Where it all Began....

Eva Lashewich was born January 7,1907 to Anastasia and Stanislaw Lashewich who migrated from the Ukraine and settled in Glenella, Manitoba. She was the second oldest of eight siblings which put a lot of responsibilities on her as a child. She had to learn how to cook at a very young age, sew and mend clothes and care for her younger siblings, thus making her a very strong and self-sufficient young lady.

In 1922 she met a boy, John Marcicki at the age of just fifteen. He told her that one day he was going to go to the United States to live and in 1924 he did just that, she decided that she was going to go with him. They set their path and sights on Michigan crossing over from Windsor Ontario. When they arrived in America they found housing and steady work and then they decided to get married. At the age of 18 she had her first of 6 children my father being the youngest. My Jaja (grandfather) passed away when he was just 42 years old, leaving my Busia (grandmother) to raise her children on her own. She worked hard to provide for her children, sometimes working two or three odd jobs. Providing for six children didn’t leave much money, so she did the best she could. Luckily she learned cooking skill at a young age and was resourceful with what she had available. She remembered her Mother making Pierogi when she was young but not knowing her recipe she came up with her own and hence our family Pierogi story began….

When I was a child I always remember my Busia would send over silver pie tins with lots of onions and butter and tucked underneath.. there they were….yummy, perfect and delicious Pierogi…it was like Heaven. As I got a little older I would go with my Mom to her house to help make them, but I just wanted a spoonful of her potato cheese filling. She would always say “Kemmie” with her accent “Only Old English Cheese” . 

Now to fast forward a little, my sister in law Lynda wanted to learn how to make her Pierogi, so she told Busia not to make the dough until we got there, but our very impatient Busia had other plans, luckily we caught her in the nick of time. When we walked in she had her bowl filled with flour and we said “Wait let us measure that", so we emptied the bowl out and started measuring and Busia said “Ay Yai Yai, it's not going to be good, you girls are going to mess it up” in her thick accent. She said this with every ingredient that we measured out. A pinch of this, a pinch of that…Poor Busia. They turned out just like all her other Pierogi. She said we did good....Yay, We got the Golden Recipe, well at least we think so…!

Now to fast forward even a little more further…My Busia, God rest her soul,  lived to be 94 years old and still making her Pierogi up to the end of her days.  A few years down the road, Well Yeah No Pierogi…Ugh, but wait a minute…where is the Golden Recipe? Oh yeah that's right. So Lynda and I dug it out and started our own family tradition of making them twice a year for the holidays. I would always share my 30 dozen with friends and coworkers and now I’m sharing them with You….                                                                                                                                        SMACZNEGO !