Thursday, February 10, 2011

Making Wareneki! (mennonite perogies)

I know this is supposed to be a sewing blog, but cooking is creating too right? I don't really cook... ever. But I've wanted to make my roommates wareneki for sooo long. Its a traditional Mennonite food that I have had lots of times with my family, and is a very nostalgic meal for me. I got the Mennonite Treasury Cook Book for Christmas, and that is what inspired me to try and make it.

I have been the assistant to my Grandma and Dad when they have made it, but this was my first time doing it on my own, so it was an adventure!




I decided to prepare the wareneki the night before we ate, and just froze them over night. GREAT call, it ended up taking me 5 hours to make them all. This is partially due to the fact that I was determined to do it all on my own, but also due to the large quantity I made. (I made enough to feed 9 people, and then I made a few gluten free ones, to feed my lovely gluten free roomie!)



Of course, I couldn't spend 5 hours in the kitchen without a cute apron and hair tie. I was going for the, "oh i do this all the time, I'm soo comfortable in the kitchen" look haha 


Attempting to be Rosie, my pose is way off
Working the dough was a workout. I'm pretty sure I don't have to do any physical activity for the rest of the week.



The dough on the left is the gluten free dough, and then the normal dough is on the right. The white pile is the filling, a mix of about 2/3 dry cottage cheese and 1/3 cream cottage cheese.


This is my snap shot for my grandma! I had to call her a few times during the process to get a bit of help. She lives a province away from me (with no internet), so I have to mail her some photo proof of my Mennonite moment (and the use of the cookbook she gave me at Christmas.)

starting to actually make the wareneki

YUM!
The day I actually served them, I had to make the berry and cream sauce and heat up the biggest pot of water ever! Oh and I made some farmer sausage to go with it, because they go perfect together, and my dad insisted you can't serve one without the other.


 Here is my start to the sauces, I had to call my grandma to ask how to add flour to the cream sauce, but with some advice it turned out pretty good!

ready to be boiled

mmmm the yummy sausage

almost ready!

The Dinner is Served!

After far longer then I could ever imagine a meal taking to prepare, it was ready! It was so fun to make though, and I will definitely do it again! I was so excited to be making traditional Mennonite food all on my own, so I know that I will be able to pass it on!

My roomies and our neighbours

I'd say it turned out pretty good! And everyone finished there meals, so that's got to be a good sign! :)

Now I'm going to have to learn some of the other traditional foods as we decided February 9th is now Mennonite day! There's a few more from the cookbook that I think I can handle pretty easily. We'll see!

Ps: I tried the gluten free ones, and they weren't bad! I was pretty impressed and happy that my gluten free roommate wasn't missing out on the original. Thanks to mennonite girls can cook for the gluten free recipe.  


5 comments:

  1. Looks yummy! Love perrogies - grew up on them too!

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  2. That's a lot of work, but I love perogies!! Love the pics and the blog xo

    Your Cuz, Tracey

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  3. Grandma Toews said she loved your special apron picture pose in the kitchen. The warenki looked very professional. She can almost taste them and she knew by the looks on your friends' faces that they were greatly enjoyed.

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  4. I suggest that wareneki production is complex feat of "kitchen engineering" - impressive work, Carly! The picture with the berry sauce and farmer sausage looks truly mouth-watering! Can I book your services the next time you are in Manitoba?

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  5. CARLY!!!!! Holy blow me away cooking genius!! You're on the hook now, I'm afraid, to make me a meal of wareneki (or I'll do my best to get you on the hook for it) in the "future". Perhaps I can make pie and you can make your fabulous little pockets of YUM.

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