Pierogi and an ode to Grandma Jo

So my husband brought home some pierogi from a co-worker. I love pierogis, but these were the BEST ever! I am trying to get the recipe. She and her family had made a ton last year and were getting ready to make more this year and so she needed to get rid of her stash. I was happy that we were the ones to get them. Potato and onion, sauerkraut, turkey and cheese and apple. I need to make a million and fill my freezer!

We do some thing similar in my family each year. We make strudel. My grandmother was Austrian and it was a big part of her heritage. Her mother used to make it quite often. We have a tradition of making it each fall when the Hubbard squash is in season. We love squash strudel and apple as well. Here are a few pictures of this years efforts as well as some from the years past.



My grandfather never has really gotten into it but a few years ago, he thought that he needed to help so we put him to work.

We make the dough and stretch it so that it is thin enough to see through.



Here is the recipe:

Strudel Dough

Grandma Schranz

3 cups “SIFTED” Flour, (High Gluten flour works best, Bouncer at Gordon’s)

2 Eggs

½ tsp. Salt

3 TBSP. Oil (Do Not use Canola)

2/3-cup Warm Water

Sift flour onto a pastry board, make a well in center and add eggs, salt and oil. Add water slowly and work mixture into a soft dough. Knead dough until it becomes elastic and leaving the board clean. Or, pick up the dough and throw it on the board about 100 times. Form dough into a smooth ball. Cover with a warm bowl and let stand for 1 hour.

Spread a clean cloth over a large table. Dust the whole cloth lightly with flour. Place dough in middle of the cloth and roll out into a large oblong. Then reach under the dough with palms up and stretch the dough until it is thin. Trim the thick edges off and patch any “holes” with any dough that is falling off the table edges. Cover the dough with desired filling. For squash, spread with grated Hubbard squash, dribble 1 stick of melted butter/margarine over the squash, sprinkle with salt, cinnamon and sugar. For apple, do the same, just omit the salt. Starting at each end, roll both ends at the same time by lifting the cloth off the table so that the dough rolls towards the middle until each roll meets. Slice dough between rolls and place each roll on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until brown.