On a side note, the word блин is also used in slang to mean dang or darn.

So, as some of my twitter followers already know, I had the pleasure attending my very first blini party this past weekend. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of the event, but basically there was a stack of blintzes that reminded me of this picture from Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends”.

Here is the accompanying poem, if you’re interested:

PANCAKE?

Who wants a pancake, Sweet and piping hot? Good little Grace looks up and says, “I’ll take the one on top.” Who else wants a pancake, Fresh off the griddle? Terrible Teresa smiles and says, “I’ll take the one in the middle.”
—Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

So we started with the stack of blintzes. Two stacks, actually – one sweet and one not-so-sweet. The not-so-sweet blintzes were accompanied by a choice of a mushroom sauce or a chicken and egg dish. Oh, and of course сметана – or sour cream! For the sweet blintzes, there was variety of fruit-related toppings. I have to admit, I filled up mostly on the sweet blintzes, topped with Nutella and bananas. What do you like with your блины?

All of this deliciousness, was accompanied by an endless supply of mimosas – all in all, the perfect blini party!!

A big shout out and thank you to my buddy, Alex, for inviting us!! Can’t wait for the next one!

Last week, someone in my meetup group tried to ask for a mug, but couldn’t remember what it was called. When he asked, three people each gave a different answer. This led to a discussion about these three words, and which one was correct – I love these types of discussions. (All in Russian, of course!)

So in case you didn’t know, here’s a quick vocab lesson for ya…

Cтакан

Photo by bepcyc

Чашка

Photo by neoroma

And the correct answer…

Кружка

Photo by piker77

As long as we’re mentioning Russian drink ware, I didn’t want to leave out one of my favorite Russian items -

Подстаканник

Photo by Matthijs Gall

I was told by one of our native Russians that the candy is named after a children’s nursery rhyme, and it goes like this:

Мишка косолапый по лесу идёт,
Шишки собирает, песенку поёт.
Шишка отлетела — прямо Мишке в лоб!
Мишка рассердился и ногою — топ!

Here’s my loose translation:

Clumsy Mishka walks around in the forest,
Collecting pine cones and singing little songs.
A pine cone fell and hit Mishka right in the head!
Mishka got mad and stamped his foot!

[Мишка is a прозвище (nickname) that means bear in nursery rhymes.]

When I was searching the net to double-check the words to this rhyme, I came across the website, Конь В Пальто. Check out this adorable page of детский фольклор – so cute!!

Do you have a favorite Russian nursery rhyme?

Update: Check out this Russian Word Of The Day blog post to see the картина that inspired the candy wrapper! (“Morning in a Pine Forest” by Ivan Shishkin)