You know what's better than being featured in magazines or on Bulgarian tv?

Homegrown tomatoes and peppers given to you by a friend.

And even better than that? Helping pick said tomatoes and peppers in a garden. This I thought was just wonderful.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7927502746/" title="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8040/7927502746_198e5b1a10_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria"></a>
Contrary to popular belief, I<em> have</em> picked tomatoes before however picking peppers was a new thing for me. I went out into the garden with A.'s mom and she told me in Bulgarian how to pick the tomatoes: only pick the red ones. Me: okay. Then she bends over picks a tomato and adds: oh and the pink ones that look like this. She holds up a tomato. Me: okay.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7927503274/" title="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8174/7927503274_7a7ebf9dbf_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria"></a>
Then she jokingly yells over to A.'s dad: do you think she knows her colors? In my head: Yes. I know my colors but instead I just laughed.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7927501770/" title="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8313/7927501770_a293a7dc5f_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria"></a>
The thing is, when it came to picking peppers which ones to pick wasn't so clear to me. A.'s mom was picking red ones, green ones, and ones that were both red and green with abandon. On top of this, she gave me no direction on which ones were okay to pick but as it turns out, I don't have a garden vocabulary in Bulgarian so I smiled and picked a few peppers slowly hoping that I wasn't picking the wrong ones.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7927503834/" title="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/7927503834_707329bf9f_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria"></a>
Once inside, A.'s mom filled up a Billa bag of tomatoes and peppers for me. The bag was insanely full. I think that Bulgarian's have a different idea of how much one can actually consume in a week.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7927500994/" title="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/7927500994_63579a8b72_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Tomatoes and Peppers Home grown in Bulgaria"></a>
Don't worry I gave it my best. I made <a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/08/26/an-american-in-bulgarias-take-on-heavenly-tomato-pie/" target="_blank">a heavenly tomato pie</a> and then sent some of my friends home with a few tomatoes and peppers each. I figured it's better to share the love than to have the veggies go bad.

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