• [1] sifter full of flour

• [1] 1 hand full of salt

• [3] large eggs, beaten

• Enough water to make a dough

• [5]# potatoes, boiled in skins and peeled

• [3]#onions, chopped and cooked in butter until lightly browned

• Place flour and salt(mixed together) in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center.

• Pour the eggs and about a cup of water in center. Start mixing with a large spoon. You will need to add more water, a little at a time, to incorporate all of the flour.

• Once all of the flour is mixed in, the fun begins. 

• With cleaned, ringless hands, start mixing the dough(it will be sticky). You may need to add a little more flour to make it into a nice round ball. The dough should no longer stick to your fingers.

• Let rest at room temperature, covered.

• Place potatoes in a bowl, mash with a potato masher so that there are no large lumps. 

• Stir in onions and butter and salt and pepper to taste. May need to add more melted butter so that the mixture holds together on a large soup spoon. 

• Roll the dough on a large floured bread board. flip and re-roll, making sure there is plenty of flour on board so that the dough doesn’t stick. 

• Cut 2 1/2-3″ circles with a cookie cutter.

• Spread a heaping tablespoon or more potato filling in the center of each round, fold over and crimp the edges with your fingers. 

• Have a rolling pot of salted water ready on the stove. 

• Add about 3 or 4 of the pierogi into the pot. 

• Stir so that they don’t stick on the bottom. 

• When they rise to the top, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and add them to a casserole dish that is laden in butter. The heat from the pierogi will melt the butter.

• You may store these in the freezer, bake in a 350 oven until browned and crisp on the edges, or simply fry on top of the stove. 

Gramma served them along side cottage cheese. A good Friday night meatless dish since we were all Catholics. I have been trying to get my daughter, Lindsay, to make these with us but she is never home long enough. She is a Madisonite. The tradition has now passed on to my nieces, who live near me in Ohio.