Searnaya Paska | The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

It’s time for Vee’s Note Card party.

Thank you Vee for hosting this monthly party!

Sunset over Lake Washington in Kirkland, Washington.

Rows of spent daffodils in Mount Vernon, Washington during the Tulip Festival.

Apple blossoms on our apple tree taken this past Saturday.

Russian sweet cheese spread served with Russian Easter Bread (Kulich/Paska).

Христос Воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!

Here we are in the middle of April and we’ll finally be celebrating Easter this coming weekend. I’m looking forward to our Good Friday service and Easter service. After services on Sunday some of our family will be coming over to celebrate an Easter meal here. We are having rack of lamb, rice, asparagus, salad and Italian Easter bread (Colomba) with strawberries for dessert. Our annual Kulich/Paska baking day is not happening this year so I was happy to find a source for the Colomba. It tastes and smells very similar to Kulich/Paska.

How are you celebrating Easter this year?

Dear and I were out the door early Easter morning and attended the 7:00 a.m. service. It was a great way to start this glorious Easter day. The Easter cross was on center stage!

After church I set the places for our Easter meal.

We had Shashlik (marinated lamb barbecued on skewers), glazed ham, roasted vegetables and salad. I sent ham home with our guests, too.

Our centerpiece was our Russian Easter Bread. Some people call it Paska. We call it Kulich.

The signs written in Russian say, Christ is Risen, Truly He is Risen or He is Risen Indeed.

This is Searnaya Paska which is served with our Easter Bread. Searnaya Paska is a sweetened cheese spread that is made with a type of dry cheese, egg yolks, butter, cream, and sugar. Don’t even bother trying to figure out the calories or how it will raise your cholesterol levels. The mixture is pressed overnight in a mold to get the excess liquid out. Besides the sweet cheese we serve this with strawberries. A most wonderful combination. Think strawberry shortcake.