Thank you to all who participated in our Cherries in Winter Sweepstakes! Our grand prize winner is Stacy Muszynski, who contributed the following family memory and recipe:
Here’s the thing. My dad doesn’t cook a whole hell of a lot these days. But there was a decade a long while back, between my mother’s death and his remarriage, when, yeah, he cooked his Polish doopa off–to keep me and my brother alive and growing on schedule. And a few of his recipes remain the never-fail kind, especially this one: Bob’s (”preferably Polish”) Kielbasa & Kraut. Family and friends still request it for parties. And when I got married last year, my husband made a special request for it to be served at our wedding celebration. The tastiest and most life-giving example of love we could think to give back to Dad. “Bwah, it’s easy!” says Dad. Yeah, when comfort is key, easy is good. Easy is definitely good.
1 ring of smoked kielbasa (”Preferably Polish.”)
1 ring of fresh kielbasa (”Preferably Polish.”)
1-2 cans sour kraut
2 onions
1 can cream of celery or mushroom soup
pieces of fried bacon (”If you want to build up your cholesterol.”)
Strain sour kraut and rinse. Pre-cook fresh kielbasa. Halve onions then quarter those halves. Simmer onions in juice from fresh kielbasa until soft. Add kraut and start to mix with onions. Add cream of celery or mushroom soup and stir. Cut kielbasa to about 1-inch lengths and add to sour kraut. Heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put on low heat and serve.
Our 5 runner-ups, who also contributed wonderful and heartwarming recipes and memories are:
Judy Dorton
Christy Hawkes
Colleen Turner
Rebecca S. Cox
Candi
For their comments and more visit our Sweepstakes Page. Continue to look for more holiday recipes on Suzan’s blog and find great ideas for quality and economical recipes to keep you warm during these cold months in Cherries in Winter! And don’t forget to visit Suzan on both Facebook and Twitter!