One Small Table, Ten People

 On Orthodox Easter Sunday, we went to visit Liuba and Erin out in Zubresti.  Easter is the biggest holiday in the Orthodox tradition, bigger than Christmas.  The celebration actually starts at midnight, with a continuous church service from then until dawn.  People then go home for a couple of hours, break the fast they've been keeping since Friday morning, and bring their food to  the church to get blessed.  After that, it's feasting time.

We had ten people around this very small table.  As you can see, it's piled with food.  I'm not sure exactly how Liuba managed to fit everything on it.  All food served on Easter Sunday is col.  The food served on Monday is hot.  Easter goes on for three days.

Everything tasted wonderful, from the chicken aspic to the smoked sausages.  All eggs were boiled and dyed red.  We were each given one in the memory of a dead relative.  Then, we had "wars" to see whose egg shell was strongest.  Mine lasted a couple of rounds.  Lots of liquor was served, including vodka, homemade champagne, and homemade white and red wines.  There was also a homemade walnut liqueur that was ... interesting.

 About halfway through the feast, we had dessert - ice cream with homemade raspberry preserves on it.  This was not the end of the meal, however.  We also had cherry crepe tortes and bonbons.  We also had more food, including beaten meat (the Moldovan equivalent of a cold chicken fried pork steak) and terrine.  We sat at that table for seven hours.  It was an awesome experience and I want to thank Liuba again for her hospitality.