feralgardener's Profile

The hippo-bar might be the most amazing piece of furniture - I mean, art - I've ever seen in my life! Obsessed.

This recipe is very similar to what I have in my Russian cookbooks and what I myself tried. I'm a huge fan.

And as far as the spelling is concerned, the singular form in Russian is блин [transliterated as "blin"] and the plural is блины (blini or bliny -- doesn't really matter).

и and ы vowels sound very similar to a non-Russian ear. "ы" is commonly transliterated as "y" to differentiate it from "и" -- but it can be a little confusing. Since there's no direct equivalent of the ы sound in English, both "blini" and "bliny" are acceptable spellings. But definitely not blinis or blinys -- that would be like saying spaghettis.

Another peculiarity: in Russian, the second syllable in blee-NEE is stressed.

Fascinating. Vrubel is one of my absolute favorite painters! And Vasnetsov's mosaics in the Church on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg are among the most beautiful church interiors in the world.

As for Matryoshkas, as it often happens to many national exports, at home they unfortunately became one of the symbols of tackiness. Ever since perestroika, you can't help but roll your eyes at the endless display of nesting dolls painted as political and pop culture figures, in every more or less touristy place... It's sad.