchen

Flag courtesy of Wikipedia Location : Central Europe, between the Netherlands and Poland Area : Over 350,000 sq km; 63rd biggest in the world          Slightly smaller than Montana Population : Almost 81,000,000; 18th largest in the world           Second largest in Europe after Russia Capital : Berlin Economy : Based on GDP per capita the 5th biggest in the world and the biggest in Europe Source: CIA World Factbook Next up in fast-forwarding through Danielle's life is...Germany!  And not only Germany, but Germany in Colorado at Christmas. Why such time travel?  Sickness, tiredness, general lack of time.  What does that sound like?  Yep, that's right, time to have another baby!  And this time, although we didn't know it when I cooked this food, there were twins.  Turns out that makes things a lot more interesting.  There were a lot of foods I had aversions to, and just making a shoppin...

(Note, I am posting this without my "editor" Kevin looking it over.  I finally decided if I didn't post it I never would, so I'm just going with it.  Welcome back to blogging?) As I was looking for something to make for Georgia, I decided I couldn't stop at one dish. Sometimes certain countries just have foods that speak to me and I want to keep trying.   Khinkalis came up repeatedly in my searches as definitively Georgian.  Plus they sounded good.  Meat dumplings?  I am in!  After looking at a number of recipes I went with this one .  The directions made sense and there were pictures! I'm pretty sure I halved the recipe, although I could be wrong.  But at least this one is halve-able, unlike last time! With some fancy Google converting, 1.1 kilos equals 2.4 pounds.  Yay internet!  And food scales! The dough, which was just flour, egg, and water was pretty sticky, but not the worst thing with which I have worked. Th...

Image from Marco Petrovic found on Wikipedia Background : Received most recent independence in 1991 from the USSR Location : Southwestern Asia between Turkey and Russia                Georgia views itself as part of Europe Area : Almost 70,000 sq km; 121st largest in the world          Slightly smaller than South Carolina Population : Over 4.5 million; 122nd largest in the world Capital : Tblisi Disputes : Contains two areas, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, that claim they are independent.  Russia recognizes them as separate from Georgia. Etymology : The name Georgia appears in numerous early medieval annals, but it is unsure where it is from Sources: CIA Factbook , Wikipedia I believe the first time I realized there was a country named Georgia was the geography bee in grade school.  The person who answered the question got it right.  I would not have.  Who knew that a US state shared a na...