Month: November 2011

Slatko: A Serbian Delicacy

billkralovec

My son Oliver is trying a peach slatko last weekend at the restaurant Stari Majdan. Slatko is an interesting traditional Serbian fruit preserve. It is like a jam but with chunky pieces of fruit and it is served with water. It is very sweet and immediately afterward, one needs a sip of water. I guess that is why it is named slatko which means “sweet” in English.

It used to be served to guests when they arrived in a Serbian home. Today, it is only found in rural areas in Serbia or occasionally in green markets in the city. Nadia absolutely loves it and we usually have a jar in the kitchen. I’ve seen that strawberries and figs are the most common types. My friend mentioned a watermelon (lubenica) slatko that I would like to try.

Update – July 9, 2012 – I read an article in the Spring 2012 edition of BelGuest that mentioned slatko comes from the Sephardic Jewish community of Belgrade before World War II. The Spanish (Ladino) word for the desert is dulse and the Serbs adapted it from their interaction with the large (22,000) Jewish community in the city.

Annual School Pictures (School Photo Day)

billkralovec

 


This week we received the official school pictures of the boys. Above is Oliver’s first grade picture and below is Owen’s third grade picture.

As you can see by comparing how they looked in 2008, their first school pictures I posted on the blog, they are growing up. We will be getting Ocean’s first school picture later this month.

Owen Kralovec - Third Grade

Autumn Colors of Belgrade

billkralovec

 

Autumn Colors, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We are in the peak color season in Belgrade. In Europe, as opposed to my birthplace of Michigan, the colors are mostly yellow. The theory goes that there are more tree species in North America that gives more colors and the ice age killed more of red-producing pigment trees in Europe than in North America. Despite not having the reds and oranges, it is still a beautiful time of year. Above is a photo of a wall at our school.

It was great this morning. I was walking with Ocean to our car and she said, “it is leaf day today.” There were leaves literally falling all over the drive way. It has been great to experience the change of seasons, especially for the kids.

It has also been foggy this week in the mornings. Below is a photo of our yard yesterday morning.

Weekend Journal: Halloween

billkralovec

 



The kids are shown above in their Halloween costumes. Owen and Oliver wanted the skeleton outfits from the Chinese Market and Ocean went both as a Princess and Hello Kitty. I think the boys loved the plastic battle axes that came with the costume.

It was a full weekend of parties. It started with the school’s party with spooky carnival games and trick or treating through the rooms. We then went to the US Embassy Halloween party which included going door-to-door trick or treating and a nice party at the end of the evening. The kids loved going through the neighborhood, which is owned by DIPOS, the Diplomatic Housing Enterprise that rents to US Embassy personnel.

The weather has been spectacular with sunny skies and relatively warm temperatures. We raked leaves and jumped in the pile. We also had a camp fire and played a lot of sports outside.