Friends Don't Let Friends Eat Bad Food

One of my dear friends, Shannon, is moving to Prague in just a little over a week. She's finally chasing her dream of teaching English in Europe. I'm really happy for her, but really sad for me. She works at the agency, so work will be slightly less fun each day. But again -- I've got to support her for going after her dream. And who knows, maybe I'll finally make my way to Europe to go visit her sometime soon!

Anyhow, Shannon, myself and another friend (Allison) got together at our other friend Carrie's house earlier this week to make pierogies. Carrie's family makes them fairly often, and they are big in Europe apparently. And I just plain like to eat. :) The girls let me veganize the dough by using Ener-G Egg Replacer instead of an egg and luckily the dough turned out great! We did a filling of feta/cream cheese that the non-veg ladies ate, and then we did a filling of mashed potatoes/onion/garlic/shredded soy cheddar. SO GOOD. I think I had eaten them when I was younger at my elementary school friends' house. Her family was from Germany, so I guess they really are big in Europe (wow, I sound really ignorant-American, don't I?).

So I encourage you to give these a whirl. Easy and not a lot of ingredients. I didn't take any pics of the finished product, as ours weren't that attractive -- just tasty! But I will post a pic of the 4 of us, post-cooking (I love how no one pointed out that I was covered in flour...clearly you can see who did the rolling-out of the dough!)

Oh! And how could I forget about Carrie's sweet baby, Charlie? I'll throw that pic in, too! (Jakers doesn't really get along with dogs well enough to have "friends', but Charlie's pretty close!)

Pierogies

DOUGH:
-2 cups flour
-2/3 cup cold water
-1 tsp salt
-1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 2 tbsp warm water

Combine into dough, roll out to just thinner than pie crust and use ~3 inch glass or cup to cut out circles.

FILLING:
Make mashed potatoes however you like 'em and add sauteed onion, garlic and shredded cheddar cheese. We eyeballed the amounts. Let filling sit for an hour or two for best results. (Can also do filling of other soy cheese blends, if you like.)

Place about 2 tsp of filling in middle of pierogie circle, and fold over, pinching edges to seal. Drop into pot of boiling water. When pierogies float to the top, they are done. Remove and let cool. ENJOY!