A recipe from home: My favorite Ukrainian holiday dish

{NAME}: Your support of families in Ukraine is so meaningful to me [International Rescue Committee]( {NAME}, For me, nothing brings back memories quite like food — especially during the holidays. Even though I'm far from my home and family in Ukraine, I'm looking forward to keeping our tradition of cooking 12 dishes on Christmas Eve, including my very favorite: kutya. Kutya is a sweet wheat berry pudding with dried fruits, raisins, poppy seeds and honey. It's just so delicious. Back home, I make a lot and end up with huge pots of it that we eat for several weeks. I think of my family in Ukraine with every bite. 💛💙 {NAME}, I wanted to share my kutya recipe with you (**please see below, at the bottom of this email**) as a small way to say thank you. If you make it, I hope you’ll think of Ukraine and how meaningful your support is. [This is me, my husband and our corgi, Cooper, in Ukraine in November, 2021]( This is me, my husband and our corgi, Cooper, in Ukraine in November, 2021. Christmas is a big deal in Ukraine and our Christmas Eve celebrations are especially meaningful. We gather around the table and look back at the whole year that's passed, share our hopes for the new year and make wishes. These last two years are nothing like I expected. I did not believe the war could engulf my country until the day my mom called me with the news that rockets were firing on Kharkiv, my hometown. But amidst my shock, anger and heartbreak at the war, looking back on this year I also have a lot to be thankful for: the continued safety of my mom in Ukraine, my home here in the UK, and my position with the IRC — helping other refugees like me adjust. And of course this year my hope and most fervent wish for the new year is peace. As happy as I am in the UK, Ukraine still has my heart, and I hope to move back with my husband and dog as soon as it's safe. Thank you, again, and Happy Holidays. Inna Inna Gordiienko Senior Bilingual Integration Officer International Rescue Committee P.S. This year many Ukrainians are again without adequate shelter and heat during the winter. [If you can make a special holiday gift to help send even more essential aid to families in Ukraine and crisis zones around the world, it would mean so much.]( With temperatures dropping well below freezing, something as simple as a blanket can make a big difference. Thank you. --- Inna's Ukrainian Kutya Ingredients Serves around 4. 1 cup of wheat grain 4 glasses of water 50g of butter 2-3 tbsp of honey 2 tbsp of poppy seeds 1 handful of walnuts 100g of dried apricots 1 handful of raisins 1 lemon (zest and juice) Method Pour 4 cups of water into a bowl with 1 cup of wheat and leave overnight. In the morning, drain and add 4 fresh cups of water. Cook on a low heat for 30-60 minutes until tender. Drain any remaining water if needed. Add the butter and let it melt in the wheat. Dice the dried apricots into small cubes. If you have very hard dried apricots, you can soften them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Soak poppy seeds in boiling water for 15 minutes and then drain. Grind soaked poppy seeds in a pestle and mortar set. Add the diced apricots, a handful of raisins, poppy seeds and a handful of chopped walnuts to the wheat and stir to give everything a good mix. Wash and dry the lemon well, then zest the lemon peel with a fine grater. Add the honey and lemon zest to the mixture. Juice the lemon and add 1-2 tbsp of squeezed lemon juice. Mix well again. Place the mixture in the refrigerator and leave for at least 2 hours (better overnight). Decorate to your taste with more walnuts/raisins/dried apricots — or just leave as it is. The International Rescue Committee | [Rescue.org]( 122 East 42nd Street, New York, New York 10168-1289 USA To ensure future delivery of IRC e-mails, please add our reply address updates@rescue.org to your Address Book. [Click here]( for U.S. federal and state compliance notices [Manage my preferences]( or [unsubscribe](