First encroachment upon Asian cuisine

Last Thursday was such a beautiful day that I decided to take a walk around our neighbourhood. Having no concrete destination, I ended up near our grocery store. I didn’t need anything but why not to do some window shopping there? Sounds crazy but to tell you the truth I enjoy grocery store window shopping, especially when it is not crowded. It is not like running around with a cart and a shopping list often full of banal bread-milk-eggs and being stressed out over not forgetting something - it is more like exploring a well-known place to discover what FMCG, agriculture and retail have to offer today.

Just from a bookstore

book cover

This weekend I took my 10 years old stepdaughter Trinity shopping - we had a great time and ended up with some new clothes and shoes:) At the end we stopped at Borders just to look around and I spotted a green cover book. 500-page “Culinaria Italy. Pasta. Pesto. Passion” at a bargain price of $9.99. It turned out to be not a cooking book (I am so not into those) but rather a book on culture. Hm, something to educate myself and maybe something that helps me to finally become passionate about food and cooking. Plus, my husband is half Italian and loves Italian food - he literary has pasta running through his veins. OK, I got the book.

My first Orthodox Christmas in the States

Here in the States people start Christmas celebrations just after Thanksgiving and some even put down their Christmas tree before New Year’s but for me it is a matter of tradition, culture and religion to celebrate my Orthodox Christmas January 7th. Normally back in Russia I would have a family dinner on Christmas day, but since January 6th was our 2 months wedding anniversary we decided to do Christmas Eve.

Traditional simplicity: Borsch

Being Russian, I could not but start my cooking abroad with making borsch. Traditional and simple, this beetroot soup is perfect for someone as lazy about cooking as I am. Ingredients are all essentials and easy to find anywhere – I had no problems shopping at my new local grocery here in the States. “Smetana” (sour cream) I got from a Russian store (there are a few of them here in San Jose) and it tasted pretty authentic. Haven’t tried American sour cream yet but if you have no Russian store nearby you may want and use your local version – it does add more flavor to the soup.