Well, fresh peperoni is not quite the same than the pickled ones. They taste much different, but also have the advantage to be durable when stored. Thats why I bought the 6 glasses - which last me at least a year or so. But thats not a problem.

Yeah, the waffle maker arrived and I had a first try. That was mostly successful, and the waffles were really tasty. I still have to try out the different kinds of doe, though. There is doe for crispy waffles, doe for soft waffles, for thin and thick ones ect. There are even receipes for non-sweet waffles, like pizza waffles and ham+onion waffles and so on. Maple sirup is only one option, and yes, its also expensive here. Usually its imported from Canada. But there are a bunch of other syrups that work, too. One we have here is a old german speciality, made from sugar beets, and thats really cheap. May be its sold in Russia as well, it usually looks like that:


Its a very traditional thing, and used to be the "honey" for the poor people here. At times it was the only sweet stuff many people could afford.
Other options for waffles are apple jam, or other marmelade, or cinnamon suger, or plain powder sugar. Waffles are a good occassion to get creative.