Vareniki

In Canada we call them Pirogues. Here in Ukraine, where pirogues come from.. they are not called pirogues. In fact pirogues are something "boiled," or thats just what Lena told me. They are called Vareniki.
When I found out that I was coming to Ukraine I knew that one of the things that I had to do was eat some of the real deal pirogues, and learn how to make them.

CHECK.. and CHECK.

This was my very first plate of Vareniki here in Ukraine. They were to DIE for.
They lived up to every expectation I had and blew them out of the water. MMM.
This is also at one of our favorite restaurants.. just for the Vareniki. 

Pirogues have always been one of my favorite foods and they don't have them in the States. I have had a few "Poutine and Pirogue" parties before down at school. Of course I would just bring down a frozen bag or two from Canada and cook them up. Boil them, then fry them.. serve them with sour cream and bacon.. the whole deal. And really this picture is all there is to cooking them. 

In Rexburg cookin' up some pirogues for a P&P party

Here in Ukraine it is done a little differently.

I documented the whole thing, so here is a bunch of pictures.

Lena was telling us the recipe and said "two cups of flour" as she used a mug.. and later on said
"two tablespoons of oil" and used a regular spoon. I thought that was great. 

Here's your first view of Lena! I don't know what she's holding  here. 

here we have the potato innards and also the ground pork.. and the dough. 

Yes,  a wine glass. 

Stuffing and folding them shut.. not as easy as it seems! 

I FINALLY got a good one and I wanted to take a picture,
 then Lena put her  PERFECT one in my hand to compare it.
Suddenly mine doesn't look so great anymore. 

First batch all done and buttered up! 

Eating our DELICIOUS Vareniki. YUM. 

We ended the night by having an awesome game of phase 10
after teaching Lena and Oleg how to play!