Cooking Adventures in the kitchen!

Welcome to my kitchen complete with homemade everything: salsa, applesauce, fajitas, chili and some soya (aka meat substitute) 

When I signed up for Peace Corps, I had no idea what the food situation would be like. Considering the fact that I had no idea where Macedonia was when I first got my invite, of course I had no idea what Balkan food would entail. Upon arriving, I have tried many new foods. Many without my wanting but being a guest, I need to be polite. This culture takes great passion in their cooking and can become offended if you don't at least try one bite.

Although I live with a host family, I have opted to make my own food instead of eating their food. I can't can't seem to adjust to the salty and oily food. Plus being a vegetarian really complicates things!


Macedonian food has been a hard adjustment for me but I feel so incredibly blessed to have my own kitchen. I have made many disastrous dishes and have learned so much from cooking. Some examples: boil your potatoes before you add them to soup (or you have a starchy brothless soup), if your pizza dough is sticky before baking, baking it without adding extra flour will make it stick to the pan despite of adding olive oil and make sure to figure out how much water you need for bullion cubes or you will have an extremely salty soup. These are only a few of the many things I have learned.

There have been some great successes in the kitchen. I have learned how to make my own vegetable stock, homemade applesauce, chili, baked beans, cauliflower rice and homemade dough. One thing that I am extremely proud of is learning what to substitute in a recipe because of the limited food variety here. It is a challenge, especially when it comes to spices or not having a blender/food processor but I am learning to manage!

I am very lucky that my fellow site mate Jasmine loves to cook and bake so about every 2 weeks we get together and make something delicious!

Here are some pictures of my creations:

Ricotta and Spinach Tortellini with a mushroom sauce mixed with fresh spinach and mushrooms and steamed broccoli on the side

Yummmm: homemade applesauce 

Fajitas!! 

I made the traditional Macedonian baked bean dish called Tavce Gravce

good old guacamole

American pancakes with baked cinnamon apples (had to find an alternative to put on my pancakes because of no syrup)

Egg muffins for a quick breakfast on the go!

Another great breakfast item: apple cinnamon baked oatmeal 

Banana bread

Applesauce oatmeal raisin cookies, I consider them healthy

Jasmine and I made cinnamon buns, we made them pretty thin accidentally but that just meant we had to eat more to equal one

My attempt at making falafel, was very crumbly but delicious! 

Veggie pizza with homemade whole wheat dough, soya (a meat substitute like tofu), peppers, onions and homemade tomato sauce. Tasted more delicious then it looks

Veggie soup 

Who doesn't love eggplant pizza and roasted brussel sprouts? 

Jasmine and I made cinnamon sugar pretzels with a cream cheese sauce for dipping

And last but not least, we made s'mores together inside in the fireplace! Although we didn't have graham crackers, we made do with biscuits 

And on my few trips to the capital, Skopje, I have found some satisfying international food. Although it's not the same as home, it's so nice to have different flavors.

Fajitas at the Mexican restaurant 

Falafel at the Arabian Syrian restaurant 

I have only had my own kitchen for 2 months and am excited to continue experimenting and creating new dishes. Feel free to offer any suggestions or simple delicious recipes that I can make.