Editor’s Note: What would it be like to represent the United States in a country just emerging from behind the Iron Curtain, where Soviet occupation has long poisoned attitudes toward the West and squashed the life and color out of everyday life? Definitely challenging, and at times hilarious. That is the mission recounted in Vera and the Ambassador by Vera Blinken, who escaped communist Hungary as a child and returned in triumph 40 years later as wife of U.S. Ambassador Donald Blinken. In this delightful account, she welcomes us into the official U.S. Residency of a country enjoying its first taste of freedom. Vera’s entertaining tales of spying housemaids, official guests braving psychedelic green soup (the chef had never seen white asparagus and tried to compensate) – and her harried quest to bring a tattered household up to snuff make our everyday household issues shrivel in comparison. Vera shared some of her reflections in this interview with wOw columnist Liz Peek.

LIZ PEEK: What kind of food did you like to serve at official functions, to best represent American cuisine?

VERA BLINKEN: I wasn’t able to offer typical American dishes because the ingredients weren’t available. Also, Hungarians had lived behind the Iron Curtain for a long time and had not been allowed to travel – so they weren’t familiar with foreign food. But we always served American wines – including New York State champagne! Usually we started with soup – pea or cucumber, or in the summer the big favorite, cold cherry. Salads weren’t yet popular, so we normally had "seasonal vegetables" listed on the menu card – but it was almost always carrots or broccoli. Since Hungary was landlocked we had only one local fish – forgacs from Lake Balaton. Meat was a big problem. There was plenty of chicken, but beef and veal were hard to get, so we had to plan ahead to store up enough for a dinner of 20.

It is said that a diplomat is a person sent abroad to eat for his country. And Hungary is known as a 20-pound post. I felt patriotic as I gained ten pounds!

LIZ: What most surprised you about your stay in Hungary?

VERA: It surprised me how far below the radar Hungary had been. Our major duomo was a former doorman at a local hotel, the female housekeeper was a colonel in the KGB, the chef was a 25-year-old who had never been out of the country and the protocol assistant quit when she heard we were going to do a lot of entertaining. I had my work cut out for me. And enjoyed every minute of it!

Click here for photos of Vera and Donald’s international life from the book Vera and the Ambassador.

LIZ: How did you convince the wives of your official guests to come to your dinners? I gather they were reluctant to do so.

VERA: During the previous regime, dinners were official and not social events so spouses were not included. Guests were usually government workers who had to report on who was there and what was said. All that changed after 1989 when Hungary escaped the Warsaw Pact. Donald and I tried to make the Residence a welcoming place; when Hungarian wives heard that I spoke their language they felt more comfortable and started to come. Still, we had to follow local custom, which was very precise about such matters as seating, which was strictly by protocol. It is taken very seriously.

LIZ: You had to deal with some pretty bizarre employees – did you ever lose your temper?

VERA: Not quite, but I came close. We gave a dinner in honor of a highly influential reporter for The New York Times who was in Budapest covering an important event. When I heard she was delayed, not wanting to leave an empty seat beside Donald I changed her place card. However, she arrived before we were seated and I told the butler to put her back next to Donald, which he did not do. After the guests left, I asked why he didn’t follow my instructions. He told me "We have to teach her a lesson: she was late!"