by MarianBeaman | Mar 9, 2013 | Recipes, Uncategorized
A throw-back to celebrations in the Old Country, Fasnacht Day had its origins in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace, and western Austria. In Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Fasnacht Day is celebrated on the eve before Lent. Think “Mardi Gras” but less bawdy! Aunt...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 6, 2013 | Recipes, Uncategorized
My Mother loved her kitchen with a spiritual passion and was happiest at the altar of her stove, cooking or baking. We’d hear her off-key voice singing “Heavenly Sunlight” or “Keep on the Sunny Side” as she fixed breakfast while we...
by MarianBeaman | Mar 5, 2013 | Recipes, Uncategorized
Grandma’s Kitchen: Recipes and More Grandma Longenecker’s kitchen was many yards long with the necessities for cooking at one end where an old cook-stove squatted and the comforts of dining on an old oak table at the other end, bounded by three bay...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 28, 2013 | Uncategorized
Middle Schooler: Veiled and Caped Good Mennonite girls of the 1950s and 60s like me wore a prayer cap and a dress with a cape. Yes, no fancy fad in the frock I’m wearing in the photo. As best I can tell, the belted cape was worn to add an extra layer of padding...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 25, 2013 | Uncategorized
It so falls out / That what we have we prize not to the worth, / Whiles we enjoy it; but being lacked and lost, / Why, then we rack the value; then we find / The virtue, that possession would not show us / Whiles it was ours. Much Ado About Nothing, Act IV,...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 20, 2013 | Uncategorized
Thank you for visiting my BLOG today. Now that you’re here, let me explain the title: The plain part is my first 24 years as a Mennonite girl In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and the fancy part follows as I move south: first to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then to...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 4, 2013 | Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
Prickly winter air . . . crunchy, crusty snow . . . Flexible Flyer sleds . . . wet mittens . . . white leather ice skates. All my memories of winter time in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are good ones. Cold, soggy socks warmed up and dried out on the heat...
