Peppernuts: Tiny Bites of Christmas

Peppernuts are a Christmas tradition in our family. These tiny, little cookies came to our area with the Mennonite immigration in the 1870's. Imagine generations of people grabbing a handful or two of peppernuts and munching away and you have a tradition worth continuing.  

The Old Buffet

The buffet is now missing a pull on the top drawer. 

Nobody picked it out or purchased it especially for our family. It was simply there in the first house my parents purchased in 1963. The previous owners had not wanted to take the dining room table and buffet to their new home and had offered to leave it. My parents were happy to accept. With four children and a new mortgage, they wouldn't be buying a new dining room table any time soon.  Thousands of happy meals were eaten around that table along with a few not-so-happy moments with someone who didn't want to eat his green beans. The buffet never held dishes, but seemed to be a catch-all for papers and table games. When we left the bungalow to move to the simple farmhouse on my dad's family farm, the table and buffet came along. The table was finally replaced years after we all grew up and left home, but the buffet remained, sitting stately in the living room.

The buffet stood in a corner in my parents' farmhouse for many years. Here it serves as background to a Christmas gift distribution by their grandchildren.

Several years after my mother lost her battle with cancer, my elderly dad remarried and brought a brave lady to the farm. She came with a piano. The only place it fit was where the old buffet still stood. The buffet needed a new home. And so I took it home with me.  

It is still a catch-all, although I have filled the buffet with dishes and china as was its original purpose. No, what it catches and displays are memories. Over the years I have accumulated far too many sentimental keepsakes. Rather than leaving them tucked away, I bring out different things according to the season and arrange them on the buffet. Is this a good thing? Or a little too mushy? Maybe kind of silly?  

Christmas brings memories of our sons' childhood with their old blocks, a Disney music box and casual photographs from Christmas through the years. The clock was purchased to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversa

After the excitement of Christmas, I love to get out my white and clear glass things. It seems peaceful and calm. The photograph is of both sets of my grandparents and the faux marble clock comes from my paternal grandparents.   

In the spring, I get out the pink and green dishes. Many of the pink dishes come from my grandmother. I'm not sure that I ever saw them as a child. Grandma liked to keep her nice things nice and as a result these these things were seldom (never?) used. I try go ahead and use them while they are easily available. 

My parents were married in 1954. Some of their wedding gifts were the red that was so popular in that era. Some aluminum coffee pots, an old fan and canning jars round out the red, white and blue colors for summer.

When you only see it for a few months each year, it becomes even more precious. The   wall hanging was embroidered by my mother for me. It is a treasure.