Manic Bookstore Cafe

Yesterday, at the request of the Ohio State Russian Club, I attended a "food event" at a dorm at the university. Teaching a course on Russian food in literature and culture, writing about Russian food, and knowing how to make borscht qualifies me as an expert ... and I'm also the advisor of the Russian Club this year. We learned a few things -- first, as I always say, that when making Russian salads and soups it would be great to have a dozen serfs or so to help with the chopping; second, that you should always double or triple the time it will take to make a really good borscht; and third, that there is a reason the Russians love zakuski . We might have nibbled away while waiting for that cabbage to soften... The past few weeks have been filled with Russian events at the university. One of my students was selected as a Fulbright English Teaching Associate for next year in Russia, so last week I went to the reception to raise a glass to him. So glad for him that he w...

In everyone's life there is a teacher who motivated her to try harder, strive for more, reach beyond. Or in my case, a teacher who teased, goaded, poked, pried, laughed, lampooned, and somehow created an atmosphere where I was ready to work my tail off to make him proud. Randy Nolde, we will miss you. Mr. Nolde was my Russian teacher in high school. I first got to know him as a younger person -- the Russian Club Banquet was quite the event in my home town, and my grandmother used to take us regularly even before my sister enrolled in Russian language class. Every year, the high school cafeteria underwent a magical metamorphosis. Huge murals of scenes from Russia -- fantastic, colorful onion-domed churches, and young peasants reaping wheat, and Armenian maidens with long braids and colorful costumes -- hung all around the edges of the room. On the menu: chicken Kiev made by the cafeteria ladies, supplemented with cafeteria salad, but also khachapuri  and piroshki  made b...