Category Archives: Traditions

Seernaya Paska ~ Sweet Cheese Spread for Kulich (Paska)

My Russian heritage affords me some really good Easter eats. Every year we look forward to having our Easter Bread which we call Kulich in Russian and my Mennonite Friends called Paska.

We also make this yummy cheese spread to spread on this Easter Bread!

Seernaya Paska for Kulich (Russian Easter Bread) The X and the B are for Xpucmoc Bockpec (Christ Arose)

paska class 005

 

Seernaya Paska  (Сырная пасха)

Ingredients:

18 – hard boiled eggs /
3 pounds Farmers cheese /a dry curd cheese like a dry cottage cheese can be substituted.
1 pint whipping cream /
3 cubes unsalted butter (12 oz.) /
3 cups sugar /

Press the Farmers cheese through a sieve. (This is the hardest part of the recipe) If you find a very small curd cheese you won’t have to do this to the cheese. I usually use a wooden spoon and press it through a wire strainer a little at a time. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. (You will not be using the whites).

Press the egg yolks through the sieve. Cream the sugar and butter together. Beat in the egg yolks. Beat in the cheese. Add whipping cream and mix well. You will place the mixture into a strainer lined with about 3 layers of cheesecloth. You will need enough cheesecloth to wrap up and over the top of the cheese. Place the cheese mixture into the cheese cloth lined strainer or another container to mold into shape. Bring the ends of the cheese cloth up and tie the ends on top of the cheese in a knot. Place the sieve into a larger bowl suspended with enough room for the cheese to drain without sitting in the drained liquid. Place a plate on top of the cheese an place a heavy rock, brick, or other weight on top of the plate. Refrigerate over night.

I have used different shaped plastic flower pots to drain and mold the cheese into a higher domed result. If you choose to use a flower pot make sure there are enough holes in the bottom of the pot so the liquid can drain well.

This recipe is enough to feed an army. If you don’t have to feed an army here’s a scaled down version :0)

If you just want a normal amount, cut the recipe in thirds. (6 cooked egg yolks, 1-lb. cheese, 2/3 cup whipping cream, 1 cube butter and 1 cup sugar. Enjoy!

Farmers Cheese or Hoop Cheese can be hard to find. There are Russian delis that sell a dry curd cottage type cheese that will work. If you can find a dry cottage cheese at the grocers that will work too.

Here are examples of the Seernaya Paska I have made over the years.

Listening and Sipping Tea Hodgepodge

With gratitude to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for our last Hodgepodge questions of the year.

1. Did you do more talking or more listening yesterday? Was it by choice or by necessity? 

I’m happy to say that I did more listening than talking yesterday. Our grands were here in the afternoon for a few hours and it was fun listening to their banter. JJ had several stories to give us the details on. He talked about his dad’s work on the hot water tank, in detail. Addy filled in anything he missed. He chuckled while calling me, Baa bush Kah, in three separate syllables instead of Baba. Addy read out the instructions on the cookie recipe we made. During dinner together JJ had many things to share. I made the comment that he was quite the conversationalist!

2. Are you a tea drinker? Hot, cold, or both? Flavored? What do you like in your tea? Do you make Christmas tea this time of year? What time of day do you like to sip your tea?
I grew up in a tea drinking household where tea was served regularly and we enjoyed our tea with a sweet cherry syrup or lemon syrup that our mom made and canned in quantity.
At the church we grew up in we’d have meals where tea was served. My friends and I enjoyed making bridges of sugar cubes across the top of our tea glasses before we poured the hot water in. We broke the sugar bridge with the hot water. No tea bags, loose tea steeped. The glasses were hot so the tea was poured into the bowl and we drank the tea from the bowl. At our Russian wedding receptions, Чай не сладкий  (the tea is not sweet) ‘Chai nye slatki’ was a chant that was made while gently tapping our tea glasses with a spoon so the newly married couple could stand and give each other a kiss to sweeten our tea.
I think we mostly had tea in the afternoon or evening.
After I was married I transitioned to coffee and enjoyed tea as an event rather than daily consumption. When I drink tea I enjoy Earl Grey or English Breakfast Tea. No green tea for me. I do not make Christmas tea but I do remember having some in the past.
3. What’s an activity you won’t try, an event you won’t attend, or an athletic challenge you won’t take part in not even for ‘all the tea in China’? 
I will not try bungee jumping. I will not attend a Monster Trucks Show. I will not take part in a marathon.

4. What’s something most people seem to love but is not ‘your cup of tea‘? 

Owning pets.

5. How does your family celebrate New Year’s Eve? 

Hmmm. It has changed over the years and we do not have any set traditions for this eve. Lately we are in bed by 9pm and will hear the fireworks go off at midnight. I used to watch at least one of the countdowns (New York) that were 3 hours ahead of us. Here in Colville the Fourth of July is not a good time to shoot off fireworks because of the fire danger so many folks save their fireworks for New Year’s Eve.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’m still relishing our Children’s Christmas Musical that was on this past Sunday and this song that the Children sang.

You can have my room, Jesus.
You’re always welcome here, Jesus.
I won’t turn you away to a cattle stall.
You can have my room, Jesus.
You can have it all.
Come in, Come in,
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
You can have it all.

A Very Merry Christmas to Jo and all of my Wednesday Hodgepodge Friends!

Happy Thanksgiving 2023

The table is set and we are getting ready for our guests. The turkey will go in the oven about noon since we aren’t eating until 4ish. I’ll be trying the convection setting on our oven for the first time. (Hope nothing goes wrong!) The yams are boiling and will be ready to peel, slice, and put into a casserole sprinkled generously with butter and brown sugar and topped with marshmallows, then baked to perfection. That is a family favorite. Jamie is bringing pies, her Granny’s buns and brussels sprouts. Linda is bringing whipped cream and cranberry sauce.

My Yorkshire dishes hold even more meaning this year after our walk along the Yorkshire Dales in September.

I saw these photos from 2017 and 2019 from our ‘Grands’ first Thanksgivings and couldn’t resist sharing them this year.

Addy’s First Thanksgiving

JJ’s first Thanksgiving.

Happy USA Thanksgiving Day!

Thanks be to God who gives us all good things to enjoy.

Thanks be to Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and made the way possible for forgiveness of those sins and peace with God.

Thanks be to the Holy Spirit who is with us teaching us and comforting us.

Truth for Today will resume next Thursday. I’ll leave you with this benediction from the book of Hebrews.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Nadia’s Kulich and Seernaya Paska

What many of you call Paska we call Kulich. This is my mom’s Russian Easter Bread Recipe that I quartered because the amount she would make is quite daunting for me. We have cut it in half in years past. Now what you need to know about my mom and recipes is that she ends up tweaking them from year to year so this recipe is for her Kulich from 2001. I have a 2009 and 2012 recipe, too. This one was easier to quarter. Here’s the link to the original. My dear mom passed away from this earth in September of 2013 so I cherish her tweaked recipes.

Ingredients:

2 packets rapid rise yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup lukewarm milk
1 teaspoon sugar

4 egg yolks
1 egg
1-1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup half and half
1/2 ounce apricot brandy
1-1/2 teaspoons powdered vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
Zest of half a lemon
About 2-1/2 pounds of flour, sifted (about 7 cups)
Vegetable oil to coat the rising dough

6 to 7 one pound or two pound cans for baking. You can use loaf pans or large muffin tins if you don’t have the cans to bake them in.

Add yeast to the lukewarm water and milk and sugar in a stainless steel bowl. Make sure the liquids are lukewarm. Let this mixture dissolve and sit.

Beat the egg yolks and egg together.
Cream the butter and sugar in the large bowl of a stand-up mixer.
Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture slowly mixing to combine and then beat to incorporate well.
Mix the half and half with the whipping cream and heat until lukewarm, not hot, and slowly incorporate into the creamed mixture.
Mix in the vanilla and brandy.
Add the yeast mixture and the salt and beat with a mixer.
Continue beating and add the lemon zest.
Continue beating and add the sifted flour about a cup at a time.
Once you cannot beat the dough any longer using the mixer, put the dough on a floured surface and start incorporating the remaining flour by kneading the dough.
The dough should be kneaded very well, approximately 10 minutes.
You should knead the dough until you can cut it with a knife and it is smooth without any holes.
Place the dough in a stainless steel bowl. Take some oil and pour a little on the dough and spread it all over the dough. Make sure to turn the dough so it is coated evenly.
Cover with plastic wrap right on the dough and a dish towel on top of that.
Place in a warm place away from drafts to rise. (My sister usually puts it into the oven that has been warmed slightly.

It is now time to prepare the coffee cans (1 lb. and 2 lb. cans are the best) Cut circles the size of the bottom of the cans out of wax paper. You will need four circles per can. Make sure the cans are well greased. Put the 4 circles in the bottom of the cans.

Use a empty and clean coffee can like the ones above. If there is a label make sure to take it off. If the can has a lip at the top you’ll need to use a can opener to cut the lip off the can. I hope these pictures will make the process easier to understand.

Cut sheets of wax paper long enough to line the sides of the can and tall enough to be 2″ above the rim of the can. Use Crisco to seal the ends of the paper.

When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and turn it over.
Let it rise a second time until it doubles in size. Punch it down again.
Now the dough is ready to put into the prepared cans.
You will take a portion of dough about 1/3 the size of the can. Knead it and form it into a smooth ball that you can easily drop into the can.

Let the dough rise again inside the can until it is at least double in size.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until golden brown on top.(approximately 30 minutes or more depending on your oven.)

Let them cool slightly in the cans. Remove them from the cans and then cool completely standing up. Some people cool them on their sides turning them often to keep their shape. We found this time that they cool just fine and keep their shape standing up so we didn’t bother with that step!

P1010130

To go with this bread my mom always makes a wonderful sweet cheese topping that is formed in a mold in different shapes. For my mom’s Sernaya Paska (cheese spread) recipe click here. I’m adding the recipe here.

paska class 005

 Seernaya Paska (Сырная пасха)

Ingredients:

18 – hard boiled eggs /
3 pounds Farmers cheese /a dry curd cheese like a dry cottage cheese can be substituted.
1 pint whipping cream /
3 cubes unsalted butter (12 oz.) /
3 cups sugar /

Press the Farmers cheese through a sieve. (This is the hardest part of the recipe) If you find a very small curd cheese you won’t have to do this to the cheese. I usually use a wooden spoon and press it through a wire strainer a little at a time. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. (You will not be using the whites).

Press the egg yolks through the sieve. Cream the sugar and butter together. Beat in the egg yolks. Beat in the cheese. Add whipping cream and mix well. You will place the mixture into a strainer lined with about 3 layers of cheesecloth. You will need enough cheesecloth to wrap up and over the top of the cheese. Place the cheese mixture into the cheese cloth lined strainer. Bring the ends of the cheese cloth up and tie the ends on top of the cheese in a knot. Place the sieve into a larger bowl suspended with enough room for the cheese to drain without sitting in the drained liquid. Place a plate on top of the cheese an place a heavy rock, brick, or other weight on top of the plate. Refrigerate over night.

So far no one in my family has one of these so ours looks like a dome because of the sieve we use to drain it in like in the photo at the top of the post. You could use a flower pot and get more of a domed effect. I’ll have to make it this year and take some photos of the paska in a nicer shape. Here’s an older wooden version of a mold.

This recipe is enough to feed an army. If you don’t have to feed an army here’s a scaled down version :0)

If you just want a normal amount, cut the recipe in thirds. (6 cooked egg yolks, 1-lb. cheese, 2/3 cup whipping cream, 1 cube butter and 1 cup sugar. Enjoy!

Farmers Cheese or Hoop Cheese can be hard to find. There are Russian delis that sell a dry curd cottage type cheese that will work. If you can find a dry cottage cheese at the grocers that will work too.

We like to serve the kulich with the spread and strawberries.

This blast from the past was probably our first Easter in Washington State, 1989.

2014-03-027

I’m not sure if I’ll be trying this Kulich/Paska recipe quartered at the end of this week. I’ll let you know if I do and how many coffee can shaped loaves it makes. We got seven loaves out of this recipe although we shorted some of the cans.

Are you preparing for Easter?

A New Year for the Hodgpodge

Hello Hodgepodgers!

It’s Snow Angel season around our parts and…

It’s time for a new year of Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you Joyce for coming up with the brain teasers each week.

1. Share one happy moment/memory from the holiday season. 

Seeing each of the three vehicles filled with our most precious cargo pull into our driveway on Christmas day!

2. Let’s be reasonable with our expectations going into this new year, k? What is one thing you’d like to accomplish/improve/complete/do in 2022? 

I’d like to stick to completing a 30 minute cardio workout most days in 2022.  Shoveling off the back deck with Dear on Monday qualifies as a cardio workout! Snowshoeing out my back door is on the agenda this week. After wrapping up this post I’m happy to report I blazed a snowshoe trail in our back acres on Tuesday.

3. Every January 1st (since 1976) Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse or just general uselessness (go here to read more about how the words are chosen). Here are the words/phrases they’d like to see banished in 2022-

wait, what?-no worries-at the end of the day-that being said-asking for a friend-circle back-deep dive-a new normal-you’re on mute-supply chain

Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly?

‘No worries’ is the one phrase I’ve used most regularly, the others more randomly.  I do say, ‘did you mute your phone’ to Dear before the church service begins.

Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?

‘A new normal’ is a phrase that strikes me negatively mostly because much that comes with this phrase are things that shouldn’t be normal, in my opinion.

Is there a word/phrase not on the list you’d like to add? (I misunderstood this question the first time around and added a phrase I like, oops) Here’s one I’d like banished.

‘Pandemic of the unvaccinated’ is the phrase I’d like to see banished because it is false from it’s root up.

4. Best thing you ate in the month of December? 

Our traditional Christmas dinner. Prime Rib, roasted veggies, creamed corn and Yorkshire Pudding.

5. January 5th is National Bird Day.

Are you a bird lover? 

Yes!

What’s your favorite bird to see in the wild?

Eagle is by far the favorite with hawks coming in at second. I have a strong desire to see an owl in the wild and if I ever do it might win the favorite spot!

Choose a phrase from the list that follows and tell us how it relates to your life currently…eat like a bird, bird’s eye view, early bird, bird-brained, free as a bird, a little bird told me, or kill two birds with one stone.

‘Early bird’ is a phrase that relates to my life currently. Sleeping in has escaped me. I’m up before dark these days. Our pop was always early instead of late and I’m a chip off the old block when it comes to arriving at a scheduled event early, too!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It looks like 2022 will not be a drought year in our parts! As of Tuesday morning January 4th we have about 20 inches of snow accumulated in our yard. More snow is on the way with temperatures that will not allow the snow to melt for awhile.

Only Joseph is still above the snow. We’ll see if he gets completely covered tonight!

To all my hodgepodging friends, I hope 2022 is a year filled with good things that draw you closer to the God who created you!

Back to School Hodgepodge

This collage above is from a first day of school in Ventura, California back in 1985 and a first day of school in Bothell, Washington in the very early 90’s.

Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions and here are my answers this week. Thank you, Jo!

1. As we begin this brand new month tell us, on a scale of 1-10, where does your life fall in terms of being in ‘apple pie order’? Please elaborate. (1=nowhere near it, 10=practically perfect in every way)

Yikes, perfect and neatness. That’s a tall order. The only thing I’ll attribute to perfection in my life is that I am perfectly forgiven and saved by Jesus Christ my Perfect Savior and Lord. I’m thankful for that position in this life and for what it means in the next. On a physical not spiritual level I’d say I’m about a 6. Most places in our home are tidy enough for surprise drop ins. I’d need a couple days notice to get everything perfect in every way! Outside in my flower beds, etc. I’d need a month to get things perfect!!

2. An apple a day keeps the doctor away…are you doing your part?

Not an apple but our new daily regimen since the Ch*na V started it’s spread is a multi-vitamin, vitamin D3, vitamin C, Zinc, Quercetin, and we just added N-Acetyl Cysteine.

Red or green?

Either.

Sweet or tart?

Like them both.

Ever played the game Apples to Apples?

Yes.

Do you like apple pie?

Yes.

If so, ala mode or just gimme the pie? 

As my dear old Pop used to say he’d like his “pie alamo”

3. Tell us about a time recently where you ‘upset the apple cart’ or the last time someone ‘upset your apple cart’? 

A good true quote is something that ‘upsets my apple cart’ in a constructive way.  Here’s one that makes me ponder, “Nothing is more deceitful than pride. We are inclined to believe anything about ourselves if it is favorable.” From a commentary on 1 Corinthians.

And from Spurgeon: “My own weakness makes me shrink, but God’s promise makes me brave. Lord, strengthen me according to Your Word.”

4. What are three words that come to mind when you think of September? 

School because traditionally school started in September. Birthday because Dear’s birthday is in September. Fall/Autumn because this great season of the year starts in September.

5. What are you most looking forward to this month? 

Our road trip to North Carolina and Dallas. Those are the two destinations in our 20 day trek that involve seeing some of our loved ones! Technically we won’t be in Dallas until October.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

No Place Like Home

We moved into our current home September of 2018 and we were so thankful for all the help we had from our children. We moved from the big city to the country.

I’m joining Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for a weekly blog carnival called No Place Like Home. Here’s an explanation of what it involves…

So, I will get the party rolling on Monday, November 23. Like other years, everything pertaining to Home is welcome… Cooking and baking, recipes, antiquing, arts and crafts, crocheting/knitting, quilting/sewing, collections, floral arranging, home decor, homemaking tips, hospitality, refinishing furniture, tea time, tablescapes, thrift shopping, etc….Maybe there’s a new baby in the family or you have a new fur baby you would like to introduce us to. They are welcome too! Anything and everything which makes your HOME more enjoyable to come HOME to, for your family, your friends, and yourself. 

So on this first Monday of the party I’m going to share  a few Thanksgiving tables from the past. Our Canadian neighbors celebrated Thanksgiving several weeks ago. This is Thanksgiving week in the United States. Thanksgiving day is Thursday November 26th. I won’t be hosting Thanksgiving at our Country Bungalow this year but we will be celebrating with family. The following tables are from our previous home.

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving 2015

Not exactly sure what year the table collage above is from but I know it’s in our Kenmore home and not our current home.

Thanksgiving 2019 and our Grandson’s first Thanksgiving.

And our granddaughter is a pro already with putting the marshmallows on top of the candied yams!

The turkey at our Country bungalow 2019.

The First Thanksgiving 1621~Historical America, Homer Laughlin China Co., Made in U.S.A. I found this platter at a thrift store.

Thank you to Sandi for hosting No Place Like Home.

For those of you who live in the U.S.A. what are your plans for Thanksgiving? It will look a lot different for many of us but it can still be filled with gratitude, love and joy.

Corn Maze Snow Version

What a difference a week makes. Sunday the 18th of October my brother and his kids enjoyed the maze with me in sunshine and a bit of mud. On Saturday the 24th of October the patch paths were covered in snow. Our car arrived at the Corn Maze location a little after ten and it was closed. After checking on line we saw that they were due to open at eleven. Jamie and the littles arrived a little before 10:30 and the owner of the maze spotted us and came over to open up early for us. We were the only group on the maze from start to finish. Thank you Colville Corn Maze for a detailed maze experience and for opening early for us!

We never dreamed we’d be trekking through the maze in snow but we were all up for the adventure.

You need a map expert like Katie to make it through with ease and we were so happy she was on point since we were trekking through the snow in below freezing temperatures.

Warning: This is a photo loaded post!

Katie led us to the #1 stop quick and easy. Onward and upward we go.

We supported the Corn Maze People by buying some of their last pumpkins.

The cutest little pumpkins in the patch!

Do you go to a pumpkin patch this time of year? Do you have a Corn Maze in your town? Our snow is melting and we’ve had a nice stretch of dry weather. Very cold starts to the day with warming by mid afternoon. Slow but sure progress on the shop.

Vareniki, Christmas Tradition

These are photos from over 5 years ago on two separate cooking days before Christmas. I got the photos from my nieces.

This photo above is from 2012, the last Vareniki day with our mom.

It’s been 5 years now since my sisters and nieces have been able to have Vareniki cooking day with our mom. This event usually happens the weekend before Christmas. Our mom left this earth in September of 2013. I’m proud of my sisters and nieces for keeping this tradition alive without our mom’s guidance. It’s our family tradition to have these filled cheese dumplings for dessert on Christmas Eve. The cheese filling is a lightly sweetened Russian style farmer’s cheese. These filled creations are enjoyed after dinner on Christmas Eve. After making the dough, filling them with cheese, pinching them just right like our mom taught us, they are simmered until they float, cooled, and stored for Christmas Eve. To serve they are placed evenly in a glass casserole dish and baked with butter and half and half until bubbly. They are served hot topped with sour cream and syrup.  I’m going to have to have a breakthrough and try making these with my girls. We also enjoy them for breakfast.

Today my two older sisters, one of my brothers and sister in laws and 3 of my nieces are getting together to continue the Vareniki tradtion.

I received this next photos from my nieces at their Vareniki making today at my oldest sister’s home. I loved the hashtags my nieces used like #webelongtomoisiandnadia #newkitchenhelpers #makingbabaproud

My sister Kathy with her grandson, Jackson.

My sister Vera, niece Debbee, sister Kathy, grandniece Avery, niece Melissa, niece Michelle, and sister in law Letty.

My niece Michelle teaching her daughter, Avery, the pinching skills.

My grandnephew, Jackson. Two new helpers this year from the next generation!

ABC Wednesday ~ M is for…

 M is for Mariachis, Mexican Food, and Margaritas.

Mariachi is a type of musical group, originally from Cocula, Jalisco, Mexico. Usually a mariachi consists of at least three violins, two trumpets, one Mexican guitar, one vihuela (a high-pitched, five-string guitar) and one guitarrón (a small-scaled acoustic bass). They dress in silver studded charro outfits with wide-brimmed hats. The original Mariachi were Mexican street musicians or buskers. Many mariachis are professional entertainers doing paid gigs in the mainstream entertainment industry. Professionals are normally skilled at more than one instrument, and they also sing.

 

Some of our Mexican Restaurants in Southern California have Mariachis strolling around the restaurant taking requests for songs to play and sing.

This Mariachi group played at my nephews wedding

I was born and raised in the East Los Angeles area of Southern California. The Mexican culture (these days if you are politically correct called “Hispanic” not “Mexican”) was all around me. We celebrated Mexican holidays at my elementary school, took field trips to Olvera Street in Los Angeles where the culture was further introduced to us. I have always enjoyed Mexican Food. There isn’t a Mexican restaurant in the Southern California area that calls itself Hispanic that I know of. They still all refer to themselves as Mexican restaurants.

 

Our favorite Mexican Restaurant in the Camarillo Area is El Tecolate. In Mexico El Tecolote means the Owl. Mexican Restaurants always serve chips and salsa at your table when you arrive. Sometimes we order guacamole to go with the chips too. Guacamole is a dip made with mashed avocados and other ingredients.

They have decorated the restaurant with many different types of owl “art”. This is just a fraction of the Owls you’ll see inside.

 

They serve your typical Mexican food here and other interesting dishes that are unique to this restaurant.

This is an open tamale

Carnitas (slow cooked pork) is another Mexican favorite. So yummy…

There are some Mexican restaurants that still hand make their tortillas. The restaurant where this Mexican lady is making tortillas is in Venice Beach, California (a district of Los Angeles).

 And last but not least I leave you with a Margarita which is a classic Mexican Tequila and lime drink! You can have the double, I’m fine with the single.

We prefer ours on the rocks. A lot of people like the blended variety that gives you a brain freeze on your first sip. Muchas Gracias for visiting my M post mi amigos y amigas.

For more ABC Wednesday visit Mrs. Nesbitt.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!