Borsch Day

Exactly five years ago, we were in Ukraine, four weeks into our five-week adventure for Masha’s adoption. For the next few weeks, I’m posting excerpts and a photo or two from each day. Sometimes funny, and sometimes proof of how naive we were, I hope you’ll enjoy our little trip down memory lane…

Saturday, 9 June, 2007 – Borsch Day

We are coming to the realization that we’ll be leaving soon, which is met with both anticipation and panic. We’re not too worried about the “We’re gonna be parents” thing…that’s settling in well. The panic is actually related to shopping for souvenirs and packing them for the trip home. The chances are good that we’ll never be in Ukraine again, so we feel compelled to bring home the entire country in our suitcases.

2012 Note: Bwahahaha.  We were so adorable, then.

Today was Borsch Day! Kseniya had kindly agreed to come to our apartment and cook Ukrainian borsch for all of us. She also brought her DVD player so that we could let the girls watch a movie while we cooked.

Mark took the girls up in the elevator first, and Lisa, Kseniya, and I followed…we barely fit in the elevator in two groups. Mark set up the DVD player and showed Masha the videos that we had gotten for her. She was ecstatic when she saw the Barbie “Princess and the Pauper” movie that she had watched when she was in the US last summer, and she got the other girls to agree to watch it with her.

Meanwhile, Kseniya kicked it into high gear in the tiny kitchen. She found everything she was searching for, including the most bizzarre can opener I’ve ever seen, and she quickly had the borsch cooking. Lisa and I took detailed notes so that we can recreate it at home, and we all had a great time. The borsch was delicious! Masha, who claimed to not like borsch, ate some; Khrystyna and Amina, who claimed to like it, chose not to eat it. Hmmm…

2012 Note:  This is still my go-to borsch recipe, with some minor adaptations over the years.  Anyone who thinks of borsch as that pinkish broth crap you get in a jar…think again.  Goooooood stuff.

What’s your favorite kind of soup?  Leave a comment…(or a recipe)