Yesterday we picked up Brother # 1 and went to the Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana (Brother # 2 was too tired from working extra hours all week to accompany us). The last two years we would get there on a Sunday at 11 am but since we opted to go on a Saturday this time around we decided to go later so that when we got back my mom would be home from church (she always goes on Saturday evenings) so we could all hang out the rest of the evening.
We arrived at the fest around 3 pm and didn’t leave until after 6 pm. We sampled some new pierogi flavors such as cherry (good), strawberry (ok), and plum (yuck), but my favorite was the sweet cheese. Joe and I split 12 pierogis total, and in addition he had an ice cream cone, a huge polish sausage, and a funnel cake. I had a bite of the polish and some of his and my brother’s funnel cake. I also brought home a slice of deep dish pizza from Beggar’s that I only ate half of because I felt nauseated all day. Later in the evening my mom made me a nice plain chicken breast which helped.
We met some nice people at the fest which is one of the reasons, besides the food, that I enjoy it so much. There’s a lot of picnic benches sprinkled throughout the fest so you end up meeting people while you’re chowing down. This year it was unseasonably cool – in the 60’s – which was SO much better than the past two years where it was so hot you felt as if you were melting. You just can’t enjoy eating as much when you’re spending all your time seeking shade and/or air conditioning. Thanks to the weather we weren’t turned off from standing in a half hour line for the best pierogis at the fest (Dan’s Pierogis) either; they have the most varied selection of flavors and was the only booth I saw that had the sweet cheese pierogis that I know I’ll be stuffing into my pie hole come next year.