There is a new HandPicked Design Challenge at They Draw & Cook. This time the topic is Global Cuisine and it's Curated by Joy Aquilino, an Editorial Director at Quarry Books and Rockport Publishers.

Here is my entry:

It's holiday season already, and I wanted to illustrate a recipe for traditional Russian salad that is still a must-have for New Year's dinner in my family.

It's a layered salad that is usually arranged on the platter in a certain order. Pickled sliced herring is laid on the bottom of the platter, and covered with layers of grated ingredients: fresh onion, boiled potatoes, carrots, eggs, and beets. Salad is dressed with a mixture of sour cream and mayonnaise and decorated with grated egg yolk.

I was born in the Soviet Union and decided to bring that atmosphere to my illustration.