A Perogy Failure - Lessons Learned

When I was a young newlywed we hosted Christmas the first year we lived in Calgary. My Ukrainian in-laws were traveling from Saskatoon and it was important to me that the meal not only be edible, but also authentic enough that my mother-in-law know her son was safe in my care. My nationality isn't Ukrainian, so I didn't grow up learning how to make cabbage rolls or perogies, but being from Saskatchewan I'd eaten many of each. In the years I'd dated my husband, every Christmas we'd not only attended midnight mass, we also had a meal at one of his aunts or his house that included at least one of cabbage rolls or perogies, usually both.

A few days prior to our Christmas celebration I set to making perogies and cabbage rolls for our family meal. Since these were both new dishes for me, I recall that I did follow recipes. I also remember being especially puzzled about how to freeze them. My cookbook didn't have instructions for this. My husband told me just to call his mom and ask what to do. Maybe I was too shy or embarrassed or maybe I just thought I could figure it out on my own. With the cabbage rolls, I simply prepared, poured over a tomato sauce, covered and froze them. I cooked the perogies and then dumped them into freezer bags and froze them.

When it came time to cook the food the day of our feast, I threw the cabbage rolls into the oven, but not before defrosting and not for long enough to prevent them from being icy cold in the middle when it was time to eat. The perogies were a disasterous, glutenous lump that could not be salvaged. My new in-laws were gracious, giving high praise to the turkey and other side dishes and didn't draw any attention to my mistakes, but I felt foolish and to me the event was as good as ruined.

Since, I've learned how to make and freeze good perogies (place them raw individually on a tray and freeze, put in storage container and return to the freezer). As I'm making them for my family now, it strikes me how at a time when I thought I knew it all, I really knew very little and in many ways I still know very little.

Something's changed though, I have so much more appreciation now for the wisdom of others. If I had to do this again for the first time, I'd call my MIL and ask for her advice. Also, now I don't beat myself up when I screw up. I see the value in learning lessons from my mistakes.