Holiday Stuff

Somehow, I let my father's birthday/parents' anniversary (same day) slip by without mentioning it on the 5th.  Bad daughter!  Of course, both of my parents passed quite a few years ago, but I rarely let the occasion get by without saying something.  I blame busy-ness. 

This year, with the Russians here for their major holiday (New Year), we had quite a family celebration.  Luda and Sergey spent HOURS making traditional Russian dishes.  One is called Salad Olivier--which is not much more than a glorified potato salad, but with pickles, peas, and meat.  All of the recipes for Olivier Salad that I saw online called for pickles that are brine cured--not vinegar cured.  Last year I looked and looked.  You just can't buy brine-cured pickles in the US unless you live near a Russian store--which Megan and Denis do.  Thus, they arrived at my house with brine-cured pickles for the salad, and it makes all the difference in the world in the taste of the salad!

Another traditional dish that they made was a fish concoction that Luda said her mother-in-law taught her how to make.  She had bought a large tin of whole herring, which she took off the bone in little pieces by hand.  Then she boiled two beets and shredded them.  And then there was the Russian mayonnaise (which also came from the Russian store up north).  The whole thing was layered--fish, then beets, then mayo...and I'm not sure what else.  I knew my family wasn't going to eat much of it because it contained fish, but Luda made a BIG casserole dish of the stuff.  I tried it.  It wasn't bad.  Just not something that I'd crave....but, believe it or not, by the time they all departed after the holiday, there was only a small chunk of it left. 

I boiled a dozen eggs to make deviled eggs for NYE.  Luda took four of them to make their traditional garlic-and-cheese "deviled" eggs.  Her eggs were full of fresh chopped garlic and shredded cheese and mayo.  Whew!  Sergey eats garlic cloves like candy.  That stuff is pretty potent!

Anyway, Luda and Sergey stayed up until 2:00 AM on NYE day preparing their traditional foods.  I crashed long before that.  But we had quite a spread for New Year's Eve:  the fish dish, the Olivier salad, deviled eggs (Russian and otherwise), California Onion Dip and chips, large shrimp and cocktail sauce, some roast beef rollups--some with green onions in the center, and some with pickles, green and black olives, some crackers and cheese, a pineapple upside-down cake that Megan made, and a lemon bundt cake that Phil made.  (Judy and Phil...also known as Grandma Judy and Grandpa Phil, plus their son Dan...joined us for the celebration and contributed the lemon cake and the pickle rollups.)  We played games earlier in the evening...and then Father Frost came.

Father Frost is Russia's answer to Santa Claus.  Luda announced that Father Frost had been here, and she gathered everyone to the kitchen for gifts.  I'm not sure who all got what, but what was given was pretty much in the Russian tradition.  Robin got a doll in traditional long Russian fur-lined coat (gold lame'), that was supposed to represent Father Frost's daughter.  I got a singing Father Frost, also in traditional Russian garb, who intoned a traditional Russian song.  I think Ryan got a computer game or something.  And the children both got very decorative letters from FF (in Russian) that were pretty neat.  (I hope they take them to school to share.) 

But the tables were turned on Luda and Sergey.  Unbeknownst to them, Megan and Denis spent many long hours after their collective return from Florida and the Bahamas, creating a digital scrapbook of their trip that was printed and delivered to my house on the day of New Year's Eve!  Megan selected the pictures and did the layout.  Denis did the text in Russian.  I'm pretty sure Luda and Sergey thought the kids were just being lazy with all of the hours they spent quietly on the computer...but when the book was presented to them, Luda was in awe.  Here was a very tangible memory book to take back to Russia to show their friends and reminisce about their trip to the US.  Score!!  (I think Luda said something that could be translated loosely as, "Father Frost rocks this year!") 

At midnight, we all counted down with the ball in Times Square and had a champagne toast, except for the children and Uncle Dan who had a white grape juice/peach concoction that they seemed to love.  Shortly thereafter, our guests went home and the rest of us wound down. 

I don't know how the NYE celebration fared with the Russians.  I'm sure it was not as much fun for them as it would have been had they been home with their own traditions, but we did our dead-level best to blend cultures and make them happy. 

On New Year's Day, I cooked two corned beef rounds (basically all day), plus cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, and green beans.  Traditional.  Luda and Sergey--particularly Sergey--acted as though they'd never had corned beef before, (probably hadn't)  and proclaimed that it couldn't be "more perfect".  (The grandkids love it, too.)  I enjoy serving food that people like!  There was enough C. beef left to provide sandwiches for everyone to take to the Children's Museum the next day, plus a breakfast for Denis the day after that. 

Luda and Sergey are now safely back at home in Russia.  Megan and Denis and the cat are home and recuperating.  I have mostly recuped.  It's all good.  I'm quite sure that L and S have some jet lag to catch up on...  Such is eastbound travel through time zones.  All's well that ends well!