In the Rehearsal Hall

A picture by Georgy Shuz. This is the third beautiful postcard I received by Nastya from Russia.

Books

Another postcard sent by Nastya. The text in Russian means "Greetings from the country whose people read the most".

Sushki (су́шки), baranki and piroshki (пирожки)

One of the three beautiful postcards sent by Nastya from Moscow. It represents different Russian pasties.

Recipe of Stuffed Potatoes

A vegetarian recipe sent by Sasha from Ukraine: potatoes stuffed with mushrooms, onions and parsley.

Two Ukrainian recipes sent by Sasha

Two more recipes sent by Sasha, who chose for me the vegetarian recipe of borsch, and a traditional Easter dessert.

Sochi, Russia

The last postcard sent by Oksana represents the city of Sochi in Russia, situated on the Black Sea coast. The city will host the 2014 Winter Games.

Knowledge Day (День Знаний)

Another postcard sent by Oksana, representing the celebration of Knowledge Day in Russia, on September 1st.

Moscow, Saint Basil's Cathedral

19th century print. This postcard was sent by Oksana from Moscow.

Spain

An original map of Spain sent by Julieta from Madrid.

Kiev, Ukraine

A postcard sent by my friend Anna when she was on vacation in Kiev.

Saransk

A postcard sent by Nadina Kseniya, representing her city Saransk in Russia.

Chernihiv, Ukraine

An ancient postcard sent by Sasha, from Chernihiv in Ukraine, along with a recipe of draniki. The postcard was printed in 1990.

Prague castle

A beautiful black and white postcard sent by Anna, from Czech Republic.

Tortilla de patatas

The potato omelette recipe sent by Julieta.

Legong, Balinese dance

A beautiful "thank you card" sent by Indah, from Jakarta, Indonesia.

Texas nachos

A recipe card from Texas, sent by Kimberly.

Ohio, United States

A "thank you" card sent by Carol, from Ohio.

Croatian cuisine

The first card sent by Valentina from Croatia.

The second one represents Zagreb in the form of a licitar.
 "Licitars are colorfully decorated biscuits made of sweet honey/gingerbread dough that are part of Croatia's cultural heritage and a traditional symbol of Zagreb. They are used as an ornamental gift often given at celebrations of love such as weddings, St. Valentine's Day, birthdays. At Christmas time Zagreb is adorned with thousands of licitar hearts; the Christmas tree in the main square is festooned with thousands of licitar hearts." Wikipedia
A very beautiful and interesting tradition.

UEFA Euro 2012,Krakow Poland

A card sent by Klaudia.

Krakow

Quotation by Phil Bosmans

It is never too late to reconcile, because it is never too late to love.
Phil Bosmans.


This card was sent by Paulina, along with another card representing Krakow.
 

Poznan, Poland

A second card from Poznan, Poland, sent by Marta, along with the recipe of the Polish cake "skubaniec".

UEFA Euro 2012

The first card sent by Marta, from Poznan.

Lisboa

Joana sent me this beautiful view of Lisboa representing the yellow tram, along with a recipe of "Pasteis de nata".

Belarus in associations

A nice card sent by Anna, that represents the map of Belarus with differents words connected to this country.

St Petersburg by night

View of the Moika river. A card sent by Anastasia.

Polish cuisine

This card was sent by Magda and represents three Polish dishes: pierogi (dumplings, usually filled with sauerkraut and/or mushrooms), oscypek (smoked cheese), and ogorek kiszony (pickled cucumbers). That looks really good and Magda was very kind to choose a card according to my preferences (vegetarian dishes).

Russian cuisine

These postcards were sent by Katia, and represent Russian dishes: buckwheat porridge, pickled cucumbers and rye bread, backed duck with potatoes and tula pryanik and tea.

Chicago

Postcard sent by Tamara. Thanks!

Saint Petersburg

A nice card from Saint Petersburg, sent by Anastasia.

A postcard from Japan

This is a postcard sent by Bella, from Japan. It's very simple and I like the style very much.

Hermitage recipe

This is another card sent by Efgenia, a recipe from the chef of the Hermitage restaurant, "Лосось Шеф-посол в апельсине" ("Salmon Chief-salting in orange").

Saint-Petersburg Cats' museum

This is a nice card sent by Efgenia, from Saint-Petersburg Cats' museum (Санкт-Петербургский Музей Кошки).

Brown bear

This is the second card sent by Svetlana from Belarus. I like it very much. I also learned new words in Russian thanks to her presentation of Belarusian nature reserves.

National Village Museum, Bucharest

This is a card sent by Polen who gave me a list of Turkish and Romanian dishes she likes. I hope I'll find some time to try one of these dishes soon. Maybe in May with all the bank holidays :)

Minsk

Svetlana sent me this postcard representing the station of Minsk, and shared with me the recipe of a chocolate cake she likes very much. I'll try to translate the recipe soon (it is written in Russian) so that I can make the cake and publish it here.

Draniki

Thank you Anna for sending me this nice postcard of this typical Bielorussian dish, "draniki", along with the recipe. I've tried it and I've liked it!

Here is the recipe:

Draniki

12 medium potatoes
1-2 tbsp flour
7-8 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 glass of sour milk, salt
1. Peel the potatoes and grate them, add flour, sour milk or kefir, egg, salt and mix everything.

2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Lay the potato mass with a tablespoon in separate small pancakes (each no more than 10 cm / 4" in diameter). Cook until crisp and browned, then turn on the other side.

3. Serve hot with sour cream.