One of the most popular dishes in Eastern European cuisine is Filled Dumplings, known as: Varenyky or Pyrohy in Ukrainian, and Pierogi in Polish. They are made from homemade pasta dough and filled with varieties of fillings, but potato and cheese filling being the most popular.
It is definitely “labor of love” for those who make them from scratch, as it requires several hours of preparation time, but it is so well worth it.
If you are reading this post, and you still have a Dad in your life, consider yourself very lucky, and wish him a HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, because life is short and unpredictable.
Mother’s Day is for mothers, mothers-in-law, grandmothers, godmothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, and all the special women in our lives who act as our mothers.
Mother’s Day is a perfect time to express your feelings and appreciation to any and all of the special women in your life.
The Easter Basket of special foods (described below) is arranged on Holy Saturday and taken to church, where the parish priest performs a special blessing ceremony with prayers and sprinkling with Holy Water. Some churches perform their basket blessing on Easter Sunday, after the Morning Resurrection Liturgy.
These Ukrainian Easter Eggs were decorated by my Great-Aunt Anna Kril Bart (Bartoszewska) and her children, in Queens, New York, over 80 years ago. The “sticks” displayed in front of the platter, are homemade styluses, used for drawing the outlines for the design on these eggs. The stylus handles were made from tree twigs, and the metal funnels were made from a metal can cut out…..such was life even in New York, USA, many years ago.