The Iron Wolf

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Šaltibarščiai, translated to cold borscht or cold beet soup, is a Lithuanian dish made with beetroot, kefir, cucumber, and other ingredients that vary recipe to recipe! They’re served with boiled potatoes on the side, making for a light and hearty meal commonly enjoyed during the summer months in Lithuania.

It’s also a striking pink colour!

Here’s where I’d give a recipe for how to make Šaltibarščiai, but as there’s so many possible variations, it would be hard to make a summarised recipe that does it justice! I recommend, if you want to make this dish for yourself, that you check the sources listed below; I’ve linked several variations of the recipe, and if those don’t satisfy you, there’s plenty more recipes on the internet that may be to your taste!

Sources

“I believe you are referring to the greening of Vilnelė river, yes? Vilnelė is greened every year to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, and by extension, to celebrate Lithuanian-Irish relations.”

“And do not worry, the dye used is approved by our environmental authorities, and does not pose any risk of harm to the river, or the plants and animals in and around it.”

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Vilnelė, or Vilnia, is a river located in eastern Lithuania, making up approximately 12-13 km of Lithuania and Belarus’ border. The river eventually splits away from the border, continuing to flow through Lithuania until it reaches Vilnius and converges with the river Neris. Since 2015, Vilnius has dyed the river Vilnia green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day each year, following in the footsteps of Chicago, IL, which has similarly dyed the Chicago River to celebrate the holiday for nearly 60 years! 

Sources

⤖ https://en(.)wikipedia(.)org/wiki/Vilnia ⤖ https://www(.)lrt(.)lt/en/news-in-english/19/131003/vilnius-to-green-river-as-st-patrick-s-day-celebrations-begin-around-world ⤖ https://www(.)dfa(.)ie/irish-embassy/lithuania/news-and-events/2015/greening-river-vilnele-vilnius/ ⤖ https://lithuaniatribune(.)com/vilnius-greens-river-for-st-patricks-day/ ⤖ https://www(.)enjoyillinois(.)com/travel-illinois/the-history-of-chicago-river-dyeing/

Hi! Long time since I’ve been on here, haha! I just wanted to pop in and see what was going on, see what was happening with everyone, and apologise for falling off the face of the earth for the last 2 years! ^^;;

2019 and 2020 were both Years, for sure, and I won’t get into it too much here, but I had a lot on my plate and only now I’m starting to get back into the rhythm of things a lil bit! Plus, when I did have time to draw and update, it was for other blogs or personal projects. But! Now that things have settled, I can get back into updating here, hopefully, because I missed my girl and I missed making content for this blog!

I’m going to be working on the blog as a whole (the organisation, tagging, and the biography page, for example), and I’ll be working on artwork as I can! I can’t promise it’ll be a quick comeback, but I’ll try my best! 

SLAPS THIS DOWN

”..But yes, I am happy with where Ieva placed. She did the best that she could, that is what truly matters.”

!!!! Thank you so very much! That’s an honour coming from someone who’s actually Lithuanian! And someone who runs such great blogs for Lithuania!

“I am.. disappointed we didn’t win, but there is always next year, I guess.

!!!! THANK YOU SWEET BEAN ANON I LOVE YOU