Pierogi Day!

Hands up everyone who loves pierogis!
Alright then, hands up everyone who's heard of pierogis!

My family acquired a deep passion for these when we lived in Toronto after having been introduced to them by a cousin's wife. Thank you, Tonia! You could get them in supermarkets but she made them too and they were good.

Then we moved back to the UK and were forced to MAKE them. Because it's time-consuming and fiddly, we only make them a couple of times a year, but my kids get all excited about them. Grace loves pierogis so much she is willing to do cooking types jobs which she normally loathes.

They are pasta-type dumplings filed with a mixture of mashed potato, onion and cheese. I mean, what could be more perfect? You boil them first and then, believe it or not, fry them in butter!

I will give a recipe later. You make a pasta-type dough first and need the strength of ten men to roll it out because it's very stiff. If you can't find 10 men, then you just have to put your back into it, woman.Cut out thin circles of dough, press a teaspoon's worth of filling into the centre, brush half the inside edge with water and fold up to make a little parcel. Crimp with a fork, which is a very important part of the process. Do you like my apron? I wish I could say that is my bottom in the above picture, but I can't.
Grace likes to cook with lots of jewelry on.

Drop them into a pan of boiling water and when they float back to the surface fish them out and drop them onto a drying rack. Look at the little darlings!

When you're ready to eat, fry gently in butter (or butter and oil mix.)
Serve with fried onion, or bacon, if you like and apple sauce and sour cream.

What can I say?
I believe these derive from various parts of Mittel Europe, but WARNING!, in some places they are filled with sauerkraut! That just seems like an abomination to me.

Pierogi Recipe

Dough
4 cups flour sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup lukewarm water

For filling
3 cups mashed potato
1 onion, finely chopped and gently fried until soft
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
mixed together

Mix the dough ingredients together, adding the water a little at a time. The dough should not be sticky. Roll out thinly on a lightly floured surface. Cut out circles of dough about 8 cm across. (Use a can lid for approximate dimensions.)

Fill with a tsp of the filling. Wet one side with water and fold together. Crimp with a fork. Find at least 2 children or an octopus to help you with this process.

Drop into boiling water. Remove to a cooling rack to dry after each pierogi floats to the surface.

When ready to eat, fry gently, in batches in butter and/or olive oil (I like a mixture of both) till they are heated through and beginning to take on colour.

Serve with fried onion, grilled bacon, sour cream and apple sauce. And don't forget to invite me.

Makes about 60, which will be enough for me.
Oh alright, and about 3 other people.