For many years my Mom, Aunt Rose, my daughters Hannah, Anne and Liz and niece, Kristin, and I have set aside a day before Christmas Eve to make pierogis. This Ukranian/Polish dumpling is made from a circle of noodle dough with a potato filling.
The next step is to fold the circle in half, stretching the circle of dough over the filling, being careful to pinch the edges of dough together using a little flour on your finger tips. The result of the inadequately-closed pierogi is that it opens in the boiling water - making a very watery potato soup.
This is the master pierogi-maker at work. I learned to put them on floured dish towels as we make them so they do not stick. One pierogi cannot touch another one on the tray or they grow into one bigger pierogi that will not be separated. All this from years of experience!
The filling we like to use starts with mashed potatoes. No liquid is added to the potatoes. Cooked sauerkraut that is well-drained is added along with chopped onions, sauteed in butter, grated cheddar cheese, salt and pepper. This year we used our own home-made sauerkraut and onions that we grew.
Anne and Kristin are really good at this. There are no pictures of me rolling out the dough and cutting the circles with a drinking glass. It was all I could do to keep up with these three.
Once they are all made we par-boil them in swirling, salted water, just until they float to the top.
After draining and cooling a little, I put them into freezer bags (12 to a gallon bag), set the bags on baking trays to keep their cute little shapes, then put them in the freezer until Christmas Eve.
They will be cooked again on Christmas Eve, this time until the pasta is tender and the filling is heated through. Over the top goes onions sauteed in butter and a dollop of sour cream. We eat a lot of them, and then not again until the NEXT Christmas Eve.
There are other foods on the table....breaded fish, peas and sweet bread, but you already know enough about those.
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