The Russian words for "I Love You" are "Ya Tubya Lublu." Little J wasn't speaking when we adopted him, so I never heard these words from him, although now that he can talk he says "I wuv you, Mommy," all of the time.

Awww.

In this case, Ya Tibya Lublu is also the name of a cookbook recently released by Lisa Finneran, the founder of Arkangels, a non-profit dedicated to raising money for and improving the conditions of children in orphanages in Eastern Europe.

Finneran, along with several celebrities and other organizers,... more

What used to be the most important communist holiday in Russia has now become a day to go to the country and work in the garden. At least that's what I've read. Apparently, despite massive protest marches by communists and atheists in the larger cities, the average person treats is much as the average American treats our labor day: as a day to relax and do anything but labor...in the workplace, that is.

Here's what some of the protestors did (from VOA News):

Tens... more

There are some wonderful websites for learning about the culture, art, writing, and everything else Russian.

This is a great site for learning Cyrillic. It's fun! I already knew Cyrillic so I'm not sure that its claim that going down this list will teach you the alphabet, but I can see how it would work. Alphabet, maybe. Pronunciation, no.

For pronunciation, see this section of that same website. Useful rules, although he claims that... more

I have to interrupt my alphabet glossary briefly to present two recipes for Russian Easter Cakes. Easter is a BIG holiday in Russia, second only to New Year's, and I'd be remiss if I missed it. First, I should mention that orthodox Easter is not this coming Sunday, it's next Sunday, but since the majority of Americans (religious or no) celebrate Easter this Sunday I am talking about it now).

I mention these recipes today, two days before (unorthodox) Easter, because Pashka needs to be made at least... more

Shchi is sauerkraut soup. Plain and simple. In Russia of the 16th and 17th centuries it was a very common dish, and is still prepared often today. The word, "shchi" apparently used to mean soup, but now it means the specific soup made from sauerkraut and cabbage.

An old saying about shchi: "A good wife is not the one who speaks well, but who cooks schi well." Ho ho. Love that old misogynistic folk wisdom!

In any case, it is a sour soup and can be eaten hot or cold. In the summer cold shchi is apparently quite refreshing. Sauerkraut is brilliant food for your belly,... more

I've gone through my attic and dug out my cookbooks. How I've lived in this house for a month without my cookbooks I'll never know, but it helps to explain why I've been feeling so low for the past several weeks. I haven't been cooking - not really. Not like I like to.

I always find it amusing that the Slow Food movement is so trendy right now - but all it really stands for is cooking your food from scratch. That's how my mom taught me to do it.

But I digress! In my cookbook box I pulled out Please... more

Spring has sprung and it's time for this writer to do a seasonal detox. Because of our move and general laziness I've been eating way too much garbage lately - chips, ice cream, bacon - you name it. The 10 lbs I'd lost since Christmas have been threatening to jump back on my hips.

Part of my detox is eating lots and lots of seasonal vegetables. In the South that means greens. Collards, to be exact, which were already growing in the vegetable garden of the house we bought. They are brilliant braised in olive oil with a little garlic and vinegar. I'm having some for breakfast, as... more

I am willing to bet that every parent who's adopted a child from Russia purchased at least one set of Matryoshka dolls while they were in country. We have four (woops- 5, I just remembered the set of Russian leader dolls that my husband has socked away in the place he keeps things I won't allow him to display in our house, along with his ACDC posters and his set of golf balls from every club he's played), and we gave away about 6 as Christmas presents the year we adopted Little J.

What's wild is that Matryoshka dolls are pretty new to Russia, although they've certainly perfected... more

Before I went to Russia, before I even thought about adopting my son, before I'd even taken Russian classes way back when...I was fascinated by Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga is the super-evil witch of Slavic folklore. She lives in a house that wanders around on giant chicken legs (creepy!) and she eats young children for supper. She's the uber-witch, a scary anti-goddess that lurks in the forest of every Russian fairy tale.

She travels around the forest perched on a giant mortar, pushing herself with a pestle! Plus, around her hut she puts the skulls of her victims on her picket... more

Thanks to the global nature of the Internet we have access to two English-language Russian newspapers on-line. Both the Moscow News and The Moscow Times can be accessed easily and registry-free. One of these, I can't remember which, was delivered daily to our hotel room when we stayed at the Marriot Grand in Moscow.

Here are the headlines from today's on-line version of the Moscow News:

"Russia Tells Sweden to Release Russian Scientist Held on Espionage Charges" "Hundreds... more