Pysanky.

Happy Friday morning, friends!

We're back after a wonderful, family-filled week at home in Minneapolis. Our adventures will be posted later, but for now, in the spirit of springtime, here are some shots of what took over our dining room table for the last few weeks. 

Pysanky are traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs, and have been a part of Ukrainian culture for thousands of years. The word pysanka comes from the word pysaty, or "to write," referring to the fact that the designs are written on the egg with wax. Each design and color has its own meaning, with roots in pre-Christian times (it was once believed that the more colors and symbols an egg had, the more magical it was!). Now, centuries later, Ukrainians continue to make pysanky to preserve the traditions of the past and pass down this incredible art to younger generations. 

Here's how the process works: you start with a regular, plain egg (they're raw, so no, you really can't eat them). Using a kistka, a wooden (or, to bring us into the 21st century, an electric) stylus with a tiny well that's heated in a candle to melt the wax, you write each design onto the egg. Dying the eggs is a layering process: as you move from light to dark colors, the wax designs preserve whatever color is underneath. When you're finished, the pysanka will have wax all over it, hiding all the earlier colors and designs. 

My favorite part of making pysanky is the final step - melting off the wax. I use a candle; others do this en masse and melt several eggs at a time under a heat lamp. As the wax melts off and is wiped away, all the colorful designs are revealed. I've done this so many times, and still, each time, I'm surprised and excited to see the finished pysanka. They really are the perfect symbol for spring, signifying rebirth and new life. 

Making pysanky is a beautiful tradition that I'm so proud to continue! If you want to learn to make your own, visit the Ukrainian Gift Shop in Roseville, MN - they have everything you need to start making pysanky - from dyes and styluses to instructional kits and books filled with inspirational designs. They're really the go-to experts on all things pysanka! 

Have a wonderful weekend - hopefully the weather cooperates and starts to actually feel like spring!

MN Mondays: A Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving.

Confession: nothing gets me more excited for Thanksgiving than walking into Williams-Sonoma. And with less than three weeks to go until Turkey Day, I'm just itching to make it out to W-S as many times as I can, but visiting the website is a good substitute (they have so many great recipes!). The store is filled with gorgeous cookbooks, knives, cast iron pans...it's definitely our happy place, and we get inspired to cook something new each time we're there. 

Whether it's July or the beginning of November, the mulled cider smells of that store always make me crave Thanksgiving dinner. When we were little and growing up, my mom always hosted Thanksgiving at our house. The preparation for this food-filled, family friendly holiday always included a trip (or several!) to Williams-Sonoma where we would pick up Thanksgiving essentials, including pumpkin butter, the annual Thanksgiving Guide, and a few new "kitchen toys" that we knew we just had to have to make the perfect meal. Every year she set a beautiful table and cooked her heart out, and it's no surprise that Thanksgiving dinner has become one of our favorite holidays. I'm also not surprised as to why I love hosting dinners and parties so much: I know I learned it all from her! 

Last year, Andrew and I hosted both our families at our apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. While it wasn't always the easiest to cook for nine people in our tiny kitchen, everything turned out wonderfully; we cooked all day and spent time with our favorite people, which to us, sums up a perfect day. This is a picture of our fridge last year, stuffed to the doors with everything we made from scratch, from turkey stock, to green bean casserole, to crème brûlée!

We absolutely can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving, and will be trying something spectacular for the turkey this year: SOUS VIDE! We first attempted this last year for our "Thanksgiving Round 2" that we made in March (yes, March), and Andrew, my sister, and I all agreed that this was the best turkey we've ever had. When we were home last weekend, we started discussing the details of Thanksgiving dinner, and after little to no argument, Andrew said he could be persuaded to bring along the sous vide machine so we could recreate that turkey. And of course, we'll have (THE BEST) stuffing, our homemade version of green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes: all the classics that make dinner so much fun. 

What are your favorite Thanksgiving foods - are you sticking with the tried-and-true recipes or will you be making something new, perhaps a classic with a twist? I'm getting hungry just thinking about all the possibilities! 

Happy Monday, friends! 

Beautiful borshch.

Борщ. There is nothing better on a cold day than a big bowl of borshch, the traditional beet soup that's a staple in many Eastern European kitchens. A few days ago we had wandered over to the Shorewood library, where we found a surprisingly large section on Russian/Eastern European cookbooks. A combination of factors lead me to today (flipping through the familiar recipes, the chill in the air this morning, and a touch of homesickness), when I decided I was going to make my mama's borshch. 

Like most Ukrainian kids, my siblings and I had borshch quite often when we were growing up; however, I know for a fact we didn't appreciate it then. Instead of happily eating bowls of the glorious beet soup that our grandmother made for us, we longed for pizza, burgers, anything "American." After we grew up and started to understand exactly what we were missing, borshch, bliny (these incredible jam-filled crepes my grandfather used to make), and pyrishky (dough crescents stuffed with anything, from meat to rice, to sweet cherries) all became special treats. Now we talk about them often, discussing our favorite fillings and reminiscing about past holiday meals where these traditional dishes took center stage; for whatever reason, though, we rarely ever make them. 

Today I was determined to make my mom's borshch as close to hers as possible, but as with most Ukrainian recipes, the ingredients are always listed as "на око," which means "to the eye." Basically, it's a little of this, a little of that...nothing precise, ever. Thankfully, a few summers ago I made sure to write down what my mom was doing as she made her borshch, but making it myself this afternoon, I found that I, too, was adjusting certain measurements "to the eye."

At a fabulous crossroad of modernity and tradition, I was checking Twitter as the borshch was simmering. I happened to come across this beautiful New York Times piece on cooking to preserve your heritage. How fitting, as my borshch was bubbling away on the stove! For so many immigrants, cooking traditional meals is the best keepsake of their past, with their dishes acting as reminders of family gatherings, holidays, favorite places, home. I imagine that's how my family felt many years ago, and was so moved and humbled by this article. 

Ukrainian cooking is not particularly complex or sophisticated, but it's homey, rooted in deep tradition, and full of warmth. There's definitely something special about continuing to make a dish that's been shared over generations and continents. I don't know if my borshch came out exactly the same way as my mom makes hers, or if my grandmother would've approved, but for tonight, it was absolutely perfect.