mennonite girls can cook | Sharalee Prang Photography

childhood unplugged: january

Thursday, January 1st, 2015

if there was ever a time for nostalgia, i suppose it’s now. in a season rife with tradition, i can’t help but adopt a few of my own. i come from a mennonite background; a people with rich history who love God, good food, sturdy women and pacifism. which is basically me in a box, in case you’re wondering (though i do love to dance, which is a bit of a problem for the more conservative among us ;).

this year i decided to teach allie how to make new year’s cookies (aka portzelky, aka fat balls of deliciously raisin filled dough fried in oil). as the name suggests, they are typically made around new years and are meant to draw one further into the food induced coma they are just starting to wake from after christmas. everything about making these in my home brings back memories; the crispy fried raisins that fall off and you can’t help but eat and immediately regret because they have a crispy burnt flavor to them, the look of the dough stretching from the edge of the bowl, the bubbles as you drop them into the oil, the smell of the fresh baked fitters that clings to your curtains for days to come…the essence of nostalgia for me. and even though i know that eating too many may very well cause me to poop my pants, i just can’t help but indulge. you didn’t think i was going to get too serious on y’all, did you?

please go take a look at the other new years posts from the amazing women of childhood unplugged!