Y'all remember Jennifer Lohmann, right? She's the 2010 RWA Librarian of the Year, and we had a Photoshop contest to celebrate, playing with the cover of Karina Bliss' What the Librarian Did. The entries were amazing, and the winner is still one of my favorite cover mockups ever.
I've done two book events at the Durham County library branch where Jennifer works, and she's still hosting romance reading groups, and trying to reach more romance readers through her job at the library.
But dudes, guess what? SHE WROTE A ROMANCE! Jennifer's attendance at RWA inspired her, and her SuperRomance Reservations for Two came out this month!
The heroine of her book, Tilly, is the chef/owner of a Polish restaurant, and there's a LOT of Polish food in the book. So when she approached me about doing a celebratory giveaway of pirogi, there was NO WAY I was passing that up.
Why pierogi? I had to ask.
Jennifer: A couple years ago, you had a giveaway for a road trip kit for a Kristan Higgins book and I though, “If I get published, I'm giving away pierogi to people!” The heroine of my first book is a chef at a fancy Polish restaurant in Chicago so there is a lot of pierogi. A friend called the book Pierogi and Prejudice.
Anyway, outside of the okay kielbasa you find in the meat section of your grocery store, pierogi are usually people's first exposure to Polish food. While there are versions in pretty much all central and eastern European countries, they are the quintessential Polish dish and people associate them with Poland (they are the Polish national dish).
What would you tell someone who hasn't had pierogi before?
Jennifer: For someone who's not had pierogi before, they are a filled dumpling with an unleavened dough that are first boiled and then fried in butter. They can be sweet or savory, with traditional fillings of cheese (sweet or savory), sauerkraut, mushrooms, or potato.
Like all beloved dishes, there are millions of recipes–one for each babunia in Poland and babcia in the United States. If you have some in your freezer, they make a wonderful dinner with a little sour cream, applesauce, and sauerkraut.Add a little kielbasa if you're feeling flush (pierogi are peasant food). Fry some breadcrumbs in butter for a topping and you are in Polish heaven.
Let's Do This! It's Pierogi Time!
The winner of this here contest shall receive a pierogi sampler from Piast Meats & Provisions. That's five dozen pierogi – which can be frozen, should you wish to space your pierogi madness over a few months of eating time. Plus, you'll also get a copy of Jennifer's book. You can eat pierogi and read about pierogi, as Jennifer says.
Five runners up shall receive a copy of Reservations for Two, ( A | BN | K | S | iB ) digital or print (winner's choice).
This contest is open to anyone in the US, including Alaska and Hawaii. Alas, shipping pierogi internationally does not appear to be an option. (I'm sorry!) Void where prohibited. Must be over 18 and prepared for pierogigasm to win. By submitting an entry to the contest as set forth herein, each entrant does acknowledge and agree that, in the event such entrant is victorious, such entrant will perform a ceremony reasonably appropriate to such circumstance, including, without limitation, the Miposian Dance of Joy or, in the alternative, Gangnam Style. Contest winners will be chosen at random at noon ET Friday 15 February 2013.
To enter, simply leave a comment below telling us what food best represents you. The heroine opens a Polish restaurant and so much of the food represents who she is. So, what food is most “you?” Chocolate? Kugel? Your grandmother's stollen? Share and you're entered to win.
Congrats, Jennifer – let's feast on pierogi!
Ooo! I love pierogi!
I’m lucky enough to have a Jewish Deli nearby that has a lot of classic dishes that came from that same Eastern European cooking pot. I adore their version of Krupnik: barley soup slow cooked until it’s like a stew. All the flavors of the meat and vegetables come together to warm and fill you.
What food represents me? I’m going to have to go wtih Velveeta. It SOUNDS fancy, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it? It’s really a mainstay of White Trash Cooking, which is central to my own ethnic heritage…
Boy, my husband would be in pierogi heaven if I won this! They are a major staple of his snack food diet. I think the food that represents me is my mom’s chicken tacos. They are fiddly and time-consuming, but oh so worth it. Just like me. 😉
That’s so amazing that this is a pierogi give away! This week starts lent, and with it Fabulous Pierogi Fridays at the local Orthodox church. They’re following me everywhere…If I don’t win this I’ll buy it anyways.
My food would be garlic roasted in olive oil and smeared on chewy bakery bread. Wine would be optional except for saturday nights- then it would probably be necessary.
A Polish national dish, iiiinteresting. I now have to buy this book to see what else an American can tell me about my cuisine.
“they make a wonderful dinner with a little sour cream, applesauce, and sauerkraut”
That’s two different, separate dinners, nobody eats pieorgi with sauerkraut.
My family food memory is matza ball soup – my mom always makes it for me when I visit home (even though I can and do make it for myself now too), but probably the food that most represents me is homemade bread. I love to bake whole grain breads (and NOT with a bread machine).
Also my fist book/food memory is of bread. I remember making myself a bread and butter sandwich after reading that that was what Laura and Mary ate in Little House. Of course, at that time, my mom only had margarine in the house, and the bread was that white Wonder spongey bread, so the experience was pretty blah. I felt sorry for Laura and Mary to have to eat that, even though I’m sure Ma’s bread was much better than Wonderbread
A food that represents me? Steak. With potatoes and a good salad. Solid western food.
I love pierogi!
I’d like to say I’m strawberry shortcake, but I’m probably more undercooked steak with cayenne pepper.
Mm, love pierogi. Uh, I don’t know what food I would be. Maybe mac and cheese?
From someone who keeps up the pirogi tradition in my family (it skipped from my great grandma to me somehow), I think the author is super awesome for sharing pirogi love 🙂
The food that would represent me would probably be Mac & Cheese, because you can dress it up or put it in almost any company, but it’s still a basic, no-frills dish at heart.
OMG Pierogi! I make them for all special occasions in my house and now I’m teaching my son so he can make them in college since it’s one of his favorite foods. (@ #5 Cloud I have had pierogi stuffed with sauerkraut – it was one of my grandma’s specialties – and it is surprisingly fantastic.) Also try frying some onions in butter and then pouring it all over your pierogi, it’s the traditional Ukranian topping.
Much as I would like to say pierogis and paska represent me, since they were so much a part of my growing-up (or maybe some wierd mashup of pierogis and lasagna, since I’m half Ukranian and half Italian) my kids would probably say what represents me most is cookies, since I always keep the cookie jar full and am always trying new recipes!
Love pierogi! It’s rEally difficult to think f a food that represents me, but I guess I would say beets. Favorite food as a kid
I am of Polish heritage, with some Irish thrown in. I have alwaysbsaid that combination pretty mush means I’m 90% potato, genetically speaking. I’ll read her book either way, but I sure would enjoy the pierogi platter.
I’m a Southerner married to a yinzer (ha!!!) so I just tasted pierogi for the first time last year. It’s pretty darn yummy! Of course, since I’m from the South I LOVE grits. Yummmmm….
Since my brain is fried, my body is doughy (hey it’s February), I am worn thin yet I am sweet (heh), I’m going with…Chruschiki! …..Polish pastry (fried dough covered in sugar)
Pierogi! Oh, this brings back memories of my Polish Grandma. My DH (who is obviously not Polish!) eats potato pierogi with spaghetti sauce, but I want them sauteed in butter with onions and breadcrumbs.
Now we just need golabki, cucumbers in sour cream and kielbasa from the butcher (never the supermarket kind).
I’m a croissant—lots of layers 😉
I’ve never had a pierogi, so I’d love to win this!
I think sour cream. Besides being an important ingredient in all off my favorite sauces, I like it on almost everything. I think it is versatile, makes things richer or cooler depending on the type of food and isn’t good for you in daily quantities. Things that describe me or goals for the future.
I’m a stuffed mushroom. So, kind of crabby, with some cheesy, peppery (white), and oniony bits thrown in. Oh, and lots of butter.
Like so many others, I’ve never had a pierogi.
They sound like polish pasties, which is a totally divine idea. Since I am a sunday roast with two veg and a pud, I would be thrilled to try a pierogi!
I’d be my English granny’s old-fashioned trifle, with lots of whipped cream and crumbled chocolate on the top, cherries in the middle, and a surprising amount of booze at the bottom.
I am cookies and milk, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, second breakfast, elevenses … Within a small circle of friends, I am famous for my homemade chocolate chip cookies. If I ever write a book, I’ll be giving those away.
How about Fusilli bucati in vodka sauce with a side of garlic bread? Carbs & booze; a winning combination.
Well, since I’m a plump little Polish dumpling, I’d say pierogi represents me well. Oh, how I wish Mom and Grandma were still with us to see this! Both were lifelong lovers of both romance novels (I got started by reading Mom’s Harlequins) and Polish food. Good luck with you book, Jennifer Lohmann, and sto lat!
Could there be Chocolate pierogi? Because that would totally be me!
Food like me? Hmm I aspire to Shaker lemon pie. whole lemons (including rinds) sliced paper thin soak overnight in sugar baked in a two crust pie. Tart, sweet, unusual.
My kids Polish grandmother (in Chicago) taught me to make Kolocki, a wonderful filled cookie.
When I was growing up, my friend’s Ukranian grandmother used to make pierogi stuffed with sauerkraut. My family ate sauerkraut soup every Christmas Eve.
I’m from the Chicago area and wonder if Jennifer has a favorite restaurant or deli to buy pierogi, maybe someplace she pictures as her fictional restaurant?
Well as I am half Slovakian, pierogis are a big part of my heritage too. But mostly, I think my food would be the traditional bread that my grandmother used to make and that I have started making myself.
Bread. I bake homemade bread. My family won’t let me enter the room at a holiday gathering without my homemade yeast rolls!
My family is Hungarian, so I’d probably pick something poppyseed-based, like the little crescent-shaped cookies we call “kifli.”
Mmm pierogi – My husbands family is from Poland and I’m still trying to get my husband’s aunt to share her recipe with me.
I think I would be pancakes- when I can’t think of anything to make I make pancakes. Filling, delicious, and really easy to make fancy by tossing in some bananas, chocolate chops, shredded apples and spices, pretty much whatever you want. That’s me- pretty normal and simple – but sometimes I’ll throw in a twist 😉
That’s funny! I’m a yinzer who went to college in South Carolina, and I thought grits with butter and cheese were the greatest thing I’d ever eaten. Oh, and boiled peanuts, too.
lasanga
Great giveaway!
I’m going to echo Stephanie and say pancakes. It is my absolutely favorite thing, and I could eat them anytime and anywhere.
Sweets best represent me. I have inherited a killer sweet tooth. But. I also love to bake for people I care about. Nothing beats the smell of baked goods baking in you house…. YUM!
Being born and bred in Chicago and half Polish, a pierogi is always greeted with a happy dance. But food I would be is pasta. Any kind. It was the first thing I learned how to cook and my father once said he was suprised I never turned into a giant noodle.
I love this thread – so moving to read about everyone’s dishes.
I’d have to say mine is Chicken Paprikas (Hungarian chicken stew with sweet paprika), a dish that both my Austrian Croat Grandmother and my WASP mother made. My gram’s parents came from near the current Hungarian border, so I assume that’s why it’s a family recipe. It’s one of the meals I made for my husband when we were dating, and he still gets mushy when I make it for him now.
Don’t enter me in the competition – I already have the book on my TBR and I’m gluten free, so the pierogi’s would be wasted on me.
What a great idea! I have to say that I would be a cake—sweet (just ask my friends), with just a little bit of naughty (those calories!), and layers (it’s not just onions that have layers, you know)!
I think I’m probably an apple crisp. Sweet, tangy, and great topped with ice cream. 😉