13-Bean Soup is an offering at the Quaker Markets and it is time to collect the beans. The AFM Youth assemble the jars of beans after receiving the beans from volunteers, like you! Please use the online sign-up form:
Here is some historical background on 13 Bean Soup Mix, written by Careen Mayer and captured in our 2014 Quaker Market cookbook :
The bean mix for 13 Bean Soup was made and sold to support the building of the AFM meeting house. Because of the success of the sales, a sample of the mix was placed in the cornerstone of the meeting house. This is the original recipe.
Betty Hutchinson is a founding member of AFM. Her interest-free loan enabled the building of the meeting house. Betty was an integral part of AFM and very active in American Friends Service Committee and other Quaker causes.
Elsa Matilla, another AFM founding member, was pictured in Sports Illustrated for her swimming victories in her 80s. We used to joke that we should have a life-sized cutout of Elsa in her swimsuit with a caption saying, “I owe all my swimming victories to 13 Bean Soup.”
In recent years (probably over a decade), Young Friends have gathered during a couple of First Day School sessions to mix up the dried beans, fill the jars, and decorate them with fabric jar toppers and ingredient labels tied on with raffia.
Friends are invited to show their support for this project by donating the 13 types of dried beans!
This year, with the help of Sheryl and Ellen, we are going to try an online sign-up, which will let you see remaining real-time needs. Here is the link to the sign-up form:
If you have questions about beans, where to drop off, etc., please reach out to market@annapolisfriends.org. If you have technical questions about the signup, please reach out to info@annapolisfriends.org.