I met my husband because of my love for pasties in the UP!

And i am all about ww.

And a note for all you out-of-staters: that’s pronounced PASS-tee and there’s no need to giggle when we reminisce about how awesome our moms’ were!

Sharon, with all your access to lamb and such, these could be right up your alley. I agree the suet or lard/bacon grease combo might make a tough crust (mine were) but that hardly detracts from the experience. I think there’s something about the crust:filling ratio that is just so “right.” Hope you make them soon.

Susy, isn’t it funny? Sara of a few comments below yours and I have often marveled at the universality of “good food ideas” ergo the turnover in its many forms (dim sum, empanadas, samosas, pasty, etc.) and I am all about good food ideas, especially when they’re fun to make too. I think it would be wonderful if your dad’s package can make it through customs!

Now Stefani this is where you get multiple children involved and dole out tasks accordingly. Assembly-line style, they’re put together in no time flat. And most recipes work in quantities that would completely suit your family, as it is, ours is eating these things for DAYS and I even gave a couple away! But I like the kale/chorizo idea, mmm.

Grandmabecker, indeed! Even my Detroit husband enjoys them, though he said he always picked around the rutabagas eating them as a kid. I wouldn’t let him do that though in front of our girl so he had to suffer through them!

Sara, yeah, I have. I think it’s quite funny, the contention. But think about what your average miner’s wife had access to in the U.P., year-round: potatoes, rutabagas, carrots, meat, flour, lard. Salt and pepper. So things like my celery are a spurious recent addition. Frankly I don’t think you can go far wrong with whatever you put in them, but that could just be me the bread-fiend crust eater talking.

Paula that sounds positively decadent. I would skip the brown gravy but colcannon and bubble and squeak are two ur-dishes from my childhood…and reason enough I don’t eat a lot of cabbage to this day. There is something so very…I don’t know, unifying…about covering something in gravy. It IS one of the ways I am able to make food disappear in this house.

Hiya SE. Yeah, no yeast needed; it’s basically a pie crust, so…let’s say 1:3 ratio of fat:flour. I do know crusts intimidate the heck out of people and it’s a pity: slap a crust on something and it will magically get eaten. I would imagine your stepdad’s mom was worried about the fat (butter or lard) melting if it was hot, so the weather would be a concern: the colder the fat, the flakier the crust (in theory anyway). Hope that helps, but…give it a go!

I saw a lot of recipes for a yeast based dough but that didn’t seem right. Is this basically a pie crust? There was everything you can imagine online but that doesn’t give me the true local lore.

And then any leftover pastry with berries inside.

The corn flour however isn’t really local. I do have my dad bring it up for me from Colombia when he comes, so it’s local to him (does that count?).