Community found in the kitchen
In 1989, my grandmother, Lorraine Braun, began creating a cookbook for my mother, Maurya. For three decades, she handwrote recipes of foods that were significant in our family or the Mennonite community. This recipe book is a central memory from my childhood. The book’s pages are covered with the ketchup we used to make rib sauce…
Chicken and Rice Casserole
This chicken and rice casserole reminds me of Mabel Steinman, the cook at House of Friendship during my years there in the 1970s. You can read more about Mabel Steinman here. ½ cup diced onion ½ cup diced celery 2 Tablespoons butter 2 cups cooked chicken cut in bite-sized pieces 3 cups cooked rice 1…
‘To the heart through dal’
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. My IVEP placement was at Thrift on Kent, an MCC thrift shop in Kitchener,…
Hoisin glazed chicken recipe
The L’Arche Collective Kitchen in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, provides opportunities for people with and without disabilities to share life together. (See more of the story at “Collective Kitchen involves all abilities.”) This recipe is from our new cookbook, One Big Table: Recipes from Friends of L’Arche Collective Kitchen. We are sharing the recipe for Hoisin glazed…
Collective Kitchen involves all abilities
The act of eating and preparing food is my greatest joy. Creating the dance of different flavours upon my palate is a spiritual experience. Robert Farror Capon writes in The Supper of the Lamb, “Food and cooking are among the richest subjects in the world. Every day of our lives, they preoccupy, delight and refresh…
Injera and Somali stew
For Ardith Frey, injera, a flatbread eaten in northeastern Africa, is a symbol of community. It is served on a large shared platter, along with a sauce. See Ardith’s story at “Injera: A symbol of community.” Both recipes below are from Extending the Table, Revised Edition. ©2014 by Herald Press, Harrisonburg, VA 22801. Used with permission. …
Pies bring a message of encouragement
Tim Sauer is known as the “pie man” because every now and then he shows up at places like the thrift shop or House of Friendship in Kitchener, Ont., with a pie for volunteers or staff. His gifts of pie are meant to bring a message of encouragement, to say, “You’re doing important work.” Sauer…
Tim’s rhubarb pie
Tim Sauer, who is known as the “pie man,” bakes at least 200 pies a year that he gives away to encourage volunteers and those who work in church-related organizations. This is his recipe for rhubarb pie, a favourite of John Neufeld, executive-director of House of Friendship in Kitchener, Ont. (See more of Tim’s story…
A new recipe for church
Why do you go to church? One of the main reasons is that there is something there that feeds your soul. If there was nothing nourishing there, you would find other things to do with your time. Jesus fed people. He fed them literally . . . and he fed them with stories. They had…
Frieda’s raisin bread
Frieda Woelk, who lives in a seniors apartment in Leamington, Ont., put together a “Special Cookbook for my Children, Grandchildren, Family and Friends,” with editions in 1994, 1995, 2005 and 2011. She had one copy left at the end of 2016, which she shared with Canadian Mennonite. It is full of delightful hand-written notes that…
