I found the mother lode of information on Russia last night.

It's called "Sher's Russian Index", and it is a portal to all things Russian--art, culture, sports, science, language and much, much more. Well, there's not a section on adoption, but I can forgive its creator that because of all the other material that's here.

A word on the site's creator. He is one Benjamin Sher, and after a bit of sleuthing, I learned that he is a Russian translator by profession. His main Web site contains... more

When you travel through Russia on your adoption trips you will see them: neat little garden after neat little garden, all laid out to take maximum advantage of the sun, which will soon begin beaming on them almost 24 hours a day.

Some of these gardens are attached to dachas, the country houses and plots given out to city workers in Soviet times to boost the nation's food supply. (I found an interesting piece on the history of dachas here.) Some are quite simply a country... more

One of the most useful things my adoption agency made me do, as I was working on my second Russian adoption in 2004-2005 was to create what I'll call a Russian Resources list: One document on which I collected all the Russia-related help I might need, from cultural to medical. If you're among the many prospective parents waiting for Moscow to finish the re-accreditation process, compiling this list can be a great, productive way to pass the time.

The object is to list everything you might need to help you and your newly adopted child settle... more

This is the story of how an adoptee from Ethiopia came to be an inspiration for feeding two adoptees from Russia. My kids.

If you are a foodie in New York City, you've probably heard of Marcus Samuelsson, the chef of Aquavit. Samuelsson, born in Ethiopia, was orphaned at three by a tuberculosis epidemic and was adopted by a couple in Sweden. There, a child of a famine-plagued nation grew up to be one of the world's most interesting chefs. I heard him talk about his early food influences... more

I've been catching up on Naomi's posts over at the Jewish Adoption blog about preparing for Passover, particularly her last-minute Passover prep tips. And so I'd like to return the favor with a few thoughts on Passover and Russia, where it hasn't always been easy being Jewish.

Thankfully those days are, largely, history. A religious news service reported this week that members of the Chabad Lubavich movement have been... more

My little guy came home from a playdate yesterday all excited. "We went to the park," he related, "we played on the swings, and then we got a soda."

As the cops say, "Busted".

I don't buy soda for my kids, who were both adopted from Russia, or anything else with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup as a primary ingredient. Yes, before the folks at Archer Daniels Midland get on my case, I know that there have been no concrete links yet between the latter and obesity. But water is just fine as a beverage and there is absolutely... more

I loved reading Rebecca's recent stories of the feast she prepared for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. Not just for the menu, but for the fact that she pulled it all together by shopping at an Asian supermarket. I love ethnic grocery stores and I think they are an uncelebrated resource for those of us raising kids born in other countries.

When I lived in New York City, I could run out to the Russian supermarkets like White Acacia in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, to stock... more

One of the worst things about being a French major was having to read Proust. But I've been thinking some lately about the food and memory issues raised by Remembrance Of Things Past because of the foods my children, who were adopted from Russia, gravitate to.

In my house, we seem to always have on hand inordinate quantities of potatoes, beets and cucumbers--the staples of the Russian diet. If it is summer when you travel to your child's orphanage, look at what's growing in the garden plots: potatoes, beets and cucumbers. When... more

When you are leaving the orphanage with your toddler, one of the last things you will likely hear from the staff is a friendly reminder not to change his or her diet too fast. But maybe you were at the orphanage during feeding time and saw the grayish-brown porridge they served the children. Maybe you came away thinking, I can't change this diet fast enough.

But there are two good reasons for heeding that dietary reminder. The first is something you've probably experienced in your travels: If your stomach isn't used to a particular kind of food,... more

The temperature finally dipped to the single digits in the last few days, and I was overcome by a powerful urge to make soup.

I have 51 cookbooks on my shelves at last count, but since I was taking on the job of Russian adoption blogger, I begged one of my sisters for one of hers, Please To The Table. This book is a wonderful compendium of recipes from Russia and the other nations of the former... more