Passion For Russian

Okay, I know you’ve been dying to know what it was I got at that rummage sale at the St Nicholas Bazaar. So if you haven’t figured it out yet, it’s…

Рюмки!

Рюмки are basically shot glasses with stems. When I think of pюмки, I think of the anti-drinking propaganda poster (that I’ll have to post separately because I can’t figure out how to post 2 ‘landscape’ photos in the same set with a ‘portrait’/vertical one. I’d love some help if anyone knows how!) Anyway, I’ve always thought these were cool, so when I saw a basket of 9 of them for $5 (less than a shot of vodka at the same festival), I had to have them!

I don’t know if pюмки are actually Russian, but for me they are connected to Russia. I love that they’re not as cliche as some of the other Russian artifacts I love!

Have you ever had a drink from a pюмкa?

Here’s a quick look at the great time I had at the 35th Annual Baltimore Ukrainian Festival 2 weeks ago… definitely looking forward to going again next year: September 8th and 9th 2012. (These people are organized!)

Had another Meetup at Cafe Assorti this weekend. Today I ordered the Assorti Blueberry Pancakes, and they were delicious! I’m not sure how Russian they were, but they definitely aren’t the traditional American style - they were thicker and and denser. I seem to remember my roommate making something like these in Volgograd (although I don’t seem to remember her sharing them with me).

Yum!!

Are there any Russian/Eastern European restaurants you’ve been checking out in your area?

This little stand of goodies was between our hotel and the metro station, so it quickly became our morning tradition. I would get a tiny little cup of coffee (= instant cappuccino) and 1 or 2 пышки - which are like donuts, but smaller, a little greasier, covered in powdered sugar, and in my opinion much better! Oh, this picture brings back fond memories!

Napolean Cake at Cafe Assorti

I wanted to write a simple post about a wonderful Sunday afternoon I recently had at Cafe Assorti in Arlington, VA. But as I did a little research, I kept finding more and more tidbits of information I wanted to include, so let me break it down like this:

1. As part of the Russian Meetup I organize, I recently had a wonderful Sunday brunch at Cafe Assorti in Arlinton, Va. 

2. More on Cafe Assorti - If you are in the DC area, you must check out Cafe Assorti. Self-described as “a fast-casual restaurant featuring homemade food from European, Russian and Kazakh cuisines”. The food is good, reasonably priced, and they serve alcohol. Service is friendly. And one of my favorite things: they did not mind doing separate checks for around 40 people!!! Also, everything we ordered came a la cart. They just brought it out as it was ready. This was perfect for the open house-type gathering we had.

3. My take on Napolean Cake -  Not wanting to miss dessert, I ordered a пирожок с картошкой (potato pirozhok) and a piece of Наполеон (Napolean Cake). A friend of mine had ordered this cake the last time we were here, and I just had to try it. It wasn’t really what I was expecting - the layers were crispy and there was creme in between them. (Kind of like a giant piece of baklava without the honey and not as sweet.) I thought it would be more soft - like tirimisu or something. Either way it was quite tasty, and caught the attention of the whole table when it arrived. (It was huge - this picture does not do it justice.)

4. More on Napolean Cake - I was a skeptical, and am still unsure if this cake is actually Russian or French, or something else, but it seems that the Russians have at least claimed it. Here is a blog post I found that gives more details on the issue, as well as a recipe.

5. Irrelevant Tidbit about Mille Feulle - I found it funny that another name for the French version of this cake is Mille Feulle, which means ‘a thousand layers’ because I just happened to remember that that it is the name of the type of dress that Carrie Bradshaw wears in an episode of Sex and the City. (Sorry for the non-Russian related tidbit. I couldn’t resist.)

6. A new Russian cooking blog - I just wanted to mention that the writer of the blog where I found this information has started a new blog: Gastronomical Me, about Russian Cooking, which seems really good, so check it out!

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…a view of our mini fridge in St. Petersburg!

Муж was so happy/proud to find those big water jugs. I think it was his first time outside of the hotel without me as his translator - not bad! We were finally able to get all the water to drink that we needed!

[Russian lesson: Water = вода]