On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other
hazards)
Joyce Bupp
If you’re looking for a diet
busting event, go no farther that
your nearest family reunion.
At least in this part of the
country, with our Pennsylvania
“Dutch” heritage and the food
traditions in which that heritage
is so rich, no gathering of family
is complete without “fressing.”
“Pressing” is one of those
familiar words of my childhood.
Another term for stuffing one’s
mouth with food. Eating.
Fressing—-eating—is synony
mous with the popular custom of
family gatherings, usually at
least once a year, to break bread,
renew kinfolk ties, and figure
out who the newest baby looks
like. It may be accompanied by
formal, or more likely informal,
programs, photos to be shared,
games for the kids. And food.
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Always food.
Little kids usually like
reunions because of the games.
They flee the gathering as teen
agers—who wants to associate
with boring adults?—but may
drift back when they marry and
begin adding a next generation
of leaf clusters to the family
tree. Adults come for the fellow
ship. And the food.
Many families have certain
staple foods of reunions.
In one of The Farmer’s tradi
tional family gatherings, home
made root beer, faithfully con
cocted by his grandmother, was
mandatory. No reunion worth
the name would ever have been
considered without the tradi
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“bitey”—lo-gallon stoneware
crock of the tasty brew. Another
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family reunion features a local
delicacy—homemade chicken
corn soup.
Such family reunion staples
are likely to be of regional or
ethnic tradition. Take chicken
corn soup to a south Texas fami
ly get-together and you would
likely stamp yourself an out
sider One family dinner table
we are occasionally blessed to be
a part of faithfully serves up
pierogies. Before marriage
entwined our lives with these
wonderful folks, I wouldn’t have
recognized a pierogie if It
smacked me upside the head.
How many family reunion
tables don’t sport at least a cou
ple of varieties of potato salad?
And macaroni, either in salad
form or fixed as our grandson’s
favorite “mac and cheese.” Mom
can be depended on for her deli
cious contribution of baked dried
lima beans. And fortunate are
the families in which there are
folks who still bake pies—cher
ry, apple, fresh peach, and—
yummy—maybe even coconut
cream.
With family reunions heavily
oriented toward summer and
vacation time, enabling distant
kinfolk to participate while
vacationing, seasonal foods are
also popular table fare. Like
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cucumber slaw, just-picked,
corn-on-the-cob or fresh water
melon and cantaloupes.
A plate of fresh melon slices
is one of my favorite dishes to
both contribute and to enjoy
from the dessert tables as one of
the fewer-calorie selections. It’s
also a favorite in part because
the melons in the garden are
usually ripe for late summer
gatherings. Predictably, this
year’s jungle of melon vines m
the garden has produced dozens
of cantaloupes, watermelons,
and honeydews. Still green. And
which, like the aggravatingly
slow tomatoes, show no signs of
being in a hurry to come to the
dinner table.
So, with no homegrown mel-
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 15, 1998-B3
ons to share, I recently pondered
preparations for the latest fami
ly “fressing” session, finally
throwing together on a busy
afternoon a dessert contribution
not requiring baking, refrigera
tion, or special handling. Zap
two ingredients together in the
microwave, melt into a gooey
mess, dump in the dry stuff, stir
around and spread in a pan and
forget.
Rice Krispy treats. Totally
uncreative, but the kids (young
and old) seem to enjoy them.
And, in the hot, humid
August weather, the only food
safety issue they raise is how to
discreetly lick the sticky stuff off
your fingers.
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