Pancakes and milk churns

The simplest things in life are often the most important and interesting.

Working away in the flat last Thursday, I was aware of a crowd gathering outside on the road.

Being a nosey, I made my way down stairs to investigate.

A queue was forming around a  UAZ BUKHANKA VAN.

This van first made its appreance on the streets of Russia in the 1960s and is still everywhere, 

Known affectionately as the BUKHANKA, буханка this word translates as the bread loaf, hence its shape.

In fact there were two vans parked next to each other, I then saw people arriving with their little milk churns and the penny dropped.

It was the milkman.

And the cheese, butter and Dairy product man.

Russians, especially of my generation are certainly like us Brits in their queuing habits, 

Going back to rationing queues, no doubt.

Being of the age to remember the morning bottle of milk at school, this was a real treat, so I made the effort to find out how it worked and how I could get some milk and butter.

It was clear that I was not getting any milk until I had a jug or some other vessel. So that would have to wait.

The Cheese and butter man was a different challenge, so I watched and made note of how people ordered their cottage cheese, block butter, cheese and other dairy products that I didn't know.

I came away with home made butter масло, Cottage cheese творог, hand crafted cheese домашний сыр. 

The following week I found a 3 litre jar and came away with a vat full fat fresh milk молоко .

Now my search is for a Bidon бидон , a milk churn.

wonderful vocabulary that enriches the language learning journey.

I then started to  find recipes such as Aladi оладья and blini,  блины which are different kinds of pancakes using kefir кефир , a fermented milk drink.