Loved by many as a common weekend breakfast, blini are also a ritual food in Russia. They symbolize sun and are the main food during Pancake Week (Maslenitsa) , a celebration of upcoming spring. They are also served during mercy meals and memorial dinners, where they also carry a symbolism: the connection between lower and upper worlds and eternity of life.

Food is abundant and copious: pelmeni, pirozhki, blini to name a few. Blini is the main dish since a  blin  (singular form of  blini ) symbolizes Sun. I cook different types of blini, but yeast blini I make once a year at the end of Pancake Week, and it is our family tradition here in America.

This time I had a recipe in mind that was inspired by the one found on Dr. Oz's website, but modified on the go. These pancakes are just what is needed for a holiday family breakfast: puffy, aromatic, surprisingly good, they soften and unite souls at one table.

Olady (pronounced [aladyi]) is one of many Russian traditional flour treats, usually served for breakfast. There are classic and simple olady. Classic are made with yeast, and simple are made with baking soda and buttermilk or sour cream.

Fry pancakes on one side until they are browned on one side and you see bubbles forming on the surface of pancakes, then carefully turn over, helping with a spade and a fork. Fry on the other side until nicely golden or browned. Each time before frying a new pair of pancakes, drizzle some more oil on the skillet.

I cooked squash pancakes at our friend's dacha (a small country hut) where we had a very romantic weekend. Since then Alex ate squash only in this form (now I can proudly add my recent  Zucchini with Wasabi Cream recipe to the list). The best squash for this recipe is less watery type, like Russian white squash that has light green peel and rather dense pulp.

These delightful tender pancakes make a perfect summer breakfast, especially if one has fresh berries for garnish.   Syrniki ( syr means cheese in Russian) is a traditional Russian and Slavic dish made of tvorog. Tvorog (also quark, topfen , twarog , tvaroh ) is curd that is similar to cottage cheese and farmers cheese, but is thicker and drier, it is very well strained and whey is almost absent in it.

Simply put, this is a big (the size of a frying pan) Jewish  latke(s), also Belarusian dranik(i), Ukranian derun(i), German Kartoffelpuffer, and Swiss Roesti. I looked this recipe up on one of cooking shows and decided to give it a try. Alex was wandering around kitchen and whining that it would not work out.