What We Did Saturday

It was a beautiful day for Heritage Day.

Hubby and I set up our waffle-making project. We use antique waffle irons that the original Mennonite immigrants to this area brought with them from Russia. They are cast iron and designed to be used over a fire. You'll see two of them in the picture.
One belongs to Hubby's dad, and the other is ours. We use ours all the time to make waffles at home. That's why we're so good at it.... :)

I mixed up all the dry ingredients at home, but then I made the mangzel-- also known as white sauce, pudding sauce, waffle gravy, or even Schmuckuss-- on the spot.

If you have only eaten waffles with syrup, then you are missing out. The sauce is pretty much just warm vanilla pudding, and with the crisp waffle fresh from the iron, it tastes like you're eating cream puffs for supper.

Hubby's dad baked bread in the outdoor oven. He built this oven, and also the one in his backyard. He and his wife use it all the time to make bread. That's why they're so good at it. :)

Besides eating waffles and bread, you could take a ride on the horse wagon. This was one of the few non-food related events. Being as this was a Mennonite heritage day, it doesn't surprise me that most of the demonstrations had to do with food.

You could also watch apple cider being pressed, and drink a sample, and then buy some to take home. Or you could go in the barn and pick up a plate of food, which would include chunks of ring bologna, tweiback, cheese, prieschka, and neeyosh kooka.

There were other things I don't have pictures for. You could have helped stir the lard in the rendering kettle, or watched soap being made and laundry being washed (in an antique Maytag), or helped shell corn, or make butter. Or even walked around on stilts or had a gunny sack race.

The men love to gather round and watch the old engines run (while they're munching on schnetya and drinking coffee).

And don't forget a visit to the outhouse... A step back into the past would not be complete without that. (See it there, to the right of the summer kitchen?)
While we were getting ready for the day, Hubby and I were reminiscing about other years we've made waffles for a community event. In those years, the kids were young, and we made it a homeschool project. LovelyDaughter made a wonderful sign for our booth, and helped me make waffle batter and mangzel. The boys took turns manning our cash drawer and serving customers. This day it was just Hubby and me.

However, DrummerDude came along and took pictures and hung out in the summer kitchen with Granny. And 'long about noon, GuitarGeek and MB3 showed up hungry, so we fried up some waffles for them. Good days. Good memories.