I’m writing this article Dec. 20, so I have not yet celebrated Christmas. By the time you read this paper, Christmas will be just memories. For those who celebrate Christmas following the Julian calendar, it will be on Jan. 7. We have received several letters and recipes from readers who have shared their Ukrainian traditions with us.
Dear TEAM: As a daughter of parents who both immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine, I grew up with many wonderful dishes prepared by my mother and babas. They made the most with the basics that they had available, thus the perogy, cabbage roll, potato pancakes, potato dumplings and soups galore. They made every dish special and I will never lose the appreciation I have for their traditions, which I hope to carry on for many years to come. Here is a recipe that my mom always made with all the leftover Christmas cake. Ñ B.J., Margo, Sask.
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Christmas cake pudding
Enough for four servings, 1Ú2 cup (125 mL) each.
2 tablespoons butter 30 mL
1Ú4 cup brown sugar 60 mL
1Ú4 cup wine or apple juice
or brandy 60 mL
1 tablespoon lemon juice 15 mL
1 teaspoon vanilla or imitation
brandy extract 5 mL
1 tablespoon cornstarch 15 mL
3Ú4 cup water 175 mL
2 cups fruitcake, cut into bite
sized pieces 500 mL
Place Christmas cake in a bowl.
Combine butter, sugar, juices and vanilla in a pot on the stove. Bring to a slow boil and stir in cornstarch and water to thicken. Pour over cake and serve warm with a dollop of whipping cream or ice cream.
From D.S., Prud’homme, Sask., comes this recipe.
Pampushke
2 packages of yeast
1 cup water 250 mL
2 teaspoons sugar 10 mL
21Ú2 cups scalded milk 625 mL
1 cup butter 250 mL
4 eggs
1 cup sugar 250 mL
2 teaspoons vanilla 10 mL
2Ú3 cup water 150 mL
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
9-10 cups flour 2.25-2.5 L
Dissolve sugar in one cup (250 mL) warm water, sprinkle yeast on top and let stand for 15 minutes.
Scald milk and add butter.
Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, water and salt, then add the milk and butter mixture. Beat thoroughly. Add yeast mixture and small portions of flour, mixing well after each addition.
Knead well. Let rise until double in bulk.
Dust hands with flour. Cut off small pieces of dough, flatten and place one teaspoon (five mL) of filling in centre of dough. Seal edges. Let rise for about 20 minutes. Fry in hot vegetable oil. Sprinkle with icing sugar.
Prune filling
1 package of pitted prunes 375 g
2 tablespoons brown sugar 30 mL
dash of cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice 5 mL
Boil pitted prunes until soft. Mash down and add sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Mix well.
Poppy seed filling
1 cup poppy seeds 250 mL
2 cups hot boiled water 500 mL
1Ú4 cup honey 60 mL
2 tablespoons sugar 30 mL
2 tablespoons raisins (softened
in hot water, drained and
chopped), optional 30 mL
Add hot water to poppy seeds to soften them. Soak for one hour. Drain well and grind the poppy seeds in an electric coffee grinder or blender. Add honey, sugar and raisins. Mix well.
Verhuny or khrusty dainties
Verhuny and khrusty are the two names commonly used for these crispy Ukrainian dainties, says J.O., Sprague, Man., who also sent the wafer recipe.
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar 30 mL
1 tablespoon rich cream 15 mL
1Ú2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
1 tablespoon rum or brandy 15 mL
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons
sifted flour 280 mL
confectioner’s sugar
Beat the eggs and the egg yolks together until light. Beat in the sugar, cream, salt and rum or brandy. Stir in flour. This dough should be soft.
Knead on a floured board until smooth. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Roll thin, about 1Ú8 inch (0.35 cm) or thinner. Use a small amount of dough at a time and keep the rest covered because it has a tendency to dry. Cut the rolled dough into long strips about 11Ú4 inches (three cm) in width. Then cut the strips into 21Ú2 to three inch (six to seven cm) lengths crosswise or diagonally. Slit each piece in the centre and pull one end through it to form a loose loop. Cover the shaped dough.
Fry, a few at a time, in deep fat at 375 F
(190 C) until delicately browned. Drain on absorbent paper. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.
Sugar wafers
3 eggs
1 cup sugar 250 mL
1 teaspoon vanilla 5 mL
11Ú2 cups sifted flour 375 mL
Beat the eggs until light. Add the sugar gradually and continue beating. Stir in vanilla. Add the flour and mix well.
Drop from a spoon onto a greased baking sheet, placing them well apart. Bake in moderate oven for 15 minutes or until delicately browned, don’t overcook. These are crisp and light wafers, very good for Christmas.
N.T., Dundurn, Sask., shared her mom’s perogy recipe. It yields six to eight dozen.
Dough:
5 cups flour 1.25 L
1 tablespoon salt 15 mL
1Ú2 cup oil 125 mL
1 cup mashed potatoes 250 mL
2 cups boiling water
(save the potato water
to use) 500 mL
Filling:
3 cups mashed potatoes 750 mL
3 tablespoons margarine 45 mL
1 large diced onion
1 cup Cheese Whiz or grated
cheddar cheese 250 mL
salt and pepper, to taste
Combine ingredients for dough. Let rest while making filling. Keep covered. Roll dough as thin as you can on floured surface. Cut in three to four inch (seven to 10 cm) circles. Place a heaping teaspoon (five mL) of filling on one half of circle and fold over the other side of the dough, firmly pinching edges together. Place on cookie sheets, not touching, and freeze before bagging.
To cook: Drop gently, 10 at a time, into salted boiling water in a large pot. Let them boil until the perogies come to the surface, then boil gently another three to four minutes. Remove with a perforated spoon to a colander to drain. Keep in a casserole that has finely chopped onions sautŽed in butter. Serve with sour cream, fried bacon, dill or mushroom sauce.
Smetana sauce with green onion
This was the favourite sauce of J. O.’s baba, Sprague, Man. It is especially good with new boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables and it is great on chicken or potato pancakes.
2 cups thick sour cream 500 mL
1Ú2 cup, or more chopped green
onions 125 mL
salt and pepper, to taste
Bring the cream to a boil. Add the onions and season to taste. Simmer slowly, uncovered, for about 30-40 minutes, or until the flavours are developed and the sauce is thickened.
Potato pancakes
2 eggs, partly beaten
1 tablespoon oil 15 mL
1Ú2 cup flour 125 mL
1 teaspoon baking powder 5 mL
3Ú4 teaspoon salt 3 mL
1Ú8 teaspoon pepper 0.5 mL
Stir together to make a batter.
Add to batter:
4 medium potatoes, shredded
1 small onion shredded
Fry in a pan with 1Ú4 inch (0.5 cm) oil. Flip and brown on the second side. Serve hot with sour cream or the Smetana sauce given above.
Ñ A. Z., Fir Mountain, Sask.
Reader’s household tips
For our Christmas cookbook draw, we asked readers to send in their favourite cleaning or household hint. The following are some of them.
- Removing spruce or pine tar: For the easy removal of spruce or pine tar from your hands use nail polish remover. Do not use this on wood furniture because the nail polish remover will damage the finish. Before using on anything, test it on the finish first. Ñ M.J.K., Drayton Valley, Alta.
- Cleaning the glass door on a fireplace: The glass door on our airtight wood burning fireplace collects a thick layer of soot on the inside surface. The accumulation is caused by the opening of the door to add more fuel. We discovered that Brasso or Silvo cleaners on a soft cloth or an old toothbrush removes the soot. Circular rubbing is better than a straight line. Another soft cloth removes the residue. A crumpled newspaper also works well to remove the residue. Ñ W.P., Fort Macleod, Alta.
- Catching fruit flies: We have had a terrible time with fruit flies this fall and I have tried all sorts of traps. The best one is to put a small amount of red wine or apple cider vinegar in a wide-mouth container with a few drops of dish detergent. Just leave the container on the counter and the vinegar attracts the flies and they drown in the container. We have caught hundreds this way. It works much better than any other system. Ñ E. S., Powell River, B.C.
- Drain cleaner: To clean your drain just mix a bottle of cola soda pop and some baking soda together and pour down the drain. It works great. Ñ K.R., Ituna, Sask.
