Amish Cook

By Lovina Eicher, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Thursday, August 2, 2007 (11 months, 3 weeks ago)
Print

All is still quiet and peaceful here at the Eichers this morning. I decided to write this column before waking the children. My husband Joe left for work a few hours ago, so not much activity in the household right now, which is a perfect time for writing.
Daughter Elizabeth – age 13 – is getting around with crutches since Saturday evening. She has a badly sprained ankle. Was relieved when the x-rays didn’t show a break. This is so hard on her as she is used to being active.
Also on the injured list: my sister Susan was off work for a week after hurting her hand at work. It was infected and swollen. She’s still under doctor’s care but has gone back to work.
Last night we had pizza, cupcakes, and root beer floats for son Joseph’s fifth birthday. He was proud to get all the extra attention and be able to choose the menu for supper.
Joe and I had our 14th anniversary on July 15. How could these years slip by so fast? Mother’s 71st birthday would have been on July 18. Although she’s not here with us anymore we still will always remember that day.   Sister Emma had her 34th birthday on July 19.  We enjoyed a barbecue pork chop supper that evening.
My cousin William and his wife Cathy recently gave us a surprise visit. They live about 90 minutes from here.
On Friday evening quite a few people from the community gathered to make 3,000 pizzas for a fund-raiser. The funds were to a family in our church district to help them along with their hospital bills. There were four assembly lines going with around 15 people on each line. The “pizza assembly line” was held at the home of a church member. Then there were more people keeping us supplied in the lines with ingredients. I was helping on the “supreme” pizza line but they also did a “meat lovers” pizza. It took 5 1 /2 to 6 hours to do these, but there was work involved before and after, putting together boxes and then afterwards cleaning up to do. It was interesting to see how this works and it shows how many hands can make lighter work. It is even nicer to go help when you know its for a good cause.
Saturday was “delivery day” for all those pizzas.   There were 15 drivers hired to go deliver pizzas in this Amish church district and in other nearby Amish church districts.
Daughter Elizabeth went with sister Verena on Saturday to help deliver pizzas. Each van was loaded with 200 pizzas. Verena and Elizabeth left around 6 a.m. and came home around 5:30 p.m. It was after Elizabeth was home that she sprained her ankle.  Felt sorry that she had to go through pain after being gone all day doing a good deed, but such is life. It could have been worse and am thankful it was not a break.
Yesterday the girls and I put up around 20 quarts of pickles.  We are enjoying our first tomatoes and sweet corn.  We were disappointed to see the raccoons had raided some of our patch already. This is the first year I’ve had trouble with raccoons. Hopefully we can keep them away from the next batch coming along.
Tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. we start out to attend the wedding of niece Susan. More on that next week. God’s blessings to all!

Meanwhile try this recipe to use in-season strawberries.
FROSTY STRAWBERRY SQUARES
2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 cups crushed fresh strawberries
1 cup whipping cream
Beat together egg whites, berries, and sugar for 10 minutes in a large bowl. Make sure the bowl is very large because the mixture will triple in size. Whip cream and fold into mixture. Stir until well-blended. Pour into molds or pan and freeze and least six hours. Cut into squares and serve. Delicious!

FREE COOKBOOK SPECIAL: The “Best of The Amish Cook, Vol. 1,” “Best of The Amish Cook, Vol. 2,” “The Amish Cook Treasury” and “The Amish Cook’s Family Favorites.” Each book is approximately 200 pages with plenty of recipes and stories. The set of four can be purchased for a sale price of $65 (regularly $100). Additional sets for $50.  Special offer ends September 1, all past and current orders will be filled by Sept. 15. Send order to: Oasis Newsfeatures, P.O. Box 2144, Middletown, Ohio 45042 or call toll-free at  (877) 583-2059. All books are packed with facts, stories and tidbits about Amish life, along with plenty of recipes. . In appreciation to readers for their support through the years, anyone who orders a full set of cookbooks will receive, via FedEx, a free copy of “The Amish Cook Family,” a colorful photo-filled coffeetable cookbook, when it is released in late fall 2007. Anyone with questions can contact Amish Cook editor Kevin Williams directly at kwilliams@oasisnewsfeatures.com

0 Reader Responses to “Amish Cook”

Complete the form below to leave a response of your own.