I finally gave in... to this nagging idea of buying an additional kitchen tool for our baking needs at home away from home. For weeks I held on to disciplining myself by not buying extra kitchen implements sa ngalan ng pagtitipid knowing that as expats in Moscow our tenure here has an expiry date. We want to economize on purchases as much as we can. And we will try our very best to refrain from buying duplicates the fact that whatever kitchen tools we decide on purchasing here, we already have them back home in the Philippines. We don't wan't to create a pugad here. A pugad as most of us Pinoys know is a Tagalog word for nest, a bird's nest, that is. But this kind of nest is a different kind of nest in that it is our cunning way of naming kalat slash sukal slash clutter build - up in our home. Well, it's a family thing, a sarcasm on ourselves as a reminder to keep clutter at bay in a joking way.
After some weeks of weighing the pros and cons of buying a dough mixer, I braved asking my dear Hunny if we can buy an inexpensive dough mixer; one that's durable and sturdy and, one that can work wonders for us in the amount of below 5,000 Russian rubles ( PhP 3,600 / USD 77 ), if this is even possible as I thought to myself. Having asked my husband for it, I know I have placed myself at the risk of being the subject of derision for the next few days for causing the proliferation of pugads at home:) Thank God it didn't happen, it will never happen because that's not how we treat each other, it was just me being presumptuous with our family sarcasm pricking like small needles! Sarcasm at its finest serves as the abrasive little voice to help us apply restraint instead of acting on our impulse. But... when sarcasm fails, because we're still growing in this area, that's when we try to be more gracious to ourselves and try to move on. We win some, we lose some. We're getting there. Thank God that He has a funny way of teaching us how to apply restraint and how to avoid impulse buying!
My husband of course said 'yes' without batting an eyelash. He's loving the outcomes of our banana breads lately with its perfect sweetness and freshness and softness. Next up, we agreed to tackle the uncharted territory of corn bread and pandesal baking. I bake the corn bread and he bakes the pandesal, our take on 'divide and conquer' approach. He has been seeing a vision of himself baking our own pandesal at the kitchen while we all wash them freshly baked in coffee or milk. He is a changed man. You see, after awhile, your taste buds sort of get tired of eating sosy European sour dough breads that you're loving in the first place, but three months later, you see yourself gravitating back to the puppy love of your youth which is in fact, truly the humble pandesal, your bread love story in that order.
On the more serious note, the purchase of an inexpensive but durable and sturdy dough mixer will do wonders for us by enabling us to do batch - baking to stock up on our breads for the coming autumn; by giving us the freedom to limit the amount of sugars and fats that would go in our doughs as opposed to getting our loads of them from store - bought breads. So, come dough mixer, home - baking is healthier in many proportions. As for the supplies and ingredients needed, the cost of wheat flour is 50 rubles ( PhP 36 / USD .78 ) for a kilo; some of the ingredients like bananas and sugar and some kitchen tools are pricier here. But if you take a little adventure on the math calcs, take a look ahead: our electric and water bills have a monthly cap of 2000 rubles ( PhP 1400 / USD 31 ). These utilities are included in our monthly apartment rent with all the appliances running on electricity such as the oven and the stove tops, four running A / C units, ( yes, we have aircons here because Moscow has a continental kind of climate, meaning when it' s summertime, the mercury could rise up to 30 degrees - Celcius in July and when it's winter time, it drops to negative 30 ) ; not to mention the unlimited heated water supply provided by the Russian Federation government all over Moscow for a very minimal cost. I know, too cheap, right? I hi - five myself.
Surely, for OFWs like us purchasing appliances on a foreign country has its pros and cons, but in the end, the former outweigh the latter. It is still more cost efficient, and therefore, more chachings can be saved for the long haul. Moreover, we bond closer and the kids learn how to cook and bake and economize the homeschooling way. They help in measuring the ingredients, they learn to specialize on a certain dish that became their favorite. They also learn to be more thankful for every food that is prepared at the table because of the amount of preparation and effort that had been exerted in every dish. You can't be pihikan, lest you be hungry! They learn to take the responsibility of handling the aftermath which is washing the dishes. They also learn the virtue of patience because at the kitchen arena, everything has a timing. In fact, timing is key and not a secret ingredient.
Learning life skills is taking place in an organic way because they get to be hands - on at every pace. The kids observe us, their parents, how we're handling and managing kitchen affairs. We're not perfect. As adults we still make boo-boos and owies, too. Like the other day, I cut my left thumb by a centimeter long for cutting up kartoshkas ( Russian for potatoes ) on our wooden chopping board that I inadvertently placed on an uneven surface by the sink. I messed up. I had to clean - up the blood that trickled from my left thumb, sanitize the affected kitchen area, bandage my sore thumb real quick and head back to cooking as if nothing happened even if my left thumb was hurting. Yikes! I miscalculated that slippery stainless steel surface because I was rushing to get done, and that could have been avoided! They also learn from their mistakes like the consequences of miscalculating the amounts of ingredients to be added in a bread recipe, or adding too much water in the rice. We're all learning from those simple kitchen activities which can be applied to the bigger life arena as a whole- when they have their own families to take care of.
So, we pegged a budget of 5000 rubles for the dough mixer. As we got nearer the appliance store destination, my heart beated faster than the usual. We looked around for different brands and models, we looked and compared prices, Germany, Italy, I almost forgot we're in Europe. Japan surplus shops where are you? when I needed you? My heart beated faster even more. My emotions were mixed at this time for the feeling of excitement and the feeling of defeat because I wanted to stick to my commitment to the amount 'five thousand'; and then there's the feeling of a little pride there on my part not wanting to ask my husband's permission for an additional cost to pay the item at 6000 rubles ( PhP 4000 / USD 90 ). But I decided to stop the drama there and to just buy it. Remember that it's like a little investment we're making here for our family's home - baking needs and not just wants. Don't be too hard on yourself, forgive yourself, be thankful for God's provision, and move on... I thought I saw my husband with his devil smile as he said these words and then walked away to do some more window - shopping. That devil smile that left you feeling defeated on the amount of 'five thousand', and in my mind I saw him saying pugad pugad pugad. But then again, it didn't happen, it was just me and my wild imagination. You know, our family sarcasm :)
Nothing beats home - baking and cooking because the prevailing atmosphere at home is always charged with excitement as every family member awaits in expectation. Kainan na! In Puerto Galera, we'd say, dulog na kayo! or, hayin na! So, to answer that question, 'To Buy or Not to Buy', the answer is obvious, 'To Buy' for now but not always.
Nothing beats home - baking and cooking because the prevailing atmosphere at home is always charged with excitement as every family member awaits in expectation. Kainan na! In Puerto Galera, we'd say, dulog na kayo! or, hayin na! So, to answer that question, 'To Buy or Not to Buy', the answer is obvious, 'To Buy' for now but not always.
A robotic electric mixer? Made in Poland? Mura - mura...Couldn't get any better than this!