I’m still angry over my plagiarizing students, so I decided to share some food pictures because that always makes me feel better. In my culture, we always prepare a big number of salads that accompany any kind of meat courses and are a must at every social gathering or celebration.

Here is a photo of a salad called “Pineapple.” The only ingredient it doesn’t contain is an actual pineapple. The salad gets its name from the way it’s decorated:

It would have looked a lot more like a pineapple had I used walnuts. I didn’t have them, though, so here is the result. It’s very easy to make, too. It’s done in layers:

Layer 1: boiled grated potatoes

Layer 2: boiled cubed chicken breast

Layer 3: red onion

Layer 4: cubed pickles

Layer 5: more chicken

Layer 6: grated cheese

Layer 7: boiled grated eggs

Then baste it with mayonnaise or any sauce you prefer (don’t mix, of course!), decorate with walnuts, and that’s it. Such a salad should be left overnight and served on the next day because it gets better this way.

And here is a very simple salad I made for this last Thanksgiving and have lived to regret it. Since N. tried it, he’s been after me to make more of this salad. So now I make it every day, and I can’t see it any longer. Here it is:

It doesn’t take long to make but try making it every day since Thanksgiving and you’ll know what I mean.

Boiled eggs, Laughing Cow cheese wedges (but only the kind you see at this link. I tried other kinds and the salad sucks as a result), and crushed garlic. That’s it. The radishes are just for decoration.

And yes, that’s what we call a “salad” in my country. The only vegetables that are always available in Ukraine are potatoes, cabbage, and beets, so what can you expect?

Speaking of beets, here is another salad I prepared for Thanksgiving. It’s also very easy to make.

Boil (or better yet, bake) beets, grate them, add wal

nuts crushed to very small pieces, cut some dried prunes into small pieces and add them (here are the best dried prunes I could find),press garlic into the whole thing, mix it, add a tiny amount of mayonnaise if you feel like it, and decorate.

And I served these salads with a turkey that I stuffed with mushrooms and herbs and roasted in champagne.

I highly recommend roasting turkeys in champagne because they get this very light but memorable taste and aroma of champagne.

As you can see, I combined a set of Ukrainian traditions with the American Thanksgiving tradition.

Here is the turkey:

I have no idea why the photos of food I take at restaurants are usually good but the ones I take at home never do justice to the dishes.

The next post will contain photos of food from a really cool restaurant, so sit tight.