Don’t you just love it when certain things come together in time and space to make your life easier?  Better yet, don’t you just love it when certain seemingly negative things coincide in time and space, and when combined yield a resolutely positive outcome? Well I do, indeed.  And here is why. Enter the seemingly […]

If I had to name one dish that immediately recalls childhood for me, it would be this one.  Stuffed cabbage rolls called Holubtzi in Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and possibly other Slavic languages, invariably bring back memories of my Kindergarten.  You see, in our Kindergarten they fed us breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner, all cooked on […]

This dish is a marvel of home cuisine.  It’s good in any weather, easy as can be, and with mere five to six ingredients readily available it will never send you grocery shopping in order to make it.  Yes, you heard me, just five or six,  and can be even four if you choose not […]

When it comes to cult classic recipes, consulting with the authoritative sources is a must. I feel obligated to do so because I am afraid to misrepresent the dish, give you the wrong impression of the flavor and texture, and thus, if unsuccessful, give you all, both literally and figuratively, bad aftertaste.

Seasoned food junkies like yours truly always find ways to enhance the recipe, spin it, bring up a different note every time.  This is a great way to keep things interesting in the kitchen, or renew one’s love for an old, seemingly ordinary staple number.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great way to ruin […]

We are sick.  Coughs and sneezes, and everything nice in between.  In my family, at the first sign of trouble  we make a store run for a chicken and make strong chicken broth.  Until very recently, chicken broth as a cure-all home made remedy was more of a family tradition to me, rather a quirky […]

My mom used to make this beautiful chicken meatball soup. It literally had nothing else but meatballs and broth.  Broth was light golden in color and clear as crystal, and meatballs were very soft, yet never falling apart. She used short grain rice to give meatballs extra body, and shredded carrots and onions for added […]