(upbeat music) - [Michael] Tonight on WPBS Weekly "Inside the Stories."

The 1000 Islands Museum in Gananoque is a great place to visit.

Mitch Beatty, the 1000 Islands Wanderer takes us there.

And Johnny Spezzano of the Border hosts Colin Olmsted of the Humble Palace food truck to fire grill traditional pierogies.

Also take in the sounds of Canadian country singer Scott Owen.

His music is inspired by 90s country.

Your stories, your region.

Coming up right now on WPBS Weekly, "Inside the Stories."

(upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] WPBS Weekly "Inside the Stories" is brought to you by, The Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center.

(upbeat music continues) The JM McDonald Foundation.

(upbeat music continues) And the Dr. D Susan Badenhausen Legacy Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.

Additional funding from the New York State Education Department.

- Good Tuesday evening everyone and welcome to this edition of WPBS Weekly, "Inside the Stories."

I'm Michael Riecke.

As summer continues to unfold, so do our desires to venture to places we haven't yet seen.

If the 1000 Islands Boat Museum in Gananoque is on your list, here is Mitch Beattie, the 1000 Islands Wanderer with your official preview.

(upbeat music) (horn honking) - Favorite part of the job is just being outside and I mean, cruising on a boat like this, it's kind of, you know, it doesn't really get any better than that.

- [Mitch] Pretty tough job, someone's gotta do.

- [Speaker] Yeah, exactly, I gotta step up and take one for the team, you know.

(Mitch laughing) (upbeat music) - Hey everybody and welcome back to another episode of the 1000 Islands Wanderer Project.

Today we are at the Gan Boat Museum.

We're sitting under the boathouse that is on the riverfront.

I've got my sister-in-law back here and my wife somewhere around here that we're gonna go out and take a boat ride on one of these boats.

(upbeat music continues) If you wanna find out more information about beautiful boats like this, it can be found on TIBoatMuseum.org, which is also where you can purchase tickets to take a about an hour long ride out in the islands.

(upbeat music continues) Today we are heading out on an antique Gar Wood boat.

Garfield Wood never intended to go into the boat building business, his goal was to personally set every speed record on water and be recognized as the world's fastest speedboat king.

- [Suzanne] Go for it.

(motor revving) - [Mitch] Today, Gar Wood boats are among the most sought after classic boats in the world.

- This is actually not a reproduction because Gar Wood still exists.

It started in Michigan and Gar Wood actually invented the first hydraulic lift for dump trucks.

And with his money that he made from that got into powerboat racing.

So these Gar Wood really are speedboats.

And this one is 1989, So it's not a reproduction, it's simply built the same way they were being built in the 1920s.

And because it's a newer boat, it allowed us to get it certified by Transport Canada.

It was donated to the museum to be used as a ride boat.

- Don't tell my wife back there but I think I've got a new dream boat.

(upbeat music) - These tours are meant to connect people with the heritage of the river, obviously.

There are of course way more than a thousand islands.

There are over 1800 islands, of which 22 of them are national parks.

In the early 1900s the federal government set aside nine islands for Canadians to use for camping and docking and swimming.

It's now grown to 22.

And every now and then they're left another one in trust so that number grows.

(upbeat music continues) - Gina, back from the boat ride.

Tell me something you learned about the history.

- The statue of Queen Elizabeth on Capitol Hill in Ottawa, the base of it is from the 1000 Islands.

- [Mitch] Heck yeah.

(Gina laughing) Okay, Teri.

- I learned about Leak Island, how it's owned by Americans and they housed a lot of Canadian veterans after World War II.

(Teri laughing) - Heck yeah.

(upbeat music) All right, we're gonna check out this boat.

(upbeat music continues) So if you're looking for something to do, the Boat Museum is located at 125 Water Street in Gananoque, This boat literally has more bathrooms than our house does.

And is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM Whoa.

What?

There's plenty to learn about the stories and history about how boating plays an integral role in the industry and recreation in this area.

Okay, I said before that the other one was a new dream boat but I think I found a new, new dream boat already.

Big shout out to the Boat Museum and a big shout out to Suzanne for taking us out and giving us a bunch of the history on the islands.

We'll see you guys out in the next episode.

(upbeat music) - To purchase tickets and explore the museum for yourself, visit TIBoatMuseum.org and make plans for you and your family.

With fairs and carnivals and full swing this summer, there's no doubt you'll make your way to your favorite food truck.

One of those trucks that many of us look forward to is the Humble Food Palace, owned by Colin Olmsted, his signature dish, pierogies.

He joins Johnny Spezzano of the Border in the kitchen to show us how easy they are to make over fire.

(upbeat music) - Hey, come on.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) Hey, welcome, this is "Johnny on Fire."

Today we're making pierogies and we're gonna do it on fire.

I'm Johnny Spezzano, your host.

I got Colin Olmstead from the Humble Palace food truck.

- Sure do.

- What's up man, how are you?

- Good, how are you?

- Thanks for joining me in the kitchen.

- Absolutely.

- All right, so we're making pierogies today.

Is that, you sell that on your food truck?

- I do, yep, pierogies.

We sell a whole bunch of American regular foods with like fries and burgers and that but we have a Polish flare going.

So we have pierogies and kielbasa and sauerkraut that we do as a meal.

- And you know how to make these from scratch.

- I do.

- Family recipe.

And we're gonna make it for you here, right now.

And I can't wait to get to the story of how Colin and his wife started their food truck.

But first, let's get to the ingredients.

What do we need to make pierogies?

What do we have here?

- So to make the dough, you have to have some flour, egg, a little vegetable oil and mix that up.

You have to knead it together but not knead it too much.

It's kind of particular, you gotta build it just right.

- By the way, this whole, this whole recipe will be available at the WPBS website, so just so you know.

- Absolutely.

- So we'll help you through it.

All right, so that's our dough.

We've actually got a basic dough.

- [Colin] Yeah, we made up some here.

And we're letting it rest, after you make it and knead it you have to let it rest for a little while.

- [Johnny] All right.

- And then the next step would be make some the filling.

- Okay.

- Filling is consists of, today we're doing potato and cheddar with onions.

We try to do a lightly brown onion inside of 'em, and then lots of cheddar 'cause, who doesn't love cheese?

- I'm so, I'm so excited about this.

I've never made homemade pierogies before.

And we're learning from the master.

Before we get started, we've got some kielbasa here that we're gonna roast up in the fire.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- So the kielbasa that we're gonna cook today to go with it was actually donated by Red Barn Meat for the show today.

- This is a situation where we're gonna let Colin take control because this is your game.

I think it's so interesting.

I met Colin while I was out, I walked up to the food truck window and what's the name of the special that I got?

- I think you got the Taste of Poland.

- The Taste of Poland, yes.

- So yeah, so it's, that's sauerkraut, kielbasa with pierogies, all in like a tray.

It comes with sour cream and a little bit of green onion on top to finish it all off.

- Now we're gonna throw this in the fire and let this roast up a little bit and then we are going to make the pierogies, right here before your very eyes.

Seems like a lot of work for a food truck.

That's pretty cool that you're willing to do this.

(Colin laughing) - [Colin] Oh, I like good quality food and we strive to bring, you know, bring the best.

- [Johnny] All right.

So we're ready to throw this in the fire.

These look beautiful.

- [Colin] I'm just gonna finish slicing this last one here.

- [Johnny] Right from pierogi, just a little oil.

- [Colin] Put those right down, a little oil in there.

- [Johnny] Little oil in the bottom.

- [Colin] Toss it around.

- [Johnny] Just a little bit.

Okay.

- [Colin] Yeah, perfect.

- [Johnny] All right.

- [Colin] Baste those up a little bit.

- All right, we're gonna cook it on fire.

I'll throw that in here Collin.

- Just put a little bit of a, just a little rosemary on there to give it a little something.

- Oh, all right.

- It's a little of that oil there.

- All right.

(upbeat music) (pan sizzling) - [Colin] Woo, man, look at that.

- [Johnny] Looks good.

- [Colin] It sure does.

- Okay.

We'll set that down for now.

Wow, that's hot.

- It is.

(Johnny laughing) - All right, so this is our stuffing.

- [Colin] Yeah.

- [Johnny] Okay, and this is our dough.

- This is our dough, this is our stuffing.

So once you have your stuffing prepared and you let it cool down, you mix the cheese and-- - [Johnny] So it's really like a mashed potato mix.

- It is the mashed potatoes with cheese and onion in it.

It's really simple.

You can make this, you know, make this at home.

It's nothing crazy about that.

The dough, however, you know, you can't use a pizza dough or anything like that.

You'd have to have a, you have to make it according to this recipe and let it rest enough so that way it's nice and smooth and not elasticity.

So when we roll it out, we shape 'em, and then we're gonna actually put the stuffing or the filling in inside of 'em and then fold them.

And then we have to fold them and then we had ready for the next step.

- All right, let's get to work.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- All right, sounds good to me.

- So we're gonna do is, we got a lot of dough here.

To make it easier, we're gonna divide the dough in half, get some of that right out of the way.

And if you're gonna be a little while, while you're cooking with it, it's always good to cover the dough with a little bit of saran wrap and set it aside, that way it doesn't dry out.

- [Johnny] Doesn't dry out.

- Absolutely.

So we're just gonna spread out some flour here on the surface, so you don't want anything sticking.

And then we're going to flour our rolling pin as well.

- So, all right.

So we're spreading this out, this looks great.

I really wanna tell you about their story.

Colin, you were in a motorcycle accident.

- I was.

My wife and I were both riding, we were in a motorcycle accident on our way home from a date night and unfortunately because we were both on it, we both were out of work.

So and laying in a hospital bed, wondering what's next, one of my friends asked me, he says, "What are you gonna do for work?"

I said, "Well, when life gives you lemons, "you make lemonade."

And me being the sarcastic person that I am, of course I had to make some lemonade.

- [Johnny] Really?

- So the Humble Palace became of that.

- So you went from, in an accident to a lemonade stand to eventually a food truck.

- Yeah.

- And it's the Humble Palace.

- Little by little, we added things to it.

And we have the Palace, so.

- Here you are, all right.

- We've got some dough rolled out here.

We've tried to roll it out as thin, as thin as you can.

You don't wanna see through it but you want it to be, you know, relatively thin and workable.

- Okay.

- Now.

- What's this?

- I have this fancy little tool.

You don't have to use one of these.

You can use the lid of a mason jar, a drinking glass, anything circular.

- To make a circle?

- So yeah, so this, this part of the tool we're just gonna use to press in and cut.

- [Johnny] This is gonna make it a little bit more uniform.

You're selling them to the general public.

- [Colin] Exactly.

- So when people come to the Humble Palace and get pierogies from you, they have a little bit of a-- - Yeah.

- Like wow, look at that.

- A lot more authentic and they all look pretty close to the same.

- [Johnny] Okay.

- So I'm gonna give this one to you.

- Okay, put it down there.

- That one's gonna go to you.

And I'm gonna cut another one here.

And we're gonna take that.

This little, this tool actually comes with a spoon for for the filling.

- Are you kidding, okay.

- So we'll put that right over there in the-- - So I'm gonna get a scoop.

Scoop.

- Yep.

So you take-- - A level scoop?

- Take a level scoop.

Pretty good scoop maybe, you know, you can heap it up even it don't matter.

- [Johnny] All right.

- [Colin] These are decent sized pierogies, I like a good one with lots of filling.

- [Johnny] Oh, so you want me to put more on, is what you're saying?

- [Colin] Yeah, put one more scoop on there.

- All right, we can do that.

We wanna do 'em like you have 'em at the food truck.

- If you put too much-- - Is that too much?

- Well, if you put too much, you'll know because it'll-- - [Johnny] You can't close it?

- [Colin] You won't be able to close it and it'll squeeze right out.

- [Johnny] All right, how about you, you want some?

- [Colin] Yeah.

- [Johnny] Okay, brother.

- [Colin] Put it right in.

- [Johnny] Oh, okay.

- [Colin] Put it right here in my fingers and I'll show you how we, that's about perfect.

- [Johnny] Okay.

- So I lay 'em in my hand.

This tool actually splits.

You can actually put 'em in here, fold it and it'll make them.

- [Johnny] Okay.

- I prefer to do them by hand, I've been-- - Show me how you do it.

- Done a couple, couple of 'em before.

(Colin laughing) So, you just fold the, fold it over.

- Okay.

- And then it should be, if the dough's right, it should be really easy to work with.

- [Johnny] The dough seems nice.

- [Colin] You can stretch it right over and you just kind of shape it a little longer.

And then I crimp the edges together.

- Like that.

- Yep.

And so there's, you can do it like that.

And it's-- - Would I get kicked out of a Polish kitchen?

- I mean, it's gonna taste really yummy so.

- No matter what.

- Yeah, no matter how well it looks.

So the first time you do it.

- Yours looks better than mine.

- It may not look great, but.

- [Johnny] Put yours next to mine.

- [Colin] No, I think you did pretty good.

- All right, so now we're just gonna repeat this step.

- Absolutely and you can make a whole bunch of 'em.

I, to make 'em look a little nicer.

You can use a fork or the back of a knife to crimp around the edges, helps them seal.

- [Johnny] Turn that around.

Let 'em see over here, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Colin] Helps them seal.

We'll do it like this.

- So next step would be to throw 'em in boiling water.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- So we'd have a pot of boiling water.

You'd put 'em in and within half a minute to a minute, they rise.

And then once they rise, I try to let 'em rise for at least a minute so that they've turned into like a pasta and they're ready to come out.

- And then what do you do?

- Drip dry 'em.

And then we fry them and in a pan with butter and caramelized Vidalia onions.

- I can't wait till we get to that part.

- So, that's the good part.

- I'm ready, all right.

Let's go drop these in some water.

- Absolutely.

- Come on.

(upbeat music) So my Humble Palace partner and I have some beautiful pierogies we just took out of the boiling water.

- Yep.

- Now what's next?

- So we let them dry just a little bit, while they're drying let's, we're gonna prepare a cast iron pan.

We're, preferably a cast iron pan.

- [Johnny] Put these in.

All right.

- And then we're gonna add butter and onions to it and kind of toss that around there.

And we can put this in the fire.

- Go ahead you do it, brother.

Just don't burn yourself now.

- [Colin] All right.

- [Johnny] Slide her right in there.

- Slide right in here.

- [Johnny] Ooh!

- Boy, that's hot.

- It is hot.

It's hot but it will cook quickly.

- That's good.

- So let's finish our conversation.

So when you make pierogies, can you do more than just stuff them with potato and cheese?

- Yeah, so at home we kind of have fun with 'em.

We've added in like cream cheese instead of cheddar and buffalo sauce.

And like little chicken.

You can do mushrooms inside of 'em.

You do like mushrooms and farmer's cheese and potato.

We've done apple pie filling in them.

- [Johnny] What?

- Made little hand pies, little dessert pies.

And yeah they're very, very versatile.

You can do this once you get the dough down and you get the hand of it, you can kind of have fun with it and do what you want and get creative.

While they're finishing up.

- Yeah.

- We should maybe work on some green onion.

- [Johnny] Okay.

- [Colin] That way we can top it.

I like to garnish the sour cream with a little green onion.

And it also tastes really good with it.

- I feel like, too, let's throw some more butter in the mix.

- [Colin] Yeah, absolutely.

- Okay, all right.

So how many, honestly, think about this now.

How many of these pierogies do you think you've made?

Do you make on a weekend or making a summer?

What do you think?

- I don't know how I would even begin to count.

I mean, we've made a lot, it's probably probably 10,000 or something like that, I dunno.

- 10,000.

10,000, I love it.

- [Colin] It's a lot of 'em.

- Oh, these are looking so good in here.

I can't wait to show y'all.

So let's see, how long have they been in there?

Like what, 45 seconds?

- Not very long.

- Okay we're gonna pull 'em out and show you where they're at right now, okay?

That looks awesome.

- [Colin] Look at that, those look, they're starting to look really good.

- [Johnny] Don't they look good and smell good.

- [Colin] Let's just flip these two here over and give 'em a little bit longer here.

They're kind of still cooking in the pan, 'cause that thing is so hot, but unbelievable.

- [Johnny] Look at that.

- [Colin] That quickly.

- [Johnny] Right?

Okay.

- [Colin] Power of fire and wood.

- [Johnny] Yeah and that nice little bit of char you get.

- [Colin] Oh yeah, the flavor on this.

- [Johnny] It's not burned.

- [Colin] Gonna be amazing.

- [Johnny] There we go.

- They can brown right up nicely, you want 'em to get nice and brown and.

- Another 30 seconds we're gonna be eating brother.

- Absolutely.

- Yes.

- Okay, I don't think you can hurt yourself by browning them too much.

It's kind of, you know, if you like 'em more done or less done, it's up to you.

But you can-- - Can you fry 'em in anything else besides butter and onion?

- You could, if you wanted to do like olive oil and like a little seasoning mixture or something like that, make 'em a little more savory.

You could, I just love 'em in the butter, that good old creamy butter and onion.

And you can't go wrong, so.

- One more thing.

Let's add our kielbasa now.

- [Colin] Yeah, absolutely.

- Just let it heat up 'cause our kielbasa's good and cooked.

Okay, so we're gonna add that.

- Stir that right in.

- Okay.

Give it a shake.

- Absolutely.

(upbeat music) - We got, you got got the plates ready.

- That's great.

- Okay here we go.

- Plate here.

- Give it a shake.

Oh wow.

- [Colin] Those look so good.

- That's what I'm talking about, all right.

I don't know what you want to use to spoon it out.

- Oh, whatever.

Place it right on there and.

- [Johnny] That looks so good.

Another piece of kielbasa?

- [Colin] Yeah, why not?

- [Johnny] Again, Red Barn Meats.

- [Colin] Yeah.

- [Johnny] Boom.

All right, I'm gonna make one.

One for you, one for me.

- [Colin] Save one for you.

- [Johnny] This is great, I'm gonna start making these at home now.

- Yeah you can, and they're so easy.

They take a little time to get the, you know, ingredients right and let 'em rest but once you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun.

And it's something you can do at home and something you can do with your kids.

- All right.

- Let them fold 'em.

- How do we garnish it?

- So I think a nice little chunk of some greenery here and a slice of orange on there will look real sharp.

And then.

- [Johnny] Okay.

- [Colin] Right back here.

- Sour cream?

- We're gonna put some.

- There's your spoon.

- Sour cream.

Nice little dollop of sour cream on here.

- [Johnny] Is this how you do it at the food truck?

You do sour cream?

- [Colin] We do the sour cream, yep.

- Okay.

- We'll finish that off with a little bit of green onion.

- [Johnny] Okay, little for me.

- Little green onion for you.

And we should be good to go.

- I don't want to eat it, it's so pretty.

Made from scratch, from the Humble Palace recipe catalog.

Great job, here we go.

We're gonna try it.

- [Colin] Absolutely.

- Oh my gosh, they're so squishy.

Got a piece with an onion on it.

Dip it in a little sour cream.

Hot from the oven.

Again, pierogies.

Oh man.

(upbeat music) I've never had 'em that good.

- They're really good on the, especially if you get 'em on the butter.

- Store bought, don't taste like that.

- Nope.

- And this is why, when I ate at your food truck, I'm like, I gotta get 'em on the "Johnny on Fire" show.

- There you go.

- Thank you Colin, so much for being a part of this today.

Thank you for watching.

- Thanks for having me.

- Don't forget you can check out the Dinner at Johnny's podcast.

You can meet the Humble Palace at the Gouverneur St. Lawrence County Fair.

- Yep.

- And hope everybody has a great day.

And remember to check out the WPBS website for recipes and other episodes.

All right, I'm taking the second bite.

- [Colin] There you go.

- I gotta get some of this kielbasa on this next bite too.

- [Colin] I'm just gonna use my fingers.

- [Johnny] You can, you're allowed.

You're in my kitchen.

- [Colin] Absolutely.

- [Johnny] All right, yum!

- [Colin] Doesn't get any better than that.

- If you're looking for more great fire grilled recipes from Johnny, visit WPBSTV.org and scroll through our library.

Also, if you'd like to be a guest on the segment, drop us an email at WPBSWeekly@WPBSTV.org.

We'll need your name and your fire grilled recipe idea.

Wrapping things up tonight, we share the original music of Scott Owen out of Ontario.

Scott is a Canadian country music artist from Joyceville.

And the song he shares with us tonight is heavily influenced by the 90s country he grew up on.

Let's take a listen.

(peaceful music) (crowd chattering) (pencil scratching) (upbeat country music) ♪ Damn that coffee's strong ♪ ♪ But as not as strong as last night's whiskey ♪ ♪ Those rowdy friends of mine and I ♪ ♪ Sure kept the bar staff busy ♪ ♪ Three AM, sneaking in ♪ ♪ Trying not to wake her ♪ ♪ It amazes me the way that she puts up with my behavior ♪ ♪ 'Cause Lord knows I'm a stubborn man ♪ ♪ I don't always make things easy ♪ ♪ And it must take a heart that's blind ♪ ♪ To see me the way she sees me ♪ ♪ I don't know that I deserve the way ♪ ♪ She takes my hand in hers ♪ ♪ I just know I'm thankful for ♪ ♪ The saints that save us sinners ♪ (upbeat country music continues) ♪ As she pulls the blinds ♪ ♪ These bloodshot eyes can see the truth ♪ ♪ She was heaven sent for me ♪ ♪ To keep me safe and pull me through ♪ ♪ And I'm going to change, I have in ways ♪ ♪ I know that she's helped me ♪ ♪ But every day's temptation sways ♪ ♪ Still has it's way with me ♪ ♪ 'Cause Lord knows I'm a stubborn man ♪ ♪ I don't always make things easy ♪ ♪ And it must take a heart that's blind ♪ ♪ To see me the way she sees me ♪ ♪ I don't know that I deserve the way ♪ ♪ She takes the my hand in hers ♪ ♪ I just know I'm that I'm thankful for ♪ ♪ The saints that save us sinners ♪ (upbeat country music continues) ♪ 'Cause Lord knows I'm a stubborn man ♪ ♪ I don't always make things easy ♪ ♪ And it must take a heart that's blind ♪ ♪ To see me the way she sees me ♪ ♪ She'll keep being a steady hand ♪ ♪ While I try to be a better man ♪ ♪ I don't know that I deserve the way ♪ ♪ She takes my hand in hers ♪ ♪ I just know I'm thankful for ♪ ♪ The saints that save us sinners ♪ (upbeat country music continues) - That does it for us this Tuesday evening.

Join us next week for a fresh look, "Inside the Stories."

We love to bring our furry friends with us when we camp but is there certain etiquette that goes along with it?

We'll share some tips with you.

And meet a couple that traveled thousand year old water trails in Canada to raise awareness about poverty and social inclusion.

Also beauty on Lake Erie as we take you inside of the Dunkirk Lighthouse.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, reach out.

Drop us an email at WPBSWeekly@WPBSTV.org and let's share it with the region.

That's it for now everybody, have an incredible evening and we'll see you real soon.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] WPBS Weekly "Inside the Stories" is brought to you by.

The Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center.

A free resource offering confidential business advice for those interested in starting or expanding their small business.

Serving Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego Counties since 1986.

Online at watertown.nysbdc.org.

Additional funding provided by.

The JM McDonald Foundation.

The Dr. D. Susan Badenhausen Legacy Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.

And the New York State Education Department.

♪ Stubborn man I don't always make things easy ♪ ♪ It must take a heart that's blind ♪ ♪ To see me the way she sees me ♪ ♪ She'll keep being a steady hand ♪ ♪ While I try to be a better man ♪ ♪ I don't know that I deserve the way ♪ ♪ She takes my hand in hers ♪ ♪ I just know that I'm thankful for ♪ ♪ The saints that save us sinners ♪ (upbeat country music) (bright music)