Babushka's Kitchen

BABUSHKA'S KITCHEN

Babuska had a simple kitchen but she loved a lovely tablecloth.
Babushka's favorite dring was chai (tea). She kept the teakettle on the wood stove constantly. Kerosene Lamp beside a pot of tea.
Some of these recipes are part of the recently published "What's Cookin' On The Kenai Peninsula" (799 recipes)
My great-grandmother Irene Kvasnikoff Kelly's house had a samovar. I don't have one but I invite you to make a cup of tea and relax awhile. Browse through my kitchen and learn what my family likes. You might already know we Coastal Alaskans love fish.

I don't know if this tale is true or not but legend says that my Great-grandmother, Irene, went to Seldovia to visit what was to become my paternal great-grandmother, and admired her flowers. She dug them from her yard and carried them on the boat back to Ninilchik. She proudly planted the yellow flowers and soon had a crop of her own. If the story is true then that is why the village of Ninilchik has so many dandelions.

Irene taught Russian school and she was my brother-in-law Larry's teacher. She sometimes practiced midwivery and incubated several premature babies by carrying them between her bust under her dress.
Since Irene's husband owned cows, Irene and her children spent many long summer days cutting wild hay with a sythe. I can only imagine what a backbreaking job this was. Irene must have been rich by the village standards. She had a frame house instead of logs and it was larger than most of the homes in the village. This lumber was brought to the village by boat. I spent several years of my childhood living in her house and later lived one year in her house with my husband and my children. Her husband, Robert James Kelly, worked as a cook for Libby McNeil and Libby's cannery and sold them meat from his ranch. They owned a cabin several miles from their home. It was in this cabin that my grandmother raised her children and later she taught me how to cook. I also lived in this log home with my family. My mother lived with her children in both homes and I repeated the family legacy. Both homes provided shelter for five generations. It is the traditions of these women I wish to preserve with the following recipes.

Recipes of Today
Babushka loved her rolling pin. She had a large heavy solid one. Kerosene Lamp beside a rolling pin and pie crust. Babushka made wonderful flaky crust.