Sammy Time Day 2: Sunday Dinner

I love to cook. I just do.  The really great thing is that Sammy loves to cook too. It's a great activity that we can do together for hours and hours and hours. No kidding.

This is what we made for Sunday dinner:

But first we started out with a bowl of 

Borscht

(after accidentally deleting the photo of the Borscht 5 times, I am just going to post without it)

Shanna and Cher's Borscht:

3 cups hot water

3 fresh beets  (2 diced, one shredded)

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

2 potatoes, cubed

1 stock celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 Bay leaf

2 1/2 tsp salt

2 T beef bouillion

3 oz tomato paste

1  1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 head cabbage, shredded

1 T cider vinegar

sour cream

4 T fresh dill

Mix beef bouillion and 3 cups hot water in quart sauce pan. dissolve. Add 2 diced beets, carrots, potatoes, celery, onion, bay leaf and 1 1/2tsp salt. Bring to boil then simmer 2 hours.

Add shredded beet, tomato paste, sugar and 1 tsp salt. Simmer 20 minutes

Remove bay leaf. Add cabbage. Cook 15 minutes more.

Stir in cider vinegar and fresh dill.

Serve with dollop of sour cream.

Cucumber Salad

3 long English cucumbers, peeled and sliced

sour cream or plain yogurt to taste

fresh dill to taste

salt to taste

garlic powder to taste

Pierogi

This is the first time I've made home made pierogi.  They actually turned out quite well. I made two kinds: potato & cheese and meat. Both had different recipes for dough. I am only including the one with the meat, as I thought it was the best.  I made mine (since I am still in my mother's kitchen) with whole white wheat flour. 

Meat Pierogi

dough:

3 cups flour

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp salt

Filling:

16 ounces ground beef, browned with a little onion

16 ounces sauerkraut (drained but not rinsed)

small amount of sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Dough:  In a large bowl combine all ingredients, mix well. Knead for 10 minutes. (I combined all ingredients , after beating eggs separately,in food processor and mixed well until the mixture formed a ball then mixed two minutes more, it turned out perfect).  Refrigerate for atleast 1 hour. Separate dough into 3 sections. Dough will be sticky, use extra flour on surface to work the dough. Roll into thickness of about 1/16th of an inch (about thickness of dime). cut out circles in desired size. Can use glass to cut out circles. Circumfrence of coffee mug is good.

Directions: Filling: mix equal amounts of sauerkraut and ground beef, use just enough sour cream to make mixture stick together.  Place approx. 1 Tbsp of filling onto one side of each circle of dough. fold over and press sides together with fingers or can use fork. Very important it is completely sealed and that you do not puncture the dough.  Place in Boiling pot of salted water and cook between 5-12 minutes.  Not less than 5, not more than 12. Depends on how firm you want them.  Pierogi will float to the top when ready.  Take out with slotted spoon and place on cheese cloth or other fine cloth to dry.  heat up non-stick pan with a little butter and pan fry both sides .  Serve with sour cream and grilled onions.

Potato and Cheese filling:

2 potatoes cooked and mashed

1 cup cottage cheese, drained

1 onion, sauteed in butter

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 T butter

salt and pepper to taste

mix well.  assemble and cook as shown above in meat reciepe. serve with sour cream and grilled onions.  Can also eat pierogi after boiling and before pan frying, just depends on how you like it!

Kielbasa and Sauerkraut

This is so easy because I didn't make the saurkraut or the kielbasa. I bought a jar of sauerkraut and a couple of kielbasa.  Slice the kielbasa, drain the sauerkraut, place in pan with a little butter and saute until hot. Easy and delicious. Some time I will make my own sauerkraut and will let you know how it goes.

 Medivnyk

This is a Ukrainian honey cake. It's chewy and delicious. This recipe I found on-line and was taken from a cook book published in 1982 from Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Indianapolis. Again, I made mine with whole white wheat flour so mine probably looks a little darker than the actual recipe. Click on this link for the recipe.

I used the timer from the microwave when baking this cake.  Below is Sammy watching the timer.

You may be saying, "What's the big deal? Why did you take a picture of this?"  I reply, because Sammy was so excited that he watched this timer for 30 straight minutes.  I kid you not. No exaggeration.  I have now discovered another thing Sammy loves: he loves to watch timers count down.

Here's everyone enjoying the meal. (None of the photos really turned out, this is the best one I took.)

Delicious.

after note:  Right now as I type this, Sammy is wandering the kitchen, looking for left overs. You guys know how he does that when he knows there is good stuff hidden away! I love my Sam.