This is another nostalgic recipe for me: vareniki. Think dumplings filled with cottage cheese from the Ukraine. You may serve these as a savory main dish, but you may also serve them sweet, traditionally filled with sour cherries. I was used to a rather hybrid version, we would eat them with tvorog or cottage cheese and served it with a sour cream sauce we knew as “shmargus”. Since everything was seasoned with salt and pepper, you may think of this as a savory dish. But it is also possible to serve with sugar sprinkled on top and some additional sour cream. As you can see on the last picture, my grandma actually passed on a recipe. This comes as a huge surprise as she normally did not write down any recipes she would make regularly. She knew them off by heart and thus did not see the need to document. So I am beyond grateful that she took the time to write down ingredients and amounts. Mind you, no instructions other than a list of ingredients, but at least this is a starting point. Since it is only the two of us, I halved the recipe, I have learned the hard way that my grandma always wrote down large amounts to feed a crowd. But at least there is something documented.
