Mennonites are typically pretty good cooks & bakers...but almost nothing they cook or bake is good for you lol. A traditional Mennonite food, wreniki, is an extra special treat in my family. They are very time consuming to make, so wreniki suppers are reserved for 'special occasions'...like birthdays and holidays!
Essentially, wreniki are cottage cheese perogies. The first step is to make the dough, I think the best part about this picture is the bowl, its probably older than me lol.
Next step is to roll it out, I'm apprenticing at that job and let me tell you its hard to get the dough just right! Not too thick, not too thin. Not too hard, not too soft. Sheesh!!! At one point I was sure Mom was gonna fire me, this is serious business and it was paining her to watch me struggle at it lol...
Then add filling! We make cottage cheese, but fruit wreniki (e.g. blueberry, saskatoon berry, etc) are also pretty common.
Newbie's (e.g. Marissa) are initiated into the family with 'pinching duty'...the edges of each wreniki are sealed by hand.
We do this for 2 hours straight...and no, I never got a final count lol.
Then we squeeze VERY large pots onto Mom's small (but standard sized) stove. It takes forever for them suckers to boil...
Once the water boils you are ready to cook the wreniki.
Then we start the old gravy song & dance...I go through the same..."oh my gosh its not going to thicken" panicked moment everytime...it always does.
But I still tried to calm my nerves with a beverage...it didn't really help...I spilled.
So 4 hours later we are finally ready to eat! Most people eat their wreniki with gravy, salt & pepper, although I do know a few wierdo's (Dad & Brady) who substitute sugar for the salt & pepper. I should also mention that traditionally, wreniki is served with...wait for it...Mennonite Sausage lol.
And although wreniki is a treat, I was still super happy that Grandma brought pumpkin pie...I've been craving it! So in the end this gal got the best of both worlds for Thanksgiving!
Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us join in.
A great post...as usual. Thanks to everyone for all the help...it's a big project...but it's a great family time...and well worth it! And, no, it wasn't the traditional turkey...but it was tradional mennonite...and I want to keep that going for the coming generations! mom
ReplyDeleteFound your blog, and had to comment on this. When we were little my parent made something very similar to this, actually looks just like it, except that after boiling it (ours was filled w/cottage or the dry cottage cheese too), and then it was put in a frying pan and browned in butter! dah! fattening!, and then we ate it hot with grape jelly on it, as the frying flattened them a little. They were so so good. My parents died in the 70's, so it's been many years since I've had it. Sounds so good. thanks, for the memory. Have you ever heard of finishing it in the frying pan and eating with jelly? Jo in MN
ReplyDeleteHi Jo, we actually tend to fry our leftovers...if they make it that long:). We never eat them with grape jelly, and I haven't heard of anyone else eating them that way either...but every family seems to have their own tradition! If you'd like a recipe, check out the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteJ