Ukrainian culture night

Sunday night was Ukrainian culture night at Katya's place. We were treated to a plethora of photographs from Katya's days in the Ukraine, examples of traditional Ukrainian clothing (made by Katya's mother-in-law), and folk music. However, first and foremost was the food. Dinner began with borsch:



Then came gretchka (buckwheat) with mushrooms (here photographed with Gina and Kazu):



Next came kutya (sweetened wheat grains), which is usually a Christmas specialty. Here is a picture of kutya in the hands of our chef:



Although by now I was stuffed to the brim, Katya then came out with three different kinds of varyeniki (dumplings): potato with shkvarki (fried lard), meat with shkvarki, and cheese with raisins. Here is the first type (photographed with Chihiro and Katya):



Finally, we were served paska (a type of sweet bread usually served at Easter) and "Katya's crazy tea" (crazy because it's so strong).