Whole Foods hasn't made it to Azerbaijan yet

It's Pear Season!

So recently my director took me up to the Piral village in the Qusar region, which is close to the Dagestan (Russia) border. We went to visit one of our Sumax carpet workshops.

After inspecting the workshop, we stopped at one of the weaver's homes to gather some fruits and vegetables. Women here cook seasonally, as that is usually their only option for many of the produce items. It can prove a challenge, but one I've really enjoyed.

My Director Fatima & I

Shaking the pears out of the tree

                       We picked pears, tomatoes, hazelnuts and a few other in-season produce.

My director gave me a massive bag of pears, of which I ate maybe 1. I was like, what on Earth am I going to do with this many pears?! So I got on Google and started looking and came up with this recipe!

Thought you all might enjoy another "Cooking with Corina" session, so here it is....

Pear Bread

Ingredients

3 1/2 Cups Flour

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Ground Ginger

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Nutmeg

2 Cups White Sugar

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil (Sunflower Oil works well too)

1/2 Cup Melted Butter

2 Tsps Vanilla

4 Eggs

2 Cups chopped fresh pears

**Sprinkle of Brown Sugar optional

Instructions 

1. Preheat Oven to 250 F (120C)

**You can cook it at a higher temperature if you trust your oven, but as our little red ovens are temperamental, I prefer to go lower and for longer when cooking.

2. Peel, Core, and Chop 2 cups of pears (easier to do this while watching a show or movie)

 

3. Mix melted butter, sugar, oil and vanilla together. Then slowly add the eggs, 1 by 1. The mixture will thicken and turn a yellowish color. (see picture)

 

4. In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients in one bowl and set aside.

 5. Combine all ingredients together and fold in the chopped pears.
**Optional, sprinkle a bit of brown sugar on the top for taste and appearance. 

 

6. Spread in a greased pan and put in oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes, keeping a close eye on the bread and rotating often.

7. Bread is done when a fork/knife comes out clean. Let it cool, then slice and Enjoy!

I plan on bringing to my director as a thank you for giving me so much fruit! We'll see how my director likes the bread tomorrow!

Peace Corps Azerbaijan's 10 year Anniversary

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Peace Corps volunteers serving in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan itself has only been independently established since 1991, making Peace Corps' presence here a significant percentage of the country's history. Recently, a PCV was asked to put together a slide show for the anniversary. Take a look! (I show up in a bunch of the pictures if you look closely.)

The Luxury Tour

So as my time in country winds down (86 more days to go!), I am trying to make sure I do all the things I wanted to. One of my main goals is to document my daily life and experiences, so that I will always remember my time here.

One of the things I have been asked for in the past 2 years, that I had not gotten around to doing, was making a video tour of my house. Well, I finally did it, and here it is for your viewing pleasure...