1. Done by Alice Baranov, 6 grade.

2. Pancake week is a Russian religious and folk holiday. It is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent—that is, the seventh week before Pascha (Easter). Maslenitsa corresponds to the Western Christian Carnival, except that Orthodox Lent begins on a Monday instead of a Wednesday.

3. Maslenitsa includes masquerades, snowball fights, sledding, riding on swings and plenty of sleigh rides. In some regions, each day of Maslenitsa had its traditional activity: one day for sleigh-riding, another for the sons-in-law to visit their parents-in-law, another day for visiting the godparents, etc.

4. In old times people usually cooked pancakes, had fires, burnt straw figures of winter, then sang songs and danced. Now during “Maslenitsa week” people always cook pancakes. They invite their friends, their nearest and dearest, to see each other and eat pancakes with sour cream, fish, caviar or butter, sugar, honey.

5. 500 g/18 oz/4 cups wheat flour 500 ml/2¼ cups milk 10 g/1½ Tsp salt 100 ml/½ cup cream 2 eggs 50 g/2 oz/¼ cup sugar 50 g/2 oz (½ stick) softened unsalted butter 20 g/1½ Tbsp fresh yeast vegetable oil First, prepare the starter. Dissolve the yeast in 300 ml of warm milk, add 150 g of flour, mix it thoroughly, and leave it to rise in a warm place for at least an hour. Cream together the softened butter with the egg yolks, sugar, salt, and remaining milk. Once the dough rises, add the egg-oil mixture, and beat in the remaining flour, mix until it is thoroughly combined. Carefully mix and knead the dough several times. Let it rest in between. Add well- beaten egg whites to cream, stir them together carefully, then, fold them with care into the dough. When these pancakes are done, they are best served with sour cream, melted butter, salted fish, and caviar.

6. http://02varvara.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/its- pancake-time-best-recipes-for-maslenitsa/ http://02varvara.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/its- pancake-time-best-recipes-for-maslenitsa/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslenitsa THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION