Pierogi (Polish pronunciation: [pjɛˈrɔɡʲi]; are dumplings of unleavened dough – first boiled, then they are baked or fried usually in butter with onions – traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit. Of central and eastern European provenance, they are usually semicircular, but are rectangular or triangular in some cuisines.

Sunday, Aimee and Ryan spent a large portion of their day making pierogi with Teresa manning the boiling pot. Actually, the preparation of the ingredients began on Saturday to make Sunday’s session shorter than last year’s 10-hour pieorgi assembly marathon. It’s an annual event for Aimee and Ryan, as well as for Ryan’s parents in Chicago. The recipe, as I understand it, is a family recipe that came with Ryan’s ancestors from the old country. In this case, Poland. Since Ryan and Aimee have been together, they have served us Pierogi on Christmas Eve. If not Christmas Eve, we get a pieorgi feast at some point during the holidays to celebrate Christmas. Pierogi are amazing. Especially when stuffed with sauerkraut. Throw in some Polish sausage and a beer and I’m in heaven.

Because this is a family recipe, Aimee and Ryan will teach Henry how to make these delectable flavor pillows, so he can keep the family tradition alive. He took a short turn in the kitchen yesterday for fun. The next time, it’ll be for real. I’m counting down the days until we gorge ourselves on pierogi and polish sausage.

If you want to know a little bit more about pierogi, here’s a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierogi