Category Archives: Uncategorized

Salads, Uncategorized

So many Amish weddings lately that it’s hard to keep up

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It is a typical October day. Leaves are gradually changing color, evidence that autumn is here and making such beautiful scenery. Also, the sunsets have been absolutely breathtaking lately.

Laundry will be on the list to do today. I should be helping sister Emma today with her painting, but I am trying to heal a sore toe and painting would not have helped. I know being a cook at the wedding tomorrow will already make it hurt more.

On Tuesday daughter Susan and I helped with wedding preparations for the wedding at son-in-law Mose’s parents’ house. We diced carrots, celery, onions and potatoes for the dressing on Friday. The potatoes and carrots were cooked until softened a little so that they will be softer when the dressing is baking. We also peeled and sliced a bushel of peaches and added pineapples, orange juice concentrate and sliced bananas to make fruit slush for the wedding. Bacon was fried up and crumbled for the corn chip salad that will be served. Other jobs were completed as well.

Last Thursday was a lovely day for Clint and Hannah’s wedding. I will try to remember the menu. With so many weddings lately, it’s a little confusing to remember what was served at which wedding! On the menu were: baked and barbecued chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, green beans, corn chip salad, bread buns, honey, butter, fresh fruit mixture, pineapple dessert, cherry delight, frozen mocha dessert and candy bars. Candy bars are usually served at the end of each wedding meal.

Sunday, October 8, was Loretta’s special friend Dustin’s birthday. Mose butchered a few of the chickens, and Dustin fixed the whole chickens on the grill. Also on the menu were red potatoes and mushrooms (also fixed on the grill), sliced cheese, celery and carrots with ranch vegetable dip, cake and ice cream.

We wish Dustin another year filled with love and happiness. May God bless him for being such a wonderful friend to our daughter Loretta. With her disability it takes time and patience, and Dustin is always there for her. He made it possible for her to go deer hunting for the first time. She does very well with the crossbow when they do target practice. I’m sure, though, that once the deer is right in front of you, it can be a greater challenge!

Daughter Elizabeth was here yesterday and finished sewing Susan’s cape and apron for the wedding. I had the dress finished. It was a different pattern to sew, so it took a little more time.

We plan to butcher our 95 chickens on Saturday (although we had 100, the count is down to 95). I’m not sure we will get to all of them, but hopefully most of them. We will leave some whole and cut up the rest for frying or grilling or baking.

Chicken fajitas (shown above) and apple crisp were features of Lovina’s fall menus this week.

Last night we made chicken fajitas for supper. We had apple crisp for supper a few times this week. I also made some to take along this past Tuesday. We love it warm with a scoop of ice cream on top. I usually make this when apples are in season. It is on page 186 of my newest cookbook, The Essential Amish Cookbook.

I will share the recipe for corn chip salad this week. God’s blessings to all!

 

Corn Chip Salad

Salad:

1 head iceberg or romaine lettuce
1/2 pound shredded cheddar cheese
1 pound bacon, fried and crumbled
6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
2 1/2 cups corn chips, crushed

Toss together all ingredients except corn chips. Mix dressing with the salad, and add corn chips just before serving.

Dressing:

1 cup  salad dressing
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar

Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. She is the co-author of three cookbooks; her new cookbook, The Essential Amish Cookbook, is available from 800-245-7894. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.

Soups, The Essential Amish Kitchen, Uncategorized

Distractions from toddler are hard to resist

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A cool Wednesday evening—we finally have a break from the heat. Tonight was a nice evening to go to the local u-pick for grapes. Tomorrow we will steam the grapes into juice. We make grape juice concentrate. Sugar and water can be added to suit your own taste when you open the jars. A good healthy drink on those cold winter mornings. The steamers have saved so much work. I have two of them so it keeps me busy to keep both filled and filling the jars. We also purchased apples and cider. Yum! Fresh apples and cider with popcorn makes a good snack! I will finish this tomorrow. Good night.

Church services were held here with Mose and Susan hosting the services. That was round number three for church services being held here this summer. Along with hosting those and the family gathering, our house stayed extra clean and tidy. Now with that being over we can get out the sewing machines and start cutting out material for more wedding clothes. Yesterday, daughter Susan cut out her dress, cape, and apron for Mose’s sister Esther’s wedding. I’m to wear a dark blue dress and I have one already. But I need to cut out a dress for Loretta for next week. Her special friend Dustin’s brother Clint is getting married. Dustin and Loretta will be witnesses in the wedding. I was asked to cook so I will also go help with preparations for the wedding on Monday.

Last week we had a nice but very hot day for the wedding of our neighbor girl Mary and LaVern. My job was to wash dishes, and wash dishes I did—all day! Needless to say my hands were very clean by night time. Mary wanted my sisters Verena, Susan, Emma and our daughters to yodel for the guests after everything was over (except for washing and packing up dishes for the wedding wagon). Yodeling is a Swiss tradition I was brought up with. In this community it isn’t so common. As children we would help along as my mother and her sisters yodeled and this began a new generation of yodelers.

I was happy to meet some of my readers (relatives of LaVern) at the wedding. I am always glad when they come up and say hi. It gives me encouragement to go on even on busy days like today. I am quickly writing this before tackling the grapes that are waiting to be made into juice.

Daughter Elizabeth and her little Abigail came to help today. Laundry is being gathered to wash. I needed to go to the desk in my bedroom to finish this. Too many distractions; who could concentrate writing with sweet Abigail walking around? Chattering Abigail decided it’s faster to start walking instead of crawling. She is everywhere and Grandma’s house is again getting childproofed. She loves my cabinet with all my little Tupperware containers. Such a past-time she is and can very easily get this Grandma to neglect her work!

Mose and Susan served chicken and noodle soup for their church lunch along with bologna, cheese spread, peanut butter spread, freezer and dill pickles, pickled red beets, homemade wheat and white bread, butter, strawberry jam, hot peppers, ice tea, coffee and a variety of cookies.

We prepared four twelve-quart kettles of chicken and noodles. We added diced carrots and potatoes into the soup. That gives it a better flavor. There was a whole kettle left over so Susan passed it out to family. It made an easy lunch for the ones packing their lunch and also an easy supper Monday evening along with sandwiches.

I will share the recipe for the chicken noodle soup that we used. It is probably way too big for most people to use but if you ever need a big amount to feed a crowd it might come in handy.

God’s blessings to all!

Amish Chicken Noodle Soup

1 quart chicken broth
3–3 1/2 cups small cut up chicken pieces, cooked
4 pounds noodles
7 quarts potato water, if available; or plain water
1 cup chicken soup base
1 tablespoon salt
Add chopped carrots and chopped potatoes, as desired

Bring broth and chicken pieces to a boil in 12-quart kettle; stir in noodles. Add potato water, chicken soup base, other veggies, and salt. Return to a full boil and cook for several minutes, then turn off heat. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.

Note: Depending on the noodles you use, you may need to adjust the amount to only 3 pounds for a 12-quart kettle.

Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. She is the co-author of three cookbooks; her new cookbook, The Essential Amish Cookbook, is available from 800-245-7894. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.

Uncategorized

Soaking in sunshine on rare October day, with sympathy for family of 12 children now orphaned

What a beautiful October day! It is sunny and the mercury on the thermometer climbed over the 70 degree mark. Laundry is on the lines, drying really fast. I think autumn days like this are probably few.

Daughter Verena, 17, is taking advantage of the sunshine to weed the flower beds outside. Hopefully, this will be the last time for this season. My flower beds were just put in before our daughter’s August wedding so they are still basically empty. I hope to plant some flower bulbs this fall so we will have spring flowers. Those weeds seem to always find their way everywhere.

Our grass should be mowed but both our mowers decided to give up at the same time. They are being repaired and should be done soon.

Monday I went with niece Emma, nephew Benjamin, and Emma’s friend Menno to pick grapes at the u-pick orchard. I decided to get a few more bushels of grapes to can more grape juice.

GrapeJuiceCannedCropped
Lovina Eicher’s grape juice has deep flavor; she cans it in concentrated form.

I also picked a bushel for daughter Elizabeth and Timothy. Sister Emma and Jacob were going to go pick grapes, but found out Jacob’s dad was having surgery that day. They traveled the two hours to be with the family at the hospital while Jacob’s dad had hip replacement surgery. Sounds like the surgery went well which is always a blessing. We wish him a complete and speedy recovery!

We had a visit from Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty on Saturday morning. They brought brother Albert and wife Sarah Irene along. My friend Ruth and daughter Elizabeth and Timothy also stopped in for a while.

On Tuesday evening, Joe and I and four of the children traveled to Berne, Ind., to attend the viewing and visitation of Samuel Wengerd, age 52. He lost his battle to cancer. His wife died four years ago at age 46. They are mourned by twelve children, eight of whom still live at home. Four of the children are married. The youngest child is ten years old. I feel so sorry for the family. Our sympathy goes out to them. May God help them through this time of trial. Niece Elizabeth (daughter of sister Liz and Levi) is married to one of the sons. Jacob’s brother Martin is married to the oldest daughter.

My husband Joe will have only four-day work weeks in the month of October. Two of those Fridays we are invited to weddings. Tomorrow we will attend the wedding of Lester and Loretta. We hope it will be another nice day. Saturday we plan to attend a hog roast sponsored by our local feed mill for all its customers.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Melodie from Harrisonburg, Va. She works for MennoMedia, which distributes this column. We enjoyed her visit and hope her train ride home was safe. I look forward to meeting more of the ladies that work with MennoMedia! I owe them all a big thank you for all the help they have been to me.

This week I’ll share a recipe for apple bread. Two bushels of apples are here, which we will put into sauce as soon as time allows! God’s blessings to all!

2BushelsApplesCropped
Two bushels of apples await their destiny as applesauce for the Eicher family. Lovina likes to blend two different varieties into her applesauce.

Apple Bread
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 1/2 teaspoons evaporated milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped, unpeeled apple
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Combine sugar, eggs, milk, and oil.  Beat until well combined. Add flour, soda, and salt, mixing well. Stir in chopped apple and pour into pan. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. Bake about one hour.

 

Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. Formerly writing as The Amish Cook, Eicher inherited that column from her mother, Elizabeth Coblentz, who wrote from 1991 to 2002. Readers can contact Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.

 

 

 

Meats, Uncategorized, Vegetables

Baby colt delights Eicher children; Lovina offers delicious spring asparagus recipe

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BlackBeautyFoal
Black Beauty was born to Itty Bit May 1, 2015!

May is here already. It seems as though 2015 just began and now we are already in the month of May.

The first of May brought some excitement here. Our horse Itty Bit gave birth to a little filly. She is all black, so we named her Black Beauty. Such a lively young foal! Itty Bit is a very protective mother to the foal and it took some time for her to let us get too close to the foal.

PoleBuildingFraming
Framing went up on a new pole building, with the help of a contractor.

The construction crew started building our pole barn this morning. The poles are all set. Daughter Verena didn’t have to work today so she made chocolate chip bars and lemonade to serve to the men for their break.

My rhubarb is ready to use and I need to make rhubarb custard pie. My husband Joe always likes that.

Joe found out yesterday that they will soon be working nine hour days on Saturdays for a while. This makes him glad he hired help to put up the pole barn and didn’t attempt to put it up himself.

Last week I bought the royal blue material that I need to make address for nephew Levi’s wedding next week. I want to cut it out today and start sewing on it. I was so glad Verena could have the day off to help with the other work.

Our sympathy goes to Elizabeth’s special friend Timothy and his extended family. His grandpa died yesterday. The funeral is planned for Friday in northern Indiana.

We have radishes, peas, and corn up in the garden. We also have sweet onions planted. We had a few rainy days so once the garden dries off again we would like to plant some more of the garden. Our horseradish plant is looking nice. We want to make horseradish sauce. We grind up the root real fine and season it.

Son Kevin, 9, and Lovina are enjoying their ducks and amazed at how fast they are growing. I haven’t been out to the barn lately to see how big they are. Kevin is getting annoyed with our new rooster. He said this rooster is starting to get mean like the old one.

Thursday evening we will go to the middle school orientation with daughter Lovina, 10. Lovina and her classmates will present their career prep portfolio exit interviews to the parents. It doesn’t seem possible that number seven of our eight children has reached middle school level.

Saturday we attended the annual consignment auction. We sold our pony Tiger at the auction. Susan really hated to see him be sold but we have too many ponies around. We gave our miniature pony Minnie to Jacob and Emma’s son Steven. Lovina and Kevin are almost too big for her. Susan is training Minnie’s colt Prancer. She says he is easy to train.

It looks like we need to get the yard mowed. With the rain, the grass is growing fast.

We are enjoying asparagus fixed in different ways. Try it in this recipe. God bless!

Bunch of Green Asparagus
Bunch of green asparagus; (ThinkStock Photo)

Asparagus Ham Swirls

16 fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
16 slices fully cooked ham
16 slices processed Swiss cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup dry bread crumbs
cooking oil

In a skillet, cook asparagus in a small amount of water until tender-crisp, about six to eight minutes; drain well. Spread about one teaspoon of mustard on each ham slice. Top with one cheese slice. Place one asparagus spear on each piece of cheese (trim to fit if needed). Roll up each ham slice tightly; secure with three toothpicks. Dip ham rolls in egg, then in bread crumbs.

In skillet, heat one inch of oil to 350°. Fry rolls until golden brown (about three to four minutes). Drain on paper towels; keep warm. Cut each roll between the toothpicks into three pieces.

 

Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. Formerly writing as The Amish Cook, Eicher inherited that column from her mother, Elizabeth Coblentz, who wrote from 1991 to 2002. Readers can contact Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.

 

 

Uncategorized

Freezers filled, but two emergencies send family members to the hospital

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Greetings from cold, sunny Michigan! I have ham bones in the pressure cooker. I want to make ham and beans for supper tonight.

Our pork is almost all pressure canned or in the freezer. We still want to smoke 100 pounds of summer sausage using hamburger and sausage.

BeefChunks
After butchering their own beef, the Eicher family canned some beef chunks.

The vegetable soup we canned last week totaled 30 quarts. I make it thick so that more tomato juice can be added to the soup at the point you open a quart if preferred.

VegSoup
Last week the Eicher family canned vegetable soup. Lovina likes to make it thick, so that more tomato juice can be added once opened.

Our freezers are filled beyond capacity. We ended up putting some meat in Timothy’s freezer for now.

Saturday we will help Jacob and Emma butcher pork. Then we should be done with that for another year. It’s a lot of work but well worth it once it’s in the freezer.

On Friday, my brother Amos was working with his construction crew. He was found outside, lying down. They called an ambulance. He was taken to the nearest hospital, where the doctors think he had a mini-stroke and a bad ear infection, causing dizziness, vomiting, etc. He still is almost too weak to walk but was released to travel home, about three-and-a-half hours away.

It was two years ago in January when Amos was also taken to the hospital by ambulance after being in a van accident on his way to work. They hit black ice, causing the van to roll numerous times and taking the lives of two of my cousins, Dan Graber and Chris Eicher. The Michigan hospital Amos was in this time is two hours from here. Jacob, sister Emma, sisters Verena and Susan, Joe, and I went to visit with Amos at the hospital Friday evening. Amos’s wife Nancy and children, and all their married children were at the hospital too. It was a long drive for them.

Saturday visitors here were sister Liz, Levi, Levi Jr., Rosa and Suzanne, and their married daughter Elizabeth with husband Samuel. They spent the night with sisters Verena and Susan. Rosa and Suzanne were going to spend the night here with my daughters Verena and Loretta. Plans changed when daughter Verena was taken to the emergency room after not being able to be awakened. Doctors ordered chest x-rays as her heart rate was dropping fast from hyper-ventilating. Diagnosis was a panic attack from being too stressed, and pain from headaches. They also gave her IV fluids as she was starting to dehydrate. It gave us all a scare but we are glad she is back home and doing well.

Sister Liz had her 46th birthday on Saturday, Jan. 24, as did daughter Susan celebrating her 19th. Happy birthday wishes to both!

God bless you all! Try these cookies. Sister Susan made them awhile back.

Delicious Cookies

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup soft margarine

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup nuts

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup Rice Krispies

1 cup coconut (optional)

Mix ingredients in order given. Shape into balls on cookie sheet. Dip a fork or glass in sugar and flatten each cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. Formerly writing as The Amish Cook, Eicher inherited that column from her mother, Elizabeth Coblentz, who wrote from 1991 to 2002. Readers can contact Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.

Cookies, Desserts, Uncategorized

Molasses cookies will brighten a rainy fall day

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We had a good turnout at the book signing in Warsaw, Ind., on Saturday. Thanks to all of you readers who came and for all your encouraging words!

I’m wishing a happy birthday to Timothy (my daughter Elizabeth’s friend). His birthday was on Saturday.

Today is another gloomy autumn day where we live. We had quite a few days like this lately. Verena and I washed laundry yesterday but ended up hanging it on the lines in the basement to dry. The sun was out and just before we were ready to hang the clothes up it started raining lightly. The clothes dry very quickly in the basement with the coal stove going down there. I really would miss not having my spinner, which spins a lot more water out of the clothes even after they are put through the wringer on our Maytag washing machine.

The squirrels outside the window are busy gathering the acorns from our trees. Another sign that winter weather isn’t too far off. The corn all around us is also being harvested.

My husband Joe and son Benjamin, 15, are glad to see the corn being harvested so it will give the deer fewer places to hide. They are still trying their luck at getting a deer with bow and arrow.

Daughter Lovina, 10, went home from school with her friend Marianna yesterday. She spent the night there in honor of Marianna’s 10th birthday, and went to school with her today. We missed not having her home but I’m sure she had a great time with Marianna.

Elizabeth, 20, and Susan, 18, didn’t have to work at the RV factory on Friday and Monday. They were glad for the break. Elizabeth sewed a shirt for Timothy, and Susan sewed a dress for herself. I still need to show Susan some of the steps on how to put a dress together. She is getting better at it every time. She cut out a shirt for Mose and wants to learn how to sew it together. Daughter Verena, 16, is also getting pretty good at sewing. She is sewing pillows every chance she gets.

Pillows1pillows2

I have a reader that would love a recipe for chocolate covered cashews crunch. I am sorry I do not have a recipe for this. Would any of you readers be so kind to share if you have one? Instead, these are good cookies we always enjoy.

Molasses cookies

Molasses Crinkles

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup sorghum molasses

2 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 cup sugar, to roll dough balls in

Cream shortening and brown sugar. Add egg and molasses, mixing well. Combine flour and next five ingredients; add to shortening mixture, mixing well. Cover. Chill two hours. Shape dough into one-inch balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes.

Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. Formerly writing as The Amish Cook, Eicher inherited that column from her mother, Elizabeth Coblentz, who wrote from 1991 to 2002. Readers can contact Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.

Casseroles, Uncategorized, Vegetables

Garden goodies and a midsummer night’s sleepover

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We are having all kinds of garden goodies lately. It makes meal planning so much easier. Our first batch of sweet corn is ready. We’ve also been enjoying tomatoes, green beans, buttered red beets, zucchini, cucumbers and hot peppers. The peas are now over for the season.

IMG_2984
Onions hang to dry on the porch.

The boys pulled all the onions from the garden and we tied them in bunches to hang under the porch to dry. Before it gets too cold we will move them to the basement. I hardly ever have to buy onions from year to year if I plant enough to store for the winter. We also like to plant enough potatoes but this year they didn’t do so well. I’m surprised if we will have enough for storage. There is a potato field close by, where we can go pick up potatoes after the picker goes through. They miss a lot and it’s easy to get plenty from the ground.

This Thursday we plan to travel to Berne, Indiana, to attend niece Marlene and Chris Troyer’s wedding. Daughter Elizabeth has almost completed sewing her periwinkle-colored dress for this occasion. Elizabeth and her friend Timothy will be table waiters and I’ll help cook. More on that next week.

Congratulations go to niece Elizabeth and Sam as they announced their wedding plans for September. This would be sister Liz’s oldest daughter and the first wedding to prepare for. Liz has a wedding wagon she rents out to people so she should be well prepared with all the tables, stoves and dishes that she will need for the wedding.

For my own wedding my mother had to borrow stoves, pots and pans, and some dishes—as wedding wagons were unheard of then. It was a lot of work to gather these things and then make sure everything was delivered back to its owner.

We are enjoying making banana poppers on the grill lately since our banana peppers are big enough to stuff with cream cheese and shredded Colby cheese. We then wrap bacon around the peppers and grill them. We make a few with jalapeños for Joe and me but the children prefer the banana peppers as they aren’t quite as hot. It seems like the banana peppers can’t grow fast enough to keep up with making the poppers.

IMG_2982
Banana peppers stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. This is just before putting them on the grill.
IMG_2983
The finished banana peppers.

Son Kevin, 8, loves to husk the corn for me when we have sweet corn. I thought it was funny when he asked where he should put the wrappers when he takes them off. He was talking about the husk.

Son Joseph, 12, had four of his school buddies here for the night on his birthday, July 24. They slept out in a tent in our backyard. I think they told each other so many scary stories that they were a little scared to go to sleep. They came in and told me they saw eyes in the barn. After investigating, it happened to be our dog Rover. At 5:30 a.m. they all moved up to the boys’ bedroom as they said it was getting really cold sleeping in the tent. We had 54 degrees that morning, unusually cool weather for July.

Joseph wanted cupcakes instead of cake for his birthday. Daughter Verena, 16, baked chocolate and white cupcakes for him. She topped them with vanilla pudding frosting.

IMG_2979
Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for Joseph’s birthday. To make the frosting, add 1 box instant vanilla pudding to a container of Cool Whip.

I want to thank all of you readers that have taken time to encourage me to keep writing. Life brings us disappointments in various ways. Being honest in all things and letting God be our guide is such great advice.

Until next week, God bless.

Green Bean-Egg Casserole

  • 1 quart green beans
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 6 hard-boiled eggs
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ½ cup cheese, grated

Cook green beans until tender (or use canned beans). Chop onion and sauté in 2 tablespoons butter. Slice or dice eggs and mix with the beans. Pour beans, eggs, and onions in 1½ quart casserole dish. Pour mushroom soup over all. Toast bread crumbs in 1 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle casserole with cheese and toasted bread crumbs. Bake 40 minutes at 350°.

Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Formerly writing as The Amish Cook, Eicher inherited that column from her mother, Elizabeth Coblentz, who wrote from 1991 to 2002. Readers can contact Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 or at Editor@LovinasAmishKitchen.com.

Meats, Uncategorized, Vegetables

Camping offers delights of food and family

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My husband, Joe, returned to his job at the RV factory after being on vacation for a little over a week. Daughters Elizabeth, 20, and Susan, 18, are home a few more days before they will return to their jobs at the RV factory where they work.

Lovina's three youngest children got creative and took a water hose to write these words on the side of their barn.
Lovina’s three youngest children got creative and took a water hose to write this message on the side of their barn.

We had an enjoyable vacation, but it went way too fast. A lot of fishing was done, but we also accomplished a lot of work. Joe and sons Benjamin, 14, and Joseph, 11, put a new metal roof on the back of our barn. The roof had been leaking. It’s where we keep the chickens and calves, so it will sure be a lot better to not have a leak in the roof.

We put up almost 800 bales of hay in our barn over this past week. Hay is still expensive, and farmers are having a hard time getting their hay in between the rains. The rains are helping things grow and gardens are doing well.

During the camping trip, the Eicher family put the tripod and kettle that the children recently gave to their father to good use.
During the camping trip, the Eicher family put the tripod and kettle, which the children recently gave to their father, to good use.

One evening we went camping with my sister Emma and her husband, Jacob, and their family and my sisters Verena and Susan. We cooked supper out on the open fire with Joe’s new tripod and kettle. We deep-fried fish and had lot of food, with everyone bringing something. The children loved sleeping in tents. We cooked breakfast outside on the fire. Our menu was sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sliced Swiss and Colby cheese, hot peppers, sliced tomatoes, watermelon, muskmelon, caramel cake, pudding, coffee, milk and orange juice.

Today we are washing laundry, and it turned out to be a beautiful day for drying clothes. We had a thunderstorm during the night and some more rain.

Son Benjamin is helping Susan’s friend Mose at his sawmill for a couple days. It seems quiet without Benjamin home. He does so many jobs for me when Joe is working.

Joseph, Lovina and Kevin are cleaning out the chicken coop, which is always a stinky job. But it has to be done. They are also cleaning out another area for our four new pigs, which will come today. We will raise them for meat this winter.

If it’s the Lord’s will we will have beef, pork and chicken to fill our canning jars and freezers for another year once it turns cold again. How thankful we are for having plenty to eat. It isn’t like that everywhere, and we pray that God will provide for the ones less fortunate as well. We need to thank God for our many blessings daily!

How thankful we are for having plenty to eat. We pray that God will provide for the ones less fortunate as well.

The rest of our week will be spent sewing for niece Irene’s wedding next week. I will help prepare for the wedding on Monday and be a cook at the wedding on Wednesday. Daughter Elizabeth and her friend Timothy will be tablewaiters at the wedding. Tablewaiters are friends and cousins who are chosen by the bride and the groom to serve food to wedding guests seated at the tables.

I’ll share the recipe for batter that I use to deep-fry fish. We also use this for onion rings, zucchini, and other vegetables.

Batter for Deep-Fat Frying

½ cup milk
1 egg
¾ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt (or seasoning of your choice)

Mix together all ingredients and stir until lumps are smooth. Dip fish filets or sliced vegetables in the batter. Drop in hot oil in a deep frying pan or Dutch oven and fry until golden brown.