Serene-O-Matic wrote:
and I got more
> potatoes, because mashed potatoes seem to be really going down well.
> Later, I think I'll make some borscht or something.
>
> Serene

Back in the late 70's, my parents and I would travel to Baltimore at
times. My folks always liked to go down to the docks and see the ships
and not infrequently the officers would invite them aboard, and in
return they would take the officers out to dinner, which was a treat for
them to get off the ship and go to someplace new.
One visit to Baltimore was memorable as the ship was Russian. More
surprising was that we were invited on board and shown some limited
areas of the ship. The officer who was guiding us spoke pretty good
English. We three were shown around until at one point my father seemed
to have lagged behind. My mother turned to me and just said in a casual
fashion "...daddy seems to be missing" to which the officer replied in a
slightly alarmed manner "Madam! Daddy is NOT missing!" LOL. I think he
had images of an international incident or something? We found Daddy
tucked into a wardroom seated while two older female cooks (in ugly
house dresses, and babushkas) served him borscht and dark bread. They
seemed to quite proud. I don't recall ever hearing how he managed to
talk his way there but he always did manage to charm ladies.. lol. He
said it was excellent soup!