Homemade chicken noodle soup

I was making pelmeni the other day, and had some leftover dough. I don’t like wasting food especially when it is good stuff so I decided to ‘recycle’ it and make chicken noodle soup. It is an easy and hearty dish perfect for rainy winter days. 

Making the soup brought back many of my childhood memories. When I was a kid and was spending summer with my Grandma (aka Baba Zina) in the country, we had a certain tradition: one or twice a season her friend Anna Nikolayevna (aka Baba Anya) would come over to make chicken noodle soup. I don’t know how they were arranging it back then with no cell phones, Internet and even land line in our country house but my Grandma always knew what day and time Baba Anya would come so we would dress up and go to the railway station to pick her up.

Orthodox Christmas 2012

My second Christmas this holiday season, and my second Orthodox Christmas in the States. We decided to keep it quiet and simple, have some food (and gifts, of course) and invite my father-in-law over for a family night. As for menu, Dave was really craving Thanksgiving food - I think because last year we skipped it (read here why). 

I didn’t see any problems with that but my cooking adventure started with an epic fail - I forgot to thaw the turkey:((( My fault, but my wonderful husband came to my rescue and while I was watching pirozhki being baked in the oven, he rushed to the store and brought two giant turkey legs already cooked and a nice piece of ham. I was saved!

Russian comfort food: Stuffed peppers

This blog post is a part of The FaveDiets Blog Hop, The Healthy Hop: Your Favorite Recipe From the Last Month. I’ve decided to share one of my all time August-September favorite recipes. Why August-September? The answer is simple: we are talking what’s in season, and there is nothing better than a couple of stuffed peppers with some sour cream.

This is an easy recipe you can also cook in advance and then just re-heat: it will taste as good as freshly made and saves you from unhealthy frozen dinners on a week night. When I was a kid, we used to cook it a lot in our country house, and since back then stuffed peppers are on my list of perfect end of summer meals. 

Russian comfort food: pirozhki

Summer is finally here for good, and it is time for light meals, cold drinks and picnics but there is something I just can’t miss in my blog: pirozhki. When you speak of Russian comfort food I am sure there is nothing more Russian than this divine and also guilty pastry pleasure.

Guilty salads

The center of Easter table is for sure kulich, paskha and meat dishes, salads are always a nice starter though. I decided to take it easy and make something simple, fast and enjoyable for everybody. Since the whole Easter celebrations this year were all about combining two different traditions the plan was to make the kid’s favorite macaroni salad and Russian (or rather Soviet) classics - Olivier salad (aka Russian salad). Yes, I know it is not fancy and back in Moscow I would be embarrassed to serve Russian salad for a special occasion but since my American family is new to it and never welcomed new year in with a giant basin of this stuff so I found it ok. Plus, I wanted to give the kids something they would definitely eat.

Творожная пасха / Cottage cheese paskha

Now when the main Easter celebrations are over I can get back to blogging. I can honestly say: this Easter was the best ever! I am very happy that everything I planned to cook worked out, my family enjoyed it and we all had a terrific day. 

As I mentioned in my previous post on Easter kulich, Good Thursday I was also making a paskha (пасха). It is a traditional Easter dish (‘Easter’ in Russia is also ‘Paskha’) made from cottage cheese - its white color symbolizes the purity if Christ and also the joy of the Resurrection. There is also a version that the paskha ingredients (cottage cheese, butter, sour cream) represent to Russian peasants the wonderland where there are ‘milk rivers and kissel shores’ (compare this image to the Promised Land). Paskha is a symbol of joy, life in paradise and blessed Eternity.

Пасхальный кулич / Easter kulich

Ready Easter kulichs

This is my first Easter in the States, and it is very exciting. First, Easter is one of my most favorite holidays, second, it is my first time celebrating it in a non-Orthodox country and also combining two different traditions. Quite a challenge! I am not used to all those Easter bunnies (they are cute, I admit) and egg hunt but I am dying eggs, baking ‘kulich’ (Easter cake) and making cottage cheese ‘paskha’. Those are essential elements of Easter dinner back home, and of course I wanted to make it here and also introduce Dave and the kids to this tradition.

Kitchen globalization: Russian beetroot salad and nachos cheese sauce

When Lent is almost over and real spring (summer for me) is already here in California I realized I never made Russian beetroot salad aka “винегрет” that has been one of me all time favorite winter vegetarian dishes. My Russian friends may want to skip this part of the post, but for my foreign friends it might be something interesting: this is an easy recipe from ingredients you always have in your fridge/pantry and it is pretty satisfying. I’d probably put it under the ‘comfort food’ category.

Russian comfort food: Golubtsy

Rainy weather makes me homesick and craving for some Russian comfort food that reminds me of my happy childhood. Golubtsy is for sure one of my all time favorites. Originally it is a meat dish: cabbage rolls with meat and rice but keeping up with Lent and eating veggies, I had to go for a meatless version.

Russian Classics: Pelmeni

The other day Dave and I found ourselves near the Russia Cafe & Deli in Campbell, CA, and decided to drop in - Dave was craving ‘pelmeni’ (Russian meat dumplings) and I wanted to use my chance to get some buckwheat. I haven’t shopped in a Russian store here in the Bay Area for a while and was unpleasantly surprised by the price rise especially on certain goods being way too much overpriced as compared to Moscow stores (yes, sounds unreal but there is something that can beat crazy Moscow prices).

Happy Women’s Day To My Girls!

Today, on Women’s Day, I’ve decided not to cook or share any recipes but to write a tribute to the most important women in my life who taught me everything. They are thousands miles away from me right now but always in my heart and close to me. 

The Best Mom in the World!

Evgeniya, my Mom, the best Mom in the world, who has been supporting me in everything I am doing even when she was not sure it was the right thing to do. Being an amazing cook, my Mom taught me the most important thing: kitchen and dining room should always be extra clean. She is the most organized person I’ve ever known, and I can only hope I can be like her in that. Thanks to my mom I never left dirty dishes in the sink, know how to bone a chicken, make the best salads, eat healthy and enjoy it and do anything in the kitchen without a microwave!

Maslenitsa in the States

The next day after the Oscars a big Russian holiday has started - Maslenitsa. I know no Russian who doesn’t like it. Really, it is hard to say ‘no’ to those hot and yummy pancakes served with ‘smetana’ (sour cream), jam, caviar, salmon etc etc etc. Since it is so deeply rooted in the Russian culture, my Russian readers can hardly learn anything new from this post but for my foreign friends it may be interesting. 

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.