Archived post from “The Aroma of Bread,” first published 13 February 2016.
1942 – Outside the Fassbender home in Hollandtown
Marie met Butch when she was just 19 years of age, and as her brother states, she was in her “hyper faze.”
My in-laws met in June 1941 at the wedding of Butch’s brother, Hubert (Cub), to Dolores Wenzel. It was a small ceremony, taking place in the pastor’s chambers. Butch was standing up for Cub, and as a long time friend of Dolores, Marie had been asked to stand up as Dolore’s witness. The two girls had become friends when Dolore’s father worked as a hired hand on the Campbell farm, and the Wenzel family lived in a small house located on an edge of the Campbell farm. Marie agreed to be Dolore’s attendant, never imagining that her life was about to change.
Following the marriage of Cub and Dolores, the two couples remained friends. When Butch and Marie married in 1946, Dolores attended Marie as a bridesmaid, and Cub was a groomsman. It was into their home in Dundas, that the newly wed Butch and Marie moved, while their own home was being constructed in Hollandtown.
But about Butch and Marie. Shortly after they met, they started dating, and Marie loved to tell this story about herself from that period in time. Although she had met and was dating Butch, she was keeping her options open, and continued dating other men, specifically a man named Bill. On one particular day, she was visiting with Bill in the living room at the farm. They were having a great time, and Marie lost trackof the time, almost forgetting that Butch would soon be arriving to pick her up for an evening out. That is until she heard his car pull into the yard. As he headed to the front door, Marie began rushing Bill out the side door – or vice versa, I never thought to ask. Her father, Walter, met Butch at the door, stalled him a bit so that Bill was out of the house, and Marie could catch her breath, then let him in.
Couple unidentified, but a great shot from the drive of the farm, and both the front and side porch. Notice how close the porches are to each other.
The next day, Walter sat Marie down and said that enough was enough, she had to make a choice, as he was not going to go through all that drama again. She made her choice, and for the next five years she and Butch dated, getting married at St. Mary’s in Hilbert on May 7, 1946. They would have celebrated 70 years of marriage this year!
Marie’s Chicken Dumpling Soup
from Wende
Chicken Broth
1 cup up fryer chicken
Celery, cut into chunks for broth
Salt and pepper
Carrots
Celery for soup
Noodles, cooked
Put chicken in a pot with just enough water to cover it. add the celery and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Remove chicken from broth and cool. When cool, bone the chicken, and skim the fat off of the broth. Season the broth with salt and pepper, or Nature’s Seasons. Add carrots and celery to the broth, cook for five minutes, keeping the broth at a low boil.
Dumplings
5 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour
Mix all ingredients. Using a spoon, drop by small spoon full the dumplings into the low boiling broth. Cover the pot, cook the dumplings for 15 minutes ( do not take the cover off the pot).
After the dumplings have cooked, add the chicken and cooked noodles to the pot. Cook for 5 more minutes before serving.
Today as we mark the sixth anniversary of the day after her passing, this post came to mind. So I will start here.
This is an archived post from “The Aroma of Bread,” it was first published Saturday, 16 Jun 2012.
Time is moving so quickly. Here it is another Saturday, another weekend. A moment when life can slow down a bit, and we can think about a leisurely breakfast as opposed to a quick bowl of cereal as everyone runs out the door. Or maybe a special dessert to serve at dinner.
It has been almost a month since our family gathered to honor Marie with an “Irish Wake,” and it was five months yesterday since her passing. Time passing.
Marie was known for her baked goods. I mean, she was KNOWN for her baked goods. People looked for her donations at church functions and funeral lunches. A testament to this is a photo we found. It was taken by the Van Abels in March 1977 when Helen Baumann died. Baked goods, so prized that they found time to take a photo of them.
My strongest memory of her baked goods occurred the day after she passed away. Gary was already down in the kitchen making coffee when I headed down the stairs. I was almost to the landing when the most amazing aroma came wafting out of the kitchen – sweet rolls! As I hit the landing and turned to go down into the kitchen I said to Gary, “I smell baked goods!” Gary looked at me in amazement and said, “You smell it too!!?” We took that as a sign that Marie was home, and as we later joked with cousins, baking for her first Newcomers Meeting.
What is your favorite memory of the wonderful baked goods that came out of her kitchen? We would love for you to share your story.
Kathy Keene, WHBY’s Good Neighbor – April 4, 1988 “made for Rolf Funeral” ~ “very good”
This post was not part of the original blog “The Aroma of Bread,” but I think that it belongs catalogued with these posts.
As we continue to work on preparing my in-laws home for sale, rooms are cleaned out and items tossed or prepared for the estate sale. Last night I attacked a box of sheet music that had resided in the attic for decades. Not being able to resist, I started sorting through the pages. I hadn’t gone too deeply into the box when I hit gold! My mother-in-laws piano report card from when she was 16 years old and taking lessons back to back with her brother Arthur. Marie on piano, Arthur on violin.
The next item to make my heart sing was the 1945 piano music for “Till the End of Time.” I had chosen this song to end the video I made about two years ago to honor my in-laws. How many people are lucky enough to possess moving images from a wedding that took place in 1946? I chose the song hoping that it had been a favorite, but figuring that I would never know. But last night I learned that they did enjoy this song. I still think it is a perfect way to end the video.
St. Francis Catholic Church Our Favorite Recipes, 1988, p.90
