Lessons from Grandma...Haluski!

I have learned so many life lessons from my mother and grandmother...and not a day goes by that I don't wish I could still talk with my Gram...she was truly one of my very favorite people, and I miss her terribily. So, I decided that I would periodically post a lesson from my Gram, whom our children called "Baba"...Slovak for grandmother. Today is a lesson in practicality, tradition and frugality...called Haluski. Now, my Great-Grandmother had 8 living children...and her husband and 4 sons all worked in the steel mill, so they had very big appetites...and very little money. This was a staple in their home....cabbage and onions were very cheap as were potatoes....add a little butter and a little flour...and you can feed a lot of people. To me...this is comfort food! Here is Baba's Haluski recipe. (and for those of you who only think of cabbage and noodles...think again!) Sautee chopped cabbage and 1 onion in lots of butter until translucent and soft...add salt and pepper
In the meantime, here I peeled 3 large potatoes and added them to my food processor along with 4 eggs, salt & pepper, 2 tblsp oil...and processed until fairly smooth. Now Gram, never had a food processor...and as she taught me to cook since I was a little girl, I have many memories of scraped and bleeding knuckles, and sore muscles from grating the potatoes by hand and mixing the flour in until it felt as if my arm would fall off....technology is good for some things! LOL

Gram also didn't have this handy pot with holes in it and a handle. She would put the dough onto a dinner plate, and we would use the back of a spoon to scrape little bits into a pot of boiling water...hence, scalded fingers, too! But...I brought a large pot of water to boil, then dumped the dough into my handy dandy pot and simply turned, and got beautiful, all the same size potato dumplings. These are also delicious with butter as a side dish, and especially with pork, sauerkraut and gravy....yum! Then, after they cooked for just a minute, I drained them, rinsed with hot water, then added to the cabbage and onions....

Stirred them up...and DINNER! This will fill a lot of bellies....I love it with a glass of cold buttermilk! LOL I know...this is not the healthiest meal, but it is very, very cheap, filling and for me...traditional and comforting...we made sure we had a salad for lunch and lots of healthy foods thru out the day...including some raw apples before dinner.

Now...it is off once again to dance class! Last night, it was dance for Anna, then hockey for Ronnie...tonight it is dance for Sara, while Ron works his second job fixing cars...at least he will be fed well before he goes! Enjoy! ~Sue~