by Kara
(yes, Kara).

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Alright. It took me four months, but here I am – back to writing. Vicki and Katie have been very patient with me for the last few months, not hounding me daily or charging me 10 cents for weeks I didn’t write anything (winter months are tight, guys; 10 cents is a lot).

In all honesty, I do love to write, but I am very dependent on my Muse. My muse is known by most people as “Procrastination”. My best works come from last minute writing. Unfortunately, blogging does not give me deadlines (and Vicki and Katie don’t threaten to fail me for late assignments – although after reading this, they might start to). So over the past four months, I’ve come up with all kinds of things I should write about, and then think “but the kitchen needs to be cleaned and the cookies need to be baked, and I still have time before the blog post needs to be up”. You would think around three months ago I would have realized that I did NOT have time before the blog post needed to be up, but alas.

I know procrastination is not a great character trait, and I am working on my time management (but when did days get so short?), so the step I am taking towards that goal today is writing a blog post, without a deadline.

As promised, I’m going to share the recipe I used to make homemade perogies (I did a quick post about it on our Instagram).

(“Perogies” is an Americanization of the word “pierogi”, singular “pierog”. For the purposes of this blog post, I’m using “perogies”, since that is how they are fondly know in our house.)

If you have never tried perogies, I definitely recommend that you do. They are a Polish type of dumpling that, according to Wikipedia, can be stuffed with potatoes, sauerkraut, meat, cheese, or even fruit. I’ve only ever had potato perogies, mostly because once I find something I really enjoy, I don’t like to risk trying a variation that I might not enjoy quite as much.

The first time I had perogies was after I got married. We would by a big box of frozen perogies from Costco and enjoy them as a quick and easy lunch when we were both home. I must warn you: homemade perogies are fairly easy, but they are not quick. They are much more tasty than the frozen ones are, though.

The Recipe:

The Dough:

Since I did not make any modifications to the recipe for the dough, I’m just going to post the link here. (Note: I did use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, but that’s not so much a ‘modification’ as substituting one thing for something else that is essentially the same thing. It’s a swap that can be made any time, any place).

The Filling: Potato, Cheese, & Bacon

2 cups mashed potatoes
1/2 cup cheese
4 slices bacon, fried and cut into small pieces
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika

Combine all ingredients (make sure the potatoes are still hot so that the cheese melts). Mix with an immersion blender so that its is nice and smooth (it will also be quite sticky).

Put it all together:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Roll the perogi dough into a thin sheet. Using a drinking glass, cut as many circles out of the dough as possible (My circles were about 9cm in diameter. I also did mine in batches, since I do not have enough counter space to do it all at once).
3. Drop a small amount of the filling in the center of each circle. Since it was so sticky, I used a piping bag & tip to do this, so that I didn’t get it all over my fingers.
   
4. Fold the circles in half over the filling, and pinch closed (you can also press them closed with a fork).
5. Drop the perogies in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes (until they float). Remove from the water with tongs, and set them on a plate.
6. Fry your perogies. I like mine brown and crispy, but if you like them a little more doughy, don’t fry them for too long.
7. Top with shredded cheese and sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and enjoy

 

I must say, making perogies from scratch is a lot more time consuming than making them from a box. But they are delicious, and so worth it! If your family loves perogies, definitely give these a try!