Easter holds many happy childhood memories for me. Some that are specifically related to the holiday like dying eggs or decorating the house, but many more that are generally related to the coming of Spring. That wonderful time when the sun feels warmer and the outdoors feels alive again. When this change in weather occurs I am always reminded of the past by the scents and sights of Spring. I walk past a yard that is being mulched and I think about going to gardening stores with my mom to pick out things to plant and of course to order a giant pile of mulch. The new grass reminds me of the much coveted feeling of putting one's bare feet in the grass for the first time after Winter. As a child the weeks around Easter were a time when I was still in school, but the promise of Summer vacation was within reach. A wonderful time of excitement and expectation and the Easter holiday was the preview. A chance to sample all the wonderful things that Summer will bring.

Even now with no promise of a Summer vacation I still enjoy celebrating Easter. For me it has become a day to stop and recognize that Spring is here with all the wonderful feelings of new life and a clean slate that this particular season holds. Plus who doesn't enjoy having a reason to make a special meal.

I was pretty excited to plan a menu for this Easter and decided to try a couple new things. Thanks to some prep-work these were ready on Sunday morning.

We dyed the eggs using vegetable and fruit pigments, the best results came from onion skins and blueberries, but we also tried beets and spinach. The scones were actually supposed to be a Russian Easter Bread, a first for us. This was one of my attempts to add some Russian Easter traditions into our holiday. However, the dough ended up not rising, so my mother made a quick save by turning them into mini-scones! 

Continuing on the theme of blending some Russian traditions into our holiday, brunch was blini with a variety of toppings: smoked salmon, cream cheese, stewed blueberries (from dyeing the eggs), jam, and eggs. During the meal we even played a Russian Easter game. While American children search for hidden eggs on Easter morning, Russian children play a slightly more aggressive game. One person holds an egg and the other attempts to crack the opponents eggs with their own egg, but without damaging their own egg. Whoever doesn’t have a cracked egg gets both eggs and eats them. 

Since the weather was beautiful yesterday and we had just finished a very filling brunch, a walk seemed like a natural choice.  Our first idea was to check if the cherry blossoms were out, but it looks like one more week until DC is filled with their blooms.  Instead we headed down towards the mall and wandered through several of the small gardens between the Smithsonian’s museums.

After we got back we laid out a cheese board and some smoked blue fish for an afternoon snack. Apparently we were so excited to consume it that I didn’t even take a photo of it, but it was delicious.

As you might imagine after that a long break was required before anyone even wanted to think about eating again. But eventually around 8pm we reconvened for a dinner of scallops, asparagus and a new mushroom tart. It was a tasty dinner, but we were all so full that we could barely enjoy it. Clearly we should have gotten an earlier start to the day or planned fewer dishes.

I mentioned earlier that I was trying some new dishes out and the mushroom tart was one of them. I love mushrooms and goat cheese so the idea of a pretty tart consisting of both sounded perfect. However, the recipe is a work in progress. We used an all whole-wheat crust and it was a bit strong for the tart and the mushrooms were less flavorful than we hoped. It will require some tinkering, but eventually I will share a mushroom tart recipe.

Finally I couldn’t do Easter without some sweets (even if I should have). I made my homemade bounty bars in the shape of eggs and the chocolate coconut pie I made for New Year’s. We manage somehow to sample them, but not much more so we have dessert for the week now.

I would love to hear how you all spent Easter. Let me know in the comments below. And if you were hoping for the chocolate coconut pie recipe check back in a few days please.

New Years in Russia is a big deal and people take celebrating it very seriously. At least a month in advance they start buying champagne (before the prices go up), planning meals, and inviting people over. For various reasons the biggest of which being my performance schedule, Andrey and I planned a low key New Years Eve.

I had my premiere with the company in the New Years Concert on the 30th and 31st. So our plan was to prep a little food in advance, so after the show we could come home and have a nice meal, watch a Christmas movie, and toast the New Year. This as you might guess is not an acceptable New Years in Russia. But, we managed to fend off the many suggestions that we make other plans for the evening and we had our simple quiet New Years.

After my show we stopped by the ice park downtown. It was full of people beginning their celebrations. People were there to take photos with the impressive ice sculptures and festive lights. Kids were enjoying the ice slides that had been built and there were vendors selling shashlik, or Russian shish kabob. It was not too cold that night so we spent a little time there and I finally started to have that holiday feeling.

Once we arrived home Andrey set to work cooking the vareniki he had prepared before coming to the theater. As they cooked, we put on Christmas carols and broke open the prosecco. Part two of our menu was supposed to be belini with caviar, but the belini did not cooperate in the cooking process, so it ended up being caviar on toast, which was still quite good. We had our caviar while watching Miracle on 34th Street, but about halfway through it as Andrey began to drift to sleep in my lap I heard fireworks. We checked the time and it was 12:05! Oops. So, we made a late toast and went to the window to try and see some of the fireworks. And then the truth is we went to bed, boring I know, but I was exhausted.

The next morning we started the New Year off with French toast and the second half of Miracle on 34th Street. Then we finally tried the pie I had made for our dessert the night before. It was a chocolate coconut pie with a date and toasted coconut crust and it was worth the wait. I found the recipe on Oh She Glows and it is amazing!

We finished off our holiday with a long walk through the trees by the river and curling up on the couch for a few more movies. To me it was a very successful celebration and start to the New Year even if it did lack the usual fan fare.

Happy New Year!

For Russians New Years is much more important that Christmas, which is a purely religious holiday and since the Russian Orthodox Church runs on the old calendar, takes place on January 7th. But New Years does share some of the same traditions that Americans and most of Western Europe associate with December 25th. As a holiday it combines Christmas traditions that were originally outlawed under Communism, celebratory techniques often used to welcome the New Year, and some things that are just Russian together to make something that at first glance would appear to an American like Christmas, New Years, and the Fourth of July all rolled into one, no make it a couple, of days. 

Some traditions you might recognize are the pine tree, in this case called a New Years Tree, and Santa Clause. The New Years Tree is pretty much the same as the Christmas tree; some people get real trees some people use fake trees. People often decorate them with lights, ornaments, small toys, and tinsel. And presents are often placed under them. 

In Russia, Santa Clause is a bit different. He goes by Ded Moroz and while he looks similar to other holiday gift givers, older, white beard, often depicted in red, he has a unique helper, his granddaughter, Snegurochka. According to my brief research on the subject she is indeed a uniquely Russian holiday character. There is more than one story of how she came into being, but one of the versions is oddly similar to Frosty the Snow Man. She is very popular today as a part of New Years Celebrations (especially with little girls) and is always depicted with Ded Moroz. 

Also similar to our holiday traditions, many kindergartens put on performances for parents, but in the ones here the little girls dress as Snegurochka and the little boys as bears or rabbits. It is usual to show some dances and recite poems. Andrey's Mom still has a photos of him dressed as a bear for his holiday show. 

Now for what is a bit different. There are no stockings, candy canes, or Santa and elves at the mall in the Russian holidays, but many parents do schedule an actual visit from Ded Moroz and Snegurochka. In the days leading up to the 31st parents will schedule some actors to come to their house dressed as Ded Moroz and Snegurochka. The holiday characters bid a Happy New Year to the family and Ded Moroz has his sack of gifts, but before the children receive theirs they must recite a poem they have practiced for the occasion. 

On New Years Eve it is traditional to have a big dinner with ones family, in front of the TV. The menu, of course, changes from family to family, but for most people it will include caviar sandwiches, champagne, clementines or tangerines, and olivier salad, a Russian potato salad. For the adults at the table, like New Years celebrations around the world, the dinner involves a fair amount of drinking. And of course as a Russian celebration it would not be complete without toasts. At the dinner people say goodbye to the year that is coming to a close. 

When midnight strikes, it is time to welcome the New Year and wish luck and new opportunities to friends and family with a glass of champagne and sometimes a sparkler in hand. The President always makes a televised speech and then many people head outside to set off fireworks. I am told that at this point it will sound like a war is taking place. After the pyrotechnics the party continues on until morning with more drinking, eating, toasts, and the television as a constant background. It is not that common anymore, but some people do dress up in costumes and go outside to continue the party, happily greeting everyone they meet.

On New Years Day the celebrating continues. On this day it is traditionally to eat pelmini, Russian dumplings with meat inside and to continue drinking. Since New Years Day is the start of a 12-day holiday for most of the country people may continue the party for a few days, visiting friends and relatives to welcome the New Year together.

Here in Omsk our holiday festivities will also include the ice sculptures and lights the city puts up in a park downtown. I am not sure if this is a very old custom, but it seems to be popular now. In Moscow they have a full-blown Winter Festival from December 25th-January 5th, which I am sure is more elaborate. Our little winter wonderland will open on December 26th. We went down there today and it is starting to look pretty impressive with huge ice sculptures, a giant New Years tree, and lights being strung everywhere. Here is a preview of one of the sculptures, more photos to come after the park officially opens.