Posted on 08/04/2023 5:58:16 PM PDT by DallasBiff
This pierogi recipe for Polish dumplings has been a family favorite from generation to generation. We traditionally make these for Christmas, but they can be made for any special event. There's some work involved, but the outcome is rewarding! The boiled pierogies can be fried in butter and onions or served with sour cream.
(Excerpt) Read more at allrecipes.com ...
You’re sorta right. I wasn’t a terribly picky eater, due mostly to my father’s flying fist if you complained. I did have my moments, though. I was told to eat my one most absolutely hated meal on my fifth birthday, beef stew, starring the cheapest cut of beef you could ever find, and every vegetable that I hated, carrots and peas. And The Wizard of Oz was on tv that night. Couldn’t watch until every bite was eaten. Boy did I try to not eat those peas and carrots. I never forgot that lesson. My whole family has heard the story over and over.
However, when I was a mom, I would pore over cookbooks and recipes in order to feed my family delicious and nutritious meals. My oldest would often complain. I admit there was a time when I absolutely refused to cook dinner at all. Either we went out, hubby cooked, or the kids cooked, or they went without. It didn’t take long for me sticking to my guns on the issue. Lasted just a week or so.
For the record, I’m not a poor cook, not at all. Just there were a lot of kids in the neighborhood who liked chicken nuggets, and my kids wanted to be like them. I would make things like creamy chicken with wine sauce over noodles, beef stroganoff, or chicken cacciatore.
Yes, that son has apologized. He’s a dad now, and is very understanding of where we were, and how sometimes he wasn’t grateful for that absolutely delicious meal in front of him, no matter how much love/work I had put into it.
Amazingly, or not, each of my kids is a proficient chef in one way or another. That son is a pretty darn good BBQer. I think you might call us a foodie family. Always trying to outdo each other.
Holiday cooking is absolute craziness, and the best meals you’ve ever had. Ok, the best meals we’ve ever had.
We had killer Beef Wellington from scratch for Christmas dinner last year, including the homemade puff pastry part. It was excellent. I don’t know if we will ever outdo that meal. Hard to beat.
Please keep the food posts! I love them!
My Czech grandma made fig, prune, or apricot kolachen when I was a kid. The only place I’ve ever been where they were close to Grandma’s was a little place somewhere in the DFW area. I don’t remember exact where anymore, but they were close!
Fill them with leftover from the week and save on that grocery bill.
Not a fan of sauerkraut but do keep a can to put in a dark chocolate cake batter.
Super cool.
Great technique.
I had friends that did that with my mom. Thing was, they were only friends to me. Good friends, but I just wasn’t interested in them. Perhaps they were only calling for the cooking, but I think not.
“I know I was a brat, but now I love kielbasa and sauerkraut.”
My mom’s family is from Germany by way of England. Every one of them loved sauerkraut. They had kraut at every family picnic, and there were several each summer.
I absolutely hated kraut and wouldn’t eat it. The aunts would fix plates for the kids and always put kraut on every plate. I couldn’t get up until I ate the damned kraut.
Skip to today and I love kraut. I put it on hotdogs, sausages, hamburgers, really anything it strikes my fancy to adorn with the zesty cabbage.
In a pinch I default to my hometown bakery that is closest to Grandma’s nut and poppyseed Kolachi. They ship anywhere.
https://buttermaidbakery.com/collections/kolachi-rolls
The bohemian version was sauerkraut with sausage and drop dumplings. Baked in a covered casserole dish. It was okay. I liked it better when I aged, but as a young sprout I liked momma’s meatloaf a lot better.
I made pierogies from scratch just once - took a long time and they were delicious. I used my Slovak aunt’s recipe and filled them with potatoes and cheese.
Turns out Mrs. T’s are quite good and much less effort, so I haven’t made them again. Potato and cheese filling, boiled and buttered is how I like them.
Interesting! Grandma’s kolachen were more like what might be called a Danish here in the states. Not quite a donut, and was baked not fried. The middle had the filling.
Looked more like these.
https://kolachefactory.com/food-items/standardpartytray
I don’t think this is the place that I used to go to, unless they’ve changed locations, but this is what my Grandma’s kolachen looked like. If I ever get back to Dallas, I’m heading here.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/four-czechs-bakery-fate?osq=kolaches
All right.... where’s the Polish kiszka recipe?!
I must have put on 20 pounds when I lived in Poland. I love Polish (and Eastern European) food. I loved it so much I learned how to make all from scratch including my own pickles and sauerkraut. Only tough thing here where I live is to find fresh beets and the pickling cucumbers bumper crop every year.
My favorite pierogies are the cabbage, sauerkraut and mushroom in barzcz czerwony. Or pierogies with zopa ogorkova... Or bigos...
PS... I cheat and buy Polish sausage from the local meat house.
LOL!!!
Reminds Me of when My Parents bought a supply of Dehydrated Foods when I was a kid. There was dehydrated beef chunks that weren’t too bad. One day a butter tub of them was left on the counter and Our Cat- Tiki was a huge (had a 13-1/2” neck) black cat that was meaner than a junkyard dog and ruled the neighborhood. He’d come back home after being gone a few days and would have a big draining hole on the side of His face and be all scratched up from fighting other cats and He was the winner of the fights. He’d lay around the house for a few days and heal up.
One time He ate the whole bowl of that meat and then started drinking water. He started to swell up and when We figured out what had happened we called the Veterinary Office and asked what to do. They said to only give Him a limited amount of water to prevent exploding His stomach and in a few days it would start to pass. It was 1-1/2 weeks before He was back to normal.
He stopped jumping up on the counter after that to steal food.
One Lady I Dated was Hungarian and would make a Sweet Poppy Seed Bread at Christmas time. I LOVED IT (and Her) !!! One of the best things I’ve ever eaten. She had to keep it in the freezer to slow Me down eating it. I really miss both of them. Her 1st of course...
The town of West — Osteen’s kolache stop — was one of the state’s Czech hubs. The town, approximately 76 miles from Dallas, bills itself dually as: “Czech Heritage Capital Texas” and “Home of the official kolache of the Texas Legislature.”
While you can find kolaches almost anywhere in the United States, outside of Texas, they remain most popular in areas where Czech immigrants settled, such as Nebraska, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.
But for generations, Texans have flocked to West, and especially to the Czech Stop, to satisfy their kolache cravings.
Barbara Schissler, one of the Czech Stop owners, said the range of kolache flavors has expanded as non-Czechs have discovered kolaches. Aside from the traditional kolache fillings — prune, poppy seed and cream cheese — the menu also includes pineapple, cherry and pineapple among others.
I've got to call them later today and see if they will ship Me some now...
Bkmk- THANK YOU!!!
“In a pinch I default to my hometown bakery that is closest to Grandma’s nut and poppyseed Kolachi. They ship anywhere.”
There was a wonderful Czech restaurant near the Chicago suburb I lived in (Bohemian Crystal) that had the most wonderful kolachi’s and Apple Strudel. Wish I was eating them this very minute. I’m in FL now. Wonder if I can find some Kolachi’s in a bakery down here somewhere. More a northern food; however FL is now chock full of escaping Northerners.
Thanks for the article. I’m pretty sure the place I went to was in Coppell. Sounds like they sold their business, but that the new owners learned how to make them. I believe I have my grandma’s recipe somewhere, not sure. I loved her apricot and prune ones best.
I smiled when I saw this headline. We had Pierogi’s last night for dinner! Not home made but Mrs T’s which really are pretty good. My Grandmother used to make Pierogi’s in her basement. She had a whole assembly line set up. She had a stove, sink and basically a kitchen in her basement.
Since I loved them, I decided I should watch her and get the recipe. Big problem for me cause she NEVER measured anything. lol
So, I watched, wrote down what I THOUGHT would be correct measurements and took the “recipe” home. My first attempt, they were so bad, even my dogs wouldn’t eat them. lol My husband said they were like hockey pucks. lol
Many years later, I found a recipe online that looked to be close to what I had written down from my Grandmother. That batch was delicious! Even my dad said they tasted just like his Mom used to make!
Making them from scratch is a messy and long job, so I don’t make them often but divert back to Mrs. T’s. Boil them, then fry them in some butter and onions....with a big glob of sour cream....Yum!!!
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