Russian Tea:

No Russian table is complete without a samovar. This is an urn in which water is boiled to make tea. In Old Russia samovars were heated with coal. Now most of them are electric. Russians like to drink sweet black tea with lemon, varenye (kind of jam but thinner) or milk. You can see a small tea pot in the foreground. This contains very strong (concentrated) tea. The silver samovar contains hot water with which to dilute the tea to the desired strength. Each cup is diluted to the individual's taste. This picture was taken during 1996 New Year holiday. This was in fact the occasion where my husband, Dave, first met with my relatives in Russia.