I guess the most trouble I ever went to was to recreate a nostalgic food was my grandmother’s varenikis. Her version was comprised of dumplings stuffed with farmer’s cheese, briefly boiled, then sauteed in a mixture of butter, onions and sour cream. She had a Guernsey cow that produced a lot of milk. From that milk, my grandmother made her own butter, cream, sour cream and farmer’s cheese.
I only had her varenikis a couple of times when I was around 6 and 7. I loved them. Now and then, I thought about learning how to make them. I never found a recipe that quite duplicated hers, so I never attempted making them with a recipe.
When I was in my early 20s, I set about trying to recreate her recipe.
By trial and error, I finally figured it out. My first effort was a total flop. I used regular cottage cheese and regular cream. I finally figured out the farmer’s cheese and sour cream components. But commercial farmer’s cheese is not common, so I made that, too. Happily, it’s not difficult.
I can now recreate her varenikis whenever I want to. It’s still a fair amount of work and they are very calorie-laden, so I don’t make them often. But it’s nice to be able to do it when the mood strikes!