This week we talked about the Russian Orthodox churches and Russian bakeries you find in the Richmond District. We discussed how large numbers of Russian immigrants and refugees arrived in San Francisco in the twentieth century following the end of the Russian Civil War in 1921, after World War II ended in 1945, and in the 1970s as a direct result of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. Several students drew a connection to the October shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, for which there is a memorial in the hallway outside the kindergarten classrooms.
We made a porridge from kasha, or buckwheat, using one part grain to two parts water. I mentioned to all our young chefs that this ratio will serve them well as they continue to learn to cook. They can make rice, lentils, couscous using this same ratio!
We topped our porridge with a simple apple salad dressed with a squeeze of lemon and cinnamon, then got to add cow or soy milk, honey, and butter. Because this was a simple meal to prepare, we had time for a rousing (but not at all Russian) game of Lotería (a Mexican game similar to bingo).
