Christmas Conversation

Back Row: Me, Nestor, Cousin Marilyn, Diana

Front Row: Cousin Vernon, Cousin Pat, Cousin Gerald, Cousin Ernie

Marilyn:  What dishes did your Mom prepare for Christmas eve..

What fish  did she prepare

Me:  Hi Marilyn,

Here's what I remember:  kutya, sauerkraut pyrohy, potato & cot cheese pyrohy, studenetz (jellied fish), Holobtsi, nuts, candy, Christmas cake, Aunt Mary's cookies, gingerbread cookies, and vinerterta.  

I have no clear memory of vegetables because I was a picky eater so I filled up on things I liked. . . potato & cot cheese pyrohy! 

What did your mom make? 

 Marilyn:  Yes, it was the same dishes for my Mom.. our Baba made borscht, clear with little mushroom dumplings.  Her meal was dairy less as well as meatless.  Baba did a blackened flour mushroom sauce

Mom made mushroom soup, in place of Borscht.. in the seventies she only did meatless not dairy less.  And also did a mushroom sauce but in cream.

Serge makes a beautiful beet salad as does Father Oleg’s wife in Dauphin.. "Herring under a coat".. looked like a pie so i didn't taste it then it was gone before dessert! LOl

Auntie Marion pan fries fish no aspic fish. and does a pidpanki sauce. 

No one likes fish aspic, so I have been doing Fish balls 

                                                                  Gedo and Baba

                                                                     Mom and Aunt Nellie (Marilyn's mom)

                                                Cousins Daniela, Andrew, and Serg

                                                                 Mom and Aunt Marion

Mom made her own syr (cheese) for vareniki.  

I was intrigued as a child by the references to food in Nursery Rhymes, but 

I was surprised when I learned that Little Miss Muffet’s ‘curds' were like Mom’s syr and Miss Muffet's 'whey' was the pale, sour liquid Mom would pour into the slop pail for the pigs.

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                                       Wonderful movie:  Funny & sweet

My Birthday in 2019

Perfect gifts from Bryan and the girls:

and lots of time to just relax and enjoy what I love to do: 

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73 now

Season of the turkey . . and the Barefoot Contessa's TOMATO SOUP

Leftover turkey?

Make:

Ina Garten’s TOMATO SOUP

Serve with a small Grilled Swiss Cheese Sandwich and Turkey Salad p.50 in SAVORY SALADS by Tupperware

3 tbsp olive oil, divided

3 cups chopped onions (2 onions)

1 tbsp minced garlic

4 cups chicken stock

1 large can crushed tomatoes:  28 oz

¼ tsp saffron

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

½ cup uncooked orzo

½ cup cream:  18% or whipping

1.      Cook onions in 2 tbsp oil for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and very tender.

2.     Add garlic.  Cook one more minute.

3.     Add chicken stock, tomatoes, saffron, salt, and pepper. 

4.     Bring soup to boil.  Then simmer for 15 minutes.

5.     Cook orzo for 10 minutes.  Drain.  Stir in 1 tbsp olive oil.  Set aside.

6.     When ready to serve soup, reheat it.  Stir in orzo and cream.

A Ukrainian Tale

as recalled by Mary (Leschyshyn) Stadnyk

Mike Sitlar used to come to our place (John Leschyshyn’s) after supper and would tell stories like this . . .

The Devil's Instrument:  a Ukrainian Tale 

          A man went out at night and came upon a gathering. 

          A gypsy was playing the Devil’s Instrument and everyone was telling jokes.

            Suddenly, at midnight, a cock crowed,

          the moon came out, and everyone saw where they were sitting. 
            It was a ledge over a canyon.

          Then, the Devil took them.

           

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Mom said the violin was known as the Devil’s Instrument.

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A bloody good read :)

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Ania Savage's book RETURN TO UKRAINE . . . and MEATBALLS with SAUERKRAUT

I enjoyed this book cover to cover!   I then gave it to Nestor and he liked it, too. 

Thanks for the great gift, Nicole.

             Kirkus Reviews says, "A fine account of ordinary life in the former USSR as the Iron Curtain is rolled up."

You can order the book online.

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Thanks also to Stella Semeniuk in Watrous, Saskatchewan for sharing this wonderful recipe.  Serves 8.

Bulgaria

BULGARIA

I would like to see the Valley of Thracian Kings (located halfway between Srebarna and Shumen).

  The Tomb of Sveshtari (300 BC) has “lovely artwork and reliefs” including “10 elegant female figures” in 3 chambers.   

                                                            *******

Winston Churchill enjoyed Bulgarian wines and, for a scenic village in which to try some and toast the great man, Melnik is “lined with traditional 19^th-century houses, against a backdrop of natural sandstone pyramids”.    

(Map: bottom left-hand corner)

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 Ruzie, an avid traveller I met in India, visited Bulgaria with her family and posted this beautiful picture with this comment:

Salad - shopska!
People in rural areas grow vegetables that are exceptionally tasty, which is why salads occupy a central place in our culinary tradition. The most popular Bulgarian salad is the Shopska Salad, but there are also other salads worth trying – Shepherd’s Salad, Harvest Salad, Snezhanka, Monk’s Salad,Dobrudzha Salad, Roasted Peppers Salad, and many others.

The Best Laid Plans for Visitors from TENNESSEE

  at Icy Point Strait, Alaska, July 2019

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BREAKFAST at home: ready at 6 AM

                                                  Apricot Tea Bread:  Purity Cook Book

Fried Eggs with Curried Tomatoes & Green Onions (from GOOD COOKING IN INDIA by S. Mehta)

Cereal: Kellogg’s Krave 

 Coffee & Chocolate Milk

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ACTIVITY: Stewart Farm:  Farmhouse, grounds & outbuildings dating to the 1800s, with guides in period attire & kids' events.

Address: 13723 Crescent Rd, Surrey, BC V4P 1J4

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LUNCH: PICNIC:  

Drinks:  Water, Diet Coke, Regular Coke, Milk

Sandwiches:  Buttered Buns, Lettuce, Sliced meats, Cheeses, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Hot Pickles, Onions, Dill Pickles, Mayo on Ice, Mustard, Vinaigrette to Drizzle

Dessert:  Brownies  & Coffee in thermos

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ACTIVITY:  Crescent Beach wading

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SNACK:

Afternoon COCKTAIL: 

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5:00-5:30:  Pre-dinner Cocktail:

MAIN:  Garlic Sausage:  Polish Kielbasa w Piwnym Sosie: p. 106 in POLISH COOKING by 

M. Olszewska Heberle

SIDE:  Potato and Cottage Cheese Perogies & Sour Cream: Mary Stadnyk's Recipe

            Cabbage Rolls:  Nestor

SALAD:  Tex-Mex Salad

DESSERT:  Diana

ACTIVITY:  Board Game

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P.S. We didn't make it to Stewart Farm or have the picnic . . . but there's always another time.

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Something I'd like to see in Tennessee when we return the visit :)