Nash Holos audio archives updated for week of October 9-15

Here's what's on this week's Vancouver October 09 podcast and

Nash Holos recipe: Beet & Mushroom salad

While we're certainly accustomed to beets in soup, pickled, or roasted with other root vegetables, they're also excellent in salads!

In addition to their wonderful taste, beets have outstanding health benefits as well including (among other things) high amounts of beta carotene, vitamin C and iron. Perhaps this is why they're the pagan symbol for love and beauty!

I was introduced to this recipe some time ago by Nash Holos food columnist, the late Sylvia Molnar. I thought it was an unusual (even odd) combination for a salad, but gave it a try ... and it's become one of my favourites.

It's a make-ahead, so on top of being easy to make in the first place, it's one less thing to worry about during meal prep time.

In a pinch, canned beets can be used in this recipe. But I prefer using fresh beets. They have a rich, sweet earthiness that gets lost in the canning process.

Beets can be prepared easily enough. Choose beets in similar size. Wash them well, wrap in foil and roast at 400ºF for about an hour, or until tender when pierced with a thin bladed knife. The skins will slip off easily once they’re cooked.

Less messy than peeling them raw and boiling!

Here's what you'll need for Ukrainian Beet & Mushroom Salad:

Spectacular violinist coming to Canadian stages starting in Vancouver

One of the performers traveling across Canada this month with The Talents of Ukraine 2011 show tour is contemporary violinist Innesa Tymochko. Now a New Yorker, Innesa originally hails from Lviv, Ukraine where she studied music and launched a musical career that had her performing on stages throughout Europe.

In a recent interview on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio, she revealed that she was a child prodigy at age 6. While she studied classical violin, she was also enthralled by the beauty and power of traditional Ukrainian folk music. In fact she was so drawn to it that she developed her own "fusion" style of contemporary Ukrainian folk music.

With charming candour, she admits to an abiding love of Ukrainian folk music, the stage, and pleasing audiences with her music. This woman's joy of performing shines through the minute she first pulls the bow across the strings. She'll then take you on a musical journey that is guaranteed to pluck the heartstrings of any Ukrainian folk music lover.

This will be Innesa's first trip to Canada and she is very excited to be part of this tour. It starts out in Vancouver on Tuesday, October 11 at the Vancouver Center for the Performing Arts. After that it's on to Vernon for a Wednesday evening performance, then to other points east, wrapping up in Montréal on October 25.

If you haven't bought your tickets yet, don't wait a minute longer! This will be a show you don't want to miss.

Along with Innesa, you'll be delighted with the performances of two outstanding singers from Ukraine as well as the spectacular Donbas Song and Dance Company of Ukraine. Tickets for the performances in Western Canada can be purchased from Ticketmaster, and elsewhere from the venues where the show is being held. Details at the Boen Arts website and in earlier posts (here and here). 

Innesa has her own website which is www.innesa.com and you can read more about her and order her CDs there.

Meanwhile, I found a few YouTube videos of Innesa performing. They’ll give you an idea of her onstage charisma. But there’s nothing like the real thing! So I hope you'll join me in seeing her perform live on stage in Vancouver... or at a venue close to you.

This is Vivaldi's Storm, which opened the show we chatted on:



This is her performing Podolianka at her own wedding.



...and someone else's wedding (where she puts me in mind of the late Al Czerny):



For those earlybirds amongst us, here she is doing a medley of Ukrainian Christmas tunes:



And one more medley of Ukrainian folk tunes:

See you at the show!

Canada: How about meaningful action in support of Yulia Tymoshenko & democracy in Ukraine?

Is it too much to ask of Canada's highest officials to give more than lip service in support of democratic reform in Ukraine? And in particular, the shameful treatment of a Ukrainian politician?

Canada's Minister of

Congrats to 16 UofM students for achievement awards!

The Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies at my alma mater, the University of Manitoba, recognized 16 students for high achievement in course work for the 2010-11 academic year.

The students were honoured at

Audio archives at Nash Holos updated

Here's what's on the Sept. 25 podcast of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio:

• Ukrainian

Audio archives for Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio updated to Sept. 11, 2011

On this week's edition which aired last Sunday in Vancouver, and on the International edition coming up

Theresa Sokyrka - Ukrainian Canadian Idol

An absolute joy to listen to, and talk with! If you missed the interview with Theresa Sokyrka on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio a couple of weeks ago, or would like to hear it again, you can catch it on the Interviews page at the Nash Holos website.

We chatted about her music career, her Ukrainian roots, her experience on Canadian Idol, and other things.

Many thanks to Theresa for the interview. I was unfortunately unable to take in her live performance in Parksville (minor surgery the day before) and hope to get a chance to chat with her in person next time she's on the Island.

In the meantime, enjoy these videos I found of her on YouTube:

Ukrainian Heritage Program for kids offered in New Westminster

Live in the Lower Mainland and looking for Ukrainian activities for your kids?

Musical mockument of Ukraine's "democrats"

My friend Stepan Pasicznuk (a.k.a. "Ludwig") employed his classic Brit wit in this song he wrote about the pathetic state of Ukraine's parliament.

These clowns want all the perks of a civil society without putting out any effort to be civil themselves, much less act with any decorum or dignity in their role as representatives of their country and constituents.

They deserve much more contempt than this gentle satire but it's nonetheless quite amusing and cutting enough.

Nash Holos audio archives updated to week starting Sept 04

I hope your summer was as wonderful as mine!

It sure went by in a flash, tho. Trips to the mainland and lots of house guests so got just a wee bit behind on website updates and here on the Nash Holos blog.

If you're still with me, thank you for your patience and your loyalty! Just because you're so wonderful, I'd like to send you a token of my appreciation so please leave a comment and let me know how to reach you. Or snail mail me at the address here.

The last three shows are all archived now on the Playlist page and also in iTunes. Playlists are back as well. Here's what's on:

Two of Canada's senior cabinet ministers congratulate Ukraine on 20 years of independence

The Honourable Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, and the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, issued the following statement recognizing today’s celebration of Ukraine Independence Day: