Browse By



-->

Category Archives: Arts and Crafts

The Twelve Steps In Decorating Pysanky

The whole process of decorating a pysanka, consists of twelve basic steps listed in this post.  I have chosen a very basic egg design for the first egg, and if you purchased an egg decorating kit, you will find several other designs to choose from for your next projects.

Ukrainian Easter Egg (Pysanka) – Tradition And Design

Our family celebrates spring with preparations for Easter Sunday Holiday and decorating of Easter Eggs. There are many ways to decorate eggs, such us coloring them with edible dyes in all different pastel colors, placing colorful stickers, beads, ribbons, etc. on eggs, drawing designs with markers, etc. There is also a very intricate egg decorating style, which I will introduce you to, and that is the Ukrainian Easter Egg, Pysanka, design.

My parents were my first mentors, and story tellers, about this old tradition, which was very popular in their native countries, Ukraine and Poland, and continues to thrive in the Diaspora

Cabbage Rolls – Vegetarian Recipe & Technique

Most of you already are familiar with Cabbage Rolls, but to Eastern European cooks, they are known as Holupki. Holubtsi, or Golabki. All Cabbage Rolls may look the same, yet be very different, depending on the filling used to prepare them. The most popular filling consists of cooked rice mixed with ground beef and spices; however you can also use rice or buckwheat mixed with mushrooms, spiced up mashed potatoes, or a vegetarian filling, which I will introduce in this recipe. Cabbage Rolls are not the easiest dish to prepare, since it requires a lot of prep work beforehand, especially the cabbage, but if you love them, it’s well worth the effort.

80 Years Old Ukrainian Easter Eggs (Pysanky)

These Ukrainian Easter Eggs were decorated by my Great-Aunt Anna Kril Bart (Bartoszewska) and her children, in Queens, New York, over 80 years ago. The “sticks” displayed in front of the platter, are homemade styluses, used for drawing the outlines for the design on these eggs. The stylus handles were made from tree twigs, and the metal funnels were made from a metal can cut out…..such was life even in New York, USA, many years ago.

Ukrainian Wedding With A Very Personal Touch

My family and I had the great pleasure of attending a very special Traditional Ukrainian Wedding. What made this wedding extra special, is that it was very close to our hearts, and many of the traditional wedding items were created by people very close to the heart of the Bride and Groom.