Thanksgiving in my family is far from traditional. Since moving to the U.S. a decade ago, my family adopted some of the things they like about the holiday: the big bird, stuffing and alcoholic beverages.
But they’ve also abandoned some of the things they don’t like:
- Green beans anything
- Sweet potatoes
- Pumpkin & pecan pies
“We fed pumpkins to pigs in Ukraine. Why would I eat them here?” – My grandma
Now, although I do enjoy sweet potatoes & pumpkin, I savor my family’s unique approach to the Thanksgiving meal even more.
Either way, by the end of the night I wish that I owned a pair of those maternity jeans with the elastic band.
The Thanksgiving menu is a great example of the fusion between my American & Eastern European cultures.
Take my mom’s stuffing. There are no traces of bread in it. The base is mostly chicken liver, fresh herbs and mushrooms. It’s cooked on the stove top and then placed in the turkey.
My mom sews that shiz right in there
While the turkey’s doing its thing in the oven, my grandma starts to work on the side dishes, like mushroom stuffed blintz.
Cooked with onions, butter and fresh herbs.
The mushroom mixture is wrapped in fresh blintz to be baked in the oven for a bit.
Then, there’s a family staple dish. Translated from Russian, it’s called “Herring fillet in a fur coat.” I’m gonna guess it’s because of all the layers. It looks like this:
I might even share the wonderfully odd recipe with you soon. 
Then there’s my personal favorite: cucumber slices topped with a mixture of farmer’s cheese, fresh dill and sour cream.
Grandma’s pickled cabbage
Radish & herb salad
Greens & mozz cheese salad
Fillet herring pieces topped with fresh scallions
Mini black & red caviar sandwich bites
By the time all the food is ready, the table is set.
And all the relatives, young and old, are ready to feast.
Whew. Should we take a breather before getting to dessert?
[Insert Jeopardy theme music here]
Advantage of having a big extended family: lots of desserts.
A light and fluffy round pound cake with icing
An incredible tart with cheesecake-like filling & a mix of berries on top
And my cousin’s adorable Banana Chocolate Chip Monkey Cupcakes
The mouth is a ginger snap! Beyond cute.
After a meal like this, things might get a little silly up in here.
" I want to be Wolverine when I grow up!"
But I love every Eastern European, culture clashing, crazy family minute of it. I didn’t even name all the dishes in this post but writing it just made me feel full all over again.
And it’s making me sleepy….incredibly sleepy.
I hope that you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!
All of the desserts look a-mazing!
mmmm. I wouldn’t mind trying your family’s version of thanksgiving dinner over the traditional! Looks great!
Ah I love your multi-cultural Thanksgiving! It’s so great! And your grandma is so freakin’ awesome. Her cabbage dish would probably rock my face off. (That made no sense.)
Looove that your family doesn’t follow all the traditions to carefully! I COMPLETELY agree on the pie thing!
So funny about those cupcakes…my aunt and uncle made the same ones last week!!
Looks amazing, Olga- I love that your family do their own twist on traditional Thanksgiving fare. My mom is American so we always had non-British traditional foods at Christmas and New Year- I LOVE our own family traditions and wouldn’t trade them for the world
I have only had stuffing made from bread once- was good, but I like my mom’s better 
Those cupcakes are the most adorable things ever!
I love your twist on thanksgiving! The herring and caviar look incredible, does your family ever make a spicy carrot salad? I used to live beside a Ukrainian deli and they had these Korean-like spicy carrot salads and seaweed salads I couldn’t get enough of! Also these pastries stuffed with poppy seeds that were diiiivvviine.
YES, my family loves those spicy carrot salads. They are in fact Korean and when they are sold at the bazaars in Eastern Europe, they are usually made and sold by Russian speaking Koreans! I’m not really sure how we got to eating them but I love them! We had some in our fridge on Thanksgiving but there was already too much food on the table
I absolutely adore your family’s version of thanksgiving! It sounds wonderfully traditional and happy
those cupcakes are adorable!
Aww I love your family. And those monkey cupcakes are just adorable!! Have a great Friday Olga, sleep well!
Happy Thanksgiving Olga! Looks like much joy and happiness was had.
1) Your thanksgiving is so fun!!! I love all of the European foods!!
2) Those monkey cupcakes are adorable!!!
3) I want to be Wolverine too.
what a fantastic thanksgiving!!!! everything looks very interesting!!!
As a mushroom lover, I’d be digging right into your fam’s turkey day dishes. They all look amazing and I love how “untraditional” they are, that just adds to the fun! And as a monkey lover those cupcakes hold an extra special spot in my sweets loving heart.
No holiday celebration in a Russian household is complete without caviar.
This post is made of win.
Love your unconventional thanksgiving
and not gonna lie, I kind of want those jeans.
hope you catch some z’s, lovie!
What a wonderful and interesting spread … it all looks and sounds so delicious!
Happy Thanksgiving Lady! I don’t even know where to begin regarding your family’s sensation Thanksgiving spread…but I’ll try:
-The innovative twists on classic Thanksgiving recipes
-Caviar sandwiches (holla!)
-That tart looks like a student’s thesis project at Le Cordon Bleu, so beautiful and delicious looking
-Monkey Cupcakes are rad. Just, totally rad.
-Those Blintzes sound and look spectacular
All in all, a beautiful, heartwarming post.
Fabulous celebration!
Happy belated Thanksgiving!
Sensational celebration!
Happy belated Thanksgiving!
Oh my geee. Those cupcakes are so adorb!!! I must make dem this coming christmas!!