A Trip Down Memory Lane

It's 5 a.m. and here I am writing a post. I woke up at 3:30 to help Jennabee who woke up crying and haven't been able to fall asleep since. You'll never guess what's keeping me awake either--thoughts of stuffed peppers and stuffed eggplant.

It all started last week when my friend from church gave me some of her fresh garden tomatoes. After taking one bite of her tomatoes, I was astonished at the amount of flavor they had. After eating store bought tomatoes for years, I had forgotten how flavorful tomatoes should be. I don't know if it was related to the tomatoes, but Joe suggested we go as a family to the local farmer's market the next day.

Saturday morning came and we headed over to the farmer's market in Moscow. I immediately became giddy with nostalgia. Walking along the rows of fruits and vegetables outdoors reminded me of the year we spent in Albania. In Albania, you couldn't drive and buy your food at a grocery store, so there were lots of tiny stores and fruit and vegetable stands within walking distance from every home and apartment building. It was all so close that I bought my fresh fruits and veggies almost everyday instead of buying a weeks worth like I do here. For the first two weeks or so after arriving in Albania, Joe was doing all the shopping for me. He wanted me to learn the language and said the best way was to jump right in, so after the two week grace period, told me it was time for me to buy the groceries by myself. At first I stared at him and couldn't believe he was serious. When I realized he meant it, I begged, whined, kicked, and screamed, but he didn't give in. I'm so glad he didn't. That first experience led me to the independence I desparately needed to find while living in a strange country.

So, as I walked around the farmer's market, I was feeling and thinking about the flood of wonderful experiences that came from my first trip alone to the markets of Tirana. Is it any wonder I ended buying sweet peppers and eggplant to make two of my favorite Albanian dishes--stuffed peppers and stuffed eggplant? Especially because they were the cute, petite peppers and eggplant, just like in Albania, not the giant monstrosities you find in the grocery store.

Last night I finally cooked them up and the stuffed peppers were wonderful, the stuffed eggplant was THE BEST stuffed eggplant I've ever made! I have to give lots of love and fond memories to Ledia, our Albanian friend, who taught me how to make these dishes the summer before we left for Albania five years ago. It was that day that my love for Albanian cuisine began. Everytime I dipped my bread in the juices at the bottom of the pan last night, I thought of her, and how she loved to do the same.

Even though I said it was stuffed peppers and eggplant that have kept me awake this morning, in reality it's about the memories that making those dishes created. Fond, warm memories of a country that I grew to love and some of the best people I have ever met in my life. I miss Albania and our wonderful Albanian friends.