Russian Night

Shortly after Eric and I were married, we discussed how we wanted to keep up with our Russian (we both served Russian speaking missions) and celebrate Russian traditions. We decided to have a yearly "Russian Night" where we would make our favorite Russian dishes and share them with friends and family. The first year we did it we made food for a Christmas Eve celebration with Eric's family where his other siblings brought other ethnic foods as well. The second year was in Ohio and we invited friends over. We made a lot more food than the first time, and the preparations began days in advance. Since Eric knew how long this process would take, our Russian night this year happened well after Christmas--on February 29th. We intended to have it earlier, but then we all got sick. Eric invited some friends from school and we had our good friends the Johnsons and then Shellee and Deva over as well (Chris works nights, so Shellee and Deva come over in the evenings sometimes.)

With the dinner being held on a Friday, Eric began Tuesday evening to make the dishes that we keep frozen: the dumplings called varyeniki. I love them filled with mashed potatoes, so that's how we did them. We got a pasta maker for Christmas, so we used that to help us with the dough. Then we cut out circles, spooned on the filling, and folded them over. When you cook them, you put them frozen into boiling water, and when they float, they're done!



The next night Eric made a yeast dough for the piroshki (or pierogies, as they're more commonly known). He filled these with a meat/cabbage mixture, and some with mashed potatoes, and baked them. I actually prefer them fried, so we made some fried ones the night of the dinner.



Thursday night Eric made a version of Russian black bread, which has cocoa, rye flour, and caraway seeds. He also made Rye bread and some plain white bread, which is a lot like French bread.



The borscht was put together an hour before dinner. It is always filled with cabbage and beets, and we included carrots and potatoes as well.



Since it was my birthday the day before, we wanted to have a cake. The best Russian cake I had in Ukraine was like a soft graham cracker cake in thin layers with a cream inbetween each layer. I had it on my birthday in Ukraine, but I don't remember what it was called, and had no idea how to make it. So, I chose another favorite from birthdays of the past--chocolate chip cookie cake. Everyone sang to me, and Deva blew out my candle for me. :)



We had a great night with new and "old" friends.





We were even able to get in a short game of Taboo before I had to put Jolie to bed. We so rarely get to play games that it made it even more fun.

Even though it's a lot of work, we hope to continue our "Russian Night" tradition! Maybe next year we'll include plov and pelmeni on the menu, and better yet, invite all our friends who know how to make Russian food so we don't have to make it all ourselves. :) Anyone want to come?