When I first visited Russia more than 20 years ago, I don’t think I could have spent $1,000 there if I had stayed a month. Now, you can blow that in a day. Or maybe in an hour.

Want proof? Check out the October issue of Departures magazine. It is devoted entirely to Russia.

For $1,000 in the new Russia you could have lunch with six friends at the Central House of Writers (which was an orphanage early in the 20th century, according to Departures), or dine with six friends at Moscow's Café Pushkin (both... more

The Russian food preference genes have kicked in again.

No, not more potatoes, cucumbers and beets. This time, it's a real budget-buster: smoked fish.

I happened to be in my friendly neighborhood Whole Foods store with my little guy the other day, and over by the fish counter they were having a tasting of smoked fish. There was a big platter of salmon and whitefish from Ducktrap River Fish Farm, just about at my younger son's eye level.

The... more

This past Saturday, the second run of "Feasting on Asphalt", came to an end with an episode called the Lutefisk Express. For those of you who are not regular Food Network watchers, "Feasting on Asphalt" was cooked up by Alton Brown, host of Food Network's "Good Eats" show, to highlight the regional food to be found on America's byways. Last year, Alton and his biker buddies--they all ride motorcycles--traveled coast to coast across the South. This year, they started near New... more

I've spent the last few days writing about mashups for a tech magazine. But, in doing so, it seems I missed a really big mash-up, Moscow Potato 2007.

You may remember that, two weeks back, I was celebrating my 7-pound potato harvest, part of a quixotic and sometimes frustrating effort to honor my children's Russian heritage with home-grown food.

This weekend, The International Herald Tribune, a paper I grew accustomed to reading during my expatriate days, ... more

Valdivostok, a destination for fine dining?

So says Saveur magazine, which does not dole out food compliments lightly, in its September issue.

In a story entitled "Land of Plenty", writer Sharon Hudgins takes readers to the biggest city in Russia's Far East, a place she last visited in 1993-1994. Back then, she and her husband were teaching economics and communications at a university there. Now, she is astounded by the changes: modern buildings, new roads, and most of all: lots and lots of food and beverage options.... more

The potato crop is in and it is a beaut. Some easy digging into the hills turned up delicious Yukon Golds, Red Bliss and Purple Peruvians. And if you are wondering why they are not pictured here, the answer is simple: The entire 7-pound harvest was eaten before I could remember to get the camera down from the shelf.

Now I'm sure that those of you who live on farms or grew up on them are laughing hysterically over somebody making a fuss over a 7-pound harvest. But given that this was my big attempt to grow the foods that my two Russia-born boys... more

It's summertime and that, to me, means it's time for a cooling, refreshing beverage. To many Russians, that beverage is kvas.

The first time I ever set foot in Russia, back when it was still the Soviet Union, it was summer. I can remember seeing these funny little tank trucks marked with the letters KBAC (the Russian spelling of kvas) parked near street corners and parks in Moscow and St. Petersburg. People would go up to them and, with their own glass or a communal cup, get some sort of murky-looking liquid. Being ever the intrepid sort,... more

There was a piece in The New York Times this weekend that really has me worried. No, not about the state of Russian adoptions. This article bears on my efforts to grow a vegetable garden that a Russian could love.

You might remember that, several weeks ago, I planted cucumbers, potatoes and beets in my backyard garden. They are staples in the Russian diet and my... more

The moms in my neighborhood think I'm nuts for giving my kids all the choices I do for breakfast, lunch and snacks. They offer one or two choices for breakfast, they pack their kids' lunches and snacks without consultation.

At my house, the pantry and fridge are wide open for those meals. If my older son, who was adopted from Vladivostok at 18 months more than seven years ago, wants baked beans for breakfast, he can eat baked beans. If my little guy, who has been here less than two years from Sakhalin Island, wants yogurt and a banana, that's what... more

Maybe it's because of the endless round of parties in Anna Karenina, but I've been thinking about cooking a Russian feast. I've worked on soups like borscht and Shchi, and I shop the Russian grocery store for weekday meal staples. But this meal would be something more.

I'm... more