My Grandfather's mother, we'll call her Grandma N, for now, was from Poland and brought over many great traditional recipes. Two of which I grew up with were, Peirogies and Babbka. At that time, it was such a large family, so when my grandmother was a young bride, she would sit and help make these peirogies. They were a lot of work, making the dough, rolling the dough, grinding the meat, (yes, I said meat, I'll get back to that later), stuffing the dough, boiling the peirogies, packaging for the freezer (if there are any left!).
After my Great Grandmother passed away, my Grandmother continued to make these wonderful Polish dumplings.
We were now a smaller family, but the peirogies are still a lot of work no matter how many people are in the family. So she would make these once a year with my mother and I. The meat would be hand ground with a crank meat grinder and the dough would be kneaded and rolled by hand. Each little round dumpling stuffed and sealed by hand and each one a work of art unto it's self. The way I can describe them, they look like an Italian Tortelloni. My Grandmother had the patience of completing the task by herself after I would loose interest and say I didn't want to do it any more.
We were now a smaller family, but the peirogies are still a lot of work no matter how many people are in the family. So she would make these once a year with my mother and I. The meat would be hand ground with a crank meat grinder and the dough would be kneaded and rolled by hand. Each little round dumpling stuffed and sealed by hand and each one a work of art unto it's self. The way I can describe them, they look like an Italian Tortelloni. My Grandmother had the patience of completing the task by herself after I would loose interest and say I didn't want to do it any more.
Well time wore on, my Mom and Grandmother sold the house and moved into a condo. But where did the hand crank grinder go to make the peirogies? No one knew, at first we thought it was given to my Uncle but he said "no, he had no use for it". Then they resigned themselves to the fact it may have been thrown away in the move. So from that point on, no more peirogies. You see, the meat has be a specific grind. It can't be too course and it can't be too smooth like a paste. The grinders were so expensive that we were just never able to replace it. How will life be without those wonderful pillows of stuffed dough with oniony meat, fried in butter. Just the thought makes me want to cry.
A couple of years ago, my mom gave me the commercial KitchenAid standing mixer. My husband bought the grinder attachment. A few times I made homemade ground hamburgers. The grinder comes with two dies, course and small.
Before the Christmas Holidays, I was sitting with my mother and grandmother (who is now 93) talking about the peirogies. I said we should try using my meat grinder on the mixer to see how they would come out. So we had a plan in place. They would have to drive to me and we would have to do it at my house. From that point, I started saving all my leftover roasts and putting them in the freezer.
A couple of weeks ago, mom calls me and said you need to buy this, this and this and we're coming up to make the pierogies. My heart leapt with excitement to know my daughter will now be able to be part of a family tradition from her Great, Great Grandmother, how priceless.
We ground the meat through the electric food grinder, perfect. I made the dough in the standing mixer, perfect, we cut out the rounds with a glass they way it's supposed to be, stuffed them all by hand, boiled them, buttered them, and packaged a total of 450 pierogies in one day. My daughter had a hand in every step of the process with never a complaint of being bored, unlike her mother.
We all sat around the table, my Grandmother, Mother, Daughter and myself stuffing these pillows of goodness and telling stories about family relatives, talking about family gossip and cherishing the time that four generations sat at the same table and were able to share this meaningful tradition together.
My mother and grandmother were happy to leave with her little treasure bundles, some to give to my uncle and some to keep for themselves. My daughter is also very lucky to be able to share four generations during her life and gift of a tradition was given to her that she will always remember and cherish and someday share with her daughter.
Next time you make something, maybe it's a cake, a roast or whatever it is, share it with your kids and/or grandchildren, because you never know what will turn out to be a handed down tradition in your family.
I'm sorry there is no recipe attached to this post. We hold dear certain recipes that are not allowed outside the family. But I can tell you that next time you enjoying a bowl of Tortelloni pasta remember the story of the "Four generations"
Easter is coming, I have been given the task of making Grandma N's Babbka, only made during this time of year.
Happy Easter and Happy Passover All!
Next time you make something, maybe it's a cake, a roast or whatever it is, share it with your kids and/or grandchildren, because you never know what will turn out to be a handed down tradition in your family.
I'm sorry there is no recipe attached to this post. We hold dear certain recipes that are not allowed outside the family. But I can tell you that next time you enjoying a bowl of Tortelloni pasta remember the story of the "Four generations"
Easter is coming, I have been given the task of making Grandma N's Babbka, only made during this time of year.
Happy Easter and Happy Passover All!
