Recipe of the Day: Spiced Wine

 
Warm up with something nice and spicy.  A spiced wine is similar to mulled wine which is a common drink across Europe.  Notable parts of continental Europe that produce spiced wine are Germany and other German-speaking regions with their Glühwein; Poland’s grzane wino; Romania’s vin fiert; Moldova’s and Russians izvar; Italy’s vin brulé; and Latvia’s karstvīns.  Nordic countries have their version as well which is called Glögg, and Great Britain also has a taste for this spiced wine which they call, well, mulled wine.  Even though this spiced wine seem to be more popular in the colder countries in the Old World, Chile actually has a type of spiced wine as well called navegado.

     Usually, the main thing about spiced wine is it is simply a tasty mix of a wine base and additional spices.          Some of the spices that are typically found in this concoction are cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger and even peppercorns.
  Making spiced wine is not that hard; the secret, however, in coming up with a good tasting wine is a good recipe.  Here is a recipe shared by John Besh for a nice hot spiced wine that you can easily mix up in your kitchen.
INGREDIENTS
2   bottles light-bodied red wine
1 1/4   cups sugar
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
3   black peppercorns, crushed
2   cardamom pods, crushed
One 3-inch cinnamon stick, crushed
1    clove, crushed
1/2  cup kirsch

DIRECTIONS
Combine the red wine, sugar, and the zests in a large saucepan.  Put all the spices in a packet or a tea ball, and put it in the sauce pan.
Simmer the wine over moderate heat.  Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat, take out the tea ball or spice packet, and then stir in the kirsch.
Serve hot.

NOTE
You can make spiced wine ahead.  Just keep it at room temperature, and then reheat before serving.

Russian Honey Layer Cake “Medovik”

Good Morning! Today i cooked Russian Honey Layer Cake “Medovik”-a great dessert for my lovely husband.He will love it!

    Long before sugar was easily available, honey was Russia’s primary sweetener, used in many different aspects of cooking: to ferment drinks such as mead and kvass (link to earlier article) and in baking cakes and  cookies such as gingerbread (link to earlier article.) Honey was also a reliable medicament, both topical, as a salve, internal to relieve fevers and chills.   In Russia today, honey, jam, and hot tea are still considered the first line of defense for a range of ailments.
    Recipes for honey cakes abound in Russia.  Along with gingerbread, Western Russian traditional honey cakes are often prepared with walnuts and apples, bringing together the flavors of the three August harvest festivals, known in the Christian liturgical calendar as the three “Saviors.” August 14 is “Medoviy Spas,” or “Honey Savior” considered the first day when honey can be gathered from the hives and combs.  August 19 marks “Yablochniy Spas” when apples and other fruits are ripe for picking.  These are followed on August 29 by the oddly named  “Not Made by the Hands Savior,” during which nuts take center stage.
  Making Medovik is a multi-stage process, involving cooking the separate cake layers one by one in the oven.  It also requires chilling the tort overnight in the refrigerator.  Plan accordingly.

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 2 eggs
• (16 Tbl) 225g sweet butter
• (1 cup) 110g sugar
• (4-5 cups) 440 - 550g all-purpose flour
• (2 Tbl) 30 ml dark honey (the darker, the better)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

For the Filling

• 1 tin sweetened condensed milk
• (1 cup) 236 ml sugar
• (12 Tbl) 170 g sweet butter (at room temperature)
• (6 oz) 170 g cream cheese (at room temperature)
• (1 cup) 236 ml sour cream

For the Topping

• (2 cups) 475 ml walnuts (crushed in the food processor)

Equipment

• An 8-inch (20 cm) spring form pan
• A rolling pin
• Wooden skewer
• Parchment paper

Directions

	1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C)
	2. Prepare four or five pieces of parchment paper 10”x10” inches (25cmx25cm).
	3. Place the tin of sweetened condensed milk into a large saucepan and fill with cold water. Cover and place on medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for two and a half hours. Check the water level periodically and add more to ensure the tin is covered with water. When finished, remove the tin with a pair of tongs and set on a cooling rack to come to room temperature (at least two hours). Do not try to open the tin while the mixture is still hot!
	4. Sift the flour, spices, and salt together and set aside.
	5. Place a large glass bowl or the bowl attachment of a standing mixture over a saucepan of simmering water. Place the eggs, butter, sugar, and honey into the bowl and whisk gently until the mixture is completely combined and velvety. Do not let it over boil.
	6. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the soda. Whisk vigorously for thirty seconds.
	7. Beating constantly with an electric mixer or whisk, add the flour mixture in ½ cup batches until the dough is elastic – the ideal will be something between the four and five cups of flour. You should be able to easily roll a ball of dough between your hands without it sticking to them.
	8. Divide the dough into 8 or 9 balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
	9. Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour onto a one of the prepared sheets of parchment paper laid flat on your working surface. Use a rolling pin dipped in flour to roll a ball of dough out to 1/8” thickness.
	10. Use the bottom of the 8-inch spring form pan to trace a circle of dough. Remove the trimmings and set them aside. Place the parchment paper with the dough onto a baking sheet and place in the middle rack of the preheated oven. Cook for three to four minutes until the cake is golden brown. Remove parchment paper with cake onto a cooling rack. Repeat with all of the dough balls and let cool for one hour. Reuse the  parchment paper as soon as the cake has cooled for fifteen minutes.
	11. Roll the trimmings out and bake them as one sheet of dough – don’t worry about the shape since you will crush them for the topping. Set aside.
	12. Place butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat until they are creamy and combined.
	13. Add the sugar and beat until absorbed.
	14. Add the condensed milk and sour cream and beat for thirty seconds. The mixture should be shiny and smooth.
	15. Chill the filling for thirty to forty minutes. Reserve 1-½ cups of filling to ice the edges of the Medovik.
	16. Line the bottom of the spring form bottom with parchment paper cut to fit.
	17. Place a cake layer on the spring form bottom and top it with ¼ cup of filling. Spread the filling evenly across the layer with a cake knife. Place the next cake layer on top of the filling and repeat with all of the cake layers, ending with a layer of filling on top.
	18. Carefully insert the wooden skewer into the center of the cake through all the layers. This will hold the Medovik together as the biscuit absorbs the filling.
	19. Wrap the assembled tort in a layer of parchment paper and gently fit the rim of the spring-form pan around it. Do not force the rim to close completely, but gently ease the rim snugly around the cake.
	20. Place in the refrigerator for at least five hours, but ideally more like twelve.
	21. Crush the layer of biscuit cake made from the trimmings by pulsing it in the food processor together with the walnuts. Toss the mixture gently to combine.
	22. Remove the Medovik from the refrigerator and frost the sides with the remaining filling. Sprinkle the top and sides with the topping and serve. Priatnovo Apetita!(Enjoy!)

Teach your kids using Russian Nesting Dolls

Matroshkas-They come in all shapes, sizes, and numbers of pieces per set.  The most basic sets are 3-5 pieces with simple paintings.  Not only are they beautiful as decoration, but they are also a great tool for teaching educational concepts.  The ideas listed below are geared for toddlers to early grade school children.  You can take each idea and make it more challenging or provide more support (depending on what your child needs)  I have given you some examples on how to do this!  Because this toy is adaptable to teaching a variety of concepts, it is a great sibling learning activity.  All of these activities can also be done in the language of your choice - making it a great language learning experience too!

1. To start at the very basics, Matroshkas are great for teaching NUMBER CONCEPTS and COUNTING.  Don't just have your children count each piece, give them the numbers too! You could mix a couple sets together to get into higher numbers for children who have already mastered numbers 1-5!  If you have a bunch of sets, like 3 sets of 5 piece Matroshkas, you could even use them for basic multiplication.  The possibilities are endless!

  2. They are also great for letting kids practice their FINE MOTOR SKILLS.  Opening and closing these little sets takes coordination and hand muscles.  Some sets are easier than others, but with practice, they are able to open and close them independently. 

3.Then there is the classic, ORDERING or SEQUENCING by size.  Encourage your kids to put them in order from big to small AND small to big.  If  your kid puts them in order from big to small, You may say, "Can you put them in order from smallest to biggest?"  You could also say, "How fast can you assemble the Matroshkas and put them in order from smallest to biggest."  This way, she is given a 2 step direction, can practice her fine motor skills and ordering by size, while getting a challenge by racing the clock!  

4.  Oh, but you cannot forget the power of VOCABULARY!  I am already starting to use these words with you, but kids do not always have the understanding of vocabulary.  It is important to use and explain the size words; small, medium, big, short, tall, smaller, smallest, bigger, biggest, tiny, tinier, tiniest and any other words you may want to use to describe size. (This vocabulary is in our K and 1st grade state math standards)

 5.  When they have the concepts of ordering and the vocabulary mastered, you can start to COMPARE!  You can show them one Matroshka and have them find another one that is smaller than the one in your hand. (or bigger) Then, have your child pick one and ask you to find one that is smaller or bigger. 

6. Storytelling.  Now, this Matroshka may lend perfectly to the retelling of the story of the "Golden Egg,"  In the story, the hen lays a golden egg.  The Grandma and Grandpa cannot break it.  A mouse comes along and breaks it with his tail and the Grandparents cry.  The hen tells them not to cry, she will lay another egg that is not golden! 

Don't you fret if your Matroshka doesn't have pictures for storytelling.  You and your kids could make up your own story using the Matroshkas as the main characters.  Older children can write down these stories.  Maybe even take pictures of the Matroshkas on an adventure and have them create their tale online. 

 7.  Last, but not least, I'd like to throw in a little GEOGRAPHY.  What?  With a Matroshka?  Why yes, some, but not all Matroshkas will have writing on the bottom of the largest Matroshka.  Often this will be the name of the artist who painted it and the city where it was made. Many I see will just have "Made in Russia" written on the bottom.  If you are lucky enough to have some writing on yours, break out the Atlas and find where it was made.  No writing?  Break it out anyways and show your kids where Russia is.  Many Matroshkas are made in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.  Can you find those on the map?  If the writing is in Russian (and you can't read Russian) feel free to post a picture of it on our Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Russian-Dolls/232182443552784) and I will tell you what it says!

No Matroshkas in your house?  Here is a basic set and a paint your own set!

Russian Tea

 Russian Tea

The alkaloid caffeine is necessary for sustaining the brain active during nightly hacking sessions. A high-quality tea, however, stimulates cathartic sensations even in those, who drink it for the very first time. It is warming one’s body, mind, and soul. Various societies have developed brilliant styles of making delicious tea. The Chinese, the English, the Japanese, and many others have surmounted the art of this delightful beverage. Here are the way of preparing, serving, and consuming tea by the Russians.

Tea leaves and hot water do not essentially make fine tea. In Russia, the tea prepared using tea bags are called "the postman’s tea," since it comes in envelopes. This tea generates a distinctive flavor of cellulose. If you cook the tea leaves, you will get a liquid almost unlike tea, fit for leather tanning, instead of drinking. The Russian process of tea making is a two-stage one; first, you make the zavarka, the tea concentrate, and then water it down with kipyatok, hot, boiled water. Whenever hot water is decanted onto tea bags from a samovar, the outcome is still postman’s tea.

Before any more action, you must keep enough amount of kipyatok, you need it at various stages of the process. Kipyatok is the only water used in the process of tea preparation. Even a little amount of raw water can spoil the tea.

The essential steps of zavarka preparation are to put a definite quantity of tea leaves into some pot, pour kipyatok onto them, one cup for each five teaspoons, in one resolute spurt, stay until all the leaves settle.

At present, you can make your first cup of Russian tea. Pour some amount of zavarka into a teacup and dilute it using kipyatok in approximately 10:1 ratio. The power of the tea reckons on both this ratio and the strength of the zavarka. The tea color must be alike a chestnut.

The choice is yours to choose the ingredients. Different ingredients are used in the preparation of Russian tea, which are water, tea leaves, additions, and utensils. Poor quality water can spoil the best tea, at the same time as cautious treatment and the exact choice of water in addition to the accurate technology can make wonders with your tea. You must avoid poor quality leaves, instead use best quality tea leaves. The additions can be sweeteners, alcohol, and other stuffs. Different sweeteners are used to prepare Russian teas, which are fruit jam, honey, saccharine, sugar, and other artificial sweeteners. The alcohol includes rum, vodka, and other liquors. The other stuffs include baking soda, cream, lemon, and milk. Different utensils like the zavarka pot, the samovar, other water-boiling utensils, the saucer, and the podstakannik are used in the preparation of Russian tea. The average nutrient contents present in Russian tea are calories 32–190, cholesterol 0 mg, dietary fiber 0–1.6 g, protein 0–16 g, sodium 1–75 mg, total carbs 8.4–48 g, and total fat 0–0.2 g.

Most of the procedures in the Russian method of tea preparation are time consuming and might come out unessential at first glance. To prepare a good Russian tea, you must have patience and commitment; every crosscut cheapens the final product. Hence, do not hurry to make it, take your own time. Please keep the Russian proverb in mind: "If you rush, you just make people laugh."

Happy Halloween

I had been daydreaming about these cute Halloween Matryoshka fabrics...Two pumpkin cup cakes for me and my husbnad and two cups of tea..will be the best Halloween in this year,after Sandy Hurricane :)

Take care and Happy Halloween !!!

  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Russian-Dolls/232182443552784

Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf

A Very long time ago in a certain kingdom there reigned a Tsar who had three sons, the first was Dimitriy Tsarevich, the second – Vassiliy Tsarevich, and the third – Ivan Tsarevich. The Tsar had a magnificent orchard, where grew his favorite magic apple-tree with golden apples. However every night a Firebird fell into the habit of flying on that apple-tree and tear away few apples. Its feathers were red-and-gold, and bright as a fire, her eyes were like Eastern crystals.

The Tsar ordered each of his sons to catch the Firebird alive and promised a half of the kingdom for that. The two elder brothers fell asleep while watching. On the third night the youngest son, Ivan, went to the orchard. He saw the Firebird, crept to it and grabbed it by the tail. But the Firebird managed to get free, leaving to Ivan only a bright tail feather. Since then the Firebird stopped visiting the orchard, but the Tsar ordered his three sons to find and bring him the Firebird alive for the half of the kingdom. All three sons saddled their horses and rode their ways. Ivan rode far away and get to an open field, where he saw a sign-post with the following words: “If you go to straight, you will be cold and hungry; if you go to the right, you will be alive and healthy but loose your horse; if you go to the left, you will be dead but the horse will be alive and healthy.” Ivan Tsarevich decided to go to the right, he rode two days and on the third day he met a big Gray Wolf, who tore the Ivan’s horse in pieces.

Ivan walked all day long, he was very tired, and suddenly the Gray Wolf overtook him. The Gray Wolf felt sorry for Ivan and offered his assistance of taking him to his destination, since he killed Ivan’s horse.

Ivan Tsarevich got on the back of the Gray Wolf and they were on their way to a kingdom where the Firebird lived. The tsar of that kingdom after listening to Ivan’s wish to take away the Firebird, agreed to give his Firebird to Ivan in exchange for a golden-crested horse from the neighboring kingdom. The tsar who was the master of the golden-crested horse agreed to give away his horse in exchange for a beautiful Elena the Fair, who was the daughter of the next kingdom tsar. However, with help of the Gray Wolf, Ivan managed to get the Firebird for his father, and the wonderful horse and Elena the Fair for himself.

When they came to the border of Ivan’s father kingdom, Ivan and Elena said good-bye to the Gray Wolf and stopped to rest. While they were sleeping, Ivan’s two elder brothers, returning from their unsuccessful expedition, came across the two and killed Ivan. They threatened Elena to kill her as well if she will tell anyone what had happened.

Ivan Tsarevich laid dead for thirty days until the Gray Wolf found him. The Gray Wolf got water of death and water of life and revived Ivan. Ivan got to his palace on the back of the Gray Wolf just at the wedding day of his brother Vassiliy Tsarevich and Elena the Fair. There Ivan, with help of Elena, told his father what had happened to him. The Tsar got so furious with his elder sons that he threw them to prison. Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Fair married, inherited the kingdom and lived in love for many years.

http://russiandolls-boutique.com

Tale Of Tsar Saltan And Three Sisters

From a poem by the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin

Long ago in a faraway kingdom, three sisters were sitting on the bench in front of their house in the courtyard talking, imagining what they would do if they were married to Tsar Saltan. One said that she would prepare a great feast for the entire world. The next said that she would weave linen for the entire world. The third said that she would give the tsar “an heir, handsome and brave beyond compare.”

It so happened that the tsar, who was just outside the fence, overheard the conversation. When he heard the words of the last maiden, he fell in love and asked her to be his wife. They were married that very same night and conceived a son soon after. The other sisters were given jobs as a cook and a weaver.

A few months later the tsar went to war and had to part with his beloved wife. While he was at war his wife, the queen, gave birth to his son. A rider was sent to the tsar to convey the good news. However, the two sisters and a friend, named Barbarika, were so jealous of their sister’s luck that they kidnapped the rider. They replaced him with another rider who carried the message that the queen had borne neither a son nor a daughter, neither a mouse nor a frog, but had given birth to an unknown little creature.

When he read this message, the tsar was mortified and sent a letter back telling his wife to wait for his return before taking any action. The scheming sisters met the rider on the way back, got him drunk, and replaced the tsar’s actual letter with a fake one that ordered the queen and her baby to be put into a barrel and thrown into the sea. Of course, there was no way to disobey an order from the tsar, so guards in the kingdom put the queen and her son into the barrel and rolled it into the water. As the queen wept inside, her son grew stronger, not by the day, but by the minute. He begged the waves to wash them onto dry land. The waves obeyed and he and his mother found themselves washed ashore on a deserted island.

By now they were quite hungry, so the son made himself a bow and arrow, using small branches from a tree, and went hunting. Near the sea, he heard a screech and saw a poor Swan struggling against a huge black hawk. Just as the hawk was about to bury its beak in the Swan’s neck, the youth shot an arrow, killing the hawk and spilling the bird’s blood into the sea. The white Swan swam up to the lad and told him that he had not killed a hawk at all, but a wicked wizard. The Swan pledged to serve the youth always and never forget that he saved her life.

The son returned to his mother and told her of his adventure, and then they both fell soundly asleep, even though they were still hungry and thirsty. The next morning they awoke and saw a wondrous city standing before them where there had been nothing before. The two marveled at the golden domes of the monasteries and churches behind the city’s white walls. “My, look at all the Swan has done!” the lad thought. The two walked into the city and throngs of people greeted them and crowned the young man a prince, calling him Prince Gveedon.

One day a merchant ship was sailing near the island when its sailors caught a glimpse of the amazing walled city. The city’s cannons signaled the ship to come ashore. Prince Gveedon welcomed them and offered them food and drink. He asked what they had for sale and where they were going. Their trade was in furs, they said, and they were headed past the island of Buyan to the kingdom of Tsar Saltan. Gveedon asked the merchant sailors to convey his respects to the tsar, even though his mother had earlier told him about the note that led to their expulsion from the tsar’s kingdom. Still, Prince Gveedon thought the best of people and could never quite believe that his father could do such a thing.

As the merchant sailors were preparing to leave the island, the prince became sad when thinking about his father. The Swan asked the prince why he looked so gloomy, and he told her that he wished to see his father. Then, with a splash of water, the Swan turned the prince into a small gnat so that he could hide himself in a crack of the mast of the ship en route to see the tsar.

When the ship arrived at the Tsar Saltan’s kingdom, the tsar greeted the merchant sailors and asked them to tell of the lands they had seen. The sailors told the tsar about the island and the walled city, and spoke of the hospitable Prince Gveedon. The tsar did not know that this Prince Gveedon was his son, but expressed a wish to see this beautiful city anyway. The two sisters and the old Barbarika did not want to let him go, however, and acted as if there were nothing to marvel at in the sailors’ tale. What is really amazing, they said, is a Squirrel that sits under a fir tree, cracking golden nuts containing kernels of pure emerald, and singing a song. That’s something, which is truly extraordinary! Hearing this, the gnat, really Prince Gveedon, got angry and stung the old woman’s right eye. After he flew back to the island, Gveedon told the Swan the story he heard about the remarkable Squirrel. Then the prince walked into his courtyard and, lo and behold, there was the singing Squirrel, sitting under a fir tree, cracking golden nuts! The prince rejoiced at this and ordered that a crystal house be built for the little animal. He placed a guard there to stand watch and ordered a scribe to record every shell. Profit for the prince, honor for the Squirrel!

Some time later, a second ship came to the island. Gveedon welcomed the sailors and asked them to pass on his greetings to the tsar. Later the prince expressed a wish to the Swan to see his father again. The Swan granted the wish and this time turned the prince into a fly that would hide in a crack of the ship.

After the vessel arrived in the kingdom, the sailors told Tsar Saltan about the wondrous Squirrel they had seen. Saltan again wanted to visit this fabled city but was talked out of it when the two sisters and Barbarika ridiculed the sailors’ story and spoke themselves of a greater wonder–of thirty-three handsome young knights, led by old Chernomor, rising from out of the raging sea. The fly, Gveedon, became quite angry with the women and stung Barbarika’s left eye before flying back to the island.

Once home again, he told the Swan about old Chernomor and the thirty-three knights, and lamented that he had never seen such a wonder. “These knights are from the great waters that I know,” the Swan said. “Don’t be sad, for these knights are my brothers and they will come to you.”

Later, the prince went back and climbed a tower of his palace and gazed at the sea. Suddenly, a giant wave rose high and deep onto the shore, and when it receded, thirty-three knights in armor, led by old Chernomor, emerged, ready to serve prince Gveedon. They promised that they would come out of the sea each day to protect the city.

A few months later, a third ship came to the island. In his customary fashion, the prince again made the sailors feel welcome and told them to send his respects to the tsar. As the sailors prepared themselves for their journey, the prince told the Swan that he still couldn’t get his father out of his mind and wished to see him again. This time the Swan turned the prince into a bumblebee. The ship arrived in the kingdom and the sailors told Tsar Saltan about the wondrous city they had seen and how every day thirty-three knights and old Chernomor would emerge from the sea to protect the island.

The tsar marveled at this and wanted to see this extraordinary land, but once again was talked out of it by the two sisters and old Barbarika. They belittled the sailors’ tale and said that what was really amazing was that beyond the seas lived a princess so stunning that you couldn’t take your eyes off of her. “The light of day pales against her beauty, the darkness of night is lit up by it. When she speaks it is like the murmur of a tranquil brook. Now that’s a marvel,” they said. Gveedon, the bumblebee, got angry at the women once more and stung Barbarika on her nose. They tried to catch him, but to no avail. He was safely on his journey back home.

After his arrival there, Gveedon strolled out to the seashore until he was met by the white Swan. “Why so gloomy this time?” the Swan asked. Gveedon said that he was sad because he did not have a wife. He related the tale he had heard of the beautiful princess whose beauty it up the darkness, whose words flowed like a murmuring brook. The Swan was silent for a while, and then said that there was such a princess. “But a wife,” the Swan continued, “is no glove that one can simply cast from one’s hand.” Gveedon said he understood but that he was prepared to walk the rest of his life and to all corners of the world to search for the wondrous princess. At this, the Swan sighed and said, “There’s no need to travel, there’s no need to tire. the woman that you desire, is now yours to spy. The princess is I.”

With this, she flapped her wings and turned into the beautiful woman that the prince had heard about. The two passionately embraced and kissed, and Gveedon took her to meet his mother. The prince and the beautiful maiden were married that very same evening.

A short time later, another ship came to the island. As usual, Prince Gveedon welcomed the sailors and, as they were leaving, he asked the sailors to send his greetings to the tsar and to extend an invitation to him to visit. Being happy with his new bride, Gveedon decided not to leave the island this time.

When the ship arrived at the kingdom of Tsar Sultan, the sailors again told the tsar of the fantastic island they had seen, of the singing Squirrel cracking the golden nuts, of the thirty-three armored knights ascending out of the sea, and of the lovely princess whose beauty was beyond compare.

This time the tsar would not listen to the snide remarks of the sisters and Barbarika. He called his fleet and set sail for the island immediately. When he reached the island, Prince Gveedon was there to meet the tsar. Saying nothing, Gveedon led him, along with his two sisters-in-law and Barbarika, to the palace. Along the way, the tsar saw everything that he had heard so much about. There at the gates were the thirty-three knights and old Chernomor standing guard. There in the courtyard was the remarkable Squirrel, singing a song and gnawing on a golden nut. There in the garden was the beautiful princess, Gveedon’s wife. And then the tsar saw something unexpected: there standing next to the princess was Gveedon’s mother, the tsar’s long-lost wife. The tsar recognized her immediately. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he rushed to embrace her, and years of heartache were now forgotten. He then realized that Prince Gveedon was his son, and the two threw their arms around each other as well.

A merry feast was held. The two sisters and Barbarika hid in shame, but eventually they were found. They burst into tears, confessing everything. But the tsar was so happy that he let them all go. The tsar and the queen and Prince Gveedon and the princess lived the rest of their days in happiness.

http://russiandolls-boutique.com