Embracing Legacy: Honouring Mom and my Ukrainian roots

Lately, I've found myself reflecting on my heritage, especially my Ukrainian lineage from my mom's side. Sadly, my maternal grandparents and step-grandparents have all passed away, leaving me with very few remaining relatives on Mom's side (most of whom I'm estranged from). Despite my mom's upbringing in the Ukrainian Catholic church and her fluency in Ukrainian, those cultural ties weren't strongly passed down to me. Consequently, with Mom's passing, it feels as though a vital connection to our Ukrainian lineage has been severed.

One thing that weighs heavily on me is the realization that the entirety of our recollections regarding Mom's side of the family rests solely within the memories of my brother, Dad, and me, leaving so much of our lineage unknown. I brought up this topic with my counsellor, and she reminded me that the valuable legacy my mom passed down to me is more important than knowing the details of our family tree. She said, "some people might have the lineage, but they have no legacy... you have legacy." That hit home! This is why she makes the big bucks 😆

With this in mind, I eagerly anticipated the plans I'd made for commemorating the anniversary of my mom's passing this year. Years ago, I expressed my desire to make pierogies together (a Ukrainian dish - pronounced "pedaheh" in Ukrainian and sometimes spelled perogies in English). They are my absolute, all-time favourite food, and they remind me so much of visiting my mom's side of the family. Mom never made them without her mom or stepmom, and said "Amanda, we will do it one day. But it's a lot of work." 

Though "one day" with Mom never materialized, I decided that Mom would still want me to learn, and would love it if I carried on my family's love of authentic Ukrainian pierogies for generations to come.  

Teaming up with my sister-in-law, Jenn, we embarked on this culinary adventure together. I am incredibly grateful to have done it with her. It was a joyful way to honour mom; We shared what we loved and missed about Mom, and we imagined what Mom would say if she were in the kitchen with us during our big adventure. Most importantly, Mom would say that she loves that Jenn and I were doing this together. Mom always emphasized the importance of family. She didn't have a relationship with her siblings, and hoped so much that it would be different for her children. You did it, Mom, you did it. 💓

I've definitely never made pierogies before, but on top of that, I barely spend any time in the kitchen (shout out to my husband #CheffieJeffie who does all the cooking for us). The prospect of making pierogies was daunting... BUT... suspense killer... WE DID IT!

We started at 10:45am by checking on our dough situation - I made it the night before and was super nervous about how it would turn out. It was perfect! Yay! We started right away by boiling approximately 7lbs of potatoes to make our delicious potato and cheddar cheese filling. We rolled, cut, stuffed, and then boiled 2 pierogies to have a sample of our hard work... DELICIOUS!

In a moment of worry, I decided to make a second batch of dough, just in case there wasn't going to be enough pierogies.... ha! So funny.

From dough-making to rolling, cutting, stuffing and boiling, we spent all day crafting over 25 dozen pierogies. What started out as a duo-effort at my house, ended as a full family affair at my parents' house. My nephew, Graham, eagerly joined in, rolling, cutting, and becoming a floury mess. My niece, Alice, really liked the gadget we used to squish and seal the pierogies. My brother, Chris, took over with the rolling pin when my arms and shoulders were tired, and even Dad got in on the action, boiling and frying up our delicious creations for dinner. Dinner contained a delicious plate of pierogies and cabbage rolls - the perfect Ukrainian family meal. The cabbage rolls came out of a frozen box, by the way. Maybe we can attempt making those from scratch next time (doubt it!) While eating, my dad shared that my Baba (Ukrainian grandma) used to make homemade pierogies, cabbage rolls, and meat on a stick all in one (or two) days. She must have had some serious cardio and brute strength... Jenn and I were so tired after it all! 

Yesterday, Jenn and I gained valuable insights, from determining the ideal amount of flour for seamless dough rolling to selecting the appropriate size dough cutter, and even discerning the perfect amount of potato and cheese filling to prevent spillage. We also discovered it's much easier not to pre-boil the pierogies before freezing. With each lesson learned, we became more and more confident that my Babas would be immensely proud. And who else would share in that pride? Mom.

In the end, it wasn't just about mastering a recipe; it was about preserving a piece of our heritage and honouring Mom's memory in a meaningful way. And as we sat together, enjoying our homemade feast, it felt like Mom was right there with us, smiling down on the legacy of love she left us.