food

The Gourmet Girls

The main course of a meal made by ‘The Gourmet Girls.’ (Photo by Daunine Rachert)

Some of ‘The Gourmet Girls’ meet in the Jeanette Thiessen’s backyard to celebrate Daunine Rachert’s birthday on Oct. 10, 2020. Pictured from left to right: guest Marjorie Kornelsen, Charlene Delcourt, Elaine Hovey and Daunine Rachert. (Photo by Jeanette Thiessen)

‘The Gourmet Girls’ enjoy prosciutto-wrapped asparagus. Pictured clockwise from top left: Daunine Rachert, guest Joanne De Jong, Marlene Nelson, Elaine Hovey, Charlene Delcourt, Jeanette Thiessen. (Photo by Joanne De Jong)

A screenshot of ‘The Gourmet Girls,’ from left to right, top row: Daunine Rachert and Marlene Nelson; middle row: Jeanette Thiessen and Elaine Hovey; and bottom row: Charlene Delcourt. (Photo courtesy of Jeanette Thiessen)

Pear Tarte Tatin prepared by Elaine Hovey for ‘The Gourmet Girls.’ (Photo by Daunine Rachert)

Imagine if you could eat at a five-star restaurant every Saturday night, even during COVID-19. That’s what has been happening in one neighbourhood in Calgary since May 2020.

Potluck faith

'Every household contributes to the plentiful potluck lunch.' (Photo by Spencer Davis/Unsplash)

Every year around this time, the congregation I belong to makes plans for Gathering Sunday. After a summer of sparser attendance at worship services, our gathering on the first Sunday after Labour Day is always a celebration, a reunion for those of us who vacationed outside the area and for those who stayed put during the summer.

Sourdough spirituality

Joel Kroeker mixes sourdough starter at his dining room table as his daughter, Rehema, looks on. (Photos by Donna Schulz)

Each stencil Joel Kroeker uses in his breadmaking is cut free-hand from cardstock. (Photo by Donna Schulz)

Joel Kroeker readies another two loaves of sourdough bread for the oven. (Photo by Donna Schulz)

Each loaf is stencilled and then slashed to allow for rising while baking. (Photo by Donna Schulz)

Baking bread is more than just a business for Joel Kroeker. It’s also a way to further important conversations.

With a deftness that comes from repetition, he slides another two loaves of bread into the oven. By the time he finishes for the day he will have baked 20 loaves and mixed another batch of dough for the next day’s orders.

‘To the heart through dal’

Ashisha Lal, an MCC IVEPer who served at Thrift on Kent in Kitchener, Ont., made dal for her coworkers. (Photo courtesy of Ashisha Lal)

During my year of living in Canada as part of the International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP), sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), I made dal (lentil soup) a number of times. In my country, India, dal is a basic everyday food.

Ashisha's spinach lentil soup

Photo courtesy of Ashisha Lal

In 2018 Ashisha Lal, a young Mennonite from India, worked at the Mennonite Central Committee thrift shop in Kitchener, Ont. This spinach lentil soup (Palak dal) reminds her of her mother who died of cancer. Read her story here.

Oma’s Peppernuts

Dave Toews’s relatives took the culinary Christmas tradition of peppernuts with them when they left the Netherlands in the 16th century. (Photo by Barb Draper)

This recipe for Pfeffernusse (peppernuts) is from my Oma (grandmother) Maria (Wiebe) Kroeger and my mother Helen. (See more at “Family tradition goes back 500 years.”)

Family tradition goes back 500 years

Making peppernuts for Christmas are, from left to right: granddaughters Kishina and Anaya Toews, and Oma Marion Toews. (Photo by Dave Toews)

“Pfeffernusse,” Dora repeated after me in amazement! She couldn’t believe that my Christmas treats were the same as hers.

It was Nov. 7, 2002, and we were sitting around the pool at Toddy’s Backpacker Hostel in Alice Springs, Australia. Nostalgia crept among us; we had wandered far and wouldn’t be home for Christmas.

Diana’s Sugar Rolls

Diana’s Sugar Rolls (photo by Barb Draper)

Diana Shaw grew up watching her mother express love and caring by preparing and sharing food. Diana says, “This recipe from my mother is easy to make; it can be frozen, thaws quickly, and is easy to eat!” It makes approximately 90-100 sugar rolls, depending on the size.

Food and love are entangled

Melissa Miller

Like many women I know, my mother carries a deeply ingrained impulse to feed others. Once I watched her tend Penguin, her black and white tuxedo cat, clucking and fussing as she prepared and set food before him. To my eyes, the hefty Penguin was doing just fine, and the fuss seemed to be unnecessary. Who knows though?

Good food enhances camp ministry

Melita Penner (left) and her daughter, Denelda Fast, cook at Shekinah each summer. (Photo by Craig Friesen)

Rollkuchen dough, ready for the fryer. (Photo courtesy of Melita Penner)

Every summer Melita Penner and her daughter, Denelda Fast, spend a week cooking for summer camp at Shekinah Retreat Centre, north of Waldheim, Sask. They’ve been doing it for 15 years.

Gifts of the table

Recently, my husband and I sat with friends at a table in an Ethiopian restaurant. As we dipped pieces of injera (sourdough flatbread) into the tasty sauces, we reported on our lives: a new business, a new grandchild, past school experiences, current professional realities.

Consider what happens when people gather around the table:

An empty bowl

Photo by Kaylene Derksen

‘Soup and Pie’ by Manitoba artist Margruite Krahn was featured in the November 2015 issue of Anabaptist Witness that focussed on food issues. She cites the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as her inspiration. The work hangs at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg.

‘Food is a Human Right’ is the title of Filipino artist Bert Monterona’s painting that was featured in the November 2015 issue of Anabaptist Witness, which focussed on food issues. Inspiration for the work was Amos 5:11-12,14 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully.

Peppernuts and anarsa

Neeta Solomon cooks a meal for Marlene Epp. (Photo by Marlene Epp)

A plate of anarsa. (Photo by Marlene Epp)

Neeta Epp prepared various dishes, including anarsa for Marlene Epp, who visited India to interview Mennonite women there about their food practices. (Photo by Marlene Epp)

I recently learned to eat anarsa—a sweet, rice-based treat—while travelling in India visiting with Mennonite women, and learning about their religious lives and food practices. It was late February, but I was told that Christians in India normally prepare anarsa at Christmastime as a seasonal and festive treat.

Mennonite pancakes

This is the traditional way to serve these pancakes. Each person takes a pancake from the stack, sprinkles on cinnamon and sugar (or fruit such as applesauce or rhubarb sauce) and rolls it up. (Photo by Barb Draper)

A stack of pancakes ready to be consumed. (Photo by Barb Draper)

Pancakes played a role in the story told in “Mennonites connect over pancakes.” Here is a tasty recipe.

Mennonites connect over pancakes

Shimeles Retta, a former refugee, teaches Ethiopian church leaders with the support of Mennonites in Germany. (Photo courtesy of Carl Hansen)

It was more than 20 years ago when two Mennonites from Germany travelled to Ethiopia to explore the possibility of doing mission work with the Mennonite church there.

Foodgrains Bank brews climate storm on Twitter

Kenyan farmer Mary Mutua uses conservation agriculture principles promoted by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Her fields are healthier and more advanced than neighbouring crops. These methods are a way to increase resilience to climate change. (Canadian Foodgrains Bank photo by Valerie Gwinner)

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank walks a fine line on climate and walks it well. A recent and rare slip demonstrated the tensions it, like the rest of us, must navigate.

Full Cupboard provides emergency help in Wellesley

Kara Carter, pastor of Wellesley Mennonite Church, left, stands with Christa Gerber, chair of Wellesley and Community Food Cupboard Committee and of the Wellesley Mennonite Church Mission Committee. (Wellesley Mennonite Church photo)

Four years ago, while part of a missional leadership group, Kara Carter, pastor of Wellesley Mennonite Church, received news from the local school parents advisory group that there were children who were coming to school hungry.

Butternut bisque recipe

It takes commitment to use up 18 large squash. Pictured with the squash is April Klassen. (Photo courtesy of Erin Froese)

Sharing soup builds community. (Photo courtesy of Erin Froese)

Last fall when Erin Froese and her household received the gift of many large squash they had trouble using it all up. They made a couple large pots of Butternut bisque and invited their neighbours to join them for a winter soup night.

Illustrator and bakery collaborate

Where Do Sticky Buns Come From? is a picture book illustrated by local artist and designer Jonathan Dyck and written by Jon McPhail, owner of Jonnies Sticky Buns bakery. The book was released on Dec. 16, 2017, to a packed audience in Winnipeg.

Bringing people and food together

Gord Enns leads a bicycle tour of five farms in the Osler, Sask., area that sell meat, vegetables, fruit and baked goods directly to consumers. (Photo courtesy of Gord Enns)

Participants check out the produce available for sale on the Local Food Trail. (Photo courtesy of Gord Enns)

Curious pigs come to check out the Local Food Trail bike tour participants. (Photo courtesy of Gord Enns)

Local Food Trail bicycle tour participants chat with the farmer at this market garden. (Photo courtesy of Gord Enns)

Cyclists begin their tour of the Local Food Trail at Farmyard Market. (Photo courtesy of Gord Enns)

On a sunny Saturday in early September, 13 cyclists set out to explore the Local Food Trail near Osler, Sask. Gord Enns, who is executive director of the Saskatoon Food Council and who lives on a farm in the Osler area, organized the tour in conjunction with the town of Osler and the rural municipality of Corman Park.

Upside-Down Company Platter

Maqloobeh (mahk-LOO-bee) is a favourite Palestinian dish.

In her story about hospitality, “Sharing food with my two families,” Natasha Krahn describes being served a traditional Palestinian dish turned upside down on a large platter. Here is the recipe as found in the Extending the Table cookbook.

In large, heavy saucepan, heat:

‘I eat your garbage’

This meal brought to you by dumpster diving.

Thanks to dumpster diving, Nathaniel De Avila hasn’t had to purchase groceries in the past year. (Photo by Aaron Epp)

Nathaniel De Avila and his fellow foragers found all this food in dumpsters. (Photo courtesy of Nathaniel De Avila)

Nathaniel De Avila and his friends operate a donation-based community food share at their church. They have moved 1.8 metric tonnes of food through this refrigerator since last June. (Photo courtesy of Nathaniel De Avila)

I am a thief. I steal our food system’s waste.

Expressing love with food

Fred Redekop often reminded his congregation that preparing food for others who may be struggling with illness or a death in the family is a way of showing love and care.

Take, bless, break

The Evansons were out of our league. We were a plain old missionary family coming from rural New Hamburg, Ont., and they were über-educated university professors from glamorous Colorado, U.S.A. But as she so often did when newcomers arrived in Brazil, my mom took the Evansons under her wing.

‘We sit and eat at the same tables’

Cook Carol Weber of Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church shows off the soup stirrer created by set-up volunteer Dan Ulrich when he found out that the church had no spoons long enough to stir the deep soup pots used for Stirling Avenue’s community dinners. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

Volunteer Kim Barber, standing right, a Wilfrid Laurier University music professor and professional singer who attends Rockway Mennonite Church, serves guests at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church’s community dinner. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

Young volunteers Cate, Ruth and Annalee of First and Rockway Mennonite churches prepare the menu board so that guests can see what is being served at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church’s community dinner on March 14. Volunteers like these young women help set up the tables and chairs, and are gone by the time guests arrive. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

Lou Murray Gorvett prepares tea for guests before they arrive at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church’s community dinner on March 14. She is constantly on the go making sure the guests and volunteers alike are cared for. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

“Grab a coffee and go and sit down. You get served at the table. They’re really nice here,” said one guest to another on March 14 of the community dinners served every Saturday night from November through April at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener.

Pages

Search form