Perogies

Per…what?? Yes, perogies. There are about 15 different spellings of this word and it just depends on what country you are from. They basically are a dough/dumpling filled with potatoes, onions, cheese, and seasonings. Usually they are boiled and served with sautéed with onions and sour cream on the side. I first tasted home-made perogies while visiting friends in Saskatchewan a few years back. They were very good especially since I had only tasted store-bought ones once which you shouldn’t even compare to the real home-made ones! :)

Many of the small Saskatchewan towns have a strong Ukrainian influence-the people, accents, churches, cooking, etc. If a conversation comes around to cooking, you can almost guarantee that perogies and sauerkraut will be discussed at some point. Recently I was served perogies when having dinner at a neighbour’s. I asked for the recipe and not long after she stopped by with the recipe and a bag of frozen perogies! Just last week I finally got around to making perogies which gave me two things: a sense of accomplishment and that I am on track to becoming a real Saskatchewanite. :) Now for the sauerkraut…well, let’s just stick to perogies for the time being. :)

Perogie Dough:

10 C flour

1 T salt

¼ t baking powder

1 C lard

3 C warm water

1 egg, beaten

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients; cut in lard. Add in water and egg. Mix all together to form dough.

Roll out dough to about an 1/8” thickness. Cut out circles 3” in diameter. My drinking glass rims were too small so I used my ½ C measuring cup. Place about 1 T of filling (recipe below) on center of dough, fold over, and pinch edges.






Note #1: The original recipe called for 4 C of water but I started with 3 and only ended up needing a little more than that.

Note #2: If you want to make the dough ahead of time it will keep in the fridge for a couple days. Just wrap dough in saran wrap so it doesn’t dry out

Filling:

Potatoes
Cheese
Onion
Garlic

Boil about 7 or 8 med-large potatoes. Mash with butter, milk, salt and pepper. Add grated or small chunks of cheddar cheese while potato mixture is still warm so it will melt.

Caramelize or sauté onions and garlic. I used 3 large onions and 4 cloves of garlic and thought at the start I had taken the “tons of onions” recommendation from friends too seriously. The amount seemed a little excessive but after tasting one from the first cooked batch had I knew I had used the right amount. :)

For more flavour you can also add bacon bits, chives, dill, or parsley to the filling.

I place the perogies on a cookie rack set inside a cookie sheet and freeze them. This will keep them from sticking to each other when you bag them. Perogies freeze very well so, while this recipe makes a big batch of dough, it is great to make several dozen at once rather than having to make smaller batches more often.




Cooking Instructions:

Place frozen perogies in boiling water. Perogies will float when they are done (about 6-8 min.) You can add them to additionally sautéed onions with sour creams served on the side, if desired.

If you try this recipe I’d love to hear your results and opinions! :)

Few more snow pics from around the yard

First snow!

So, I welcomed the unofficial beginning of my first Saskatchewan winter.

Winter made her abrupt appearance earlier on this week. 6" arrived in less than 24 hours followed by 60 kph wind gusts. An inch of rain had arrived a day before before the snow, the snow itself was wet and then the temperature dipped several degrees below freezing, so that created a rough, icy surface practically over the whole yard. No it didn't give the same effect as the small homemade skating pond that you and your friends grew up playing hockey on dreaming about how you were going to make it to the NHL.

Now it is time to stock up on hot chocolate, apple cider, good books and a calendar to start marking the days down until spring! :) I actually don't mind winter minus the extreme cold temperatures but then I don't know anyone who actually enjoys -40C except for story-telling purposes. You can garner much more sympathy telling a story that took place in frigid temperatures with bone chilling winds.

Anyways, I intend to enjoy winter as much as possible though it might be mostly admiring it from the inside kitchen window. There is something refreshing about seeing the yard covered with a fresh, clean blanket of snow, snow capped roofs, wildlife tracks, and watching the snow flakes gently fall and sparkle in the sun.

And with that, I wish you all a happy winter!

Pearls of Wisdom - Protecting Your Personal Space

Captain Steve Pearl has been doing a video series on self defense techniques for women. He creates situations women may find themselves in and gives simple, common sense reactions or responses that work and keep them from becoming victims. I highly recommend you watch them!

For your Saturday smile...

Wildlife pastime on the prairies...

Ever wonder what deer do during hunting season when they aren't dodging bullets??

Well...it's a deep subject...:D

The lid of the well which I had to dig out so I could fill the inside with pit run.


These lines and wires were difficult to work around.




Borrowed my neighbour's tractor so I could move the pit run closer to shovel in.




Dad came over to help. There were several important wires in this spot so he put a stryofoam barrier around them and filled in the area with sand rather than the pit run.


Making progress...


Filled in at last!


Insulating the outside.


The other well is underneath the corner of the pumphouse. It is covered with stryofoam to help keep it insulated. The wires for the barn and house water travel through here so it is very important to keep it from freezing. There is a heater down inside hooked up to a temp sensor which regulates the temperature.



Completely finished...yay!


The sensor is hooked up here and keeps the well temperature between 8*C and 9*C.

Brief Update

Can't believe four months has already passed since I've moved up here. I love it up here and am happy to call this cozy little place home.

Summer is over...the little we had of it! Overall the weather has been cool with an excessive amount of rainfall. The yard kept me busy with the lawn and grass around yard needing to be mowed about every 5 days. The flowers thrived and the yard looked beautiful all summer. My garden did great and the produce was abundant. Mom came over for a couple weeks and canned the purple beans with her pressure canner (and also tended my flowers and washed the trailer windows...thanks, Mom!) I've been canning pickled carrots and making and freezing fries and hashbrowns. The herbs did well and I dried parsley, oregano, basil and chives which hopefully should last me through until next summer.

The well below the pumphouse collapsed not long after I moved into the trailer. Thankfully it wasn't the water source for our house and chickens but the water we use does travel there from the other well and then into the barn so it needed to get filled in to prevent any further possible damage. It was a big job and Dad was able to come over and help with part of it. Last week I finally finished insulating around the outside so the project is complete. My neighbour was able to come over and get the temp sensor set up for the well since it had snapped when the well collapsed. That was a big relief as now I don't have to worry about the well water for the barn and house freezing.

Sure is starting to feel like fall with high temps in the single digits (*C). The area here is so pretty with the leaves changing and beginning to fall.

Now we are heading into the last week of our second chicken cycle and things are going good so far. :) I'm really happy with how this cycle has gone and chickens are doing well. Tomorrow we are going to weigh chickens by hand again to see the adjustments we need to make in the computer for the scale. The scale wasn't working the last cycle so I ended up having to buy a new one from Mackay's in Saskatoon. We weighed them at two weeks and made the necessary adjustments so we'll find out if the percentage is still set right.

There is more to post about but this will have to do for now as I need to go check the chickens! :)

Growing Up Speaking English

Some reasons to be grateful if you grew up speaking English:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
22) I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

Sisters! :)