In the years of being immersed in another culture I have learned to substitute most of the foods I missed about my native land with local versions of one kind of another.  Some products I learned to replicate quite successfully. Take kefir for example. I am now making a very nice creamy version of kefir […]

There are dishes that appear to be very complicated, while they are not.  As it was the case with my last night’s dinner, whose labor-to-yum ratio is extremely favorable.  The whole meal start-to-finish took about 20 minutes to put together.  It’s robust, bright in both color and flavor and irresistibly good looking.  The secret is […]

It’s officially cold and flu season.  Don’t know where you are reading this, but in our area temperatures had dropped about thirty degrees on average.  And that means, sniffles are coming.  In fact, my daughter had already made it through her season change cold, and I am battling one right now. The upside of every […]

My daughter had her semi-annual bout of stomach bug a few weeks back.  Typically I have a few batches of curative bone broth on hand, which is, I hope you agree, a much nicer alternative to [doctor recommended — shudder!] sports drinks, juices and pharmaceutical electrolyte junkstuffs.  But my kid for some reason lost all […]

If there is anything there is seriously no shortage of in the bottomless pit of the Internet, it’s Challah recipes.  You find Challahs ranging from mildly dry bland quickly slap together loaves to fancy multi-egg and raisins, multi-stage productions with the rain-dance performed mid-baking, and everything in between.  To me, Challah is a very fine […]

Russian literary genius Aleksander Pushkin concluded one of his fairy tales with these words: “The tale is a lie, but there’s a hint in it, a lesson for the fine lads”…  Indeed, we find that each fairy tale, while not exactly a true story, inevitably leaves us a breadcrumb trail of clues, tiny glimpses into the time when the […]

[SPONSORED POST]. This post is written for the HonestCooking.com NORTH Festival 2013. Dill is one of my most favorite herbs, and I use copious amounts of it in my daily cooking.  If you open my fridge on any given day, rest assured, you’ll find a bunch or two of dill somewhere in there.  I like […]