Tomorrow is WinterFest, so everything is bustling with cozy-winter happiness around the Starr home!

Winter Lights by ElleMoss

WinterFest is our family’s celebration of all the things that make winter a special, beautiful and cozy time of year.  The holiday colors are ice blue, cranberry red, black and white (one of the reasons I love ElleMoss’s photo, above, is because it has three of the four colors!).

Each year has a different theme, usually a country, and we celebrate in the style of that culture.  This year’s theme is Russia, so our kitchen will be filled with the aromas of Russian cooking and baking.  I have never been to Russia, but I did live in Eastern Europe for a while growing up, and in researching Russia for WinterFest, I found many similarities between the two cultures.  And that makes this year’s theme even more fun and nostalgic!

Vintage Russian Nesting Dolls from ArtRachel

The morning of WinterFest starts off with hidden clues … the first one will be hidden on the child’s bed.  This clue will lead to other clues throughout the day, which eventually will lead to presents at the end of the day! Yay! (WinterFest is when we do our family’s gift exchange). Right now, with just a four year old, the clues are pretty simple, but as our kids increase in number and get older, the clues will get trickier, and will probably involve the theme … like part of the message being in the country’s language, etc.  Our little daughter loves this part of the day!

Russia Photo by HappeeMonkee

My husband, Tim, is in charge of breakfast on WinterFest.  Last year the theme was Spain, and he made a delicious Spanish potato omelette .  This year, I believe he is planning to make blini, which are thin, buttery Russian pancakes. I can’t wait! Plus, it’s a treat for me to not have to cook that morning, since I will have been cooking and baking up a storm in the days leading up to WinterFest in preparation for the official feast!

Vintage Russian Village Tray from Kejeara

The main meal on WinterFest usually is a middle of the day feast, kind of like Thanksgiving, but with food from the theme country. I’ve been reading up on Russian food, both on traditional dishes, and how the courses are served.  I love this part … its a fun way to get into the spirit of things leading up to WinterFest!  I love to learn, so discovering how people all over the world eat and celebrate is just my cup of tea.  Here is what this year’s menu looks like:

Zakuski: (a small buffet of Russian hors d’oeuvres)
– Eggplant Caviar (which is not really caviar!)
– Assorted pickles
– Salad Olivier in tartlets
– Aromatic meatballs with pine nuts and raisins

Soup Course:
Pomegranate Broth, served with bread

Main Course:
Roast Pork Paprikash, served with garlic potatoes

Dessert:
Tea and Cheese and Blueberry Pie

I can’t wait! Most of these came out of a Russian cookbook I found at the library, but several I came across online, too.

Vintage Russian Book from RussianTale

That menu means that today, on WinterFest-eve (say that outloud, its very fun to say … fest-eve sounds like festive with a funny accent), is a cooking marathon.  My Etsy shop is on vacation, we have fun winter music like Frank Sinatra’s “Marshmallow World” playing in the background, and my little 4-year old helper and I are having fun in the kitchen preparing all these festive Russian dishes. And don’t worry, I’m not taking time out of this special day to blog … I wrote this a few days ago and scheduled it to post today.  Technology, for the win!

Snowflake Tags by ForeverYoursTruly

I’ll look forward to posting pictures of tomorrow’s festives here on my blog, hopefully next week.
But until then, Happy WinterFest to all of you!

Or, Huzzah WinterFest!, as we like to say.

Or this year, we could say Khleb da sol!, a Russian well-wish that translated as “bread and salt”.

But however we say it, you get the idea. :)

The day after WinterFest, we decide what the next year’s theme is going to be – any suggestions or ideas?
Post them in the comments below! :)

Winter Typography by FlourishCafe

Don’t forget to leave your suggestions for WinterFest themes! So far we have done Italy, Japan, Spain and Russia.  But it doesn’t have to be country … it could be a time period, a literary theme, or so on! Some time I want to have a “High Seas” WinterFest … or perhaps a Agatha Christie mystery WinterFest.  If you have any ideas, let me know in the comments!