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a14 people & arts
Tuesday 17 OcTOber 2023
Natasha from 'Natasha's Kitchen' makes waves in the food world

By MARK KENNEDY point, they relied on food breakfast, snacks, salads,
AP Entertainment Writer banks, a fact not lost on her soups, mains, sides and des-
NEW YORK (AP) — It started these days. "I was telling my serts. A battalion of over 300
with a simple salad. Natasha husband, 'God has a sense testers have kicked the tires
Kravchuk began building of humor to give this refugee on each dish.
a cooking mini-empire by a cookbook,'" she says. The book includes Kravchuk's
combining cucumber, toma- She didn't start cooking until mother's Ukrainian pancakes,
to and avocado. When a TV later in life and started blog- which call for yeasted bat-
anchor shared the recipe on ging in 2009. "When I got mar- ter. She says they puff up like
Facebook in 2015, the dish ried, I wanted to recreate the donuts when they hit the hot
went viral. same foods we grew up lov- oil, and have a subtle sour-
"I think that was the recipe ing and enjoy. So I started dough-like flavor.
that kind of gave us the first learning how to cook. I start- "They just need a little bit
lift," says Kravchuk, whose on- ed going to the library, get- of time to pop up. But the
line hub Natasha's Kitchen ting stacks of books, asking beauty of those is you can
has grown to some 13 million my mom, my mother-in-law make them and enjoy them
followers across social me- for recipes and friends." for several days, whereas the
dia. "I think that's trademark Susan Roxborough, Krav- typical pancakes with bak-
for what you can find on chuk's editor at Clarkson ing soda or baking powder,
Natasha's Kitchen." Potter, loved Kravchuk's they're really only good the
Kravchuk's philosophy is in- personal story and her book first day," she says.
deed mixed into that salad proposal — especially the Another favorite is a chicken
— flavorful food that doesn't teriyaki salmon, with brown pot pie, which Kravchuk says
take a long time, uses regular sugar, hoisin, soy sauce, gar- is a top 10 favorite on her site.
ingredients and doesn't hurt lic and ginger. She found the "It's such a comforting meal.
the pocketbook. author down-to-earth and There is just no comparison
"It's turning humble and relatable. to store-bought," she adds.
just simple ingredients into "It was easy to imagine her "It really isn't complicated. I
something really delicious," This cover image released by Clarkson Potter shows "Natasha's as your next-door neighbor think people realize that the
Kitchen: 100+ Easy Family-Favorite Recipes You'll Make Again
she says. "That just has al- and Again: A Cookbook" by Natasha Kravchuk. or maybe a fellow parent first time they make it, that it's
ways carried through with Associated Press at a bake sale at your kid's just such a comforting thing
me. I don't think you need school," Roxborough says. to make. And it reheats well,
saffron to make something of those things already.' The Asia. There's a heavy lean Roxborough and her daugh- too."
taste incredible, you know?" steps are simple and they are on traditional Ukrainian ter made Kravchuk's pierogi Kravchuk spotted two items
This fall, Kravchuk has put recipes that work," she says. recipes passed down from together — a fun time bond- to put together during warm
her expertise into her debut The book is classic, chicken- Kravchuk's mother, like clas- ing, as well as delicious — weather — bacon and corn
cookbook, "Natasha's Kitch- soup cooking — and, indeed, sic borscht and pierogies. and says she's become ob- — and came up with a dish
en: 100+ Easy Family-Favorite there's a recipe for that on "We cook a little bit of every- sessed with the recipe for that will cause every parent
Recipes You'll Make Again page 115. There's even a dish thing now, but I think people Tres Leches Cupcakes. "It's to slap their forehead be-
and Again," which includes — Zuppa Toscana — inspired trust our taste in food and dangerously good," she says. cause they didn't already do
dishes such as Salmon Pic- by an Olive Garden offering. and they can relate to the The cookbook, which last it by now. One of her nieces
cata and Turkey Meatball "I make it better," she says, values that we have," she week debuted at No. 2 on named it "Ba-Corn" and that
Soup, and Crispy Bacon Ja- laughing. There are Ameri- says.Ukrainian-born Kravchuk The New York Times' Advice, simply can't be improved
lapeno Poppers. can classics like baked mac and her family fled religious How-To & Miscellaneous list, upon.
"It's approachable. You can and cheese and blueberry persecution in the 1980s and contains a dozen or so read- Kravchuk didn't follow the
look at the list of ingredients muffins, and gentle nods to eventually found their way er favorites, but most of the food world's traditional route
and be like, 'OK, I have most Mexico, Italy, France and to Meridian, Idaho. At one recipes are new, split into for a rising chef.q

Live Review: Madonna’s Celebration Tour kicks off in London after health scare

By SIAN WATSON ger and I assure you, I’ll be and footage drawing on four
Associated Press back with you as soon as I decades of hits. On the set
LONDON (AP) — Madonna can.” list were iconic songs from
kicked off her career-span- On stage, Madonna, 65, “Like a Prayer” to “Holiday”
ning Celebration Tour at said she’d had a “crazy to “Vogue” to “La Isla Bo-
London’s O2 Arena on Sat- year” that neither she nor nita.” She also included
urday night, marking her first her doctors thought she’d more niche tracks such as
performance since suffering make it through. She said her “Die Another Day” from the
what her manager called a children spurred her on and 2002 Bond movie of the same
“serious bacterial infection” that she had to “survive for name.
that led to hospitalization in them.” The opening night of During an acoustic moment
an intensive care unit for sev- the tour also marked the 27th in the show, Madonna spoke
eral days back in June. birthday of daughter Lourdes out about the ongoing war
“I’m on the road to recovery Leon, who appeared on in the Middle East.
and incredibly grateful for all stage with her mother. “Even though our hearts
the blessings in my life,” the After a brief technical hitch, are broken, our spirits can-
pop superstar wrote on Ins- the opening night of the tour not be broken,” she said,
tagram this summer, shortly was indeed a celebration. adding that she hopes for a
Madonna appears at the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards in
New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. after news of the ICU stay Madonna played songs “collective consciousness to
Associated Press broke. “My focus now is on from across her vast career, change the world and bring
my health and getting stron- including studio recordings peace.”q