Pierogi and Salmon

We hit the jackpot with pierogi this year. In our home it was customary to make Polish pierogis on Christmas eve. We always had potato and cheese along with sauerkraut, cabbage and hamburger. But now we rely on Mrs T’s for every day affairs. They make a great side dish as well. This year our son and daughter in law sent us some very different pierogi from a place in Colorado called Baba & Pops, care of Gold Belly. There were four dozen pierogis - two dozen potato and cheese, one dozen pulled pork, and one dozen tomato, basil and mozzarella. So we tried the pulled pork on Friday night as the main dish. We added a bit of barbecue sauce. It was good, but too much meat - for us. But we should have made fewer and had something else with them. Then on Christmas Eve we decided to stay with the traditional potato and cheese but we mixed them up with some salmon, along with broccoli. All of the pierogis look handmade and we were not disappointed with this batch. We are now looking to trying the “Italian” batch. Rather than try those on Christmas we had a small turkey breast, mashed potatoes and peas. It’s always nice to get consumable gifts. It’s interesting to try different things. In the end we always like our own cooking the best. But this was a great diversion! 

Gold Belly Pierogi

We got a text message from our daughter in law yesterday asking if we had received a “peculiar” package. We did receive notice that we had a package but I thought it was medicine so we hadn’t yet picked it up. So my husband went down to the lobby to get it. He came back with a large box. When we opened it it was filled with Gold Belly pierogi. When we were growing up we always had pierogi on Christmas Eve - after spending a lot of time making them with my mom. Potato and sauerkraut/cabbage/hamburger were our favorites. Now we always stock up on Mrs Ty’s and have them routinely all year round. So it was a big surprise and a thoughtful gesture to get polish food for our Christmas gift. there were four packages of three different kinds - potato and cheese, pulled pork, and mozzarella. Rather than wait for Christmas Eve we decided to try the pulled pork last evening. We boiled them first then put them in the frying pan for a bit with olive oil. Then we made the salad and the broccoli as sides. We happened to have some barbecue sauce to add a bit of taste to the pulled pork. It was an interesting combination and we are looking forward to trying the rest tomorrow night. Of course we let our daughter in law know we received the package. It made a very gloomy and rainy day bright. 

Crab Cakes, Pierogi and Brussel Sprouts

We haven’t really gone anywhere since March. Being in the “high risk” age group keeps us away from just about everything - except a morning walk and an occasional drive to the city. We don’t leave the house without a mask and still have groceries delivered. Cooking every night for dinner can become a burden, so every once in a while we will order delivery. Primarily we use Giant for weekly groceries, but also Instacart for Harris Teeter and Fresh Market. I can’t get fresh crab cakes or angel food cake from Giant so it is a treat to get them at Fresh Market along with our favorite spinach pierogi from Harris Teeter. Since my husband is the cook, it’s usually his burden to figure out the menu. So he prepared the pierogi and the Brussel sprouts for dinner. He always adds onions or other items to make them even tastier. We rarely eat all of the pierogi so the next day we had crab cakes along with the leftovers - and some rice. Of course there is always bread and salad. If nothing else the meals always look good and by and large taste better than any restaurant delivery. Food from restaurants just don’t taste the same when it’s take out - unless it was take out all along - like Moby Dick kabobs. I don’t know when we will ever step foot back in to a restaurant again. Thank goodness we have options. 

Mrs. T’s or Golden Pierogies?

I mentioned to my husband a few weeks back that we should stock up on Mrs. T’s pierogies knowing what what was about to come - especially since the spinach and feta selection is sometimes difficult to find. We got a couple of boxes, but now things have changed a lot in just two weeks. Rather than go to the grocery store we decided to try two apps - one for Peapod - for the Giant grocery store, and one for Instacart - for Harris Teeter and several other stores we may eventually need. Both approaches worked really well considering the alternatives. Obviously paper products, hand sanitizers, hand soaps, and toilet paper are still out of stock. We at least got some paper towels today with the Peapod delivery. In order to get most of what you want it’s good to have the second choice replacement checked off on the order. In this case, rather than Mrs. T’s pierogi we ended up with potato and cheese Golden pierogi. It gave us an opportunity to try a new brand and they were good. My husband always adds onions and other items to it anyway. So, we have had the chance to try grocery apps, and different brands than we are used to. It hardly matters anymore - we are all very flexible. 

Polonez Polish Restaurant

It’s been a while. Polish restaurants simply do not exist in the DC area. When we first moved to DC thirteen years ago, we found a sort of  Polish restaurant in Baltimore. We grew up on pierogi, stuffed cabbage and kielbasa. Living in Milwaukee also afforded us a few Polish restaurants. But now there is primarily one - that we know of. So we drove over to Polonez in Cudahy for a Polish treat. We had been there several times before. We took my parents there when they would visit us every October all those years ago. So we ordered the Polish platter - kielbasa, stuffed cabbage, potato pancakes, potato salad, and potato pierogi. We also ordered a couple more saurkraut/mushroom pierogi. For whatever reason we didn’t get a cup of chicken soup - something we really needed because both of us are fighting off terrible colds since we arrived in the Midwest. The salad and rolls filled the bill. So it was a treat to eat Polish food. It’s something one needs on a very rainy and cold evening. 

Cabbage Soup and Pierogi

If you are Polish there are certain food items you grow up with. Pierogi are delicacies that take a lot of time to make - stuffed dumpling dough. We always had two main types - potato & cheese and cabbage & hamburger & onions. And since cabbage is such a well liked item who wouldn’t like cabbage soup? We have a great recipe for it and it’s really good! Rather than make our own pierogi version we always keep well stocked in Mrs T’s from the grocery store. Hers come the closest to what I am most familiar with. The potato and spinach is wonderful, although there are several available variations. So when my husband was thinking of making pierogi the other day for dinner, he usually adds something to it like leftover chicken or bits of ham or tomato something or other. Rather than do the usual additive, he decided the cabbage soup would go well with the potato and cheese pierogi we had on hand. And he was absolutely right. The combination was excellent, although quite filling. So we saved half of the meal for another time. I could eat this sort of thing every day but we do mix it up with our favorite Persian fare - kabobs, yogurt, eggplant - as well as the every day stuff. But being winter, the cabbage soup stands well on its own. 

Polska and Mrs. T's Pierogi and Chocolate

Mrs. T's pierogi come from Pennsylvania and Polska pierogi come from California. We always liked Mrs. T's - especially the potato with feta and spinach. My husband also adds onions to the mix and they are delicious! Of course, nothing could ever replace my mom's original hand made and time consuming pierogi that we always had at Christmas. But while we were at Safeway, I noticed another brand called Polska foods. The saurkraut, cabbage, and mushroom item looked quite promising - and it was. My husband added a bit of ham bits to that mix. Because they were so good, we got another package along with the potato and cheese version. Why am I dreaming of pierogi? Today, we went out to lunch with a good friend who just returned from a trip to Poland, Italy and England. And she brought with her a Polish chocolate/orange treat as a keepsake for us. Because it is written in Polish, I can't read the brand. All I can say is that they too were delicious. It's hard to believe Polish was my first language. That sure didn't last very long. But the craving to eat polish food luckily never disappeared. Thank goodness for frozen food because it's tough to find a polish restaurant here in DC. Milwaukee and Chicago were much different - but we don't live there anymore. 

Polish Festival at St. Stanislaus in Fall River

It's been ages since we attended the Polish festival in Fall River. The last time we were there was for my parents fiftieth wedding celebration. We all joined our family in Boston and made the trip south to visit known and familiar landmarks of days gone by. That's where my parents were born, met, and got married. What I remember about the festival is the food, but also losing my balance and sticking my foot, with shoes and socks, in water after a little boat ride, and having a very soggy and squishy situation on one side only. At a later time, someone threw a dart right in to someone's head! Luckily it didn't stick! My cousin still has connections there, and I found these photos on Facebook advertising the event this coming weekend. I sent the food photo to my mother. She remembers the festival well and has wonderful memories from them all. We are pretty sure the venue has changed, but the event remains the same. There are hundreds of these community activities going on all over the place, but this one brings back a really good feeling. 

The Family Pierogi Recipe

They don't exist in DC - Polish restaurants. In Milwaukee and Chicago they are quite common. There were a few in our neighborhood alone when we first lived there, but less now. And every year at the Lake Michigan Summerfest grounds, there is a Polish festival. We are planning a trip to the Midwest this summer and our friends asked us for my family's pierogi recipe.  I personally have not made them in over thirty years! We tend to buy the ready made versions in the grocery store or at the deli in Rockville. So I started digging around for the old hand written document that I created before I moved away from home. My mother talked, and I wrote. There really isn't much to it, but it does take a lot of time and hand work. I remember sitting with my mom from a very early age preparing the dumpling delights for Christmas Eve. We always had the potato and the cabbage/sauerkraut versions. I'm not sure if we will actually go through with it, but it could be fun if the husbands do all the handiwork. If not, we can always go to the restaurant in the neighborhood. It may not taste as good, but it would be a lot easier. It just wouldn't be the same. 

The Polish Deli - Pierogi, Kielbasa, and Head Cheese?

There are no Polish restaurants in DC. There were several in Milwaukee and Chicago. While in St. Petersburg visiting my parents, we try to stock them up with Polish delights since they no longer drive. There is a Polish Club somewhere that I know we went to a few times when we were kids, but I'm not sure about any sit down places. So we went to the Polish Deli located several miles away and looked around. There was a good selection of pierogie, and different kinda of kielbasa, cookies, and cakes. But what took me by surprise was the head cheese. Apparently my mother used to eat that! Actually her dad had a grocery store in Massachusetts and made all this stuff and more. I think I'll pass on it, but I'm glad she was able to find what she likes. And wouldn't you know the pierogie came from Chicago. What's with DC? I guess we'll have to make due with Mrs. T's. 

A Rainy Day at Costco Beats the Total Wine Store and Macy's

We were thinking about getting our wine restocked and look for some pants to wear around the house when our friend called to say she was making a run to Costco. We became members in November and haven't been back since because we have such a tiny space and the stuff lasts for quite some time. We have toothpaste and razors to last for two years! But since it was a lousy day and we wanted to get a few things anyway, we decided to go. The Christmas decor has all been replaced with spring goods - Easter chocolate bunnies and eggs replaced the Christmas trees and ornaments. I was running out of ink for my printer and decided to get some cartridges, and the wine was selected without difficulty. I could spend a lot of time checking out all the other stuff there, but we needed to be back home for a house appointment. Probably the best part of this outing (aside from the wonderful company) was finding our favorite cheese - P'tit basque. On the way to the check out we noticed a slew of pants just waiting to be taken. So we sorted through them and found two pair. At that price you simply can't go wrong. The parking lot seemed a lot busier than the amount of activity in the place and by the time we got out it was relatively quiet compared to Christmas time. So we are once again well stocked with napkins and Kleenex - and pants! - but need to remember to bring our own bags the next time. One of these days we will get the hang of it.