Vasa's mouth-waterin' treats

A cookie tree greets guests to the walk.

Amidst the rolling hills of Goodhue County loftily sits Vasa Lutheran Church, atop a hill close to Welch Village. When it comes to Cookie Walks, the WELCA group puts on one tasty gathering.

For four days prior to the Saturday, December 8 event, several women of the congregation come in and stir, sift, knead, roll, bake and decorate hundreds of cookies. The idea started six years ago from the then pastor's wife, and it has become not only a popular event, but a wonderful social event for the members and community.

"Every year we've had this, it has snowed," chuckled Vivian Strusz, probably the engine behind the local cookie machine. "But they come anyway, and by 10:30 (it starts at 8 a.m.) most of the cookies are gone." That's a lot of cookies swiped up in 2 1/2 hours!

It's easy to see why as not only are there traditional favorites of sugar, date, peanut blossoms, nut cookies, there are Scandinavian treats, with many platters of Swedish treats -the church's ancestry. Although about 10 volunteers come in to back there are many more heating up their ovens to donate a favorite cookie for the fundraiser. Hundreds of cookies batches are made, : we don't count how many because of the different sizes," said Vivian. She's had a hand in making most of them as an assembly line of women show up to conjure up the delectable morsels. Vivian buys the groceries before and during the cookie making process to make sure the work can be completed on time.

"We pretty much use the same recipes every year, but we get together (WELCA) and go over recipes to see if we want some added each year." Six years ago cookies went for $5.25 a pound but now are up to $6.75 a pound, which is very reasonable since many cookies walks go for $7 a pound.

All hands on deck:

Front row: Eileen Anderson, Linda Thompson, Vivian 

Strusz, Norlene Josephson, Rose Peterson, 

Carolyn Lundstrom; back row: Duane Lindstrom, Evans 

Josephson, Duane Thompson.

Over 100 people come to the event, held in the community building of the church - just below the 156-year old congregation. From humble roots settlers worshiped in a pioneer's cabin to start with, upgraded to a log school house in 1856, enlarged to another structure six years later only to have the magnificent holy structure replace all of them in 1869. Now 475 members strong, it's religious followers started up an orphan's home in the late 1890s, it built a pavilion and chapel over the years for a variety of functions that still go on today. While Vasa is not as solid Swedish as it use to be, the heritage in honored with such traditions as Dpot i Grytan meal close to Christmas.

Kristi Tipton fills her box with goodies.

Carolyn Lindstrom described the yummy meal to a "Dip in the Kettle" or "Taste of Christmas", a tradtional meal which includes a variety of foods from Norway, Germany and Mexico as well. She was the one wearing the sweatshirt she bought in Branson, Missouri not too long ago that reads: ""Broken cookies have no calories". My feelings exactly!

The annual cookie walk not only feeds the throngs that drive from as far east as Red Wing of as far west as Cannon Falls to satisfy their sweet tooth, but they also have a cookie pack for shut-ins and the elderly later this month. That tradition has gone on for almost 40 years.

Theresa Josephson (left) manned the scale.

The fundraiser has allowed the local WELCA to purchase a new furnace, add outlets, update kitchen equipment, donate to missions and send parishioners to Bolivia for mission work. They also have put on a rummage sale for 17 years. "We get together and decide where the money will be sent once we see how much is made," said Vivian.

With most of the work done prior to the Saturday of the event, the women are making final touches to the event, which includes a spot to sit down and eat a few cookies with coffee and gab for a spell. The cookie line formed prior to the 8 a.m. start up and many grabbed more than one container to purchase. Aside from cookies, Scandinavian treats as lefse, krumkake, rosettes and specialty candies filled tables.

The Lutheran Community Center is where the congregation gathers for classes, meetings, etc. and the museum is open most days May through October. Built in 1987 it holds much historical information from a very proud heritage. Dr. Eric Norelius led the first services as well as founded the Vasa Children's Home. There were other notable men of state and national fame from Vasa: Col. Hans Mattson, a founder and Civil War veteran and two-time Minnesota Secretary of State and U.S. Consul to Indian who also wrote several books; Swan Turnblad, publisher and builder of the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis; John Lind, congressman and late governor of MInnesota; Dr. N.L.T. Nelson, a nationally known botanist; and John Anderson and T.G. Pearson, members of the legislator. These are the most famous, but many more came forth to serve in a variety of ways at state and national levels.

Picking up a monthly newsletter proves the religious involvement of parishioners. It appears to be a vibrant, loving community for worshippers.

Aside from its history, its baking is second to none. Their 150th anniversary cookbook literally sold thousands, with a few left over - they generously gave me one to peruse, use and share a Scandinavian treat with all.

Chkoladekager (Danish Chocolate Cookies)
2 sq. unsweetened
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
Vanilla frosting
3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 b. sweet milk or buttermilk
Melt chocolate with butter. Add brown sugar and beaten egg. Sift flour, salt and baking soda together and add alternately with milk to first mixture. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for about 12 minutes. When cool, spread with vanilla frosting. TO make, mix confectioner's sugar and enough cream to make of spreading consistency. Flavor with vanilla. Chocolate shot can be sprinkled on top. Yield: about 50

This mural is part of the work on the stage area
 by B.J. Norman of the Vasa Lutheran Church. Eventually the
talented artist will paint in the penciled area.

Peppar Kakor (Ginger cookies)
1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 T. corn syrup
2 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
3 tsp. cinnamon
3 tsp. ginger
3 tsp. cloves
Juice & grated rind of 1 orange
3 1/4 c. flour
Cream butter ad sugar. Add to syrup and egg. Add sifted dry ingredients: mix well. Chil. Turn onto lightly floured board and cut into shapes. Bake at 400 degrees until lightly brown.
FOLK TALE: Place cookie in palm of hand, make a wish and press to break. If it breaks into 3 pieces your wish will come true.

Thanks for a lovely time Vasa WELCA!

              Merry Christmas to all my followers!

Bear Creek: gem of a meal, church

Every meal time is unique and it's those of yesteryear that we remember the best. When we grew up on the dairy farm near Rochester, every supper all of us grabbed our seat, passed around the cookin's and slarfed down our food before the rest grabbed it from our plate. But the food was always the best.

Such is the most recent trip to Bear Creek Lutheran Church's Meatball Supper in rural Grand Meadow. Amidst the corn fields, red barns and rolling hills sits a gem of a country church, full of tradition that each parishioner is proud to talk about. 

And a meal to brag about.

Serving up meatballs is exclusive in itself, with not many church socials centered around what would seem an easy fixing. But its recipe is a guarded secret and not shared, which made the meal even more enjoyable! On this Wednesday evening, September 5, over 220 people gathered to share in a familiar sit-down pass the potatoes meal.

Emma Grafe is one busy eight-year-old at
the meatball supper.

Usually attending church meals means a buffet style of serving the food. Not here at Bear Creek. Once you buy your ticket, you're promptly guided to a table set for eight and before you know it, food appears in front of you, ready to be passed around to newly met friends. Freshly prepared meatballs and gravy, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, buttered buns - and a wonderful added touch from country gardens - sliced tomatoes encircle your plate.  That was the bonus on this summer meal - tomatoes from parishioner gardens. Ahhhh, the memories of mom's garden produce on my plate! Milk, coffee or lemonade was filled for each of us, and the all-you-can eat was on. Don't forget to leave room for apple, pumpkin, triple berry or cherry pie - that would be sacrilegious!

LaVae Ringen was head of the kitchen this year.

"Last year we got to the bottom of the potatoes and wondered, 'oh boy, I hope we have enough!'" said Glen Warn, who has worked at all the 30+ meatball dinners. "It's hard to know, we plan for about 260." Glen was busy with Ann Hanson, cashier, greeting guests on the beautiful sunny summer evening, in a sweet, unassuming atmosphere. Visitors were encouraged to stuff the 'ballot' box for a chance to win a beautiful handmade quilt - or they could buy one that was on display, made by members of the congregation. Other than that, they were guided - not that they couldn't smell the way - downstairs to their seat.

Ann Hanson was an inviting
 host at the Bear Creek function.

The family-first congregation and WELCA sponsor the dinner. In the spring, a ham dinner is served over Memorial Day weekend, which allows visitors from all over dropping by the cemetery to add a great meal to their pallet. That dinner has been going on for close to 60 years: a lutefisk dinner at Bear Creek went for 40 years before ending some time ago. On this night, there happened to be another meatball dinner down by the Iowa border at a Spring Grove church called Black Hammer, but this was the place to be for hungry, dedicated meatball lovers!

LaVae Ringen runs the kitchen crew and with tradition on her side, the group flawlessly served up bowls full of delectable foods. She makes six pumpkin pies for the meal, but the others are bought through a local bakery. "We just don't have enough people with the time to make as much pies as we would like," she said. But the meatballs are handmade the Tuesday before, with the Pastor Shirley Redmond on hand to help. It takes about four hours to make 80 pounds of meatballs into circular gourmet - the day before it's time to peel the over 100 pounds of spuds, as well as prepare the coleslaw, tomatoes, corn and buns. LaVae's husband has six generations of family who have attended Bear Creek, and it's that spirit of tradition and loyalty that serves the close-knit congregation now and in the past.

"Tradition is very important to us," LaVae said. Said well, considering she has been helping out at this supper since the beginning as well. Money raised goes to many outside charities or causes, including American Bible Society, Rachel's Hope and world hunger. Aside from the Memorial Day dinner, every year on Dec. 23 the church has its annual Christmas celebration. They pack with standing room only the little church, which probably holds less than 100 people, with a children's program, worship service and social time afterwards. And for all the little kids in attendance, they get the traditional bag of peanuts and candy that has been handed out for over 100 years during this service.

Everyone, including adults, also gets an apple. It indicates the simplicity and lack of commercialism that existed in the 19th century, but also shows the importance of church, family and friends.

This was the first year since the meatball supper started that Beverly Hanson hasn't participated. She was instrumental in starting the supper, but this year family came first. She and her late husband, Loren, enjoyed working at the church socials.

One woman that arrived ready to eat laughed to a friend, "the scale isn't going to like me in the morning." Or as Glen said earlier in the evening, "the older we get the less we need to eat, and then here we are (ready to eat all our fill)."

The inside was just as beautiful as the outside of the
rural Grand Meadow church.

As the church moves on after 156 years, it's easy to see why it stands tall amongst the ripening corn and soybeans in southeastern Minnesota. The dry weather may have been on most people's minds and in their conversations on this night, but after a belly full of good food, all went home content. 

Although a grand display of friendliness, comraderie and love of church was at the forefront, it was clear those qualities were the foundations set many years ago - and will continue continue for many years to come.

UPCOMING DINNERS:

*Saturday, September 15 - Trinity Lutheran, Blue Earth, Salad/Sandwich Luncheon, 8-1

*Sunday, September 16 - Trinity Lutheran, Elmore, Annual Pie and Ice Cream Society with pork sandwiches, salad, beans; 22:30-6:30

     -St. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Mazeppa, 11-1:30, Ham and Turkey Dinner
     -St. Francis Xavier Annual Chicken DInner, Lake Park, 11-1
     -St. Andrew's Catholic Church, Hawley, Turkey and the Trimmings/desserts, 11-1
     -St. Adrian Catholic Church, Adrian, Annual Fall Dinner, 4-7

*Wednesday, September 19, Dodge Center United Methodist Church, pork chop dinner; 4:30-7:30
     -Chicken Pie Dinner, Hector's UM Church, 4:30-6:30
     -United Methodist Church, Detroit Lakes, Meatball Supper, 4:30-7

*Sunday, September 23 - St. John the Baptist de la Salle, Dodge Center, 21st annual Turkey/Ham Dinner, 11-1

*Wednesday, October 10 - Vineyard United Methodist Church,Hutchinson, Complete Turkey Dinner, 4:30-7

Blooming strawberries

Strawberries in the Country

You can't beat fresh strawberries in the summertime.

Add to that sloppy joes, beans, potato salad, not to mention a mouth-watering bake sale, beautiful handmade quilts for sale and plenty of broad smiles and warm saluations, the 71st Red Oak Grove Lutheran Church's Strawberry Festival was all it is hyped to be.

Ann Rudland serves up the festival specialty - strawberries
with your choice of shortcake, angel food cake or ice cream.

"As soon as I got here, I heard people tell me, 'wait til the strawberry festival' as far as what kind of congregation this was," said Pastor Lindsay Stolen said, who started last fall in her first call to the church. "I didn't have to wait that long to find out what kind of people there were here, but when this (the festival) came closer I could see the well-greased machine go to work. I just stepped back, let it happen and offered help where needed."

She was right. A visitor gets to the parking lot and it greeted by attendants directing traffic and guiding one towards the side door of the 153-year-old church. Once inside, many lovely ladies shower you with information, whether you want just a meal, purchase food, quilts or raffle tickets, or just sit quietly in worship area. The small, country church is located halfway between Blooming Prairie and Austin, amongst the corn and bean fields of Mower County. It doesn't get much more inspiriting than this - especially Tuesday, June 12, when the 65-degree weather couldn't be matched for event planning.

Mary Kittelson and Doris Draayer co-host the event.

Red Oak Grove's WELCA (Women of the Evangelical Church of America) have been organizing this event, the primary fundraiser for the church for more than seven decades. Last year they cleared $5,000 (the first $1,250 is matched by Thrivent Financial) with proceeds divided for youth and church needs, which usually includes a few repairs or purchases for kitchen equipment. Like most church socials of this kind, it started out just as a congregation gathering and has erupted into serving close to 700 people a year. A steady stream of hungry people waited patiently as volunteers took their a la carte orders, topped off by the sugar-free strawberries blanketing either shortcake or angel food cake - and a scoop of ice cream.

The angel food cake and shortbread are made the day before, with the potato salad and strawberries prepared earlier. It takes awhile to hull 300 pounds of strawberries and a peel few hundred spuds, not to mention laboring over the hot stove but the women - and men - take great pride in their event and do the work happily together.

There was a time that the strawberries were picked by hand by the women of the congregation from strawberry patches from farms in the area. Most women supplied a few quarts each. As years pass that labor intensive project - and less farmers raising strawberries - forced the festival committee to look to local vendors to purchase the red fruit.

Judy Wambeam could be found behind the bake sale table
and helping with the quilt sale.

Doris Draayer has enthusiastically worked the festival for over 40 years. "It just is a lot of fun to work with these women, who also enjoy participating. It really is a whole congregational effort." Proof, as they say, is in the strawberry (not pudding) because Doris is one of several three-generation festival working families working this year. She said after church the Sunday before the event, volunteers gather to peel potatoes and boil/shell eggs, placing them in the cooler for mixing the next day. The well-oiled machine then goes in full throttle, whisking along smoothly and if there are any hitches, they are meant with a chuckle and little extra elbow grease.

"There is such a nice group of young people working here - and that's been true over all these years," said Doris. "It definitely is a generational effort. We do what the people ask for. This year we had the suggestion of adding quilts that the women of the church make during the year for missions, so we thought that was a great idea." Also added in the last couple years are take-outs, where people from as far away as Albert Lea, Dexter and points east have come to take the yummy foods home. Official serving started at 4 p.m., ending at 7 p.m., but earlier in the afternoon St. Marks Lutheran Home in Albert Lea, Prairie Manor Nursing Home in Blooming Prairie and other facilities had residents bussed in for a meal.

Judy Wambeam, head quilter of the Red Oak Grove women, was proudly representing her group, with a few of her quilters also in attendance. Prices for the tied-quilts were amazingly low for such great quality. "Last year we made 103 quilts for the church missions, and 43 were baby quilts given where needed - this is just from last fall," she said. They take a couple months off in the summer before gathering their sewing skills for another year, where about 20 women collect to stitch. It's another fellowship opportunity for the 200-member church.

Mary Kittelson is another parishioner who rolls up her sleeves and digs in - enjoying every minute. Her sister and kids also help out. "It was a family tradition. My grandma, my mom, now me and my kids have helped out. We just enjoy doing it. And it helps to have a great role model like Doris to inspire us. We just want to continue what the earlier generations started."

That's unusual for church socials. Although everyone talks for hopes in perpetual continuation of their social gathering, lack of volunteers and higher food prices, drive many to the graveyard. Not at Red Oak Grove. They welcome newcomers and younger generations for their ideas and energy. However, Red Oak Grove did see its annual lutefisk dinner come to a halt several years ago. But all the energy is in the strawberry festival, something the whole congregation is most proud of.

Even in times of stress, the festival keeps going. Mary laughed when she recalled a few years ago that the power went out at the church during the festival. "We blew a transformer, but just kept going at it. We talked about maybe charging more when we got out candles to sit on the tables for light. We thought ambience should be worth a little more."

Take Madaline Collette, who now lives in Austin, but a former congregation member. She sat chatting in the landing area but recalled many wonderful memories of attending/working the festival - something she's done since 1946. "You just can't beat the food and people here," she said smiling.

It's obvious how Red Oak Grove integrates the whole family through service, fundraising and fellowship and fun with this one event. Many churches could learn a lot about the love these people have for their church.

Strawberries come to the surface, but it's the hidden work that built such a strong foundation that will span many more years in the rural landscape of Minnesota.

It's definitely an event full of history - and calories!


RECIPE TIME!

Marlys Peterson is one of the main cooks
in the kitchen.

Here's the recipe - direct from the 2009 cookbook - for the best shortcake you can make to share your strawberries with. Marlys Peterson cooks many panfuls for the festival and also put together the congregation cookbook where it can be found:

ROL Festival Shortcake (Red Oak Grove)
1 box (8 cups) Pioneer Brand Biscuit Mix
3 1/2 cups milk
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients until blended, do not over mix. Put into a well greased/or sprayed 11x17 pan. Bake 350 degrees in oven for 25 minutes or until done. When slightly cooled take out of pan and place on cooling rack. When cool, cut the cake into 28 pieces.


Future events:

United Methodist Church, Dover - Ice Cream Social, Thursday, June 14: 5 to 7 at the Fire Hall. BBQ, chicken salad, potato salad, baked beans, chips, bars and ice cream.

Sunday, June 24 - Moland Lutheran Church Strawberry Festival, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rural Kenyon, MN