PF, I don't want you to have a heart attack, but your grandmother's recipe was probably very similar. My mother-in-law didn't make the one with the poppy seed, she only made the one with the saurkraut and that's what my husbands family expects to see. I might make some with the poppyseed and honey just to see what they think. I think those are more of a dessert and the ones with the saurkraut are a side dish. My BIL always used to say "Bobalky makes you bulky!"
After thinking about the rising of the dough, I think the frozen bread dough is made to rise just once, so I'm just going to let it defrost in the refrigerator overnight and then make the balls the next day. The people on that website said to "soak" the dried out balls in boiling water, but the way we do it is to put them in a big colander and pour the boiling water over them, so they get wet and a little softened, but you don't want them mushy.
GG I don't know of anyone who made this with old bread. The older generation made the balls from scratch. The younger generation started using frozen bread dough or Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix as a short cut, and the balls can be bought in the local grocery stores in the bakery department. You have to get a bit of a crust on the outside of each ball. Plain bread would soak up too much liquid. I will post a pic of mine when I make it next week.