The Royal Bakery & Cafe is just two years young and we’ve recently discovered it. We were impressed. I guess I’ve never been to a classy Russian restaurant or cafe before. The food is authentic and the owner, Galina, can sure cook! Her cakes and pastries are quite popular (get ready to drool!). Galina was kind enough to allow us to photograph her shop top to bottom and even sponsored a generous giveaway. Thank you Galina for your hospitality and for bringing your cafe to Idaho. I love it when Idaho becomes more culturally diverse! [click to continue…]
P.S. We now have a (reliable) subscription service. Our old one failed. Turns out I was the only one receiving email updates. Unfortunately, I can’t just transfer all my subscribers over, so if you were one of the 500 wonderful people who received updates in the past, please plug in your email here, or to the right (just below my picture).
You can also subscribe to an RSS feed. Truth be told, I’m not sure what an RSS feed really is. But I saw them utha blogs doin it, so I dun it too. 
-Natasha
This punch is easy peasy. It requires very little effort. All you do is stir! I can’t really call it a recipe; more like a great idea. The punch may lose a little fizzle but will taste great for the life of your party. Make this for your next event and your punch bowl will stay busy. [click to continue…]
It felt like that scene in ratatouille when the food critic took a bite and remembered his childhood, except I was remembering all the Russian weddings I’ve been to. Russian wedding food typically includes marinated mushrooms. These were just right; my Mama-in-laws recipe. My Dad was especially fond of them. He wasn’t very happy when he found out I took home the leftovers, but I assured him I’d whip up another batch. If you are making marinated mushrooms for a party, double everything. Two pounds of mushrooms may seem like a lot raw, but remember they shrink. [click to continue…]
Throw these skewers on the grill and you will see your neighbors noses peeking over the fence. They smell and taste phenomenal! My cousin Alla shared this shish kabob recipe with me. Apparently it’s quite popular in Washington state. Alla, I’m so glad you introduced me to this healthy and delicious marinade. The first time I made these skewers I thought they were pretty good except I forgot the salt! Salt is a wonderful and necessary thing you know. Ofcourse, I knew I had to make them again. And now, I will make them again,… and again, and again! [click to continue…]
Merry Christmas!! Europeans celebrate Christmas January 7th; oh my the party continues! You don’t have to wait for a party to make these puff pastry cream horns. They are easy and super impressive. Mom has a large stash of these molds and we made trubochki together (i.e. she did most of the work while I took pictures). I purchased 12 of my own Cream Horn Molds
from Amazon (I picked the Fox Run brand, but they are all very similar). They don’t take long to bake so 12 would be enough but it’s more efficient with more. 30 would be ideal; make them in 2 batches and be done with ‘em. [click to continue…]
Lena, thank you so much for this amazing recipe. We loved it and so did the guys at our church construction site (see more about that below). They were easy and tasted amazing! I ended up grinding my own pork and beef but you may use pre-ground. I prefer ground chuck or ground sirloin (“beef” sounds like mystery meat to me!). This recipe is definitely a keeper! [click to continue…]
I Hope you had a wonderful new year’s eve. My hubby and I stayed in tonight and made a massive batch of guacamole which we devoured between the two of us. We partied it up at our youth pre-new years eve banquet and I’m feeling a little guilty about asking Grandma to babysit two days in-a-row. And Vadim has the flu (he was babied most of the day). [click to continue…]
This cake is pure awesomeness! Really! You can make the cake layers up to a week early. I love that; especially when you are cooking up a storm for an event. Wouldn’t it be pure awesomeness (I already said that) if your dessert was already done and it gets better with age, just like a good cheese; except it should sit closer to 10 hours, not 10 months or it may grow a mowhawk. [click to continue…]
I love that Christmas lasts a full month and even longer for the Russian/Ukrainian community. We also celebrate Christmas on January 7th, which is great because the fun doesn’t end December 25th.
This Christmas will be spent like most; in the warmth and great company of my family. My sisters and I gather at my parents home with our families and open presents early Christmas morning. The best is watching kids tear into their Gifts (and I thought Christmas was fun before babies came into the picture). [click to continue…]
