FORD CITY: Members of St. Mary Ukrainian Church say making pierogies is easy.
You take 450 pounds of potatoes, about 100 pounds of onions, 50 to 60 pounds of cheese, a dozen large cans of sauerkraut, whip up several hundred pounds of noodle dough, add about a dozen pounds of butter, and, oh, don't forget the salt.
Combine the above ingredients in the right way and — presto! You have enough pierogies to feed hundreds of pierogie-hungry families. St. Mary's Church members sell the pierogies by the dozen every Friday as a fund-raiser for their church.
What's a pierogie anyhow⢠According to George Madzy, a member of St. Mary's Ukrainian Church, a pierogie is a type of dumpling. Madzy said pierogie dough (basically a noodle dough rolled flat and cut into round shapes) may be stuffed with a variety of fillings ranging from potatoes to lekvar and dry cottage cheese.
"Here at St. Mary's we offer two basic types of pierogies every Friday," Madzy said, "potato-filled and sauerkraut-filled. The potato fillings also have cheese blended in and pierogies may be ordered with or without onions."
Other ethnic peoples have their version of the pierogie, too. The Chinese have the "won-ton," and the Italians have "raviolis." Pierogies, however, are a distinctly Slavic food and unlike the ravioli, usually meatless. For centuries pierogies have been traditional table fare in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Czech and Slovak households. Today, the pierogie has burst through ethnic borders to become a food enjoyed by almost everyone.
"We have had people of every ethnic origin, race, creed and nationality come in here and buy our pierogies," Madzy said. "Some people aren't really sure what a pierogie is so sometimes we give them a sample when they pick up an order. Almost every first-time buyer comes back for more. Some people have been ordering our pierogies for more than 20 years."
Despite the pierogie's simplicity, preparing almost 1,000 dozen pierogies for sale is a monumental task. That task, however, is made easier by the dozens of church members who donate their time throughout the week to make each Friday's sale a success.
"Our week begins on Monday," Madzy said. "My brother Nick orders all the supplies and foods and brings them to our kitchen in the church hall. Tuesday we set up the kitchen. On Wednesday we have about 12 or 15 men get together and peel and slice the onions. Some of the ladies are here to squeeze the juice out of the sauerkraut.
"Thursday is a very busy day for everyone. We have about 60 to 70 people here. About seven or eight men will peel about 450 pounds of potatoes and the ladies will cut them up, boil them, mash them, and add the cheese. Other ladies will sauté the onions. And we'll be taking orders. Everyone who wants pierogies for Friday must place their order Thursday."
Friday ighty be the busiest day of the week for St. Mary's "pierogie brigade."
"Early Friday morning we make the dough. It's called 'platski,' and it's like a noodle dough. When it comes out of our dough machine, we have people with cutters cutting it into round shapes. Then we have about 30 people filling the platski and folding one side over to seal the filling. From there it's cooked, buttered and put in containers for sale. We charge $4 a dozen, which is a very fair price for homemade pierogie."
Madzy said his church's pierogie sales date back to the 1960s. He said in the early 1960s through the mid 1970s, making pierogies was strictly an effort by the ladies of the church.
"We quit selling them for a few years, but the demand was so great that we started up again," Madzy said. "In 1981, the ladies agreed to making pierogies if the men would help out, too. So since then it's been an effort of both the men and women in our church. We have about 60 to 70 people working here throughout the week. There are no 'bosses.' Everyone has a job and they all know what to do. We work well together. We are joined by some members from our sister congregation, St. Michael's Ukrainian Church in West Leechburg."
St. Mary's held its last pierogie sale of the year Friday. The pierogie brigade filled orders for more than 1,000 dozen pierogies. Madzy said most orders, about 700 dozen, were for potato fillings and the remainder were for sauerkraut filling. St. Mary's will resume pierogie sales in early February.
Madzy said the weekly sales are not only a great way to meet the financial needs of their church, but the weekly work serves to bind the members together into a special camaraderie.
"There's one more thing the sales do," Madzy said. "They bring lots of smiles. The people who work here smile, and we get lots of smiles from the folks who pick up their orders every Friday. You know, the pierogie is sort of shaped like a smile. I bet there are even more smiles at the supper table Friday evening."
