2014 Olympic Themed Ethnic Dinners

by Whitney Frykman, Tastemaker in Residence

As the month of hearts and love continues, the table is not immune from falling into a winter rut. With the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics daily happenings, a themed ethnic dinner night is the perfect way to easily spice up the evening. Here are some steps to make an evening night-on-the-couch an educational, entertaining, and tasty experience. 

1. Check your local listings for events airing in the evening, perform some research on the background of the sport, including rules and key countries, and become an expert for the night. Curling? Bobsledding? Who knows, you might gain the motivation to pick up a new hobby as well.
2. Select a participating country and recreate a meal from the homeland. Some ideas include:
   1. Watching the new Skeleton event and cheering on the Italian front-runner with a traditional brick over pizza. 
   2. Cooking up some Lox and Cream Cheese or Swedish Meatballs to cheer on Gillis Grafstrom, the top figure-skating hopeful.
   3. Celebrating a predominantly Midwestern US Hockey team with a table of pickle roll-ups, cheese curds, and the Minnesota hot dish of your choice. Or bake a pie with the state theme!

To reminisce upon a favorite visit to London, we tried our first ethnic themed night by making a traditional meat pie, of course accompanied by mushy peas, and finished off with a Pimm's and Lemonade. Looking forward to what new delicacies become staples on our table going forward.