Russian food and American entertainment

You know you've lived in Russia too long when....you get pel'meni cravings. Nastia managed to find some for me at a Russian store in a neighboring city.

Unfortunately, they were just so-so. A big hunk of dough with a little pea-sized ball of meat inside. The second time I made them, I fried them up with some scallions after boiling, and that added flavor.

I find that pel'meni quality has a big range, in general. So it's not surprising.

In other news, I watched the Superbowl this evening. I invited my sister over, but we agreed not to make a lot of junkfood since we seem to do that every time we get together and then get tummyaches. We ended up with soup, fruit, and pita crisps with hummus. The ice cream sundae doesn't count...

Anyway, watching the Superbowl was rather amusing because it ended up being my sister, her boyfriend, my dad, and me. All of us except my dad had a book nearby for when we got bored. Not because it was a boring game but because we're not exactly "terrible towel" folks. My sister and I, known for our athletic prowess, tried to learn some new lingo and generally follow the score.

Me: "Oh, they have ___ points?"
Sister: "Yeah, they got the touchdown, and the...you know (moves her leg slightly as if to kick)."
Me: "The field goal?"
Sister's boyfriend: "No, the extra point. The field goal is something different."

The game was exciting in the end, and passionate exclamations could be heard in the room such as "This is getting interesting" and "I've never seen THAT before." Mom was hiding out in the kitchen until it was over and later claimed she hadn't heard "a peep" from the four of us. I guess we're just quiet people.