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There is a handful of memories that connect all the kids who went to a Russian kindergarten, no matter whether they grew up in the Urals, Siberia, or the Far East. Some of those memories are rather gross: lumpy semolina…
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In one of my favorite Soviet movies — frankly, one of my favorite movies of any origin and era — Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears, the main character is introduced as “Georgiy Ivanovich, also known as Goga, also known as…
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My grandmother Toma hates cooking. She lives alone and survives mostly on bread and cheese. Sometimes she makes a big pot of soup that lasts her a week or kasha that can be stretched for a few days. As a…
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Being a nerd that I am, I’ve decided if I am going to write about blini at all, I must cover the topic from every possible angle. Which is why I started with a classic blini recipe, then ventured into…
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There seems to be a terrible confusion about Russian buckwheat blini which no-one talks about. Namely: the small round pancakes passed as blini in the West are not what I, as a Russian, call blini. A quick Google search revealed…
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Sirniki make for a fancy breakfast. On a normal day, morning starts with eggs, open-faced sandwiches, or tvorog — Russian-style cottage cheese — mixed with a tablespoon of sour cream and jam. In other words, something that takes a few…
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Oladushki with apple is my first spin-off on the classic Russian oladushki, plump fluffy pancakes every babushka makes in copious amounts whenever grandkids come over. In the works are oladushki with pumpkin, tvorog, and gingerbread spices. But since it’s fall…
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If there’s one thing I can make with my eyes closed, it’s Russian crepes, a.k.a. blini. And I can make them as long as there are just two ingredients in my kitchen: flour and eggs. Well, that and water running…
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Oladushki, also known as oladyi, aladyi, and oladki are small and plump kefir-based pancakes that every Russian babushka makes early morning when her grandkids are over. The other day I was reading my 10-month-old son a book by a modern…
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Baking banana bread while in lockdown became a cliche rivaled, probably, only by making sourdough. The former requires much less skill, patience, and time, though, so here we are. I am not afraid of being a cliche — after all,…
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