When Lovella Schellenberg began posting recipes to her blog, she didn’t expect it would someday generate a daily following of 2,500 home cooks.
Two years after beginning the Mennonite Girls Can Cook (MGCC) website, the Abbotsford grandma and nine friends are turning their success into food for people in the third World.
“I don’t think any of us thought it would become so big,” she said Wednesday, in reference to the blog. “The idea was that it would be like a church cookbook online.”
Like a church cookbook, where churchgoers submit their favourite recipes for a book that is sold to support a charitable project, MGCC allows companies to advertise on their site if they donate $100 a month to international hunger relief.
Serving others — and, to a lesser extent, food — are important aspects of the Mennonite culture.
There are about 18,000 Mennonites in the Fraser Valley, with a B.C. church membership of about 21,044, according to the 2001 census.
Historically, the Mennonites were persecuted for their religious beliefs and driven from one country to another. Many fled Russia for Canada during the Communist revolution.
The 10 Mennonite girls — Lovella, Anneliese, Marg, Betty, Julie, Kathy, Bev, Judy, Ellen and Charlotte — share recipes, including those handed down from their Mennonite ancestors, such as borscht or paska, a sweet bread made for Easter.
“When I first started putting recipes on my blog, it was the paska that people seemed to be looking for,” said Schellenberg. “There’s so much interest in these recipes that our grandmas used to make. When I saw the response, I knew I was onto something.”
Schellenberg wrote a note to the women who were following her personal blog asking if any were interested in starting a daily recipe blog. at the outset, she made it clear the site would not operate for profit.
Nine people responded, seven of them from the Fraser Valley. For two years they have contributed recipes — a new recipe is posted each day at 4 a.m. — in addition to mouth-watering photos, cooking tips and inspirational words.
The conversation “around the table” is upbeat, and the food delicious. Not all the recipes are traditional, and some use in-season fruits and vegetables from the women’s gardens.
The Mennonite girls have met in person three or four times — not including two members who live in Manitoba — and they are planning to attend a tulip festival in Washington state later this month.
“We’ve all become such good friends. we email several times a day,” said Schellenberg. “Sometimes we ask, what if we run out of recipes? But I don’t think that’s going to happen . . . this is a work in progress. it will grow with us.”
Find Mennonite Girls Can Cook at http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/
A taste sensation
There is no other recipe that has made Lovella Schellenberg more friends than paska, a sweet Easter bread that her kids and grandkids begin asking for soon after Valentine’s Day. most of the women who contribute to MGCC found each other by Googling “paska.”
Schellenberg’s recipe comes from her husband’s grandmother. she has adapted it to make it a little more modern — “Originally everything was grated and mixed. I just use my blender,” she said.
For the bread you’ll need:
2 tbsp. active dry yeast
To make the bread:
In a large bowl, put yeast, first amount of sugar and warm water. let sit for 10 minutes.
Take the lemon and orange and peel thinly using a vegetable peeler. you don’t want to use any white part of the peel. place peel in a blender.
Remove and discard the white pith and chop the lemon and orange, removing all seeds. Add to the blender.
In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the butter and milk until the butter melts. Add the mixture to the blender.
Puree the peel and butter mixture together for 2-3 minutes.
Add the eggs, second amount of sugar and salt.
Continue to run the blender for another minute until the mixture is very smooth.
Measure the mixture. it should be about 4 1/2 cups. if you have more or less, you must adjust the flour likewise.
Pour the mixture into the bowl with the yeast mixture.
Add flour, a cup at a time until you have a smooth, soft dough. it may be a little sticky. (You will probably use about 7 cups of flour, but it will depend on the size of the eggs, lemon and orange. if you are using a plastic bowl, it will be easy to tell when you have added enough flour because it will stop sticking to the side of the bowl. Don’t use more than 7 1/2 c. flour.)
Knead by hand or with a machine for about 8-10 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and allow to rise until doubled (should take a little over an hour).
Punch the dough down and let it rest at least 10 minutes or up to another hour.
Prepare your pans with cooking spray. you will need 4 or 5 loaf pans, or use muffin tins or make free-form bread twists.
Form the loaves and let them rise until doubled in bulk (again, should take a little over an hour).
Preheat the oven to 350 F and bake the loaves about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your pans.
Allow to cool on racks. Can be frozen if not being eaten that day.
To make icing:
Combine 1 c. soft, real butter, 4 egg whites (you may want to use a pasteurized egg white powder as egg whites can be dangerous for young children and pregnant women), 2 tsp. vanilla and enough icing sugar to make a soft icing.
Beat the ingredients together until light and smooth. the icing will harden in the fridge.
Spread on the bread and sprinkle with coloured sugar.
