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Remembering Anna N

Kerry Beal

By Kerry Beal
in Member News

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

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You know what they say – none of us get out of this alive. So this started out as an obituary and instead became an ode to friendship. I began with the intent of writing an epistle – instead it turned into a series of rabbit holes. 

 

@Anna N died on Tuesday the 10th. 

 

I will not be sharing her medical information here – you will notice she never posted on “How are you Doing” thread – and she assured me if I did, she would haunt me for the rest of my days. Not that I’m afraid of her dead or alive – but hey – I respected her wishes in life and will continue to do so in death. Those of you that she was willing to let me share with know who you are and can PM me if you wish. The only thing she would be willing to let me suggest to everyone is that you quit smoking now!

 

Anna and I have been fast friends since 2006. We tell people we met online. eG’ers will appreciate that it involved Dawn Power Dissolver. 

 

“I think a bit of a backstory on how Kerry and I met is entirely appropriate as it involves eG.

I had been a member for some time when Kerry joined in 2005. I was on a topic about dishwashing detergents and bemoaning the fact that Dawn Power Dissolver was not available in Canada. Kerry PM’d me and offered to get some next time she made a trip to Buffalo. At the time, I knew nothing about her and assumed with the name Kerry that she was male. I was astounded that anyone could be so generous to a stranger and suspected some nefarious motive to find out where I lived and carry out unspeakable crimes on my person or property. (I have since learned that many eG members are incredibly generous with time, knowledge and even ingredients and equipment.)

I relented and gave my address. Kerry showed up at my door one day with said detergent. She didn’t look overly dangerous or criminal so I allowed her into my home. We talked for the next 3 hours non-stop and the rest, as they say, is history.”

 https://forums.egullet.org/topic/142785-eg-foodblog-kerry-beal-and-anna-n-2012-mixing-it-up-in-manitoulin/?do=findComment&comment=1877497

 

Anna was eG staff when we met – she did a lot of editing and such in the background for Fatguy and was always a voice of reason (not to say she wasn’t opinionated – just not inclined to share that opinion as often as perhaps she might have). She was recipe testing for a lot of authors and also editing for them when they allowed it. It frustrated the crap out of her when they wouldn't take her suggestions for edits I must admit. 

 

We started the Ladies who Lunch in 2010 to talk about the lunches we had while out and about on our Wednesday afternoon adventures. Lots of amusing stories tucked in there. The ‘cowy’ cheese is one of my favourites. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/132193-the-ladies-who-lunch-part-1/

 

One of our favourite places to go when we were lunching ladies was Winners.  One particular day Anna and I were waiting in line behind two ladies at the counter – one turned to the other and said sadly “I lost my husband last year” – Anna muttered under her breath “careless” and the two of us split a gut for the next 30 minutes straight – then again for the rest of the afternoon whenever we looked at each other. We always laughed a lot!

 

Early days we organized the first of the Chocolate and Confectionery workshops – Anna was the detail person – could not have done it without her - https://forums.egullet.org/topic/123427-reporteg-chocolate-and-confectionery-conference/

 

The second workshop at Niagara was where we both met @Alleguede - we quickly knocked the big honking chip off his shoulder and became friends. Anna called him her sibling, a difficult sibling, but a sibling none the less. I think that means they both considered me their parent? 

 

And the first time I managed to drag her off to the PMCA with me -https://forums.egullet.org/topic/144850-working-our-way-to-lancaster-pa-–-what-to-eat-in-amish-country/page/2/

 

She had a chocolate phase thanks to me – here’s one of her topics on that -https://forums.egullet.org/topic/120233-mistakes-in-the-chocolatecandy-lab/

 

Our first unofficial blog together was actually a blog apart - ‘Long Distance Cooking Buddies share their food’ since we couldn’t be the Ladies who Lunch for a few weeks. At the tail end of the blog Anna and her hubby came up to Manitoulin and stayed at the cabin out on Frier Point https://forums.egullet.org/topic/133763-long-distance-cooking-buddies-share-their-food/

 

That was June – in September it was just Anna and I – child left behind at home for school.  On the drives up to Manitoulin we would play word games and solve the problems of the world as only two women can – and laugh! Oh yeah - and decide how we would entertain our 'fans' on eG when we arrived. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/134999-sharing-a-kitchen-in-an-ingredient-desert/

 

We spent a lot of time laughing! And eventually drinking – 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/139736-help-for-a-couple-of-cocktail-novices-part-1/

 

Then there were the Big Green Egg eggfests – where Anna and I got into some serious competitive cooking then baking – this was our first eggfest when I bought the large egg and we made the chicken tikka masala that Anna had tested for Monica Bhide – we learned a lot about timing and quantities that we perfected for  future fests - https://forums.egullet.org/topic/134923-nieggara-fest-2010/#comment-1761568

 

And the Ice Wine Festivals where true friends freeze their asses off together - https://forums.egullet.org/topic/136666-report-on-the-niagara-ice-wine-festival/

 

Anna started a boatload of topics over the years – starting in 2002 here is a link to the list of them – you can see the breadth of her curiosity and interests -  I must confess to often being the one who said – “you gotta start a topic” – sometimes because we were annoyed, other times intrigued -

https://forums.egullet.org/profile/6903-anna-n/content/page/11/?type=forums_topic

 

Through all these years Anna has been my wordsmith – when we needed a title for a topic, when I needed copy for my EZtemper ads, when I needed a CV, a letter, basically anything with words that needed a clean and dust – I’d send it off to her and she would send it back polished. I swear that woman could polish a turd and make it shine!  

 

She was always on the other end of a text when I needed information or a recipe during my travels or when I was still able to find time to cook at work. And of course we talked (and laughed) on the phone on my way into, and home from, work every day. Even those drives to and from Dunnville very early in the morning. No trouble at all gabbing through the hour up and the hour back. This I am missing a lot. 
 

So when you come back up the rabbit hole – I’d love you to share your favourite memory of Anna cause I know I’m not the only life she touched here on eG.  And if you go down that rabbit hole of her topics – let us know which one you enjoyed most. 

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the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

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Mjx

Mjx

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Kerry, thank you for bringing a gleam of light to this extremely sad news, with your wonderful memories of Anna. I haven't got the words for how much I'll miss her. One of my favorite memories was of her telling me about her husband, and the various Danish dishes she'd learned because of him, then there was a PM discussion in which we agreed that Danish cooking is basically starch and fat.

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Michaela, aka "Mjx"
Manager, eG Forums
mscioscia@egstaff.org

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Arey

Arey

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18 minutes ago, Mjx said:

Kerry, thank you for bringing a gleam of light to this extremely sad news, with your wonderful memories of Anna. 

 

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"A fool", he said, "would have swallowed it". Samuel Johnson

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FauxPas

FauxPas

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I love all the links you have provided here, Kerry. What a wonderful tribute to Anna and your friendship! I'm going to have to go back and read (or re-read) your adventures. I'll always remember your Manitoulin visits, loved those posts so much. I'm so sorry that you have lost such a good friend and that eGullet has lost such a central figure, a bit of its heart. Hugs to you and to Anna's family. 💕

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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For all the years I've been on eG I have been a huge fan of Anna N. This news is extremely hard to take. She was clever and funny and generous. I loved the Manitoulin blogs, which I suspect were often spooled from her brain. I can't tell you how many times I wished I were there with the two of you having cocktails and looking at the sun set over the water. BFF's like Anna are a lifegiving treasure,  and I know how much she appreciated all the love she received from Kerry during the pandemic years and up to her very last day, I'm sure. I will miss her terribly.      

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KennethT

KennethT

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eG has definitely lost a bit of its heart. @Kerry Beal - what a beautiful way to remember your friend.  While we here will miss her interactions with us greatly, I can't imagine what you're going through, losing such a wonderful friend, and her family losing who I'm sure was a dearly loved mother/grandmother.

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TicTac

TicTac

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So sad.

 

I have had so many nice chats (both private and public) with Anna over the years.  She had a wicked sense of humor and certainly would not shy away from a debate.

 

She will be missed - sending our best to family and friends.

 

 

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Smithy

Smithy

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I've missed Anna terribly since she dropped out of sight here, and I'm heartbroken at the thought that I'll never have more of her words to read than I already do. Funny (wickedly so) - yes. Wildly intelligent and witty - yes. Endlessly curious - yes. And generous of spirit - yes. Anna was all that and more, and she soldiered on despite increasing challenges as her health failed.

 

Kerry, thank you for a wonderful tribute, with all those links to help us find her writing and enjoy the foods she enjoyed (or laugh at the foods she hated). I'll enjoy revisiting her posts and looking for something to cook in her honor. The first thing that comes to mind, though I won't be making it in the near future, is souvlaki. She saved me from a "severe" lapse in 2020: I was getting ready to cook souvlaki but had forgotten about tzatziki to go with it! I can still hear her saying "sheesh" at my oversight. 😄

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Duvel

Duvel

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It’ll be easy to remember you, Anna, as you have left such a remarkable legacy of well versed, witty, informative and positive posts that will continue to delight me in many years to come. Thank you for the exchanges we’ve had, on and off topic (😉), and your special humor that gave me so much joy.
 

Godspeed @Anna N 🙏

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Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

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How very fortunate we are to have so many of Anna's observations chronicled here.    She will be alive as long as we are here to reread her words.   

 

Thank you, Kerry, for sharing your memories with us.    May she always bring a smile to your and our face.

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eGullet member #80.

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