I don’t like turkey. There are several reasons I don’t enjoy this gigantic meat globe, and I am not about to go into details. Just let’s leave it at the bare facts: turkey is not my cup of tea. This Thanksgiving I was spared off the Turkey duties, thanks to my generous and hospitable family, […]

If I had to describe The Great Holiday Season with one word that would sum it all, I’d say “pressure”. Pressure, lots of it. Yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard about how commercialized Christmas has become lately, but the truth is, for many of us this might be the only chance in the whole year to […]

While I enjoy exploring new dishes, I don’t always happily adopt new ingredients. Especially when everyone tells me I must try them.  In fact, I am often feeling the opposite: if everyone tells you this is the new wonder food, it’s probably not that good. Such was my relationship with a few you-must-eat things, namely […]

Sweet summers of my childhood… Windows wide open day and night, you can see and hear everyone in our courtyard.  Tidy neighbor lady has already washed a truckload of family laundry, and bright white sheets are stretched on ropes for drying outside our kitchen window… Life is good, life is lazy, and I can smell what everyone’s […]

My husband has started a new job. He’s a natural charmer, people instantly like him. The thing one might find annoying about him is his constant bragging about his wife. He’d go on for hours telling people about my countless virtues, my exotic Soviet upbringing, my Jewish family, my eclectic career, and so on and […]

Just like we start out Italian eating with pasta and pizza, anyone who grew up in Soviet Union, would tell you that Georgian food is Chicken Tabaka and Kharcho – a hearty meat based soup with tomato paste. Any food establishment – from government mandated greasy spoon stolovaya to fancy restaurants would serve these staples. […]

I think I am a masochist.  I have been fasting for two days now, only drinking orange juice and fresh fruit smoothie in the morning. Having fasted before, I know that the first two days are the hardest, after which the hunger pains go away and you get in the groove. So what does a […]