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Entertaining

Party, Russian Style

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If I wouldn´t write an event management blog, I would be a food blogger. That´s also the reason that time to time I tend to post what I just cooked or baked. After all, food is one of the most important aspects of event management (but of course everything is important).

If you followed my previous posts you know that I spent one year as an exchange student in Germany. At the host university, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, every week we organised themed events which represented the different cultures of the exchange students. So each semester I teamed up with my Russian friends and we cooked for fellow students.

The event had two objectives, to raise money and to represent the Russian culture, which were both successfully achieved. The event design was different from the previous time. In contrary to last time when we hosted a formal dinner, this time we decided to go for finger food. We had to be creative and serve the chosen dishes in small and easy to handle portions. We also wanted to avoid serving sweet food, as the event took place in a bar and salty dishes are more suitable for someone who drinks alcohol.  Here is the menu and the  program we included on our invites:

It’s your chance to get familiar with the Russian culture, namely:

1. With Russian games and traditions

2. Learn some Russian phrases

3. Try the legendary Russian cuisine

Menu:

Olivier Salad – Russian Tenderness

Must have of a real Russian feast

Vinaigrette Salad – Red Pleasure

The essence of Russian friendship

Blini – Fish Revolution

Pancakes with special sauce and smoked salmon

Evening’s special: Survival Kit – Shproti (Smoked sardines in oil), Vodka and Kampot

Drinks:

White Russian

For drinks we made white Russian (even though it´s not a traditional Russian drink, it sounds Russian and contains vodka). It was a best seller last time so I just made it again. It is very simple to make and requires vodka, milk and coffee liqueur. We couldn´t find Kahlúa liqueur at the local grocery shop, so we just made one and it was quick and easy. There are many recipes online, and the main ingredients are vodka, sugar, coffee and vanilla extract. It was delicious and best seller again.

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Last but not least, we wanted to teach the non- Russian speakers some words in Russian, so we made small cards with basic Russian words and phrases in Russian, English and how to pronounce it in Russian. That was fun and interesting for our guests and they were happy to learn something new.

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Such event is very engaging because people also come and ask questions about the culture, the cuisine, the language etc. People event came to us and say they have Russian relatives or tell us about their travels to Russia and share other experiences.

As last time I had great time organising the event and now have even more ideas and inspiration for future Russian parties.

Sushi Party

Who doesn´t love sushi? Recently we organised a sushi party, making fresh hand- rolled sushi by ourselves. The menu was sushi, cup sushi cake and plum liqueur. It was a great event to get together and celebrate the Japanese culture and cuisine.

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The only one I rolled – it´s not as easy as it looks.

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Cup sushi cake – with salmon, shrimps  and avocado.

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How to organise a Russian/ Ukrainian Event

Today I am happy to share with you the first themed event I organised with my university friends and that’s Russian Ukrainian Evening, or its original name, Tauschie Tuesday. In my university we have the tradition that every Tuesday another country puts- up an event so we were more than happy to organise this evening and introduce our culture. Another objective of the event was to raise money for your end of semester party.

The evening had two parts: dinner and then party in the local bar, so we prepared two different menus.

Here are the steps how to organise a successful Russian/ Ukrainian event:

1. Create an invite: in addition to the main theme we also defined a dress code: Black elegant and heels for girls.

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2. Send out invites: today with social media it’s easier than ever before. We created an event page on facebook. Of course you can use also other tools such as eventbrite or create a # on twitter for your event. There is no limit for creativity. Just make sure to update the content in the days leading to your event to increase the excitement.

3. Decide on the menu: We went for main course and dessert for the dinner and cocktail and snack for the party.

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For the dinner we made the traditional Russian Katleti with Olivier Salad and Blini with fruits for dessert. And to start we served a shot of vodka.

For the party we made white Russian cocktail and Ukrainian Varenyky. You have the option to make Varenyky with sweet or salty filling.

4. Get ready to welcome your guests!

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The event was a great success and all the event objectives were met. Big part of the success is thanks to the great team work we had on this project. Hope to repeat a similar event soon!

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The hosts:  Kateryna & Irina