The full opening ceremony is only playing here at a ridiculous hour, so we’re going to have a bit of Russian cuisine all weekend. Nothing is set in stone yet, but my ideas may give you some ideas.

I happened to discover the Ruski Way Deli, and we stopped there the other night after work. The owner was an absolute delight, and I think he was a bit taken with our ignorance and curiosity. Before we left, he ended up inviting us to the local Russian Club for a pancake event they are having so that we could experience more of their food. So lovely.

In my searches, I think if you make a dish combining any of the following food items, you’d be pretty spot on with something Russian: meat, cabbage, potatoes, dill, onion, garlic, sour cream, vinegar.

Supper

• Beef & Pork Pelmeni – I came across many recipes for making these yourself… but I need to be eating these tomorrow, and ain’t nobody got time for dat. Conveniently, the Ruski Way Deli makes their own. The gentleman was even kind enough to tell us his preferred preparation method. (Put frozen into boiling water, bring back to boil for 2 min., fry in butter with a bit of garlic until golden.) We also picked up cabbage & onion vareniki. So far as I can tell, if it doesn’t have any sort of meat in it, it’s a ‘vareniki’ instead of a ‘pelmeni’.
• Tomato & Cucumber Salad – Looks like a refreshing side to our dumplings.

Desserts

• Bird’s Milk Dessert – I found photos and a recipe for this creamy white dessert here. That recipe has it topped with a sort of chocolate gelatin. But then she has another recipe variation where it is topped with raspberry jello. I’m going to try to combine the two for a mega 3-layer cream/raspberry/chocolate deliciousness palate explosion. I’ll let you know how that goes.
• Russian Candies – We found a bunch of Russian sweets at the deli and bought two of each. I may do reviews as we go along.

Beverages

• Ruski Lemons – I have a feeling these aren’t really Russian, but with a name and star like that, I’m going with it.
• Basilur Tea – It looks like this is just regular old Sri Lankan tea, but the Russian shop was filled with different varieties. Plus their is Russian text on the tin, so we’re going with it. We opted for the Magic Fruits book.
• I wish I had thought ahead and ordered these Tetris Shape Ice Cube Trays. It would be the coolest (pun intended).

Breakfast

• Oladi – Russian pancakes for breakfast if we manage to stay awake that long! These look more crepey than pancakey, but I’m fine with that. We have raspberry jam from the Ruski Way Deli and sour cream for toppings… which I think will be delicious.