Buckwheat noodles (makaron gryczany): pasta review

I've been remiss about posting lately— dealing with tax forms in Polish will do that!— and to relax, I've fallen on two good standbys: grocery shopping and trying a new kind of pasta. Buckwheat, a grain that gets quite fluffy when cooked, is a lot more popular in Poland than in the U.S. I've been...

Water, juice, and cultural differences

  Something I need to vent about: how European bars and restaurants are incredibly stingy with water. If you order water, you get a bottle of water— sometimes really tiny!— and good luck getting a regular glass of tap water. On the flip side, I’ve noticed how easy it is to get really excellent juice...