Last week I posted about a wonderful cookbook that Lisa Finneran, an adoptive parent, created to raise money for children in Russian orphanages: Ya Tibya Lublu. "Ya Tibya Lublu" is Russian for "I Love You." Food=Love, Love=Mother, Ya Tibya Lublu=great gift for a mother with children adopted from Russia.

And no, I am not getting a kickback from this organization! All of their profits go towards the orphans in Russia. When you order the cookbook (from arkangels.org) you can give an additional donation to the organization. Wouldn't that be a great thing to add in your Mother's Day card: Mom/Wife/Partner: I gave $20 to the orphans of Russia in your name?

I am going to make one of the recipes in the book for a new mother who I know. My friend Elizabeth just had a baby and she needs good, fattening food for her milk production (or at least that was my rationale for eating like a pig after having my older son, Big J). I found this wonderful, extremely fattening recipe in Ya Tibya Lublu:

Gypsy Potato Paprikash

1/2 lb. bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb. bulk sausage, crumbled (optional)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 T hot Hungarian paprika (or 1 T. sweet paprika plus 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper)
5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 (2-oz.) jar pimentos, minced
2 1/4 c. sour cream
salt and white pepper to taste

In a heavy cast iron skillet, cook bacon until just done but not crisp. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up as you go, until cooked about half-way through. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and paprika and cook until sausage done. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in a large pot until just barely done but still firm. Drain, return to the pot and add the pimento, bacon-onion mixture, sour cream, salt and pepper and stir. Re-heat gently and slowly to incorporate the flavors but do not allow the sour cream to boil.

This is on page 93 of Ya Tibya Lublu and was contributed by Jim Weller.