Velafnis, Tjast and an obsolete kissing song...

Wedding plans being made in my presence for the past few months got me thinking of things that I’ve heard my parents speak of concerning their younger years in an Old Colony Mennonite setting. The following information was relayed to me by my mom.

Velafnis (pronounced like ‘falafel’…falafnis) was an engagement event that happened a week prior to the Tjast (wedding)

On the Thursday prior to Velafnis, children from every home in the village were sent to the home of the bride with butter and milk.

Friday morning all the single girls young and old arrived with kneading bowl in
hand to prepare the dough for ‘kringle’ (photo on right) and buns. After this, all but two of the girls went home. The two girls went around the village to deliver a portion of the dough to each home. This was then prepared, baked and the completed bread returned to the Velafnis site in the evening.

A big cauldron called a ‘Mieagropen’ (or ‘Mieagrope’ if you’re from ‘jant sied’) was used to cook the Plümemoos (cold plum soup). Also, after the men slaughtered the ‘Beest’…the beef was cooked and taken out of the broth to chill. It would be served cold at the Velafnis. The broth was then used to make a Mieagropen of Kommst Borscht.

On Saturday morning, two boys with hay box wagons and horses collected tables, benches and chairs from everyone in the village. The Velafnis home was cleared out to make room for their arrival.

If the groom was from another village he was chauffeured to the Velafnis site in the morning. The whole village as well as relatives from far and wide arrived for the noon time meal by horse and buggy. Valet service was provided. Since not all the buggy's would fit on the yard, they were taken to other areas for the day and brought back when people were ready to leave.

Then the eating and socialization began. The older girls would serve tables, clearing and replacing dishes with clean ones. The younger girls washed them.

The young people congregated in the brootlied (bridal) room and parents socialized in the ‘Big Room’ ie. Living room. After the meal, the young people were invited into the room where the parents were. Two songs were sung from the old Gesang Buch (song book). After Faspa (mid –afternoon snack) was eaten there was another song from the Gesang Buch.

Only the jugend (young people) stayed for the evening meal. At one time the jugend would then go back into the bridal room where a Kuss Lied (kissing song) was sung as the couple kissed. This was no longer done when my parents were married because it caused a stir with church leadership.

On Sunday of that weekend the couple was ‘uptjeboaden’(banns of marriage).

The week between the Velafnis and Tjast meant that the engaged couple travelled to the homes of all the relatives and villagers to pick up gifts like a measure of material, tea set, or towels. It the relatives lived outside the village the couple may be served a meal as well.

The tjast (wedding) followed the next Sunday’s church service. Immediately after the service, the congregation was invited to say while the couple, both dressed in black, sat in front of the podium for a brief ceremony. No rings. No fanfare.

The newlywed couple usually lived with the husband’s family initially, sometimes with the wife's family.

Monday was back to work as usual.

(You might also enjoy 'Sawdust, Knackzoot and Faspa')

Sawdust, Knacksot and Faspa…

Saturday was a day for cleaning and getting everything ready for Sunday. Fresh Soagespoohn (sawdust) strewn across the freshly cleaned floors signified the end of a productive day. The sawdust kept the floors clean from dust longer.

Sunday was visiting day. Families either sat at home waiting for another family to come onto the yard. Or they drove around to other people’s places until they found someone at home. Traditionally, they sat in their vehicle until the host noticed them and came out to invite them in.

If you happened to be staying at home this particular week, you would have your meddachschlop (mid-day sleep aka nap) right after lunch while slowly roasting the knacksot (sunflower seeds) in the oven in preparation for guests that could potentially arrive mid-afternoon.

My mom tells me that this did not happen in her family, but in many homes the men settled into one room while the women were in another. The men were heard to chat about community events and farming; the host may show the men around the farm. The women talked about homelife, children, and about who had been ill or had passed away.

Both the front room (living room) and kitchen held big bowls of the roasted knacksot. The men would put large amounts into the pockets of their pants, and the women would place them onto a handkerchief in their laps. Many a person would stuff their cheeks with the knacksot, and shell them one by one with their front teeth, gently pushing the shell to just below the lower lip letting them all gather on the chin until they fell down to the floor on their own. Others sent shells flying right onto the floor to mix with the sawdust. Children enjoyed the crunch crunch crunch of this Sunday ‘carpet’ as they ran in and out of the room while playing.

Around four o’clock the faspa (light Sunday afternoon meal) would begin. The men ate first while the women served. Everything sat ready in the kohma (pantry room off the kitchen): the buns, kringle, Zockastetja (sugar cubes), freshly churned butter, suppsel (plum jam mostly), brown and white cookies with coffee. The Zockastetja were dunked in coffee and eaten with the buns.

When it was their turn to eat, the women took the spot that their husband had vacated and ate off of the same dishes. And, of course, the women continued their visiting while cleaning off the tables and washing dishes.

Sweeping up the Soagespoohn mixed with knacksot shells after the events of the day scrubbed the floor clean. Another weekend done.

Monday was laundry day…

Check out the blog post that inspired this post:">"No Cheese or Baked Goods Have ever Been Baptized into a Mennonite Church" ...You might also enjoy Velafnis, Tjast and an Obsolete Kissing Song.

No cheese or baked goods have ever been baptized into a Mennonite church

Isn’t it amazing how many memories are attached to the foods that we eat or have eaten? I love how a recipe or a photo or a conversation about a certain food brings back fond memories of childhood Christmases at my grandparents. Or memories of family gatherings. Or...

Yesterday local ladies were interviewed on Global News. Mennonite Girls Can cook blogspot has now had 2 million hits and they’ve recently published a cookbook. They are now posting recipes from various cultures but they started out posting traditional Mennonite recipes for posterity. I would venture to guess that part of what has drawn so many people to this blog is the same thing that draws me back again and again: nostalgia and an attempt to keep the memories alive by cooking those things of yesteryear.

For those of you who are thinking, "But I thought that Mennonite was a religion." let me explain the background a little. In one of my first blogs at this site, I wrote about my own cultural background and the importance of the stories of our lives. The memories that these foods evoke are part of my story...and perhaps yours as well. While I have not worshiped in a Mennonite church for many a year, my cultural background remains Mennonite. This differentiation can be confusing for some but suffice it to say that it has become both a religion and a culture. The Mennonite Historical Society of Canada has a rather humorous explanation :

Today…one can go to an area with a Mennonite population and see signs advertising "Mennonite baking," "Mennonite furniture," "Mennonite quilts," and even "Mennonite maple syrup!" To my knowledge, no syrup or baked goods have ever been baptized into a Mennonite church - they have never decided that "this is the church for them." In such cases the word "Mennonite" does not refer to a religious group, but rather to people of a certain ethnic and/or cultural background.

And I would hasten to add, ‘Mennonite Cheese’ to that for those from Mexico since Mennonites there have become quite well known for ‘Queso Menonitas’.

They may not have been baptized into the church but, at the risk of sounding irreverent, many a Mennonite food has been sprinkled, dunked and even immersed...chocolate sprinkles, dunked in coffee, immersed in gravy...and so on...



I have awesome memories of:

Apricot Suppsel: Picking apricots with my dear Leentjemum in her yard at Blumenort.

Cabbage Borscht! Christmas at Grandma and Grandpas as a child.

Bubbat! A great cousin gathering on one of my first visits to Mexico as an Adult.

Knackzoot (Spitz): Ohhhhhh, the memories with that one...that's a blog for the future I think...messy floors come to mind.


And that's just a start.

It's not as much about the food as the memories that they evoke of times with loved ones...and the stories that emerge... Thanks 'Mennonite Girls Can Cook' for this trip down memory lane!