Pepelyouga

 The Story of Pepelyouga

One day on a high hill were three young girls attending their cattle. While they were spinning yarn, a man came up to them, warning them, saying, "Young girls, beware of this curse, because one of you will drop your yarn down a cliff, and when you do, your mother will be turned into a cow!" After this man left, the girls looked over the cliff as if they would find something over it. Then, the most beautiful girl dropped her spindle down the cliff, and when she returned home later that day, her mother was a cow. Shortly after the incident, her father remarried to a woman with an unfortunately unattractive young daughter. The stepmother was furiously jealous that her daughter wasn’t nearly as beautiful as her stepdaughter. To keep the stepdaughter from being beautiful, the stepmother didn’t let her wash her face, comb her hair, or change her clothes. She did everything she could to keep her stepdaughter from being happy. One day the stepmother gave her stepdaughter fabric that makes rope and told her that if she didn’t have all of the rope made by a certain amount of time, the stepmother would kill her. The girl had done what she was told and went outside where the cattle stayed and spun the fabric until she realized she couldn’t do it by night came and began to cry uncontrollably. Her mother, still a cow, saw her daughter’s tears and went to see what was wrong. When the mother asked what had happened, the daughter told her everything. After hearing this, the mother offered to take the fabric into her mouth and chew it while thread would come out of her ears; the only thing that the daughter would have to do is spin the yarn to the top on a spindle. After they had done this, the girl gave the yarn to her stepmother and her stepmother was very surprised. The next day, the girl’s stepmother gave her even more fabric than the day before and the daughter and her mother did the same thing only this time the stepmother found out and had the cow slaughtered, but before the cow was slaughtered, the mother told the girl that she couldn’t eat the meat but to bury the bones under the rocks and go there if she ever needed anything. Later that day, the girl did as she was told and buried the bones under the rocks behind the house. The stepdaughters name was really Marra but was called Pepelyouga because she had to do wash dishes, cook, and clean by order of her stepmother. Then, on a Sunday morning, the stepmother and stepsister both hid grain and told Marra that if she hadn’t found the grain and had dinner done by the time the stepmother got home from church, the stepmother would kill her. After the stepmother and stepsister were gone, Marra went outside to her mother’s grave looking for help and above her mother’s bones were two doves who said that they would find the grain and have dinner home and that she should open the box to find dresses and go to church, but to be sure to be home before her stepmother noticed. She went to church a few times like this and met with the prince. But the final time when she left, she dropped her slipper. When the prince found her slipper he went around town searching for whom it belonged to and when he got to Marra’s home, the stepmother hid Marra under the floorboard only to find that a crow had told the prince that Marra was there, and when Marra tried on the slipper, it fit. Since it fit, the prince proposed. And after they got married, they lived happily ever after.

Information on Serbia

The legend of Pepelyouga takes place in the country known as Serbia. Serbia is a small country; it is in fact, smaller than Maine. The capital of the country is Belgrade. The North of the country has mostly rich, fertile plains. The East has limestone ranges and basins. The South East has mountains and hills. The country's climate varies depending on the area of the country you are in. The 2002 census showed that a population of 7,478,820. The government is a republic hence the name "Republic of Serbia". The growth rate of the country is -3.5%. The top ethnicity group is Serbian which is 83% of the population. The top religion is Orthodox which includes 85% of the population. The top language of Serbia is Serbian, which includes 88% of the population. The country gained independence on April 11, 1992. History of Serbia:  The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) was formed in 1918. Various competing groups that fought themselves as well as the Nazis resisted occupation by Germany in 1941. Upon the removal of the Germans in 1945, the group headed by Marshal Tito took control of Yugoslavia. Tito's government was communist in name, but actually acted independently for the four decades in which it was surrounded by the Warsaw Pact and the West. In the early 1990s Yugoslavia began to come apart along ethnic lines as they witnessed former Soviet satellites declaring their independence. Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina all declared their independence by 1992, and Serbia and Montenegro declared themselves the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" under elected President Slobodan Milosevic.

Foods and Drinks of Serbia

The food of Serbia is influenced by their Balkan neighbors. Their normal choices of food are soups, stews, smoked meats, minced meat, stuffed vegetables (such as peppers) and kebabs. A dish of mixed grilled meat is a specialty. Fish is used in chowders and is grilled and fried. Bread and side salads are eaten with appetizers and main courses. Salads are made from a variety of fresh and pickled vegetables such as beans, cucumbers, onions, peppers ,tomatoes, and sauerkraut. Fruits and nuts are used in desserts and some breakfast items. Serbians make pizzas, wine, beer, hamburgers, and coffee, but they are made very differently.

Recipe for Stuffed Peppers Directions- Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds. Wash peppers to prepare for filling. Fry chopped onions and Grated carrots in olive oil at medium to high temperature. Stir constantly. After 2–3 minutes add mince and salt and continue to fry it for another 4–5 minutes. Take it off heat and add rice, plain flour, sweet paprika and dehydrated vegetable or green herb stock. Stir the mixture. Spoon filling into the peppers. Cover the top of each pepper with a slice of potato. Place peppers in a dish. Place remaining potatoes put between peppers. Pour water until peppers are covered. Boil at low temperature for 40-45minutes. Sprinkle chopped parsley on the top. Serve hot.
 * 6-8 red peppers
 * 400 gr beef or pork minced
 * 1 cup of rice
 * 2 carrots
 * 2 onions
 * 1 Tbs chopped parsley
 * 2 Tsp salt
 * 1/2 cup of olive oil
 * 2-3 potatoes
 * 2 Tbs plain flour
 * 1 tsp sweet paprika
 * 1 tsp vegetable or dehydrated green herb stock

Links

[|Pepelyouga]

[|Stuffed Peppers]

[|Serbia Information]