Tag Archives: Amish sewing

Sewing, doctor’s appointments, and sweet and sour cabbage

Greetings from Michigan! Son Kevin just left for school. The sky is starting to lighten up. Thermometer is at the 59-degree mark.

Son Joseph left for work at 4:30 a.m. My husband Joe is fishing with a few other men from our church. I think fishing is one of his biggest stress relievers. It will be good to have fish in the freezer again.

Tuesday was a nice day for the wedding of nephew Marvin and Lori. Next week is Joe’s nephew Morris and Annie’s wedding in Kentucky. Annie is a daughter of my cousin Dave. Dave’s father Chris was my mother’s only brother, and our families were always together growing up. My sisters Verena and Susan are also invited, so plans are that they also go with our family.

Tuesday was also the funeral of son-in-law Mose’s 89-year-old grandmother Marie. Our sympathy to the family.

Our thoughts and prayers also go to the family in Vermontville, Michigan that lost their three children in an accident on the way home from school. I cannot imagine the sorrow this family is experiencing in losing a 13-year-old son and 10- and 8-year-old daughters. Their 6-year-old son was hurt and taken to the hospital. May God provide strength for this family to cope with the terrible loss. God makes no mistakes but it is our human nature to question why. God be with them!

Nephew Steven (son of sister Emma and Jacob), age 12, is having surgery today at C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. It’s the same surgery son Kevin had, but Steven is getting both feet done at the same time. Daughter Loretta was 12 when she had the same surgery on both feet. Steven has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2A also. We wish him a complete and speedy recovery! We have had three children have this kind of surgery done and it did help. Dr. Caird is also Steven’s surgeon, so he will have the best of care. When Steven was a baby, he had heart surgery at the same hospital, but Mott has a new hospital since then.

Son Benjamin, 20, is off work this week from the RV factory. They aren’t having production this week. Sure hope work picks up in the future.

Benjamin is doing a lot of jobs around home. He is getting our buggies repaired and has some of the wheels off and has taken them over to the buggy shop.

Son Kevin has an appointment at the doctor today and I’m not sure if a buggy will be ready to take us. Looks like our pony Stormy and the pony cruiser will have to do the job for Kevin and me. Our doctor’s office is on the outskirts of town so we won’t have more than five miles to travel.

I sewed a few shirts and a dress yesterday. Today I want to cut out and sew more shirts. The boys are low in good shirts and they never get new shirts for weddings so I thought I’ll sew for them this time.

Grapes are also ready at the U-pick but will be better picking next week, so I hope we can go pick some before we leave for Kentucky.

Benjamin picked our tomatoes and I sent them home with sister Emma and Jacob. Their tomatoes didn’t do so well. I am done with tomatoes this year except for fresh eating. I will be glad once the grape juice is done.

Last week I answered a question from a reader but the question was left out so it might have been confusing to you. The question was: what kind of gifts are given at weddings (to the bride and groom)? The answer was tools, Tupperware, towels, dishes, kitchen items, bedding or anything useful. I have also seen folding tables, chairs, grills, etc., given. There is much more, but most gifts are to help the couple start their own home and yes, sometimes they get multiples of something, but those can be given to someone else as a gift if not needed.

Space is running out so until next week—God bless!

 

Sweet and Sour Cabbage

 1 medium head cabbage

Syrup:
3 cups water
2–3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
2 tablespoons bacon grease

 

Coarsely shred or chop cabbage.

Mix syrup ingredients in a cook pot and bring to a boil. Add chopped cabbage, turn heat down to simmer and cook 20–30 minutes or until tender. Variation: Try purple cabbage.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her newest cookbook, The Essential Amish Cookbook, is available from the publisher, Herald Press, 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 email LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.

Fall treats: Driving the buggy through fall colors, a hog roast, cider and popcorn

 

The Eicher household dog, Izzy, finds a cozy spot of sunshine in a doorway.
The Eicher household dog, Izzy, finds a cozy spot of sunshine in a doorway.

First of all, I would like to thank all the readers for their support and many kind words of encouragement I have received. Including a self-addressed stamped envelope helps to get a reply back to you. It is so nice to be able to receive mail directly from my readers now.

Hundreds of leaves have already fallen from the trees around our house and we have such a beautiful array of colors on the trees. I love to drive the horse and buggy at this time of the year and take in all the beauty that only our Master Artist can create. The local farmers are busy in the fields harvesting the seed corn.

Fall scenery near the Eicher farm/home.
Fall scenery near the Eicher farm/home.

Last night we had a thunderstorm that brought some wind and hail. It is also deer hunting season with bow and arrow. Son Benjamin is eager to get his license to hunt with his bow. He has been doing target practice with Mose (daughter Susan’s friend). Mose said he thinks Benjamin is good enough to hit a deer with his bow.

Saturday we all attended the hog roast that our local feed mill had for customers. They had lots of good food that was prepared by some of the Amish women in our community. It was a cold day with the temperature staying under 50 degrees all day. The wind made it seem even colder.

My husband Joe is getting the stove ready to set up again for the winter. He had moved it when we had church services to make more room for benches. We have a coal stove in the basement and heat the whole house with it. There is a big vent in the floor that allows the heat to come up to the main floor. Our open staircase to the upstairs bedrooms allows the heat to travel up there as well. It is nice to have the mess from the coal and ashes down in the basement.

Daughter Verena and I plan to cut fabric for some pants for son Kevin, 9. I would like to teach her how to sew them. Kevin is getting so tall that he is in need of more pants. Then we also want to make son Benjamin some new pants. Since he is working every day he wears them out pretty fast. Benjamin was off work one day this week as the sawmill broke down. He is back to work as Mose has it running again.

Verena is almost done with the breakfast dishes and morning work so I best hurry around so we can start cutting out fabric and sewing.

We are enjoying cider and apples from the apple farm close by. Popcorn with that makes a good snack on cold evenings.

This week I’ll share a recipe for raw apple cake. God bless!

Lovina's deliciously moist raw apple cake.
Lovina’s deliciously moist raw apple cake.

Raw Apple Cake

2 cups sugar
4 cups chopped raw apples
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten

Combine these ingredients and allow to stand 20 minutes.

Add:

3 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix all ingredients and pour in a 9 x13 greased cake pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until set.

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.