Here's a book to add to your shelf of Russian tales: Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave, as told by Marianna Meyer; illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft.

It's obvious by the cover image that the illustration is gorgeous. The story, a retelling of one of the Vasilisa tales, is also gorgeous.

Vasilisa has something of a Cinderella story: she has a cruel stepmother and two evil stepsisters and she's doomed... more

If you live in the DC area you are in for a treat this winter. Two great cultural activities are happening in your neck of the woods.

First, the Russian-American Kids Circus will be at the Weinberg Center on November 24:

About Russian-American Circus The Russian-American Circus has been thrilling families on stages around the country for more than ten years. The company combines the artistry and magic of the circus with the rich and time-treasured tradition of European theatre. These stunning performances are a unique combination... more

Okay, okay, I know Christmas is more than a month away.

And I know you're already sick of overwhelmed by the Christmas decor you see in all the stores, the Christmas music on the radios, the Christmas catalogs that come daily in your mailbox...

You can hate it, or you can embrace it.

Me, I've chosen to embrace it.

All this early Christmas marketing is encouraging me to get my Christmas shopping done early, so when it's December I can sit back and enjoy myself! At least, that's what I hope will happen. I've... more

And bans Borat!

Here's what the BBC reports:

A culture ministry official in Moscow told the BBC it had refused to issue a distribution licence because the film could potentially humiliate different ethnic groups and religions.

The Moscow Times reports that Kazakhstan has not banned the film.

Interestingly enough, this is apparently the first time a non-pornographic movie... more

Check out this article on Salon: "Destination: Russia." It's about travel in Russia while reading the great literature of Russia - always a great combo, in my opinion.

A class I took in college first turned me on to the idea of reading literature based in the place you are visiting. I took a class called "British Writers and the British Landscape" as part of a short-term summer class, in which we read 10 or so novels as we traveled about England and Scotland. I loved that class. If I... more

If you're like me, you have a couple of pumpkins sitting around your house right about now. We haven't carved ours yet, so I might actually be able to use some of the pumpkin after Tuesday. Usually we carve them so far ahead of time that they get all rotten and nasty by the time the 31st rolls around.

I searched for Russian pumpkin recipes and found several, so I think that pumpkin is probably an ingredient the Russians use often.

Here's a fantastic Russian recipe that uses pumpkin. I may actually have to serve this at Thanksgiving:

Russian Stuffed Pumpkin (from... more

I have a job interview coming up soon. If I should be so lucky as to be offered the job my life is going to change immensely. I will be out of the house for most of my day for the first time in about 7 1/2 years.

Yikes.

It won't be a bad thing. I'm actually looking forward to it! I hope I get the job - it's a really cool job and a wonderful opportunity. But change is unsettling and I don't want me working to affect my family, especially my kids, too, too much.

Right now I cook dinner every night for my family. My husband is a crummy cook (sorry, dear), and so he... more

My in-laws are here. They are lovely people but they have a few quirks around food. One, they bring large quantities of food with them when they come. Seriously. They stop at the grocery store on the way to my house and buy everything they need (like milk and fruit and cereal)...never mind the fact that since I have houseguests I've already stocked up.

Actually, there's a simple solution to that problem: I don't buy anything for them any more.

The other quirk is my father-in-law's food preferences. He only likes to eat about 12 things and all of... more

I just discovered a wonderful resource on the forums here at adoption.com: the Russian phrases for children sticky!

(A "sticky," for those of you who don't know, is a forum thread that is so wonderful and fabulous that it has been stuck at the top of a message board so that it will never ever go away).

The number one thing you should know how to say in Russian?

I love you. Ta tibya lublu...

Enjoy!

There's a new film coming out called "The Italian," which was made by Andrei Kravchuk. It's been getting quite a bit of critical acclaim and I am very interested in seeing it...although since I'm living in the sticks I'll probably have to wait for Netflix to get it on video.

I've read quite a bit about this film, and although to me it sounds sad it's apparently not sentimental or maudlin and most people who've written about it say that it's a universal story and not as depressing as you'd expect.

Here's a bit about it from The Australian News:

Kravchuk describes it as... more