Spiced Hot Chocolate

I've been making spiced hot chocolate for a few years now, so long that when I have friends over and they've (A) never heard of it and (B) love it I'm a little surprised since it's such an ordinary thing to me! I was reminded recently that it isn't ordinary to a lot of people though, so I thought I'd post a "recipe" (more like generic guidelines) for those of you who've never thought to spice up your hot cocoa a bit! Whether you're making hot chocolate from scratch or with packets this is a super easy way to take your hot chocolate to the next level!

German Pancakes

I made this for brunch for the Nativity this year and it was just lovely! The interior texture reminded me of breading pudding - I may just add raisins the next time I make this! And so much nicer to throw this in the oven than to stand by the hot plate making regular pancakes and either eating them right there or eating cold pancakes by the time they're all cooked!

Easy Breakfast Syrup

I never would've thought I would be making my own syrup, but it's just not a thing here in Manchuria. (I'm told local tastes don't like sweet stuff, but when I follow that statement up with questions about why virtually all the popular bread here is sweet no one can explain.) I did find pure maple syrup in one store, but it was prohibitively expensive for someone whose teeth are all sweet teeth! In any case, this is a great, easy, and quick recipe for making syrup!

Basic Applesauce

So apparently Christmas is the holiday on which EFL students in China give their teachers apples, the less flavorful (Red "Delicious," anyone?) the better. It got to the point that I had a small mountain of apples in a corner of my kitchen, and that's when I started looking at applesauce recipes! The following is a quick and easy one adapted from this recipe.

Chinese(ish) Slivovitsa

Slivovitsa (сливовица), also known as slivovitz and sliv'yanka, is a plum brandy most commonly produced in the Balkans, but known throughout Eastern and Central Europe. Although genuine slivovitsa is made by distilling plums with yeast, sugar, and an assortment of other ingredients, slivovitsa can also be made with plums, vodka (or another grain alcohol), sugar, and so on. This recipe is of the latter variety.

Massaman Curry Tofu

I loved all things Thai long before I first got the chance to visit Thailand, and massaman curry chicken has been a favorite among favorites. I was reminded recently of how long it's been since I had massaman anything, and so I decided to slightly adapt this recipe to take it from carnivorous to vegan. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

Easy Stuffed Peppers

I've been looking for easy recipes for meals here now that the Prophets' (or Advent) Fast has begun and this fits the bill nicely. It works for me as a meal (a couple of them, actually) when I'm dining on my own, but it could easily work as a side dish for a larger meal as well. I may experiment with a tomato sauce of some sort the next time I make this, but it's perfectly lovely served as is.

Ethiopian Chicken Stew / Doro Wot

An oldie but a goodie from Ethiopia! Chicken is expensive there (or was when I lived there), so this would normally be served around the holidays, the Nativity and Pascha especially. Any day's a good day for ዶሮ፡ወጥ (doro wot) though, and since I was in need of a pick-me-up I decided to try my hand at this. (It's been a long time since I made it last.) This recipe was last updated in September 2026.

New Year's Pumpkin Soup

This recipe came together rather by accident - a mix of homesickness for fall in North America, a pumpkin sighting at my local grocery store, the Haitian tradition in my family of having some sort of pumpkin soup (soup joumou) on New Year's, and the delightful discovery of smoked tofu for sale at a 'meat' shop (protein shop?) near work. You may not have smoked tofu available where you live, and if that's the case I am profoundly sorry. It seriously rocks my world! Depending on what I've had in the house I've substituted potato for the tofu and it makes an equally lovely soup, so use what you've got available!

Rice Kollyva

In many Orthodox Christian countries - primarily in Eastern Europe and parts of the Middle East - kollyva is made following the death of a loved one to be blessed at the funeral and at the memorials held over the first forty days following the death, at the 6 and 12-month anniversary memorials, and thereafter at the memorials held on the yearly anniversaries of the death. There are certain other holidays and events it is prepared for, but in our culture it is generally associated with funerals and the dead, a bittersweet reminder that when "a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies...it produces much grain" (John 12:24).