Category Archives: Holidays & Parties

Banana Bread with Pecans and Orange Zest

Hello! Its me, Nikita, with another great homemade recipe: Banana Bread. But while regular banana bread is great, it’s still missing something. Nuts go great with bananas, and who says we need just bananas? Thats why I added Pecans and Orange zest to this great classic. This follows the same recipe with any regular old banana bread recipe, except...
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Empanadas

Empanadas need no introduction - popular especially in Latin America and Europe, as well as southwest United States and southeast Asia. Empanadas like pirozhki are little pies with different fillings such as cheese, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables, minced or chopped pork, beef or chicken, shrimp, zucchini blossom, fruits, etc., the fillings are endless but generally...
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Mushrooms with Bell Pepper

Mushroom and pepper appetizer, can be served both hot or cold. You can use champignons or baby bella mushrooms like I used here. If you cook this appetizer in a large quantity, you can store it for 2-3 days in jars in the refrigerator....
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Oladki, Oladi (Mini Pancakes)

Oladki, is one of the oldest traditional Ukrainian dishes and a traditional breakfast food (in Russia -Oladi, Oladushki), can be either sweet or savory. They may also be appetizer, main course, or even dessert; another Slavic dish. There are two types of Slavic pancakes, blini (mlinci), which are very thin like crêpes...
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Chocolate Pudding with Cream

Rich, sweet and delicious chocolate dessert. Pudding can be served with whipped cream, ice cream or just fresh berries. The mixture needs a lot of beating to incorporate air to make the pudding light. Instead of chocolate chips you can use regular dark chocolate broken into small pieces. (more…)...
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Baguette with herbs, tomatoes and cheese

Quite simple to prepare, flavorful and colorful appetizer, a bit like bruschetta. Unlike bruschetta which is toasted, this recipe is baked in the oven with all the ingredients. Very good idea for a picnic, it can be easily prepared ahead of time and heated on a grill. Fresh tomatoes can be replaced with sun-dried tomatoes....
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Chorizo Cheese Dip

Lots of gooey, melted cheese with spicy chorizo mixed in. Use any hot pepper to your taste, I had poblano pepper so I used those, but you can use also serrano, jalapeno, etc. Serve with crunchy tortilla chips. And add a ice cold beer to complete the meal. What could be better for a Super Bowl party?...
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Fried and Steamed Dumplings

There are many ways to cook dumplings, by steaming, boiling, frying or even combining these techniques. One way I like doing it best is to fry them a little to make them crisp and then quickly steaming them to cook the filling and make them tender (or steam first and then fry). You can prepare dumplings in...
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