Hi everyone,

Hope this email finds you well. The fall foliage in Seattle this year has been stunning and is still going strong! Soaking up these last autumn days before winter is truly upon us. I have two announcements for you today, so hang tight!

The first is that I’m teaching a Virtual Medovik (Honey Cake) Class on Sunday, December 3rd, at 11am PST/ 2pm EST. If you’ve never heard of it, medovik is a multi-layered dessert that comprises of graham-like honey layers and a sour cream or sweetened condensed milk icing. It’s much beloved throughout Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of Eastern Europe and it’s not the holidays in my family without this show-stopper.

I’ll lead you step-by-step through the medovik process and leave plenty of opportunity for questions. My hope is that you’ll leave feeling confident and ready to tackle your own medovik! If the timing doesn’t work, the class will be recorded and sent out afterwards, so you can watch it whenever works for you. And if you yourself aren’t interested, but know of someone who might be - please share it with them!

Next announcement is that I’m moving! Not physically (well, not yet anyways), but I’ll be moving the “blog” component of this site over to Substack. I know these emails have been sporadic at best over the years... I’ve devoted most of my time to building a community on Instagram, but these days the platform feels like a constant uphill battle to even reach said community and I’m tired of trying being at the whim of ever-changing algorithms. So, in an effort to cultivate a better and more meaningfully way to engage with you all, I’m starting a monthly (for now) Substack newsletter in the new year. For now, I’m keeping the name Chesnok, but it may change in the interim. I’ll be posting updates on my work (including the new book!), occasional recipes, essays, and other musings. Everything will be free for now while I’m busy toiling away on the manuscript, but once that’s in, I’m hoping to post more regularly, including exclusive content for paying subscribers. One step at a time, though!

If you’re interested in following me over to Substack, you don’t have to do anything. If not, feel free to hit “unsubscribe from this list” at the bottom of this email (or email me directly).

Thank you to everyone here who has supported me in my culinary journey the past decade! I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without this community. If you’re looking for ways to further support my work this holiday season, you can: purchase or gift a ticket to my medovik class; buy or gift a copy of my last two books Everyday Cake (currently on sale for $14!) or Hot Cheese; and better yet, leave a review for either or both books on Amazon or Good Reads. Those reviews go a long way to getting more eyes on the book, especially as we go into the holidays. Purchasing from a local bookstore (Book Larder currently has signed copies of both)) or Bookshop also shows those places that there is interest and they’ll be more likely to carry it! Any little thing is very appreciated.

Ok, maybe that was three announcements! If you’ve made it to here, thank you for your time and energy and happy (almost) holidays!

Best,
P

PS If you’re looking for a simple, yet knock out apple cake this season, may I suggest this sharlotka from my latest book Everyday Cake? My family has been making it for decades, and we still can’t get over how good it is. There’s a slightly different version here on the site too. Happy baking!