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I’m making Mom’s Homemade Perogies.  It’s a family recipe that is tender, tasty, tangy, and delicious!  I’ve filled them with potatoes and extra sharp cheddar cheese.

 

Mother’s Day is next weekend.

How are you going to show YOUR mother you love her??  For us at #SundaySupper, we’re cooking up some or of our favorite recipes from Mom.  From banana bread to fried chicken to apple pie, we’re serving up some of your Mom’s recipes.

Now, my mom and I haven’t been all that close in the recent years.  So, when I saw the theme of this week’s Sunday Supper I had an idea of what I wanted to make, but I really did want to make sure I was making one of my mom’s favorite recipes.  So, I sent her a message on Facebook.  Yes, I know.  But, you see, I’m really not a huge fan of talking to people on the phone.  I’ll babble your “ear” off in email or text, but not so much in person or on the phone.  Mom knows this.  My sister is the total opposite.  Mom knows this, too.

When I think of family recipes, I think of the cookbook I put together when my sister got married.  I worked with my parents and my aunt to write down all the recipes we had when we were growing up.  Yup.  I made a family cookbook!!

Now some of the recipes, like this perogy recipes –

and yes that’s how we’ve always written it –

are pretty basic with very little instructions.  The recipe listed the sour cream, water (which I substituted the cream for), butter, and salt.  Then it said to combine the sour cream with the water and salt and add flour until it’s no longer sticky.  Yup.  That’s kind of what you’d think an old family recipe would read.

Now that I know how some of them were written, I think it needs a rewrite.  No, I admittedly have not cracked it open all that often.  I have opened it a few times.  I made the Derby Pie that’s in there.  Yes, it used to be top secret.  I mean, we were having Derby parties before it was popular!!  And this recipe did come from a Lexington newspaper clipping, so it IS authentic.

I’ll be cracking it up for the pimento cheese that Nana used to make.  It was SO GOOD!  I’ve cracked it open for the Norwegian cookies that I haven’t shared yet.  So, yes, I’ve busted it open a few times to make some family favorites.  I just haven’t shared them all on the blog yet.  When I re-write them, they will definitely be going on the blog.

It has been decades – DECADES – since I’ve made these.

And I’ve never made them alone.  Mom was usually right there with me helping me make them.  So, for some of the time I was making the dough, I almost didn’t because I just couldn’t remember.  But, I didn’t stop.  This was an homage to my mother who never stops.  She never gives up.  She just keeps swimming.  So, I just kept at it and made some delicious perogies!

I didn’t remember that the dough was made up almost entirely of sour cream!  I love that.  It makes the dough tender and have amazing flavor.  So much more than those store brought kind.  I used fat free sour cream, but you can use whatever sour cream you like.  I used mashed potato and cheese filling.  And I did splurge on the cheese and used some ultra-sharp Cabot cheddar.  This paired well with the sour cream in the dough and gave them more cheddar flavor than I could have hoped for!

Now, I know that food memories usually aren’t as good as you remember.  Something about remembering I better than it actually was.  But, I have to say that perogies tasted just like I remember!!  The flood of memories that came back when I bit into one of these babies was so overwhelming!  Dinners waiting for the cabbage rolls to cook in the pressure cooker.  Putting the spoon under the weight for the steam to escape before opening to that amazing aroma of cabbage and sausage and tomatoes.  That one dinner we had in Winnipeg where I had borscht for the first time and fell in love with the delicious, red soup.

They all just sort of hit me like a truck.

Why didn’t I serve these with cabbage rolls like we used when I was a kid?  Well, the hubs isn’t a huge fan of them.  I’ve made them a few times and they’re just not his cup of tea.  So, I looked for a recipe that would honor the Eastern European dish to serve with these gems.

I stumble on a ground pork based, breaded cutlet that I thought would be perfect!  And I was right.  It was delicious.  I toasted the panko before breading them and baked them in the oven so they were healthier than being fried.  They had great flavor with the mustard and marjoram.  You’ll have to wait for this recipe, though.  It’ll be part two of this post.

I almost did a haluski recipe with these perogies, then but I thought it would be a carb overload if I had perogies and noodles.  So, I took the cabbage and simply sautéed it with some almost butter, salt, and pepper for a deliciously simple side.  When the cabbage was finished, I used the same pan to brown the perogies.  It added a level of flavor I wasn’t expecting with the perogies.

 

Yep!  That’s what dinner looked like.

It was oh so good!!  At one point the hubs said to me, “I didn’t know you could cook Polish!”  I said, “I know how to cook Polish.  I know how to cook perogies, and I think this is a Ukrainian recipe.  They’re pretty easy and I half the dough to make more later.”

Yeah.  I cooked up half the dough, which was more than enough perogies for me the hubs to have dinner and me some lunch for the next day.  There’s still one serving in the fridge.  I’m guessing half the dough would make enough for 8 people.  You could stretch it more if you cut the circles a little smaller.  I used a 2 cup plastic container that made about a 4 inch round circle.  They made the perogies a good size for dinner.  If you cut them a little smaller, you could make more perogies or appetizer sized ones for a party.

I always remember Mom sautéing them with some onions.  The onions would get all nice and crispy caramelized.  Sometimes we’d cook them with some bacon to make them even more tasty.  I might sauté the next batch with some Brussels sprouts, because I’m addicted to them and just KNOW that they’d be perfect with these tasty, homemade perogies.  Oooooh.  Maybe Brussels sprouts and bacon!  Now there’s a winning combination.

That’s what is so perfect about making your own perogies; you can make any flavor you like.  Feta and spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella, chorizo and queso blanco – I mean, seriously, the possibilities are endless!!  OH!  Brie and strawberries.  Apples and cheddar.  Bananas and chocolate!  Dessert perogies!  That would be so good.

But, in honor of Mom, I’m keeping these traditional.

They’re so good and bring back so many memories of spending time in the kitchen cooking up delicious dinners or baking some holiday cookies with her.  I know the rest of the #SundaySupper members are serving up a delicious range of recipes for our tribute to your moms.  Make sure you see what their mothers cooked up for them.

Salads, Side Dishes, and Sauces:

• Mom’s Homemade Perogies by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Mom’s Potato Salad by Palatable Pastime

Main Dishes:

• Chicken and Egg Salad Sandwich by The Freshman Cook
• Fried Smelt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Jean’s Best Vegetable Soup by Food Lust People Love
• Mom’s Lentil Toastadas by Grumpy’s Honeybunch
• Shirley’s Potato Soup by Our Good Life

Desserts:

• Apple Bread Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Apple Crisp by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Carrot Cream Cheese Coffee Cake by Pies and Plots
• Crustless Pecan Pie Rice Pudding by Desserts Required
• Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Cake by What The Fork Food Blog
• Mom’s Apple Pie by Wholistic Woman
• Rocky Road Brownie Sundae for Mom by The Weekend Gourmet
• Sour Cream Cheesecake by Magnolia Days