Pierogi Samosa

During our last visit to Fundacja Między Nami we were given a great recipe for a tasty pierogi dish. The only problem was that we couldn't read the recipe because it's written in Polish. Well, it's a few months later and we've been polishing up our Polish (with a little help from Google Translate) and we've translated it.


Click here to download a Pdf containing both the original Polish recipe and translated English version.

Serves 6 people
Preparation 40 minutes
Frying 10 minutes

Dough:
500g flour
25g clarified butter, 4 tablespoons of yoghurt,
½ teaspoon baking powder,
1 teaspoon salt, flour to sprinkle.

Alternative Dough Mix:
300g flour
2 eggs,
4-5 tbsp water,
pinch of salt.

Filling:
500g minced meat
250g green peas, 25g clarified butter,
2 medium-sized onions, 2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoon coriander,
1 teaspoon of powdered ginger,
½ teaspoon of chilli, 1 teaspoon Garam masala,
vegetable oil for frying.

1. Prepare the dough: sieve flour and then mix with baking powder and salt, then add the clarified butter and yoghurt.


With the dough make small balls with a diameter of 2cm.


Sprinkle flour and then roll out each ball flat with a diameter of 15cm. These form the two halves of the pierogi.


2. Prepare filling: take onions and garlic and chop finely, then heat in frying pan (gas mark 5) in butter or vegetable oil until gold.


Add minced meat and green peas, then pour in coriander, ginger, chilli and Garam Masala. Mix and fry for 5 minutes. Once the filling is cooked through allow to cool.


3. For each piece of dough add a teaspoon of the filling. Moisten edges with water, then add the other half of the dough to form the pierogi. Use a fork to join the edges (it looks decorative too!)


Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan then fry the pierogi on both sides until they go a nice golden colour. (For the Alternative Dough Mix boil pierogi in a pan of water until they rise to the surface. This is the sign that they're ready).


Remove the pierogi, piping hot and serve. We added a nice cucumber sauce and salad with ours. Smacznego! (Bon appetit!)

Related links:
Pierogi Recipes UKTV Food
Fried Spinach Mushroom and Cheddar Pierogi Recipe | Recipes | FriendsEAT.com
Pierogi with Onions and Spinach

Kooji Creative's Blog has Gone Multilingual

It dawned on us today how important it is for people to be able to understand us. Not only by explaining our thoughts and ideas in a straight forward (non designer jargon) way, but through language itself. The 'Designer Client' relationship is always something that needs to be handled carefully, but this is especially so if you don't share the same language. Our Polish clients from Fundacja Między Nami (The Among Us Foundation) have been very understanding of this fact. Marzena Bochenek, the Vice-President of FMN, is our primary contact and fortunately for us is multilingual. This is a skill I really admire and I hope that one day I'll be able to talk to her in her own language.

Until that time though, I thought that this Google Gadget would help us to break down the language barriers. We have several friends who speak many other languages aswell including: German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish too (plus my Dentist is Romanian :D).

We've added the Google Translate My Page Gadget to our blog and we recommend you do the same. Check it out :)

Image taken from The Internet Movie Database from the film 'The King and I'

The actor Yul Brynner was multilingual and could communicate in several languages including French, Russian and English. He truly was a King.

Is Your Web Truly World-Wide?

UPDATE:

Google Translate adds 10 new languages...

There's a new version of the Google Translate My Page Gadget ! It's been updated to include many other target languages to translate from. The older one above, is customisable (this new one doesn't seem to be) but there are less target languages to choose from. The decision is yours :) 18/11/08

Fundacja Między Nami Aktualności

In other words: 'The Among Us Foundation News and Current Events' Blog has gone live!

We first visited Fundacja Między Nami in 2007 as part of the International Volunteering project 'Leeds Met Poland.' For two weeks, along with a team of volunteers and staff, we worked with adults who have physical and learning disabilities. During our stay we took part in various indoor and outdoor workshops including ceramics and painting. We even had the opportunity to help put an exhibition together to celebrate the work of ‘Stash’ one of the artists from Matki Teresy z Kalcutty (Mother Teresa of Calcutta) - A day centre in the city of Lublin which is closely involved with FMN. It was an incredibly rewarding experience.

When the opportunity arose to give them something back, to help them in their creative endeavours and to raise an awareness of their pioneering work we both leapt at the chance. We felt that this could be best accomplished by integrating this project with the final year of my BSc and in parallel through our branding and promotions company, Kooji Creative.

http://fmnlublin.blogspot.com/

After the preliminary version of the FMN website was produced as part of my degree, we have since been in the process of completing the full version. This blog will be used by the Fundacja Między Nami to promote their events and to keep readers updated with their news. It links directly from their main website.

Many thanks go once again to Blogger for providing such a great service. Particularly for offering their service in several languages, including Polish.

Dziękuję Blogger!

Kooji does Poland...Again! - Day Seven

Farewell

Marzena had kindly helped us to organise a minibus for the return trip to the airport in Warsaw. This made it far easier than the trip on the way here and we really appreciated her advice. The drive back was very comfortable and fast too, as we took the newly completely motorway that was only in its first stages of completion last June. The flight home allowed us time to reflect on our experiences over the last week. Everyone was far quieter than during the outbound flight, but after such an amazing week it wasn’t surprising. Dave, our Leeds Met minibus driver, was waiting for us at the East Midlands airport and it was great seeing him again. I nattered away at him in the bus for a few minutes about our trip, but the tiredness overcame me soon enough (to his relief most likely!)

Toodleloo! Pip Pip Cheerio!

We were the last to disembark and we thanked Dave again for his help. It was the end of another tremendous adventure!

Kooji does Poland...Again! - Day Six

Fundacja Miedzy Nami

Today was a very early start, but the whole team were really excited about the day ahead. We all dashed off for the bus to Kreznica Jara, a village just outside the city of Lublin, where the arts therapy centre ‘Fundacja Miedzy Nami’ is based. We spent the morning collecting the remaining footage for our project and checking over all the details with Marzena and her IT Manager. There was a lot to discuss with them about the documentary film and promotional flash website, that is being produced as part of our final year group project. These will be used to help raise an awareness of the centre and its artists. Johnny and I will be working on the flash website as an ongoing project through our company Kooji Creative, once the initial version is completed in time for my end of year show.

The artists in the Handicrafts Workshop

Shrek inspired artwork :)

A beautiful hand-made landscape

Slawek working on his woven rug

A huge selection of rugs, cushions and nick-nacks

A closer look

Branded T-Shirts

We gathered video footage of the artists in the workshops and took high resolution photos of artwork that will be used in the gallery section of the website. Although we were tempted to continue working, Marzena invited us to take a break. Today’s lunch was a generous serving of our most favourite Polish dish: Pierogi. This had been cooked in the Cookery Workshop earlier that day and was delicious.

We felt that this was the most appropriate time to show our appreciation for sharing this meal with us, and began presenting everyone with the specially made branded t-shirts we had produced for them. The Student Centred Change Management office had kindly agreed to pay for these and they were very well received by all. It was an extremely emotional moment and I was really taken aback by the reaction of our friend, Agnieszka, who we had been told was very nervous around cameras. Nothing seemed further from the truth when she pulled me towards the cameras and gave me a huge hug. It was incredible.

Marzena claps as the gifts are dished out

(left to right) Wieslawa, Marzena, Anna and Jolanta

Check out all those sponsors!

Katherine and new friend Agnieszka

Another heart-breaking moment was when one of the disabled participants came to us looking for his t-shirt. We looked all over but couldn’t find his size. Raf took off the t-shirt he was wearing and gave it to him. It was an amazing gesture and really selfless of him.

Chata Swojsko Strawa

That evening we took Marzena, Janusz and Justyna to a local restaurant called ‘Chata’ and treated them all to a meal. It was our way of thanking them for such a memorable visit. It also gave us the opportunity to present Marzena with the money we had raised over the last few months from Cake Sales and fundraising events for Fundacja Miedzy Nami. Many of the ceramic pieces that are made at FMN are shipped over to Emaus in Cambridge and then transported to Leeds Met. Selling these in the UK is a large part of this fundraising initiative as they are very popular here and can generate a lot of interest.

Katherine presenting Marzena with the fundraising money

The artists in the Ceramics Workshop and a selection of their work:


Later the same evening our friend Hubert Gorczyca from Fundacja Fuga Mundi, the video production company we were introduced to during our last visit, came to see us. We hope to help FFM and Hubert later this year to promote his film projects. Seeing him again was brilliant and it gave us a chance to catch up.

The time came to say our farewells and we waved goodbye to our friends. To our surprise Marzena and Janusz both agreed to visit us here in the UK for our end of year show. Janusz is quite scared of flying so this is a huge gesture on his part. Having them both at our final exhibition and showcase will be wonderful as this gives us a chance to introduce them to our tutors back home at Leeds Met.

http://www.chata.lublin.pl/

It’s Murder on the Dance Floor

After our hosts left, the team decided to dance the night away in a nearby discothèque. Dancing isn’t one of my strengths, but no one seemed to mind and it finished off a perfect day.

>>> Kooji does Poland...Again! - Day Seven

Kooji does Poland...Again! - Day Five

Fundacja Miedzy Nami and The Emaus Foundation

In the morning Johnny, Rafal and I visited Marzena Bochenek, Vice President for Fundacja Miedzy Nami (The Among Us Foundation), and met the president for FMN and the Emaus Foundation, Zbigniew Drążkowski. Emaus and FMN work very closely together in their efforts to help the homeless and disabled. We were shown around the Emaus Shop, which supplies clothing and trinkets, which are donated to help raise funds.

http://www.fmn.lublin.pl

http://www.emaus.lublin.pl

The Emaus Shop

Marian Pietraś and Zbigniew Drążkowski

Bar Hades Art Exhibition

Today was the day of the art exhibition at Bar Hades in Lublin. Janusz Padzinski, the artist’s mentor from Matki Teresy z Kalcutty, had invited many high profile individuals from the surrounding areas to attend this event and it was a great honour to be a part of it all. Jarek’s giraffes were very popular and being able to see them all together as a series was a real treat.

Jarek's giraffe paintings are so colourful!

Jarek receiving his congratutions

Justyna, Janusz, Katherine and Johnny

Johnny, 'Little Stash', 'Big Stash' and Faith

Johnny, Katherine and 'Little Stash'

Katherine, 'Little Stash' and Johnny

Katherine and 'Little Stash'

Aww! How sweet :D

Interviews at Matki Teresy z Kalcutty

Afterwards we walked back over to Matki Teresy z Kalcutty to interview Janusz and Justyna. Janusz told us about the story behind some of the artwork that had been produced by the disabled artists. The project involved creating a composition based on the story of two kings: one who was ruled by money and financial gain, and the other who followed only his faith. He explained that while the abled artists painted accurate depictions, the disabled artists painted much more abstract, expressionist pieces; these he felt, had greater worth as they proved that disabled artists were just as capable and their work just as valid as their counterparts.

Janusz and Justyna in Matki Teresy z Kalkutty

Lubię śnieg bardzo!

The team were caught in a brief snowstorm on the walk back from the centre. Johnny and I decided to try out some more of the local cuisine, so we went to a nearby restaurant in the Old Town and had pancakes.

Heading off into the snow in search of pancakes

Bowling in Lublin

I had never been bowling before until this trip to Lublin and so the team decided to take me for my first experience in Lublin Shopping Plaza. I got a strike in two on my first attempt! A fluke it seems, as the following attempts were mostly gutter balls.

Johhny didn't get any gutter balls :P

>>> Kooji does Poland...Again! - Day Six

Kooji does Poland...Again! - Day Four

Bar Hades

Johnny and I spent the morning at Bar Hades helping Janusz, Faith and Jarek prepare for the art exhibition that was organised for the next day. Jarek Kaminski draws and paints the most beautiful compositions; all which centre around the same subject: giraffes. Although we have been told that Jarek has never seen a giraffe in person he seems to be quite fond of them. His first attempt at portraying the beasts began when he drew over another artist’s drawing. ‘How rude!’ you might say but from this small gesture began a whole series of giraffe inspired imagery. We set up the artwork along with our friends and then visited Stasio back at Matki Teresy z Kalcutty.

http://www.hades-lublin.pl/

Johnny hanging Jarek's giraffe paintings

Johnny and Faith admiring their handiwork

Jarek, Faith, Katherine, Janusz and Johnny

Matki Teresy z Kalcutty

After the previous day’s lessons in Polish from our friend ‘Little Stash’ came today’s full-blown Christmas carol extravaganza! March is a strange time to be singing Christmas carols for some, but for us we thought nothing of it. We simply enjoyed the chance to share a special moment with our friends. Next stop was a visit to Jan Kurowski at his home in the city. ‘Johnny’ is such a happy person, so full of wonder and it was great to get a chance to see him again. We all sat and had tea together after a personal tour from him.

http://www.dpsmtk.lublin.pl/

Ohh, Jingle Bells!

Hitting those high notes :D

Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej

The afternoon was spent being shown around the Fine Arts and Multimedia Technology departments at ‘Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej’ (UMCS). This is an impressive university and the fact that both creative faculties work alongside each other in this way is wonderful. Many of the students from these faculties are involved in volunteering projects at both the MTK and FMN arts therapy centres.

http://www.art.umcs.lublin.pl/

The ceramics department at UMCS

Some of these look almost alive!

One of the students we met was Justyna Kieruzalska; an incredibly talented artist. Justyna is deaf, but hasn’t allowed this to stand in her way. She has been studying Fine Art for the last four years without the help of a note-taker or interpreter. It was wonderful to see that Justyna and our friend Ruari, who is also profoundly deaf, were able to communicate with one another. Ruari uses Irish sign language and Justyna uses Polish, but they were still able to understand one another. It was an amazing sight.

Another Night in Prison

As a follow up to our last trip to Lublin, we took our friends to a nearby theme restaurant: Prison. It was a restaurant we visited during our last stay and one of our most favourite places to eat. It rounded off a most enjoyable day.

http://www.restauracjawiezienie.lublin.pl/

Cuffs with dinner? Yes please!

Well maybe not throughout dinner this time!

>>> Kooji does Poland...Again! - Day Five