Estonian Cuisine postcard set, 1973
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This blog is about old postcards, book illustration and all kinds of paper whimsy from the Soviet Union. I'm a long time collector, and this blog is 7 years old. I have an etsy shop for cards, books, pins and vintage finds from Russia.
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Newest additions to my postcard collection. These are from between 1962 and 1967.
Winter in where Mikhail Lermontov spent his childhood. Postcards from 1989.
This week, February 12 to 18, is Maslenitsa—the Pancake week! It’s one of the biggest celebrations of old time Russia and my personal favourite, a very festive time that marks the turn of winter to spring. I’m sooo getting stuffed with pancakes and crepes this week!
I have some fun post ideas for this week, let’s celebrate Maslenitsa together!
“Winter” by Georgy Ladonschikov, illustrated by Tatyana Ivanitskaya (1962)
“Books on Tourism and Mountaineering”, vintage bookmark 1955 ()
“Snow”. Illustration from “Barvinok” children’s magazine, 1958
K. Telzhanov “People of Boz-Aral” as published in Rabotnitsa magazine in July 1973.
I tried googling Boz-Aral, all I got is and I’m not convinced it’s the same. In any case, I love this piece.
Nevsky prospekt in Leningrad (St Petersburg), 1971
Vintage paper flags featuring traditional costumes of Soviet republics
Listed on Etsy:
Day 3 of Maslenitsa. They say every household has their own pancake recipe. Here’s my (secret!) recipe of perfect blinis.
0.5 l kefir
1 egg
3-4 spoons sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
flour
Mix everything but flour (use whisker or electric mixer). Then add flour incrementally to get the desired consistence (the more flour, the thicker blini will be). Fry blinis on a well heated frying pan.
A little tip: for best results I use kefir that’s gone sour (I buy it about a week ahead and let it go sour). It gives blinis a tingly sour taste and also more bubbles. :)
The key ingredient in this is of course kefir. It’s a type of fermented milk. I know that you can get it in Germany and Austria. Hopefully in other countries too (maybe in Russian food stores?) In Austria I tried , I bought it for the Matryoshka packaging and it turned out surprisingly good!
If you try this recipe you must share your results with me. ;)