Presentation about Poland

The full presentation about Poland can be found under this link:

Poland - introduction

To view the file you must go to the link and press "Download" to save the file on your computer. Once you save it, you can open the file and view the presentation.
(It might not be possible to download the file from other browser than Google Chrome)

Revision:
What information from the presentation are these pictures connected to?

Questions:

1. What does „no” mean in colloquia Polish?
2. What are the elements of the Polish coat of arms?
3. What are the three biggest cities in Poland?
4. What currency do we use in Poland?
5. What happened at the end of the 18th century? (2 important events)
6. What were the “Round Table talks”, when and what was the result of it?
7. Which day is the most important for Poles during Christmas? Can you name any of the Christmas customs?
8. What do we do on Easter Monday?
9. What is primaeval forest? In which part of Poland it is?
10. What is “Żubrówka”?
11. Write the names of Polish famous people:
- astronomer:
- composer:
- 2 Nobel Prize winners (peace and physics and chemistry):
- film director:
12. Poland has once been a very large country that stretched from one sea to another. What seas were those? Which sea do we still have the access to?

Łódź - a place where Polanski learned cinematography

Today I´ve come across an interesting article about  my city - Łódź - in a Spanish magazine! "A place where Polanski studied cinematography" - states the title. Indeed,  Łódź is a city of cinema. To learn why, read the article at the link below:
"Donde Polanski aprendió cine" 

Saying goodbye

The time has come - this is my last week at IES Cornelio Balbo. For that reason we prepared a special "goodbye breakfast" with plenty of delicous home made food.

The thing I prepared is the most traditional Polish dish: pierogi. Pierogi are stuffed dumplings with different kinds o filling: potatos, cheese, onion, minced meat, cabbage, mushrooms, seasonal fruits etc. I have prepared the most "Polish" pierogi - despite its name - pierogi ruskie. The filling of it contains potatos, white cheese and onion.

Pierogi recipe:

Potato-Cheese Filling:

• 1 medium chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2-3 large pureed potatoes (e. g. boiled soft and broken with a fork)
• 300g of white cheese (I used "queso fresco")
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt 
• 1 teaspoon of pepper

Saute onion in butter until carmelized. Combine with potatoes, cheese, salt and pepper. 

Dough:

• 2 cups of flour (~400g)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• ~1 cup of lukewarm water

In a medium bowl, combine egg, salt and water, and gradually add the flour. Knead until dough is firm and well mixed. Cover with an overturned bowl or loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes to 1 hour. Devide the dough into 3 parts. Roll out one part until it's 3 mm thick and cut out circle-shaped pieces using a glass, a cup or a small bowl.

Fill in each circle-shaped piece of dough with a teaspoon of filling and close it by pressing well its edges (you can use a fork for that). Boil a big pot of water with a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of oil. When the water boils, put 10-15 dumpling into the pot. After they immerge, let them boil for about 2 minutes more and take them out from water.

Do the same with the other two parts of the dough.

Boiled pierogi are ready to eat, but the best are when lightly fried with the chopped onion afterwards (that's what I did with my pierogi).

Pierogi at the preparation phase