Pierogies!!!! (pĭ-rō'gē)

With my Aunt Michelle visiting from Arizona, it was a perfect time to make pierogies!! She basically demanded it as well : ), she wanted to learn so she could make them at home. So, my Dad made a large vat of kapusta (sauerkraut cooked down with ham hocks, cloves, peppercorns, and bacon) and the house smelled heavenly. Of course we all spoke of the times of when we made them when I was little, and when Nanny(my grandmother) would make them by the thousands. Her cut out for the dough was shot glass yet they were overstuffed with the cabbage filling!

My Dad taught Michelle the rule of threes and how to kneed the dough and they got to work. They made 4 normal doughs with sour cream and one with olive oil to compare. Michelle then picked out the black pepper corns and whole cloves out of the kapusta because there is nothing worse than chomping on a pepper ball! Yuk! They never did this back in the day so I guess this is a modern improvisation. We let the doughs rest for about an hour and then started to roll them out. I am not going to lie, I really didn't help as much as I wanted to. Jed woke up pretty much right when we started so Michelle made majority of the pierogies.

This lead to us eating Chinese for dinner, I don't think anyone wanted to cook or eat a pierogi after the hundreds that were made. The next day I came in with my brother after lunch to find my cousin Lou E, Aunt Michelle, Dad, and Poppy having warm pierogies for lunch. A little butter, a pinch of salt on top of a boiled recipe that hasn't changed in years. Comfort food doesn't get more wholesome than that.

Dough

Kapusta

Cut outs

Finished!

Pierogi Slave