Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year

(Hardback)

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Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year With an evocative poem for every month of the year, young Naomi introduces us to her family and hosts a journey through the seasonal rhythms of her rural Mennonite community.In the winter there's a quilting bee with chattering, friendly women to warm the frigid night, visits to a general store with all its treasures, and the awakening of the sap in the sugar bush. Spring months bring the hard work of clearing the fields and the sweet reward of shoofly pies. Under the hot summer sun there's home-made ice cream, baseball to play, and a horse-drawn buggy to drive. Then it's autumn when the shy narrator must help sell produce at the road-ide stand, while she thinks of the snows to come. And all year long there are delicious, child-friendly recipes to make and sample.The poems and recipes are perfectly complemented by Peter Etril Snyder's lovely paintings. Winterberries and Apple Blossoms is a beautifully produced book, perfect for gift-giving, or sharing with anyone who appreciates simple, enduring values.

Reviews

sunlit acrylic scenes that convey a close-knit family that works, plays, and prays together. Along with Forlers graceful verse, and recipes for every season, it all adds up to a warm portrait of a community seldom found in the spotlight.
Publishers Weekly

Together, Forler and Snyder offer readers of all ages a glimpse into Naomis world by way of a poem and painting for each month of the calendar year. Forler includes 12 recipes for traditional Mennonite desserts in keeping with the books calendar theme. Think vanilla ice cream made in coffee cans, Dutch apple pie and of course, Apple Blossoms, those delicious pastries filled with apples, brown sugar and cinnamon. Yum!
Waterloo Region Record

Author Bio

Born in Elmira, Ontario, Nan Forler has degrees in both music and education. She has taught junior kindergarten through to grade eight for over twenty years. For several years, she ran a cooking school for kids, where she shared her love of seasonal foods with children and their parents. Her first children's book for Tundra, Bird Child, won many accolades. Nan Forler lives in Waterloo, Ontario. Peter Etril Snyder was born in Waterloo, Ontario. He began painting at the age of twelve and attended the Ontario College of Art. In 1969 he began to paint Mennonite life, and since then, he has gained national and international recognition for his art and reproductions. In 1999, Snyder received his Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Wilfrid Laurier University.