No-egg Dairy-free Dough for Pirozhki

This year I'm making yet another attempt to observe the Nativity Fast. During this fast one cannot eat anything of animal origin. That means no omelette until Christmas (!), no milk in my morning coffee (!!), no butter on a toast (!!!), and no roasted chicken. :( Imagine how challenging it is for a person who just loves all of the above. Wish me luck! But lack of favorite food makes one invent something new to please the palate and tame the constant hunger and cravings. Today's recipe is strictly vegetarian: there are no eggs or dairy in the dough and the fillings. The result was unexpectedly satisfying: the dough turned to be light and soft and airy, and the overall feeling in the body was far from usual heavy feeling after consuming traditional yeast dough pirozhki or belyashi.

Turnip Salad

After Orthodox Easter gluttony with Kulichi and Paskha, my body is longing for something light and fresh, like this quick and simple turnip salad. It seems that turnips are ignored as food by many because I often find them wilting on store shelves. People seem to under appreciate  this milder alternative to more pungent red radishes that are the same Cruciferae plant family. Turnip is a good source of vitamin C, and it's just plain tasty when properly prepared. This salad is another spring impromptu of mine and takes just 10 minutes to make. Nice. :)

Kulich - Orthodox Easter Bread

For many Orthodox Christians kulich, the festive and colorful bread, is traditionally a part of their Easter morning table, along with paskha and colored boiled eggs. During Soviet era, when people were deprived of God and faith by the regime, many older people still prepared traditional meals for religious festivities and observed religious holidays at home. My grandmother Anfisa (father's mom), for example, baked kulichi (plural from kulich) pretty well. For some reason, she didn't teach me how to do it. Aunt Shura, who was mentioned in this blog  as my cooking  mentor, didn't bake kulichi. For many years I wanted to learn this intricate skill, but postponed until my very ripe age  - yesterday was my first attempt to bake kulichi. I think it was a success. :)