American-ish dinner

Most unfortunately, Hannah and Rachel are in the last leg of their sojourn in Ukraine. I'm quite sad about it and daily connive to change their plans. Alas, until I can win them over (or hold them captive), we've been trying to squeeze in activities that need to happen before they leave. One of these activities was "American dinner" night with some of our friends.

We've spent a lot of time at Tanya's and Ira's and with Nastiya. We decided that we wanted to cook dinner for them here at our house. There was a multi-purpose reason behind this:
1. We wanted to do something nice for them.
2. We wanted them to try some of our food.
3. We wanted to prove to them that we do, in fact, cook. Many of our Ukrainian friends wonder over how we survive, seeing as how we don't know how to make borsch. Amazing, isn't it?

We invited them over this last Monday night. The menu: chips and dip as appetizer, my mom's lasagna (a la Erin's Ukrainian tweaking), broccoli (Ukrainians aren't so into green vegetables), garlic bread, and cupcakes for dessert (compliments of Rachel's aunt, uncle, and cousin).

The whole group (minus me...you know, camera): Tanya, Hannah, Nastiya, Ira, and Rachel

The dip was regarded with skepticism but it started to disappear. The lasagna was a little too meat-heavy and saucy for Ukrainian palates. The cupcakes were inhaled. Overall, it was a hit!

Post-dinner massage.

Post-dinner exercise: Electric Slide.