A Family Tradition

Christmas yields fond memories, but mostly delicious smells in my parents’ home.   

On Christmas Eve every year growing up we would celebrate with my mother’s family, who happens to be Polish and Serbian.  This required traditional Polish/Serbian fare for our meal.  My Grandmother and Mother would spend hours in the kitchen making homemade Pierogi. First came the dough, ravioli type dough made from scratch.  Next the fillings.  It was a tradition in my Grandmother’s kitchen (or should I say her Grandmother’s kitchen) to make both meat and cheese fillings.  Now I know many of you reading this ask yourself, “don’t Pierogi traditionally have a potato or potato and cheese filling?”  Yes, they can be, but Pierogi fillings greatly differ depending on the region you lived in.   My Grandmother and Grandfather used a meat and a cheese filling based on the Serbian traditions from my Grandfather. 


Now, when I help my mother make the Pierogi usually the whole family participates.  My brother has helped us fill the dough and shape the Pierogi and my dad usually pan fries them – the final step. Here are the steps my family uses to make our variation of Pierogi. Oh – I wish Christmas was around the corner again.  Such a special treat! 


Step 1:  Making the Dough - Fannie Farmer Ravioli Dough - Double Recipe - 3 Cups Flour; 2 Eggs; 1 tspn salt; Warm Water -   Sift flour and salt on a board, make depression in center, drop in egg, mix with a fork and moisten with warm water to a stiff dough. Knead until smooth, cover with a warm bowl, and let stand thirty minutes. (Work fast before the dough dries or it will not stick together!)

Step 2: Making the Fillings 
Meat - Fry onion, add 2 pounds fried ground beef, salt and pepper; drain fat (add a small bit of flour to help soak grease).  Add 3 chopped hard boiled eggs. 
Cheese -  8 oz. ricotta cheese; scant finely chopped white onion-raw; 1 raw egg; pinch of salt--mix together. 

Step 3: Rolling the Dough; Filling; Creating that Special Braid 

Roll out dough paper thin; cut with biscuit cutter or coffee mug.  Stretch the dough into a thin, round disc.  Fill the dough with either meat or cheese filling.  Leave enough room to seal - folding the dough over and pressing the edges together.  Create a braid border to seal the edges, folding over the dough in small sections. 

Step 4: Boil - Boil gently for ten minutes, or until all pierogi are floating.  Drain.  Arrange on a platter so they won't stick together. 

Step 5: Pan Fry - We use a European style butter - generous portions!  Pan fry the Pierogi until golden brown and crisp. 


Step 6: Enjoy!


We eat these with a dollop of sour cream.  My mouth is watering just thinking about our wonderful tradition!

A Christmas Eve Brunch

                            

Christmas is here!
I love Christmas.  Our immediate family gathers together at my Mom and Dad's to celebrate the holiday.  Christmas is a smaller celebration than Thanksgiving.  It is quieter, more relaxed and wonderful.  (Don't let me mislead you, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  We are able to see all of our aunts, uncles and cousins.  We share wonderful meals and are always laughing!)  



We decided to start Christmas Eve this morning with a festive brunch.  I made a Sausage Cheese Breakfast Casserole last night to pop into the oven this morning.  It called for turkey sausage and low-fat cheese to lighten this casserole.  I did use a full-fat cheese for added flavor, but followed the recipe otherwise.  It was unbelievably delicious and still fairly low in calories to help us conserve for all of the Christmas cookies.  


Georgia Peaches anyone?  Yes, please!  I used one ounce Peach Schnapps, one ounce orange juice and filled the rest of the glasses with champagne.  Oh my goodness, so good.  And it is never to early on Christmas to have a little bubbly!







I've been promising my brother, A, for months that I would make him the blueberry streusel muffins.  As an added side dish, I whipped these up this morning.  As good as ever - super moist and filled with blueberries.  Yum.


My cousin, J, was a tremendous help this morning.  He even made the potatoes.  He baked them, then sliced them adding them to a pot with butter and diced onions.  Wow.  No better way to start the day!


Merry Christmas!

Cookie Extravaganza

Kitchen is clean, butter is at room temperature and the Christmas music is playing.  Let the baking festivities begin!


Many people host holiday cookie exchanges to make baking for the holidays easier.  Now I know why!  I spent the weekend baking.  It was absolutely wonderful, but a true challenge.  I started with making homemade dog biscuits for my sisters puppy.  A lovely Christmas gift from the heart.  The biscuits came out wonderfully.  They were a little puffy, but they smelled of chicken and looked like the expensive dog biscuits you buy in the high-end shops, so I was happy.  Now on to the cookies for humans!


I want to give cookies away this year as a nice treat for people.  I'm making the cookie I'm known for - the classic chocolate chip.  I've made chocolate chip cookies more times than I can count.  This is the cookie that got me started on baking as a hobby!  They are wonderfully delicious, and super easy to make.  I made a double batch to ensure plenty for the family and all of my gift boxes!  

Next up - Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies.  This recipe is a family recipe.  I remember my Aunt A making these when I was a kid.  Exactly how they sound, ooey, gooey, buttery, melt in your mouth - YUM!  These still are an all time favorite at our house.  


And don't forget the sugar cookies!  I made a double batch of these so I could give plenty away and still have some left over for the family.  I made these for A and C's baby shower, and they were a huge hit.  I'm hoping these will go over just as well, if not better than the last time I made them.  I chose a variety of shapes to get into the holiday spirit, Christmas trees, stockings, candy canes, gingerbread men, stars and snowmen.  Decorating is a bit of a challenge.  I'm not sure I have the right tools to make these look as awesome as they could, but close enough!  And practice makes perfect, so I guess I'll just have to make more of these in the near future.


I am looking forward to giving these sweet treats away and sharing them with my family.  Looking forward to Christmas!


Happy holidays!