Sheri Trusty

PORT CLINTON - Feeding the people in their lives comes naturally to sisters Stasia Chrapkiewicz and Maria Moon. When their late mother, Zofia Chudy, emigrated to Port Clinton from her native Poland, she didn’t let her inability to speak the language stop her from making friends and feeding neighborhood children.

“My mother loved kids. When I would come to visit her after I got married, I would see all these kids sitting on her floor,” Moon said. “She didn’t speak English, and they didn’t speak Polish, but they were there waiting for cookies.”

Moon moved to the United States with her mother in 1968. Her father had arrived four years earlier to make preparations for the family, and Chrapkiewicz stayed behind to finish her schooling. She married, had two sons, and remained in Poland until 1979.

A few years prior, Moon and her husband, retired Ottawa County Judge Paul Moon, visited Poland and were shocked at what they found.

“We saw the big changes, and I said I think it’s time to get Stasia out,” Moon said.

Although their arrivals were separated by a decade, both women struggled with the language barrier when they arrived.

“In the beginning it was hard, because we didn’t speak any English,” Moon said. “At that time, there were still quite a few Polish families here. I read letters from those families’ friends and picked up English. Paul knew German, so I spoke German with him a lot at first.”

Chrapkiewicz read magazines and watched cartoons with her children to learn English.

Regardless of that early obstacle, the family received a friendly welcome when it arrived. Moon eventually became Port Clinton’s first children’s librarian and was a longtime daycare center owner.

“The people were so nice when we came here to Port Clinton. The neighbors were so friendly and helpful. It was unbelievable that there was always someone coming and talking to us,” Moon said.

Although they faced many changes, they also brought a little of Poland with them to the states. They grew up on a farm where most of their food was produced on site, and everything in the kitchen was homemade.

“When I came here to America, it was the first time I saw food in boxes and cans,” Moon said. “When my daughter went to college, she asked me why we didn’t ever have Twinkies. I had never heard of them!”

Chrapkiewicz still cooks primarily Polish dishes in her kitchen. Her family often eats traditional foods like potato pancakes, goulash, sauerkraut, cabbage, and red beets. On a recent summer day, she spent an afternoon making placek, a Polish quick cake baked with an abundance of fresh fruit; a light beet soup filled with beet roots and tops, carrots and celery; and homemade pierogies, which are a favorite at her house.

“That’s what I fed my kids and their friends. They just came for the pierogies,” she joked.

Pierogies are a versatile dish in Chrapkiewicz’s home. She serves them with sauerkraut, cabbage or bacon, and she often uses leftover dough to make sweet pierogies by filling them with blackberries, plums, strawberries, or other fruit in season.

“Stasia is a fabulous cook,” Moon said.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheri.trusty@gmail.com or 419-639-0662.

Pierogies

Dough:

5 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. whole milk

1 c. water

2 T. sour cream

1 egg

Filling:

5-6 potatoes, cooked, mashed and allowed to cool

1 (8oz.) container lowfat, plain Greek yogurt

¼ # bacon

1 large yellow onion, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Mix dough ingredients and knead gently to form a soft dough. To make the filling, fry the bacon, crumble, and drain the grease. Fry the onion separately in olive oil. Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl.

Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter or a drinking glass, cut out circles. The size of the circles depends on how big you want the pierogies to be. Place a spoonful of filling in each circle, fold dough over to make a half circle, and pinch edges to seal.

Boil the pierogies in salted water for two to three minutes, until they rise to the top of the water. Saute the cooked pierogies in butter or oil to brown. They can be eaten hot or cold.