My husband and I both grew up in Pennsylvania, but in different parts of the Commonwealth.  We both remember pierogies as a yummy potato-filled food, but learned to make them differently. I had pierogies with vegetables and a meat, or just alone. He had pierogies and sausage, similar to how we eat them as a family now.

Pierogies and Sausage for him

He was used to having pierogies fried in a skillet with onions.  When he was a child he did not like onions so he did not eat them, but enjoyed the flavor they added to the pierogies. When fried, the shell or dough of the pierogies become crunchy and crispy when cooked this way. As mentioned, the onions give this dish more flavors, whether or not they are eaten along with the pierogies.  He had them with sausage links, which was also cooked in the skillet, usually before the pierogies. 

Pierogies for me

I grew up boiling pierogies in a sauce pot with water, similar to making pasta. When they were flimsy and steamy the water was drained and we ate them with vegetables and meat, the pierogies being the starch of the meal, served with sour cream, of course. My husband did not have sour cream on them when he was a child, but now enjoys pierogies topped with the condiment.

How we eat them now

We usually make them fried now, as my husband is the cook for this meal. He cooks up Italian sausage links or country sausage links in the skillet to have with it. However, we have them without the onions. Some of my family likes pierogies served with sour cream. Sausage and a steamed vegetable like green beans or mixed vegetables complete this meal.  The few times I prepare pierogies for my family they are boiled. My picky eater likes them either way. Fried or boiled, pierogies are enjoyed by our whole family. Sometimes the sausage is not a favorite, though.

Tell me how you make and eat pierogies.