EP 04 : Masylanitsa (Butter Week)

This post has taken WAY too long to compose, and I am sure to leave out some important details, so if anyone notices any incorrect info, or mistaken omissions, please leave a comment. Thanks...

I was reading a book on Caviar (Caviar by Inga Saffron, if anyone is interested) and ran across an enticing mention of Masylanitsa, or Butter Week: as Saffron writes, "...[the] Russians' all-fat version of Mardi Gras, the last indulgence before the start of the pre-Easter fast." What better theme for EP than Butter?!? I wanted to host this theme in March, to keep with it's seasonality, so I cautiously asked the group if I could swap turns with Scoop and Cheesy T. All agreed, and a date was set, March 4, 2006.

Typically in Russia, everyone eats blini with butter or sour cream and caviar. Who was I to alter tradition? I searched for blini recipes, and found a few that seemed suitable. Brought out my grandmother's huge cast iron pan, and got to work. This was my first opportunity to work with buckwheat flour, and I was excited. I decided to fly by the seat of my pants, not test the recipe, and make them for the first time as the group arrived. No problems at all, the blini were tasty. I also provided sour cream and a small ounce of fresh Sterling Royal caviar from the Stolt Sea Farm (I wanted to get Caspian, but the new restrictions on importation drove the cost WAY out of my price range).

The rest of the group was asked to make and bring their own butter. This is actually much simpler than it sounds. Here is a rundown of the varieties of butter we had before us... black lava sea salt butter, fresh ginger butter, cardamom and clove butter, orange blossom butter, basil and avocado butter, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and Earth Balance. Wow!

Scoop and Cheesy T brought a fantastic salad (I still have their salad bowl at my house).

For drinks, I bought a large bottle of vodka, and we whipped up cocktails all night. The new favorite drink seemed to be the Moscow Mule (vodka, lime juice, and ginger ale). My variation, which I am calling the Kenton Mule, consists of Ketel One vodka, fresh squeezed lime juice, and Reed's Ginger Brew. Mmm. Also served: greyhounds, pear ginger fizzes, hmm, what else. I'm sure there were others.

For dessert, I made a Russian lime tea cake. I found it a little dry, but most of the EPsters were kind enough not to agree!

Overall, a great dinner with good friends. Can't wait until the next one!