Category Archives: Cookies

Meat grinder and fruit press produces yummy cider for the Eicher family

We are almost halfway through November. So far we are having beautiful weather for November.

My husband Joe started our coal stove on Saturday for the first time this season. It seemed later than usual to start it. The house is nice and cozy now.

Saturday we were at Jacob and Emma’s. Joe and our sons Benjamin and Joseph helped put siding on the new addition they are adding to the house. Things are falling into place. They will be so glad for more space. The windows and doors are in and some of the drywall is hung in the upstairs bedrooms.

Saturday evening Mose (Susan’s special friend) grilled chicken and banana poppers while we prepared more food in the house. Daughter Elizabeth and Timothy joined us for supper. It was so enjoyable to have the whole family together. After we ate we sat in the living room and visited and sang some songs. Of course Izzy and Crystal (the Yorkies) were the center of attention. They love the attention they get here.

Son Benjamin, 16, and daughter Verena, 17, left to go to the community building where the youth gather on Saturday evenings to play basketball, volleyball, etc., and enjoy snacks. Two or more sets of parents usually go to chaperone and take the snacks. The building is usually closed at midnight. Verena and Benjamin didn’t take the heater in the buggy so they had a cold ride home. It is still warmer with a covered buggy than the open buggy that I was raised with. We had some awful cold rides and the umbrella was a big help to block the wind. I feel spoiled now when we drive in the covered buggies. Some have heaters in them which makes for a warm ride to town and back.

Friday evening Mose helped us make our first cider with a fruitPressingCider press. He brought us apples from his parents’ apple trees. We don’t have anything to chop up that many apples so we used our meat grinder and it worked real well. The cider tastes really good. We are enjoying popcorn and cider on some evenings. We want to make more and think we have a better idea of what we are doing now. It is surprising how many apples it takes to press one gallon of cider. But we enjoy working together as a family on projects like that.

We are excited to hear the news of the birth of a baby girl, LaRose. LaRose was born to niece Elizabeth and Samuel on November 10. This makes my sister Liz and Levi grandparents for the first time. We wish them all well. I’m sure they are all excited for the new arrival.
GingersNewFilly+IttyBitAndBlackBeautySome readers have MidnightAndBlackBeautyYoungHorsesbeen asking what we named our fillies that were born this past spring (photo on right). Itty Bit’s filly we named Black Beauty and for Ginger’s filly, we finally decided on Midnight. They are both black and are hard to tell apart. The children are teaching them how to lead. They are calming down a lot. (Recent photo of Black Beauty and Midnight to left.)

I had several requests for the buttermilk brownies recipe so I’ll share it this week.

 

 

Buttermilk Brownies

2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift the sugar, flour, salt, and cocoa together in a bowl. In a saucepan, bring the water, butter, and oil to a boil. Pour over the sugar mixture and beat until creamy. Add the buttermilk, baking soda, eggs, and vanilla. Stir thoroughly. The batter will be thin and soupy. Pour into a greased 9×13 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes until sides begin to pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes about 15 (3-inch) brownies.

 

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.

Christmas countdown energizes Eicher children

Christmas Day is only days away. Daughter Lovina, 10, and son, Kevin, 9, are keeping track of exactly how many days. Every morning they mark off another day on the calendar. Oh, to be so young and carefree, with only worries such as how many days there are until Christmas!

Lovina and Kevin will both be in the elementary school Christmas program on Thursday evening. Next year Lovina will be a fifth grader and in middle school. This is her last Christmas program and Kevin has only next year—unbelievable! My husband Joe and I used to sit in the audience with the little ones while our older children were in the program. Now the six oldest children are back in the audience sitting with us, and our two youngest children are in the program.

On Friday the school will only have a half day of school. Lovina and Kevin’s classes are having a gift exchange. Kevin is so worried that he doesn’t have his gift wrapped yet. I want to make snacks for their party, and he reminds me every evening not to forget.

We were disappointed to hear that our children’s bus driver, Rich, has quit driving the bus route. He was a great bus driver to our children for almost eleven years. Daughter Loretta, 14, with her handicap needs more time to walk out to the bus and to get up the steps. Rich was always very patient and caring. So far they have had only a substitute driver, but the children are hoping the next bus driver will be like Rich was. We wish Rich well at his new job.

Joe will have his forty-sixth birthday on Monday, Dec. 22. I want to have a birthday supper in his honor but am undecided yet which night to have it.

On Sunday the women in our church all decided what each one of us would bring to the annual Christmas potluck. I plan to take a large roaster with a pasta casserole. The potluck will be after our next church services, which will be on Dec. 28.

Joe and I will have our family Christmas on Christmas Day. The children usually want to open their presents before they eat, so we usually end up having a brunch. May we always remember the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season!

I wish all of you readers a joyous Christmas that brings blessings of peace and hope now and through the coming year 2015. May each of you stay healthy and enjoy being with family and friends through the holiday season. And most importantly, let us thank our Heavenly Father for bringing Jesus our Savior into the world so that our sins can be forgiven. Blessed wishes to all!

This week I will share with you the recipe for sour cream cut-out cookies. We like this recipe to make Christmas cookies.

Making sour cream cut-out cookies takes time—to mix up the dough, roll them out, cut out and bake—but the Eicher family comes back to this recipe year after year.
Making sour cream cut-out cookies takes time—to mix up the dough, roll them out, cut out and bake—but the Eicher family comes back to this recipe year after year.

Sour Cream Cut-Out Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons vanilla
3 1/2–4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting:
1/3 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar, divided
1/2 cup milk
food coloring (optional)
colored sprinkles (optional)
chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in the eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl, and stir with a whisk to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir until it forms soft but firm dough. Roll the dough out to a 1/2-inch thickness on a floured surface. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out the dough. Place the shapes on the prepared pan.

Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting: Cream the shortening, vanilla and 1 cup powdered sugar. Gradually add the milk and the rest of the powdered sugar, beating constantly. More powdered sugar can be added to make a thicker icing. Food coloring can also be added. Spread the frosting on the cooled cookies. Decorate with colored sprinkles or chocolate chips if desired.

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.

Molasses cookies will brighten a rainy fall day

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.

Diary of a Day in an Amish Household

Sugar Cookies
Lovina’s daughter Susan baked these sugar cookies for a friend.

My name is Lovina Eicher. I have been married for 21 years to my loving husband, Joe. We feel blessed to be parents to eight sweet, wonderful children: Elizabeth, 20; Susan, 18; Verena, 16; Benjamin, 15; Loretta, 14; Joseph, 12; Lovina, 10; and Kevin, 8. We are members of the Old Order Amish church in Michigan. I hope you will continue to enjoy my writings under my new column name: Lovina’s Amish Kitchen. I thank each of you for your continued support, and may God bless each of you!

For this week’s column, I will do a diary of a day in our life.

3:20 a.m. Our alarm rings, letting us know it is time to start another day here at the Eichers. I pack lunch for my husband, Joe, and fill his water jug with ice and water.

3:55 a.m. Joe leaves for work. One of our neighbors has been picking Joe up to take him to work for over nine years. It is a 40-minute drive to work. I go back to bed after Joe leaves.

5:00 a.m. I get up again before daughters Elizabeth and Susan leave for work.

5:20 a.m. The girls leave for their jobs. I decide to catch up on some writing and reading until I wake the rest of the children. Since school is out, I let them sleep later.

6:30 a.m. Everyone is up now. Benjamin, Joseph and Kevin are doing the morning chores. We have four big calves and five small calves, three horses, six ponies and about 40 chickens that need to be fed. Lovina is taking care of daughter Elizabeth’s puppy, a Yorkshire Terrier. Verena and Loretta are making scrambled eggs and toast for our breakfast.

7:30 a.m. Breakfast is ready to eat. We have a full day planned ahead.

8:15 a.m. Loretta and Lovina are washing breakfast dishes and cleaning the floors. Verena and I are washing laundry. It looks like a very nice drying day.

12:00 p.m. Laundry is on the lines. The house is looking better: floors are mopped, dishes are washed. The boys are cleaning out the horse stalls. They come in for lunch, which is vegetable soup and bologna sandwiches. It is a hot day, so after lunch we all take a break.

2:00 p.m. Verena and Loretta are getting the laundry off the lines. Lovina is cleaning out Elizabeth’s puppy’s playpen area.

Elizabeth's new puppy, the first indoor dog for the Eicher household.
Elizabeth’s new puppy, the first indoor dog for the Eicher household.

Her puppy, Izzy, is usually loose in the house when the floors are clean. She isn’t allowed to have table food, so we always make sure no crumbs are around the table after we eat. She will always be a small dog and weighs less than two pounds. We never had a house dog before. So far it hasn’t been too much of a problem. She is litterbox-trained, so she doesn’t have to be taken outside. The boys go back out to the barn and I finish up some sewing. With two nieces getting married in July, it makes for a lot of new outfits to be sewn.

4:00 p.m. The girls come home from work and Joe soon after them. Susan wants to bake sugar cookies for one of the girls who brought her home from work. She mixes up a big batch and puts it in the freezer while she showers. The recipe says to chill dough for a few hours or overnight, but when we are in a hurry, we put it in the freezer to chill.

5:00 p.m. Joe and the boys leave to go fishing by a nearby lake. Susan is baking cookies. Elizabeth is sewing a dress for an upcoming wedding. The other girls are folding laundry or helping with supper.

7:30 p.m. Supper is late tonight. Joe and the boys came back with almost 40 fish, so they cleaned those first. Susan is almost done frosting the cookies, and we will finish the rest tomorrow. On the supper menu are mashed potatoes, beef and noodles, lettuce salad, cheese, fresh strawberries and sugar cookies.

On the supper menu are mashed potatoes, beef and noodles, lettuce salad, cheese, fresh strawberries and sugar cookies.

8:30 p.m. Most of the children are biking. Loretta is swinging on the porch swing and I’m on the porch, writing. Joe is resting on his recliner. It’s been a long, warm day, so it feels good to relax.

9:30 p.m. Everyone is in bed, so I think I’ll head there too. I’ll share the sugar cookie recipe Susan made. My oldest sister, Leah, always made these. I just love them but never had any luck making them. Susan makes them just like Leah does.

Sugar Cookies

  • 4 cups white sugar
  • 2 cups lard (or use 1 cup margarine, softened, and 1 cup lard)
  • 3 cups buttermilk or sour milk
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 9–10 cups flour (just enough that you can handle dough)

Mix all ingredients except flour. Gradually add flour, mixing well. Chill dough for a few hours or overnight. Drop by teaspoon on a greased cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes or until bottom is golden. When cool, frost if desired.

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 Editor@LovinasAmishKitchen.com.