Nothing says Christmas or Easter more in a Polish home than a platter full of homemade pierogi on the table. Potato or sauerkraut? Which is your favorite? Everyone always chooses the potato variety, but IYKYK, the best is the sauerkraut kind. You aren’t a sauerkraut person? Trust me, even sauerkraut haters take a bite and cannot deny how good they are. (Don’t forget to add a bit of sour cream to your sauerkraut filling).
In a Polish community, most people are taught how to make pierogi usually by one’s mother or grandmother.
 In my case, I was a naughty child who was always misbehaving in Sunday school class. I was the one who got kicked out of class almost weekly by the teacher, Mrs. R., and sent to the church rectory to make pierogi with the Sunday church ladies.
 I would find myself squished between these ladies at the long table, listening to all the gossip in the community, their tongues clicking and heads shaking. Lots of laughter ringing in the air. I remember the bits of dough stuck to the eyeglass chains around the old ladies’ necks. 
There was always good-natured teasing among the ladies as to who had the best filling recipe and/or the best dough.  
To this day, every time I make pierogi, memories of those Sunday mornings come flooding back with each fold of dough and with each seal and crimp of the edge. 

– Hope

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant