Subject: lost recipe - "lazy" pierogi
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2019 10:35:28 -0400
From: Karyn
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
On 8/7/2019 9:00 PM, Karyn wrote:
Hi Phaedrus,
Many years ago, when I was a little girl, my mother used to make linyeve ("lazy") pierogies
for me and we ate them with sour cream. They were dumplings, about the size and shape of a
finger, with no filling. They were made with farmer's cheese or very dry cottage cheese,
flour and egg, and boiled in salted water. This was apparently something my grandmother made,
and she came from a farm in a small town in what is now Ukraine, but used to be part of Poland
and before that, the Austrian empire. I have tried to replicate these dumplings, but I don't
know the proportions of ingredients, and mine either fall apart while boiling or are very
rubbery. None of the recipes I have found on the internet have been quite right, either.
I would greatly appreciate any help.
Karyn
Hi Karyn,
So that I don't waste my time duplicating what you have already tried, please give me as much of the
following information as you can:
What was the name of that small town in Ukraine?
Did your grandmother consider herself to be of Polish or Austrian or Ukrainian lineage?
Do you know any more details about your grandmother's recipe? What are they?
So that I don't send you recipes that you have already tried, which ones have you tried?
Of the recipes that you have tried, what was not quite right about them? (Important)
Send me answers to as many of these as you can, and I will do my best to find a recipe similar
to your grandmother's.
Phaed
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Subject: lost recipe - "lazy" pierogi
From: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Date: 8/9/2019, 10:07 AM
To: Karyn
Hi Karyn,
I had hoped to have heard from you on the additional information that I requested by now, but since I
have not, I did the best that I could without it.
Note that these are called "lenivye vareniki" in Ukraine. Note the spellings of "lenivye" and "linivie".
I could not find anything at all with your spelling of "linyeve". There are also many,many recipes called
just "lazy pierogies", but without the additional information that I requested, I have no way to narrow
them down.
There are recipes on the below sites that fit your description. If these are the "not quite right" ones
that you have already tried, then I am sorry, but unless you can tell me why they are not right, then I
have no way to identify the ones that are close to your mother's. You must remember that your mother may
have used a unique family recipe which would not be available anywhere except from members of her family.
I hope one of these is close enough:
Lazy Vareniki Cheese Dumplings
Cheese Dumplings
Lenivie Vareniki Farmer Cheese
Lazy Pirogy
Phaed
Hi Phaedrus,
Sorry! I did not expect such a prompt response! My grandmother was from a tiny town called
Tursa Wielka, and she considered herself Austrian. I didn't keep a record of the recipes I
tried, but it doesn't look like I have tried any of the ones you sent me, so I'm looking
forward to trying them out. The first one, from shesimmers,com, look exactly like the ones
my mother and grandmother used to make, and I think the Russian farmer's cheese (tvorog) is
the key here, both for taste and texture. Thank you so much!
Karyn
