Every year my family celebrates Christmas on the 24th of December with a traditional Polish meal. We spend time in the weeks before the holiday preparing the food. Pierogi and Uszka are really the highlights of the meal. Pierogi (or pierożki) are dumplings made of unleavened dough. The dough, which is made by mixing flour, sour cream, egg, and warm water, is rolled flat and then cut into circles. The filling is placed in the middle and the dough folded over to form a half circle. The pierogi are boiled until they float, then drained and fried in butter on Christmas Eve. We always make cheese and sauerkraut pierogi, but this year we made a potato one.
Uszka, (meaning "little ears" in Polish), are small dumplings (a very small and twisted version of pierogi) and are filled with wild forest mushrooms. These little dumplings (which remind me of little crowns) are added to our annual mushroom soup. The soup is made only once a year, the uszka only once a year, which of course makes the experience almost divine. Quite honestly - these dumplings and this soup is hands down my favorite food of the year. After decades of pierogi making my sister and I have become quite the experts at filling, folding and crimping. I love that this tradition is so deeply rooted in our family culture. I love the magic that is held within these little dumplings. The magic of history, tradition, and love that is built into these little pockets along with the other ingredients.
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