Traditions

Remember the movie Fiddler on the Roof ? Every family has some type of tradition for the holidays. My grandfather came from Prussia when he was a teen and when he married my grandmother, my grandmother gave up her citizenship. Now that's true love. When my grandfather became naturalized, my grandmother was again granted her citizenship.

Both grandparents were steeped in traditions from the Mennonite "old country" and each year at Christmas my grandmother would pull out all the stops and make sure our family knew about our heritage and those traditions they loved. Recipes have been handed down for generations and each family has tweeked those recipes to how their own preferences.

My brother, Stan, said he wanted the recipe for Veranika because he didn't have one so this traditional pasta dish is for you, Stan. I make this periodically but wish I could make it more often. I don't remember how many rounds this makes but I remember how my uncle and dad would try to out-eat each other saying, "I ate 6 Veranika", or "I ate more than you".

Making your own family traditions is up to you. One tradition I started when our girls were small was to give Christmas stockings in their Christmas stockings. The girls loved it and would pull out their special socks in November. All their friends wanted to know where the cool socks came from year after year. I still continue to give Christmas socks for each family so this tradition continues.

Veranika

Pasta dough
2 cups flour
1 whole egg plus one egg white
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream

Put the 2 cups of flour on a surface and make a well in the center. Combine the wet ingrediants and pour into the well. Use your fingers to work the dough together to make a stiff pasta dough. Set aside.

Filling
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped scallions

Gravy
1 cup heavy cream - pour in the bacon grease after the rounds have been fried
8 strips of bacon - fry these and set aside to eat with the rounds or you can chop them up and add to the heavy cream mix.


Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into 4 inch rounds. Put 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center and fold over the dough in half sealing it with water. Drop the rounds in boiling water until they float to the top of the pot. Carefully lift out the rounds and fry in bacon grease until golden. After all the rounds have been fried, use 1 cup heavy cream and pour into the bacon grease and simmer. The best part is to take the rounds and pour the hot cream over them. Eat while hot.