Raise your hand if you grew up with food on holidays that other folks didn’t really know about.

So it’s not just me.

Growing up in the Mahoning Valley, it’s safe to say we’re all some level of foodie because we have some incredible food here.

Holidays were always a lot of tradition as a kid. I grew up with Slovak and Polish foods that were a staple: bobalki, haluski (with cottage cheese and dumplings — we’ll get to that another time), and kolache quickly come to mind, but there’s another one that’s one of the best foods that exists. It was at every holiday except Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.

I’m talking about pierogi.

How do you say that? Per-oh-gee or pier-oh-hee?

During holidays that required dressing up, we ate pierogi with utensils.

At some of the more relaxed get-togethers, we ate those doughy pieces of heaven with our hands, walking between rooms.

We’d inhale cabbage-filled, sweet prune filling also known as lekvar, potato and my favorite, cottage cheese.

I like them browned in a frying pan with the smallest amount of butter to keep the dough from sticking. Firm them up to eat without a fork.

While it’s been fun through the years to ask people how they had pierogi growing up, I’ve learned that some people are sure their families have the best or only recipe.

I tried my hand at two recipes from friends. They were both similar but each time proved a disaster for me. They were still delicious.

Trying to find the best pierogi and declaring the best is as sacred as telling someone you or a friend make the best wedding soup.

Fists may start to fly.

“My baba makes the best!”

In junior high while on Christmas break, maybe the day before Christmas Eve (or what I call “Christmas Eve-Eve,” or even Festivus for you “Seinfeld” fans) I woke up earlier than I should have and went to my friend’s house.

Each holiday, her baba made pierogi.

It was a day filled with boy bands of the early 2000s, flour wafting through the air and so much laughing.

At the end of the day, which was probably at least 12 hours, I took home my dozen of potato pierogi and pigged out for a couple of days.

Homemade is better than store bought and no one will ever change my mind.

My pierogi also never come out right like Baba’s did, or like the ones anyone in my family makes.

I hope that you have better luck with this recipe from a dear college friend who has since passed. He swore by it, and through the years I’ve found it’s a variation of the other recipes I’ve tried (failed).

Cory’s Pierogi

Ingredients

Dough

2 cups flour

1 egg

Pinch of salt

½ cup sour cream

4 tablespoons butter

Potato Filling

4 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar is best)

Pinch of salt and pepper each

Directions

In a large bowl, stir flour, salt and egg.

Slowly work in the sour cream and butter. The dough will be dense.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

In a large pot, fill with water and potatoes, bringing to a boil.

Cook until tender.

Drain potatoes and mash, adding cheese, salt and pepper.

Separate chilled dough into two or three manageable portions.

Roll out one portion onto a floured surface and with a cookie cutter, Mason jar lid or drinking glass, cut into circles.

Using a spoon, scoop potato filling into the center of each dough circle.

Fold into a half circle and press edges to seal.

Refrigerate or put into the freezer to firm up the pierogi.

To cook, bring another large pot of water to a boil.

Add pierogi and cook long enough until they float to the top. It will be just a few minutes.

Remove and enjoy.

Share your favorite recipes and memories with Features Editor Ashley Fox at afox@tribtoday.com.