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

It's not so often that I actually sit down and read my cookbooks, but A Year of Russian Feasts, by Catherine Cheremetoff Jones, is one that I read from cover-to-cover.

Jones does not just list recipes, or even list recipes with a pithy little comment to precede the ingredients, but rather writes her book as a part-travelogue, part-cultural evaluation, part-family history -- with recipes liberally sprinkled throughout. It's a very enjoyable... more