Chicken Soup with Egg and Lemon (Chikhirtma)

Source: http://georgiantable.com/2014/06/21/chicken-soup-with-egg-and-lemon-chikhirtma/

The Georgian palate gravitates toward tart flavors in all sorts of dishes, and soups are no exception. This elegant chicken soup takes its tang from lemon juice (or, alternatively, vinegar). It appears creamy due to the addition of eggs, but it contains no dairy. The hint of cinnamon adds a touch of sweet perfume, but the flavor remains delicately savory.

I like to serve this soup as a first course before a vegetarian entrée, or as a meal in itself with a thick slice of grainy bread and a mixed green salad.

Chikhirtma
Serves 4-6

1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts at room temperature
7-8 cups water or chicken stock
2 Tbsp. butter or oil
1 large or 2 medium onions, diced
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Juice of one lemon*
2 eggs, beaten
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Chopped fresh herbs to garnish (any mix of cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, basil, dill, mint)

*Tip: Roll the lemon around on the counter, pressing down on it hard with the palm of your hand, before slicing it in half and juicing it. This softens the membranes inside the lemon and will allow you to squeeze more juice out of it.

1. Place the chicken breasts in a pot and pour the water or stock over them. Bring the liquid to a simmer (not a boil) and maintain it there until the chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the chicken and strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve. Reserve the strained broth. Use your fingers to shred the chicken into bite-size pieces.
2. In the large pot, cook the onion in butter or oil until soft, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the flour, salt, coriander, and cinnamon over the onions, stirring well to combine. Add the strained broth to the onions and bring to a simmer.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the beaten eggs and lemon juice with 1 cup of the warmed broth, stirring constantly to prevent the eggs from clumping. Add the egg mixture to the soup, stirring as you pour. Add the chicken pieces back to the soup and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
4. To serve, ladle the soup into shallow bowls, grind a bit of black pepper over each and top with chopped herbs.

Serving suggestion: if you like a garlicky soup or are trying to ward off a cold, add 3-5 cloves of minced garlic to the soup when you add the chicken pieces back in towards the end.

Join us for AFG's Trip to Georgia October 2-15, 2014

Dear Friends,

We are very excited about this trip, which was specially arranged for AFG by Ia Tabagari of Living Roots, who is a local expert with years of experience sharing a passion for Georgian culture, wines and cuisine     

Travel with AFG's Executive Directors in Georgia this fall to see a beautiful country firsthand and visit our innovative projects, eat delicious food and taste the finest Georgian wines. We have arranged a tour from October 2 - 15, 2014. Please join us!

For more information click on the link below for a PDF brochure of the trip:

http://www.afgeorgia.org/wp-content/uploads/AFG-Tour-02-15-Oct-2014.pdf

Email Marusya Chavchavadze at marusya@afgeorgia.org to reserve your seat on the trip.

The Itinerary

Oct. 02 Thursday: Depart from USA

Oct. 03 Friday: Arrive in Tbilisi. Full day in Tbilisi

Oct. 04 Saturday: Tbilisi to Sighnaghi

Oct. 05 Sunday: Sighnaghi to Telavi

Oct. 06 Monday: Kakheti area

Oct. 07 Tuesday: Kakheti to Tbilisi

Oct. 08 Wednesday: Tbilisi - Mtskheta - Nikozi - Kutaisi

Oct. 09 Thursday: Kutaisi to Svaneti region

Oct. 10 Friday: Svaneti area

Oct. 11 Saturday: Svaneti area

Oct. 12 Sunday: Svaneti to Tbilisi

Oct. 13 Monday: Tbilisi to Kazbegi

Oct. 14 Tuesday: Kazbegi to Tbilisi

Oct. 15 Wednesday: Departure from Tbilisi

Please consider a gift today to support AFG's successful, life changing projects.

Thank you so much for your generous support of AFG projects that are giving hope to traumatized people facing great difficulty.

Sincerely,

Marusya Chavchavadze and Lena Kiladze

www.afgeorgia.org

News From Georgia: Three Success Stories And A Gift For You!

Dear Friends,

With your support, AFG has been helping Georgians in need for 20 years! Since our founding in 1994, AFG projects in Georgia have provided food, medicine, shelter, education, health care and most of all, Hope, where its needed desperately. We look forward to continuing this help, fostering grass roots projects that provide direct assistance.

Three Success Stories:

Alona, David and Elizbar received care and housing through the Dzegvi Orphanage & Bediani Village Homes project which serves abandoned street children with nowhere else to go. Today they are blossoming professionals getting

ready to contribute to their community's future! Their pictures and stories are below. We are so happy to share this good news and in honor of International Children's Day, on June 1st in Georgia and June 8th in America, we are having a week long celebration.

First Shelter Dzegvi Orphanage in early 1990s

Homes for street children as they grew and became educated were purchased in the village of Bediani

 

Please join us in celebrating our week of honoring International Children's Day ( ICD) by sending a tax deductible donation to AFG. The first donor to send $100 or more by June 8 will receive a bottle of fine Georgian wine as a gift!

Our Thanks to Mamuka Tsereteli and GeorgianWineHouse.com for donating this beautiful, well-balanced choice from the Kakheti region.

 

 

Pictured below is Alona. She lived at Dzegvi Orphanage with her three siblings, one of whom was a twin. She studied painting at the Fine Arts Institute and currently works as an Art and Music teacher at Bediani Public School.

 

Below is David. In the first photo he is newly arrived at Dzegvi. In the second he has moved to Bediani and in the third, he is studying dentistry at the Mukhadze Medical Institute ( pictured with his friend Elizbar). He is now working as a Dental Technician for Procelain Prosthetics at the Eka-Dent Clinic.

 

Third is Elizbar. On the left you can see his love for animals in Dzegvi. In the middle, he is in Bediani with his dog and his sister. On the right, he is pictured while studying at the Mukhadze Medical Institute. He also studied at the Georgian Agrarian University. He worked at Zooplaza veterinary clinic and currently runs a family farm with his wife in Kakheti.

Since 1995, AFG has helped Mother Mariam and her lay volunteers raise 120 street children outside of Tbilisi in Dzegvi Orphanage and in Bediani Village. Over the years, 25 of these 120 have been assisted by AFG with scholarship funds and living stipends to continue their post secondary education.

Please consider a gift today to support this successful, life changing project.

For more information and background on this project please visit:

http://www.afgeorgia.org/dzegvi-orphanagebediani-village/

Thank you so much for your generous support of AFG projects that are giving hope to traumatized people facing great difficulty.

Sincerely,

Marusya Chavchavadze and Lena Kiladze

www.afgeorgia.org

Welcome Home from Georgia!!!!

Thanks Brenda Smith!!!!

Khachapuri: The Butter Topped, Cheese-Stuffed Bread Vessel Of Your Dreams

Source: http://gothamist.com/2014/04/29/khachapuri.php?utm_source=Gothamist+Daily

Khachapuri is pronounced like this, but let's just call it by its other, perfectly Americanized name: butter pizza. This is what a writer at WaPo recently dubbed it after trying it at a new spot in D.C. And just look at it, who could disagree with that assessment?

Read More.

Easter In Georgia

Georgian Easter Traditions

By Keith Kenney

Source: http://keithrkenney.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/easter-traditions-in-georgia/

To all of our family and friends in the United States, Happy Easter! To all of our friends in Georgia, Greece and other Orthodox countries, we will wait until next Sunday, and then say: "Christ is Risen!" To which you will undoubtedly respond: "Indeed He is Risen." The week before Easter begins with Willow Sunday which Americans know as Palm Sunday. Special services are conducted in almost every church in Georgia, but particularly on Passion Thursday and Good Friday. Passion Thursday is connected to the Last Supper when Jesus Christ washed his apostles' feet and when Judah betrayed him. Next Thursday, the Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia will wash the feet of twelve priests just like Christ did with the Apostles. Good Friday is connected with the Crucifixion, lamentation and burial of Jesus Christ. In Svetistkhoveli Cathedral, where Christ's Robe is buried, a cross will be put in front of the altar at 2pm, and a special ritual will follow. On Saturday night, the most devout Orthodox Christians go to church and stay at the church until late Easter morning. Then people have a special meal to break the fast. Georgians fast for 40 days before Easter. Fasting means no sugar, eggs, dairy products, fish, or meat are allowed, as well as no sexual relations. On Easter Monday, churches conduct a special prayer in memory of the deceased, and Orthodox Christians bring red eggs and flowers to the graves of their relatives. People prepare for Easter by dying eggs red on Good Friday and by baking Easter Bread, called Paska. The eggs symbolize the blood of Christ. They are placed on green wheat grass, which symbolizes new life, resurrection, and eternity. People grow this wheat grass on flat plates two weeks before Easter. On the Saturday evening before Easter, people take the eggs and Easter breads to church for a blessing. After the service, people take the bread and eggs home and crack the eggs during the next days. The person who ends up with the last unbroken egg is believed to have a year of good luck.

Gifted Garner Teen Embraces Both His Natural Talents and Challenge

Source: http://www.wcpss.net/disability-awareness/ses-dham_inthespotlight.html

The Johnson family is near and dear to my heart.  After having adopting their beautiful Georgian daughter Lela, she insisted nearly every day that they save meals, seats, toys, etc for Nika.... the Johnsons began to wonder if Nika was an imaginary friend.  Soon they learned that Nika was Lela's best friend from Tskhneti orphanage and they knew they had to return to bring him home too.  I had the honor to escort Nika from Tbilisi to Moscow and remember his cries for his beloved care-giver Zara.  It was emotionally gut wrenching to see how painful the separation was for him.  Today we are looking back and seeing the amazing, no, seemingly impossible achievement he has mastered.  Nika is a conqueror and together with his dear sister Lela, they are perfect examples of the importance of a permanent and loving family. 

Read more.

"In Bloom" Georgian Theatrical Release and Kickstarter Project Information

US Theatrical Premiere: IN BLOOM

Early nineties, in Tbilisi, the capital of the newly independent Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The country is facing violence, war on the Black Sea coast (Abkhazia) and vigilante justice that plague society. But for Eka and Natia, fourteen-year-old inseparable friends, life just unfolds: in the street, at school, with friends or elder sisters who are already dealing with men’s dominance, early marriage and disillusioned love. For these two girls in bloom life just goes on...

The film is semi-autobiographical, based loosely on screenwriter and co-director Nana Ekvtimishvili's memories of her adolescence in early '90s Tbilisi. Critics have already given the film their strongest support, calling it a "tour de force" and "an enthralling work of cinema" (indiewire), as well as "a beautifully observed slice-of-life drama...built around radiant performances" (Hollywood Reporter). Variety has observed in re: the film that "Georgia is the new Romania." is astonishingly fluid, with numerous long takes moving to observe the action unfolding--a forbidden party of teenage girls; a kidnapping; the aftermath of a violent crime; a wedding dance, performed as much in mourning as in celebration.

Georgian Program Announcement!

Georgian Program News:

Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc is now accepting five applications for our Georgian program.  The children available for adoption will have moderate to severe special needs and range in age from 1 to 13 years.  Georgia is open and referrals are being made!

Minimal Financial Commitment:

The program has such promise that we are offering each family the opportunity to register their dossier for the cost of shipping and translations of their dossier $400.00 and Hopscotch agency application fee of $250.00.  Final Agency and International Service Fees will be due upon receipt of the Article 16 package is issued by the Georgian Social Service Agency.   This is a very affordable program.

Registration is Easy and Fast: The initial dossier submission does not require a I-800A approval to be registered with the Ministry of Health's Social Service Agency.  If you have a completed and approved home study for another country, speak with your home study agency about their ability to provide a new home study with a country change only.  You'll need a few other basic documents and you'll be set to register. 

Single Trip:

You'll make a single trip to start and complete your adoption from Georgia.  Expect to stay in Georgia approximately 15-21 days total!

Comfortable & Safe:

Georgians love Americans!  You'll be welcomed and treated with the greatest of hospitality.  The Georgian lifestyle is very comfortable and has wonderful food, culture, arts and nature to enjoy during your stay. 

Why Hopscotch?

Hopscotch has had a team in Georgia even before Hopscotch Adoptions existed.  We've been assisting children into families since 1995.   We have a wonderful attorney who is experienced, compassionate and well regarded by the Social Service Agency of Georgia, Georgian courts and the US Embassy.      

Getting Started:

Info@hopscotchadoptions.org for more information on how to get started today.  *To qualify for this limited program offer, you must submit your dossier  within 60 days of application to Hopscotch.    I-800A approval NOT required for intial dossier submission

"I'm already in a program with another agency and the wait is unbearable like all other international programs.  Why would I want to consider registering a dossier with Georgia or start a concurrent adoption process?"

Start to Finish: Expect 9-10 months to complete an adoption from Georgia upon referral acceptance.  

"I had a dossier registered in Georgia many years ago with another agency.  Can I work with Hopscotch to begin an adoption with a dossier registered by another agency?"

YES YOU CAN.

 

We're Excited & Hope You Are Too!   

Sincerely,
Robin Sizemore
Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc

Join Our Mailing List!

Georgian Association Requests Your Help To Support Ukraine

Dear Friends,

The Georgian Association expresses solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are standing strong for freedom and democracy in the face of Russian pressure. Today, Ukraine is fighting for integration into the EuroAtlantic structures. We encourage our members and friends to join us in supporting Ukraine in these critical times. Should Ukraine cede to Russia's wishes, the neighboring countries - including Georgia - will soon after face the same pressure from Russia.

Here is how you can help:

Contact the White House and your senators and representatives in Washington and urge them to unequivocally condemn all attempts to forcefully breakup the EuroMaidan. It is of paramount 
importance that human rights and the civil liberties of these peaceful protestants are honored.

Email the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

Call the President: Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414

To send an e-mail to your senators and representative in Washington, go to: http://www.senate.gov and  http://www.house.gov.

Sincerely,
Nino Aduashvili
Executive Director
Georgian Association in the USA, Inc.

Facebook

Website

Life in the Village - Republic of Georgia

The Tbilisi Chalice Goes Home

Archbishop Songulashvili (L)
and Rev. George Reed

The church of which I’m a member, Pullen Memorial Baptist in Raleigh, has had a partnership for many years with First Baptist Church in Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia (formerly part of the Soviet Union). The pastor with whom we’ve had the closest contact, Malkhaz Songulashvili, has now become the Archbishop for Baptists in Georgia. (You did not read that wrong. Baptists in the Republic of Georgia have bishops and an archbishop!) Malkhaz was at Pullen on November 13 to preach and lead in the celebration of Eucharist.

Malkhaz has been courageous in his advocacy and practice of nonviolent action as Georgia has gone through its “Rose Revolution,” which moved Georgia away from authoritarian government and toward democratic reform. The Church of England honored his leadership in September 2005 when he was awarded the Lambeth Cross by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Sunday’s service was a deeply moving one, which he and Pullen pastor Nancy Petty had crafted to focus on the liturgy of the church in Georgia, but also in ways accessible to Baptists in North Carolina. So, we had incense, but no wine!

What caught me off-guard and deeply affected me was Malkhaz’ telling of the purpose of his trip to the United States. It seems that the Baptist church inTbilisi, the capital of Georgia, had had a communion chalice dating back to the time of the church’s founding in 1868. (It was the first Baptist church in all of what would be the USSR.) In 1928, the church inTbilisi gave the chalice to a Baptist congregation in Moscow as an expression of their oneness in the faith, even in the face of differences between Russians and Georgians. Shortly after the end of World War II, a delegation from the United States visited the Soviet Union at the invitation of Soviet leader Josef Stalin. The delegation was invited to visit the Baptist church in Moscow, and the church gave the Americans a treasured possession, the chalice from Tbilisi, again as a symbol of the power of faith to overcome differences. So it ended up in the United States, was labeled the “Chalice of Peace” in some circles, but then pretty much disappeared.

Archbishop Songulashvili is completing his doctoral dissertation at Oxford. In doing research on the history of Baptists in Georgia, he came across information about the 1946 American visit. Further research found a reference to the chalice, and he was able to trace it to Mercer University in “our” Georgia, the US state. Someone there in the Mercer library had a vision of a chalice in a little-used room in the library (Malkhaz noted that she was not a woman given to visions!). When she went to the room she had visioned, there was a chalice, but it was labeled as Russian, not Georgian. It turned out to be the missing Tbilisi chalice, mislabeled because the Americans had gotten it in Moscow. Mercer has given it back to the Baptist church in Tbilisi, and Malkhaz is in the States to receive it. He came to Raleigh to celebrate communion, using the chalice, with his brothers and sisters at Pullen.

Are you still with me? Why was this particularly moving to me? Malkhaz mentioned in telling this story that a letter which led him to the chalice was from a “Dr. Newton.” My mind went spinning.

One of my grandfathers was a Baptist preacher in Georgia. He died at a relatively young age, almost twenty years before I was born, from an infection that antibiotics would cure today. I don’t know much about him, though I was given the name “Joseph” – the “J.” in “J. George” – as a tribute to him. One of the few pieces of his history that I have is an obituary noting that my grandfather’s funeral was preached by his close friend from seminary, Dr. Louie Newton. Louie Newton went on to be president of the Georgia Baptist Convention (the one in the US), president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and vice president of the Baptist World Alliance.

Could it be?

You know I wouldn’t be going through this story in order to tell you that the “Dr. Newton” was somebody else! I can’t tell you the emotions I sensed as I put my hand on the chalice to receive communion. The tangible, physical tie to someone who was a close friend of the grandfather I never knew . . . Well, it was a moment I’ll never forget.

But, wait, there’s a little bit more. Special music Sunday morning featured a piece for violin and handbells that included the hymn It Is Well with My Soul. Though I had grown up in a church with a large music program, I had not known that hymn until I came to Ridgecrest (the Baptist assembly near Asheville) as a high schooler and heard it for the first time. I loved it. Still do. When I returned home from Ridgecrest, pulled out a hymnal, and played the hymn for my parents (this “new” hymn I had “discovered”), my dad was quick to say that it had been his father’s favorite hymn and had been sung at his funeral. That would be the service Dr. Louie Newton had led.

The inscription on the chalice reads “Drink from it, all of you!” In addition to these poignant reminders of my dad and of his dad, Sunday’s service was a powerful witness to our oneness in Christ, stronger than barriers of language, distances of geography, and differences in styles of worship.

–George Reed, Executive Director

Spotlight on Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc Board Member, Kristin Dadey, Esq.

Kristin Dadey, a licensed attorney, lives overseas in Cairo, Egypt managing anti-human trafficking programs for the International Organization for Migration. Before moving overseas in 2003, Kristin practiced labor law in Washington, DC, working in both the government and non-profit sector. She received her Masters in Public Administration and Juris Doctorate from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and College of Law in 1998. Kristin’s work in Indonesia, the Republic of Georgia and Egypt changed her in profound ways, witnessing firsthand the extreme vulnerability of children, especially in developing countries. Her years of overseas experience have given her a keen understanding of the international rights of children, and dedicated to the basic children's rights' principle that all children have the right to grow up in a permanent family, Kristin is passionate in her advocacy on behalf of orphans.

Kristin and her husband Sean are the proud parents of one adopted daughter from Indonesia, one adopted daughter from Ghana and two biological daughters.

Kristin has personally visited with our partners in Armenia, Georgia and Ghana.  November, 2011, she will visit with our partner in Morocco.  Hopscotch is honored to have an experienced and passionate child advocate as a board member to Hopscotch Adoptions.

In Kristin's capacity as a board member, her visits to our programs allows firsthand knowledge and oversight, further endorsing Hopscotch's commitment to best practice and ethical permanency planning for orphaned children.