"Ukraine" news and stories

Cheer up, Linus: if you lived in Ukraine, you'd be glad the Great Pumpkin never showed up.

That's because, according to NPR, for centuries women in the former Soviet republic have used pumpkins to send a not-so-subtle message to would-be fiancés: essentially, "no."

A man would visit the home of a woman he wanted to marry. If the woman said yes, the family would break out the vodka. If her answer was no, "the poor guy was silently handed a pumpkin" and turned away.

Really, it's this image of youthful romance being dashed without a word, only the hand-off of an unwieldy gourd, that makes the whole thing sort of priceless. No apologies, no awkward explanations: just take your pumpkin and go home.

My great-grandfather was a musician who immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine sometime in the early days of the 20th century. He made his way to Philadelphia, established himself as a music teacher and eventually won a seat in the violin section of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He played with them until his death in 1919, at the tail-end of the flu pandemic. This might be far more information than is necessary for a Cookbook of the Day post, but it gives you some valuable information as to why I have a copy of the Philadelphia Orchestra Cookbook.

This book doesn't date back to my great-grandfather's days, but because of the connection, my grandmother supported the Orchestra during her later years, attending concerts, galas and always participating in fundraisers. I'm assuming that her inability to say no to anything having to do with the Orchestra is why this particular cookbook has been on the living room shelves since I was a year old.

You're probably thinking, "Enough already, Marisa. Tell us if this cookbook is actually useful when it comes to cooking and time in the kitchen." Shockingly enough, this is actually one of the more helpful community cookbooks I've come across in my travels (and I've seen more than my fair share of community cookbooks). It always offers guidance on whether the recipe is one that can be prepped ahead of time, whether it can be frozen and if the level of skill required is basic, medium or advanced. It does have its share of scary Jell-O "salads" but also contains recipes for Spinach Tarts, a delicious-sounded Dilled Pea Salad and a helpful guide that advises on how much meat and fish to buy per person for your dinner parties.

Source

Love cereal? Well, then you and Jerry Seinfeld may soon be paying a lot more for the stuff (though I'm sure the increased cost won't bother Jerry too much).

Because of unfavorable weather conditions in key areas (who knew one of the places we get our wheat for cereal from was the Black Sea region of the Ukraine??), the cost of wheat is going up, and if those prices continue to be high then companies like Kellogg and General Mills will have to raise prices on their boxes of cereal.

If that wasn't enough bad news? The price of milk is also going up! Milk prices in the U.S. are up 3% this year, and could skyrocket towards the end of the year.