...when we moved here...the Historical Committee gave us a packet that included a centennial history of the Church...and then a ten year pamphlet for each decade after that...
...pretty interesting reading about a Church founded in 1879...
...and also in the packet was this pamphlet from 1988...
...all about the customs and festivals of the German (Dutch) settlers of this area of North Carolina...
...it reminded me quite a bit of the Norwegian/Scandinavian/Danish settlers of North Dakota and their
lefse making tradition...
...at the back of the booklet were these three recipes...the superstitions associated with the cooking of the fastnachts are funny...
...I like that this one is cut in a diamond shape with a slit in the middle...
...this is the recipe that they use here at the Church...and someone has written some adjustments on it...
...so yesterday morning we went over to the Church to make some Fastnachts...and it reminded me so much of
those days in North Dakota making lefse in the kitchen at Peace...and it even blew snow flurries around outside...
...it's funny that everyone has their own 'style' of making the fastnachts...
...some were making traditional ring/hole donuts shapes...some pretzels...some braids...
...but my favorite way was this diamond cut with slits that are pulled through each other to form 'tangled britches'...so fun...
...and there were trays upon trays of fastnachts ready for frying later in the afternoon...
...so let's get started on the vegan version...scald some vegan milk...I used almond...and add some mashed potatoes...
...some yeast...
...sugar...
...salt...
...and Earth Balance...
...and enough flour to make a soft dough...
...turn out on a floured board...
...and knead...
...cover and let rise for an hour and a half...
...when it's doubled...
...roll it out pretty thin...
...about 1/8th inch thick...
...and slice into squares/diamonds...
...then make a couple of slits...
...and pull the slits through each other as above...to make tangled britches...
...and let rise again...another hour...mine lost most of their definition...
...then fry in hot oil...
...this part goes really fast...
...when they're golden on one side flip them over...
...they come out all crazy shapes...and mine looked pretty much the same as the ones at the Church...
...light and fluffy...and sprinkled with powdered sugar...at Church they also had cinnamon sugar and pancake syrup...funny...
...so delicious...as only fried bread can be...
...Shrove Tuesday and Mardi Gras celebrations vary so much from region to region...when we were in Columbia...the Church had a pancake supper on Shrove Tuesday (which comes from the word 'shrive' meaning confess)...and in North Dakota...we had a Walleye fish fry on Mardi Gras (which means 'fat Tuesday' in French and is a celebration of the last day of eating rich foods before Lent) ...so they even called the day by a different name...
...and here they serve chili and Mexican cornbread for supper...followed by Fastnachts for dessert and they call the day Shrove Tuesday...
~Have a lovely day!
yummmm!! i'm hungry now!
ReplyDeletelove, k
Shrove Tuesday here and pancakes - the large flat crepe style - which many people serve with lemon and sugar but in my family it was usually squeezed orange with sugar and that is what we have at home now. When I was a child in the 1950s we often had pancakes but with jam or golden syrup and they were then rolled up. An economical pudding when there was an egg to spare, protein in the egg and milk and comfort in the sweetness.
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