Whether you're Italian or not, you're probably familiar with the Italian custom of the "Seven Fishes dinner" on Christmas Eve. pierogi_frying

If you're Polish, you eat pierogi on that day. And my husband's family takes their pierogi very seriously. No Mrs. T's for them--these are the real thing, made by hand, from scratch. Early in December the family gathers to prepare the pierogi. A pastry board is used that was carried from Poland, and the recipe has similarly been passed down through the generations. Younger people are carefully instructed in the art of pinching--as the only thing worse than a leaking pierogi is mixing up the potato pierogi with the sauerkraut ones.

The pierogi are rolled, filled, pinched, dried, boiled, cooled and packed away for freezing until Christmas Eve. Everyone has a job to do and Pierogi Day is a lot of fun.

On Christmas Eve we gather at what my youngest son calls "Santa's House." About an hour before dinner the hostess calls for people to help fry the pierogi. When I first married into the family I was considered "too young" for the job. But a few years ago I noticed that high-school students were starting to take over the frying--I was suddenly "too old" for the job!

When the pierogi are all browned, everyone comes through the kitchen to fill a plate, and we enjoy the delicious meal.

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