Creating a Curated life
  • Home
  • About
  • Dance
  • Health
  • Culture

Christmas in Russia-Part 1

12/22/2014

0 Comments

 
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. 

Christmas in Russia, includes traditions similar to home like the New Years Tree and some new ones.
New Years Tree at a local café
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. 


Christmas in Russia includes traditions similar to home like Ded Moroz, the Russian Santa and some that are new.
Ded Moroz, Image by Eldar Zakirov
Christmas in Russia has some characters you might not recognize like Snegurochka.
Snegurochka, Image by Olesya Gvar
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. 

Christmas in Russia includes lots of lights just like at home.
Holiday lights at a shopping center.
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.

Christmas in Russia is full of traditions including ice sculptures.
Entrance to the park that will be filled with ice sculptures and lights come the 26th.
0 Comments

Russian Recipes-Part 1

12/13/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Normally, I am not a big fan of cakes. To me the cake tends to be too dry and the icing too sweet. But from my very first taste this traditional Siberian cake had me hooked. It is just slightly sweet and because each thin layer of cake is covered with the cream it is not dry at all.

I first experienced with this cake during my first trip to Russia. We went over to the apartment of one of Andrey's best friends and his wife had made cheremuhovo cake for dessert. It was like nothing I had had before, but so delicious. Andrey and I were so enamored with the cake that we immediately went about securing a stash of the key ingredient, cheremuhovo flour, to take back to New York with us. It has become our special occasion cake, we bake it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and anytime we are having people over to celebrate. And I have not served it to anyone who has not been very impressed. 

Now you are probably wondering what cheremuhovo is. Cheremuhovo, черемуховый in Russian, directly translates to bird-cherry tree and you can find it in a botany book. They are small berries with tiny seeds inside that to my knowledge do not grow in America. These berries are ground into a flour which retains a little crunch from the seeds and is part of what makes the cake so unique. 


Makes an 8 layer cake


Ingredients:

Cake:
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups sour cream or kefir
2 tsp baking soda
2 pakets cheremuhovo
2 cups white flour

Cream:
3 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar

Directions:

1. Preheate the oven to 350 F or 180 C and butter four cake pans.

2. Beat eggs and sugar together.

3. Add sour cream and mix.

4. Add baking soda and cheremuhovo flour and mix thoroughly, scraping the sides down as you go.

5. Add the flour in 4 parts mixing completely.

6.Now the tricky part, divide the batter into fourths. After several failed math equations, I have determined that it is about 350ml of batter per cake pan.*

7. Bake the cakes for 20-25 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan.

8. Carefully remove the cakes from their pans and place on a cooling rack.

9. Once the cakes are completely cool use a bread knife to slice each cake in half, so you have 8 cakes.

10. Make your cream by wisking the sour cream and sugar together. 

11. Place the first cake layer on a plate and cover it generously** with cream and place the next layer over it. Keep doing this until you are done. They cream will run off the edges of the cake, don't worry about it at the end you can run around the outside of the whole cake with a spatula and smooth it out. 

Notes:
*If you have 4 cake pans you can eye ball the measurement, but if you only have two I recommend measuring the amount of batter.
**Do not be stingy with the amount of cream you put on each layer, the taste of this cake comes from the cream soaking into each layer, so put more than you think you should and if you run out just make more.


Picture
Picture
Picture
Now this cake is by no means healthy, but it is so delicious that on special occasions I make an exception and make it. Normally I don't consume dairy, so my recipes don't use dairy, but I am not sure there is a way to make this recipe dairy and sugar free without losing its taste. Let me know if you have any ideas.

0 Comments

Exploring Omsk

12/8/2014

0 Comments

 
The weather here in Siberia can be pretty rough in the winter. Andrey and I have been holding out for a nice day with some sun to go downtown and walk around, but then we realized we might be waiting until Spring, so we decided to go for it. 
Picture
омский государственный музыкальный театр
Where I work, The Omsk State Musical Theater, which is home to the ballet, orchestra, and one of the city's two theater companies.
Picture
The view from the theater, a park with a very small church in it. There are many churches in town and they range from impressive Cathedrals to tiny ones like this.
Picture
The intersection of the Irtysh and Om Rivers. In 1716 Peter the Great sent a military expedition to explore the area and they build their first fortress here. 
Picture
This chain covered in locks hangs right below the cannon. There is a tradition for just married couples to come and put a lock here to represent their love and then throw the key in the river.
Picture
Walking back along the river, this sweet statue is situated among the trees. Across the river you can see one end of the main street.
Picture
The view as we walked across the bridge towards the old center of town, where most of the businesses used to be located. You can still find a good amount of shopping here, but unfortunately the appearance of mega-malls has taken its toll.
Picture
Another one of the city's extremely small, but ornate churches. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Many of these beautiful buildings were homes in the past, sometimes with businesses on the ground floor. 
Picture
Picture
Omsk State Drama Theater, home to the city's other theater company. 
Picture
Успенский собор
Dormition Cathedral is one of the largest churches in Siberia. The original church was blown up in 1935, but the Russian Orthodox Church had it rebuilt according to the original design at the beginning of this century. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
While we were out exploring the city we found Skuratov Coffee, a locally owned coffee shop that is a little over a year old. They have two locations one of which is located conveniently close to my work. I am pretty sure we have found our favorite place to hang out in Omsk. It doesn't hurt that it reminds me of New York.
Picture
Skuratov is the only coffee shop in Omsk that roasts its own coffee. They also have a few vegan and gluten free options among their baked goods!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Enjoying a coffee break during our day out in the city. 
0 Comments
    Instagram

    About Me

    My name is Kaarin and I am a ballet dancer, cooking enthusiast, health nerd, and sustainable lifestyle advocate. 

    Archives

    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

    Categories

    All
    Ballet
    Health
    Holiday
    Recipes
    Russian
    Style

    RSS Feed

    Visit Kaarin Shipitko/ Creating A Curated Life's profile on Pinterest.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.