Tag Archives: Russian

Happy 65th Wedding Anniversary Mom and Pop!

From The Old-Time Family

We were eight around the table in those happy days back then.
Eight that cleaned our plates of pot-pie [blintzes] and then passed them up again;
Eight that needed shoes and stockings, eight to wash and put to bed,
And with mighty little money in the purse, as I have said,
But with all the care we brought them, and through all the days of stress,
I never heard my father or my mother wish for less.

~ Edgar A. Guest

These are the 8 Bagdanov siblings from oldest to youngest. Kathy, Vera, Fred, Ellen, Tim, Steve, Lana and Leonard

Now here’s a funny discovery we found out from my father this past weekend. It seems all these years they’ve been celebrating the wrong day as their anniversary. My parents were both from a peasant background. They both with their families escaped out of Russia into Iran in their pre-teens. They did not have great record keeping. There are no birth certificates or wedding licenses for them. They chose a birthday when they entered the U.S.A. They knew they were both born in the Spring. They chose September 13th as a wedding date because they thought they remembered that their wedding coincided with a Jewish holiday in September. Come to find out from a date they found on the baby picture of their first daughter who died at the age of 2 that they could not have been married in September but it was probably July just after harvest in Iran. Most of their friends got married this time of year after all the work was completed. Our first sister Kathy was born in April so they know they were married well before September 13th! Yes, strange but true, after they lost their first Kathy they named their second daughter Kathy, too.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

The Wedding ~ Tim and Jessica

What a wonderful ceremony and reception to celebrate the marriage of my nephew Tim to his beautiful bride Jessica.

 

My Grand Nephew Jackson was the Ring Bearer and he was perfect!

 

He walked carefully and looked oh so like a little prince.

 

Jessica was a stunning Bride.

 

The Groom, my nephew Tim, with his brothers and family. Tim is the one on the left in the upper photo. That’s his brother Levi with him. My brother Steve’s family is excited to finally have another woman in the group. The boys are happy to have a sister.

 

So much fun to see all the cousins together having a good time.

The Sisters, Vera, Lana, Ellen, and Kathy

 

The happy newlyweds. My nephew Tim…if he thinks he needs a drink now, just wait! No worries that’s only Martinelli’s and he really didn’t seemed stressed with all the excitement around him.

My married kids! Hard to believe they’ve almost been married 7 years!

 

My parents, Tim’s paternal grandparents at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. See that last photo of my dad hugging Tim and Jessica, he decided it was time to take my mom home because she was tired so he walked right up to Tim and Jessica while they were having their first dance to give them a kiss and hug goodbye. He doesn’t really understand the concept of the first dance, since none of his children danced at their weddings. It was a kodak moment and all of us kids were belly laughing. Such a Moisi moment!!

 

Here’s my extended family minus 10 who were not at the wedding.

At the end of such a long eventful day we were all ready to go to sleep just like our Princess Hope.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Pelemeny ~ Russian Ravioli

Pelemeny (Russian Version of Ravioli)

Filling:

1/2 lb. ground chicken
1/2 lb. ground veal, or lamb, or beef
1 medium onion grated
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Dough:

2 cups sifted flour
1 egg
1/3 cup water

Combine the two meats with onion. Add seasonings to taste and mix well and set aside.

Prepare Dough: In a small mixing bowl, sift the flour and a pinch of salt. Make a nest in the flour, add the egg which has been mixed with water. Work the flour into the egg and mix and then knead to a rather dry dough. Use more or less flour as needed. Roll dough very thin. We used a pelemeny mold/maker that my mom brought back on one of her trips to Russia so the pelemeny come out in a round shape. If you don’t have a mold cut the dough into 2″ circles. Put a small ball of filling (about 1/2 tsp) onto each circle and fold over and pinch edges making a half-moon shape. Then pinch each corner up together.

Boil in your choice of broth. Add the Pelemeny to the boiling broth. When they are done they will surface like doughnuts. You can serve them with the broth like a soup or you can have them plain with some sour cream. This recipe should feed 4-6 people.

The photo collages that I have shown are of my family making a huge batch of these for a family gathering we’re having. We made 648 of these.

It is very important to flour this mold really well each time you put the dough on to fill.

We found that a plastic teaspoon worked best to press the meat into each little hole.

You have to shake the completed Pelemeny out of the mold.

You can serve these with a lot of broth like a soup or just plain with sourcream.

Some people enjoy them with soy sauce.

Enjoy!

Pishky ~ Russian Fry Bread

I’m posting two versions of my mother Nadia’s Pishky that my family grew up with. Mennonites call them Rollkuchen. There are some variations in the ingredients. I’m gathering more of our family heritage recipes on my blog.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 3 eggs (beaten)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • vegetable oil to fry the Pishky in

Method:

  1. Make well in center of flour. Mix sour cream, beaten eggs, salt, sugar, and orange juice.
  2.  First blend the soda in a tablespoon of hot water then add it to the wet ingredients. Mix into flour and knead the dough.
  3.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Cut in strips. Then cut strips on the diagonal about 4″ long and cut a slit in the center of the 4″ length.
  4. Fold the top of the piece through the hole and up again. Fry in oil until golden brown on both sides.
  5.  Before serving sprinkle with powdered sugar.

My kids loved to have these hot out of the pan when they would come in from playing in the snow.

These are great right out of the pan and for a few hours but after that, they aren’t as wonderful. Make small batches that you’ll gobble up quickly is my recommendation. The other thing you can do if you have more than you want to eat right away is to make a french toast casserole for breakfast with the leftovers.

This recipe is still easy to make and a nice treat similar to Rollkuchen.
I made a small batch using the following recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cups sifted flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 cup powdered sugar (frosting sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon soft butter
  • 1/2 tablespoon brandy
  • 2 eggs
  • vegetable oil for frying
  • powered sugar for dusting

Method:

  1. Sift flour, sugar and salt together. Cut in butter.
  2. Beat eggs and brandy together well.
  3. Add egg mixture to flour and mix well. Knead thoroughly.
  4. Divide into two portions keeping one portion covered while working on the first portion.
  5. Roll out thin.
  6. Cut strips approx. 2 inches wide and 3 inches long.
  7. Make a slit in the middle of each strip, pulling one end through the slit.
  8. Continue with the second portion and following the same steps.
  9. Fry in hot vegetable oil turning until both sides are light brown.
  10. Drain on paper towels.
  11. Dust with powdered sugar.

Yield: 20 Pishkey

 

May I Recommend…

There’s a wonderful new food blog that was started by Lovella from What Matters Most. It’s a group effort from Mennonite and other gals who post wonderful recipes to share with bloggy world.

The blog is called Mennonite Girls can Cook.

Check it out, you won’t be disappointed. Just look at those images at the top of this post that come from this site. Yummy!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Hymn for Father’s Day

Happy the Home When God is There

words by Henry Ware, Jr. (1794-1843)

Happy the home when God is there,
And love fills every breast;
When one their wish, and one their prayer,
And one their heav’nly rest.

Happy the home where Jesus’ Name
Is sweet to every ear;
Where children early speak His fame,
And parents hold Him dear.

Happy the home where prayer is heard,
And praise each day does rise;
Where parents love the sacred Word
And all its wisdom prize.

Lord, let us in our homes agree
This blessèd peace to gain;
Unite our hearts in love to Thee,
And love to all will reign.

The top photo is my Father praying at a family gathering. Happy Father’s Day Pop! My parents have always had a deep love and respect for God’s Word.

Happy Father’s Day Dear! Thank you for being a great Father to our children and a man of integrity who honors God’s Word.

The newest Father in our family, my brother Leonard. Happy 1st Father’s Day, Leonard. We love watching you as a Father to the Princess.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Photo Hunters ~ Emotion

 

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy. These are the 4 Bagdanov Sisters. Not the best quality photo but it is full of emotion!

For more Photos on the Emotion theme head over to Tnchick’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Fun Monday ~ Happy Childhood Memory

Molly is hosting Fun Monday this week. She says…

I have the great honor of hosting Fun Monday this coming Monday, June 9th. For your assignment tell us about a happy memory from your childhood. If you have pictures, please show us your pictures.

 

When I was little the cousins would all pile into one car and head up to Big Bear, California or another mountain destination and camp. I’m the one sitting on the table. These were happy childhood memories.

On the bench in front: Valia my cousin, my sister Vera, my cousin Walter, my cousin Alex, me on the table, across the table on the bench- my Uncle Paul, my Father, my brother Fred, my sister Kathy standing on the bench. Behind the bench – Mrs. Dorofeiv, Mike Dorofeiv and their child.

 

Here I am with my father who loved to put jigsaw puzzles together. My sister Kathy is standing behind my dad and me. These days my favorite kind of camping is at the Hilton but I know that the best memories for our kids are the real camping experiences out in the great outdoors. I wish I would have taken my kids on more camping excursions…

 

This is my cousin Valia and me. We spent lots of time with each other while I was growing up. My maternal grandmother lived with them so we were over there a lot. This photo was taken at Easter.

Here’s that same cousin with her daughter and granddaughter. I got to see her this last Saturday at a baby shower for her DIL. One of our projects while at the shower was to create something on a onesie for the baby that’s due in July. Yikes I’m not really artistic or crafty but here is what I came up with. Good thing babies wear onesies under their regular outer wear!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

For more Fun Monday Happy Memories visit Molly.

Happy Birthday Pop and Kathy…

Happy Birthday to my oldest sister Kathy and an early Happy Birthday to my Pop! Kathy’s birthday is today and Pop’s birthday is the 25th. He’ll be 85 on Sunday.

 

These photos were taken in 1947 or 1948. My Mother is pregnant with my sister Vera in this photo and Vera was born at the end of February in 1948. My parents had just immigrated to the USA from Iran. That is my oldest sister Kathy in both these photos. Kathy was born in Iran in May of 1946.

I love this photo of Kathy on the swing in the park with all the people sitting on the benches in the background. The men and some of the women with hats on. This photo is also from the late 40’s.

 

Here’s a photo of Kathy and my Pop taken last night at a family celebration.

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!

The Russian Pouring Teapot ~ Samovar

I came across these very old Paintings of Russians drinking tea (chai) and I wanted to share them. This first photo is from 1889.

I would love to own one of these older Samovars. See the glasses on the bowls. She is pouring the hot water into the glasses with a strong steep of tea. The concentrate of tea is in a small pot that fits on top of the Samovar.

“Of all beverages, tea alone has the proverbial power to relieve toska, the sadness and melancholy which traditionally burden the Russian spirit. The samovar which dispenses it is a time-honoured symbol of Russian hospitality. It stands for the hearth, the warmth of a Russian welcome, the restorative powers of a glass of tea around the stove after hours in sub-zero temperatures. The word means ‘self-boiler’ and the samovar is just that, a portable water heater made traditionally of brass and fuelled with pine cones or charcoal. On top of it rests a teapot containing a powerful infusion. To pour a glass of tea, a little of this concentrate is diluted with boiling water from the urn. This way it is always fresh never stewed.”

 

After serving the tea the guests will pour the tea out of their glasses into their bowls and sip the tea from the bowl. This is how I remember drinking tea with my grandparents and relatives growing up. We had tea glasses and bowls. Here’s another quote from The Food and Cooking of Russia by Leslie Chamberlain.

 

“Sadly, the modern Samovar is a plug-in electrical device distinquished by its mass production shoddiness and the fact that no one wants to buy it. It is perhaps a fitting epitaph on the death of a culture. In the nineteenth century the samovar and the tea glass holder, found in daily use in the lowliest and the richest households, inspired some of the finest secular silverwork ever produced in Russia.” This is one of my Samovars that is an electric one, modern and mostly made for the tourist trade. They are pretty to have around but not the older genuine article. Here are the tea glass holders spoken of in the quote, podstakanik.

 

 

In this painting again they are drinking tea from the bowl. Statistically the Russians are among the world’s top three tea-drinking nations (with Britain and Japan).

Can you see the Teapots on the table that look similar to mine above? I was excited to see this.

 

Now the next photograph is a group of modern Russians getting the samovar ready at my brother’s reception to celebrate his marriage.

 

My nephew Joe, my brother Tim, my husband, my BIL Steve, and my son Daniel. A couple of these guys aren’t Russian by blood but they have embraced part of our culture anyway.

They had to stoke it up outside because it was causing some problems and not wanting to light.

For more posts on the Pouring Teapot hop over to LaTeaDah’s.

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!