Tag Archives: Amish church services

Hosting church brings surprise guests and plenty of fellowship

Today is the 59th birthday of my oldest sibling, sister Leah. Birthday blessings to her! Since we live two hours apart and I won’t get to see her, I sent a card and letter to her by mail.

Our children who still live at home spent today helping daughter Susan and her husband, Mose, in preparation for their upcoming hosting of church services. Also helping were sister Emma and son Steven, and my daughter Elizabeth and little Abigail. We all went over for breakfast, which was breakfast burritos, sugar cookies, peaches, and watermelon. We cleaned out cabinets, cupboards, and other items, and the boys cleaned out the barn.

Abigail kept herself entertained by playing with dolls and looking at books. She loves looking at books and really notices what a book is about. She plays “Mommy” and keeps her little “baby” happy. She asked her mother, Elizabeth, if she wanted to hold her baby. While she was handing the doll to Elizabeth, it almost dropped from her hands. Abigail said, “Be careful, Mom!” in such a grown-up voice. It was just so cute!

Baby Jennifer is seven months old today and also kept us entertained. She is just full of smiles but doesn’t like when her mom is extra busy, like today. She breastfeeds, so Jennifer enjoys those times with her mother.

We hosted church services last Sunday. There were some families missing but we had visitors, so I am guessing we had around 130 to 140 people here. It was a smaller group than I’m used to having, but it was nice to be done with the preparation. Dishes were all washed and packed up by 1:30 pm. Guests sat outside under the shade trees and enjoyed popcorn before leaving.

We had a nice surprise on Sunday morning. Sister Liz and husband Levi, nieces Suzanne and Elizabeth with Samuel and their children, LaRose and Samuel Lee, niece Rosa, Menno and baby Jeremiah, nephew Levi Jr. and Arlene all showed up for church services here. We were glad to have them! Liz and Levi were able to pick up Levi Jr. and Arlene on their way up to Michigan.

Our church lunch menu included: homemade wheat and white bread, ham, cheese spread, peanut butter spread, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, red beans (pickled), hot peppers, strawberry jam, butter, coffee, iced tea, plus chocolate chip, sugar and oatmeal cookies.

Saturday evening before church services here, our married children with grandchildren plus Loretta’s special friend, Dustin, as well as some friends of our sons spent the night here. We have a bed and cribs in the part of the pole barn where we have church services that was made into a temporary nursery for the ladies with small babies. Mose, Susan and Jennifer slept in there (their old living quarters when they lived here). It’s nice that they have their own bathroom out there. We also have a bed and bathroom in our basement, which is where Timothy, Elizabeth, and Abigail slept. The extra boy visitors divided up between our sons’ two bedrooms. So we had enough room for everyone!

Sunday morning, I made two breakfast casseroles and put them in the oven to bake while everyone dressed for church.

After church and lunch, Liz, Levi and family headed home in the late afternoon. Jacob, sister Emma and family, and sisters Verena and Susan, along with our family, were here for supper. Our menu was grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, chicken and noodles, gravy, peaches, cookies, sliced tomatoes, homemade bread, cheese spread, peanut butter spread, red beet pickles, hot peppers and more.

I didn’t invite more people to stay for supper, as we were so tired from all the extra work we did beforehand. Needless to say, we feel pretty relaxed this week and are taking life a little easier. God’s blessings to all!

Today’s recipe is for a super-healthy side dish that you can keep in the fridge for weeks to come. Photo by Lucas Swartzentruber-Landis.

Marinated Carrots

2 pounds carrots
1 large onion, sliced into rings
1 large green pepper, sliced
1 can tomato soup
1 cup sugar
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup salad oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Wash and scrape carrots. Cut into diagonal slices about 1 inch long. Cook in boiling water until tender. Drain and cool. In large bowl, combine carrots with onion rings and green pepper slices. Combine soup, sugar, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper in saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Pour hot mixture over carrot mixture. Cool. Cover and chill in refrigerator overnight. Keeps up to a month in the refrigerator.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. She is the co-author of three cookbooks; her newest 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.

Getting things done: dresses, garden cleaned off, salsa made, church prep

It is bedtime already but my agenda looks way too loaded for tomorrow. Today was long enough already but this column needs to be written and on its way.

I started the day with sewing on daughter Verena’s dress that she needs for her baptism on Sunday. I have the dress almost done.

While I was sewing the girls started peeling and chopping tomatoes for salsa. We ended up with 58 pints of salsa. We also canned 20 quarts of tomato juice to use up the rest of the tomatoes from our garden.

On Saturday Joe and the boys cleaned up most of the garden and tilled it. We still have peppers and tomatoes out there. We had our last meals of sweet corn for this season. We have cabbage and red beets to use from our harvest. Although it is nice to have garden goodies, it is also nice to have everything coming to a close for the year. It makes it harder to be preparing for church services while canning season is in full swing.

Our second time of hosting church services will be Sunday, September 10. Daughter Verena and another girl in our church district, Anita, will be baptized, Lord willing! September 10 is also granddaughter Abigail’s first birthday. Daughter Elizabeth will bring a cake for her so we can celebrate her birthday. She will have a small one for Abigail to dig in and then a bigger one for the rest. It will be fun to watch Abigail tear into a cake.

On Labor Day we were all home except son Benjamin who spent the day with our nephew Henry. I sewed Verena’s dress, cape and apron that she needs for Saturday. It’s for her friend Rosanna’s wedding. Verena is a tablewaiter and will serve the bridal party. It will be a full weekend for her.

Sunday evening we attended a birthday surprise supper in honor of niece Elizabeth (daughter of sister Emma and Jacob). We all gathered there before she and her special friend Manuel arrived home. Friends and family gathered in their pole barn. When they came home and pulled up to the pole barn the overhead door was opened and we all yelled, “Happy Birthday”! She was surprised and a little speechless for a while. We were served a delicious supper of breaded mushrooms, jalapeño poppers, French fries, and haystacks. A variety of desserts were also there with everyone bringing a dish; fresh fruit, pies, puddings, and cake. People played a variety of games and enjoyed singing. Elizabeth is 21 now. Time does not stand still.

And now I have sad news. A friend from Hicksville, Ohio, that grew up in the same area Joe and I did, passed away. Mary, age 51, lost a two-and-a-half year battle to cancer. She left to mourn her husband, Marvin of 30 years, six daughters, four sons and eight grandchildren. What an empty space there will be. We have plans to go to the visitation tomorrow evening. Our sympathy goes to her family. They need our prayers as they live life without a wife and mother there. God makes no mistakes. May God be with them through this heartbreaking trial in life.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the people affected by the floods from hurricanes and also the fires that are raging throughout the west. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to pack up and leave your home not knowing if it will be there when you return. Everything happens for a reason. We don’t always understand why but we know God is in control. Let us keep everyone in our prayers. God’s blessings to all!

This week I will share the recipe for ham and cheese omelet roll. I shared this recipe around nine years ago but I want to share it with my new readers and for anyone that might have missed it. It is a favorite of ours. We like it with breakfast sausage gravy on top. Enjoy!

Ham and Cheese Omelet Roll

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 eggs
1 1/2 cup chopped ham
1 1/2 cup shredded Swiss or cheddar cheese
1/4 cup onion
2 tablespoons mustard

Additional fillings as desired: mushrooms, peppers, bacon.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl combine cream cheese and milk; whisk until smooth. Add flour and salt. In another bowl, beat eggs and then add cream cheese mixture. Cut wax paper to fit jelly roll pan. Pour mixture into jelly roll pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until puffy and golden. Meanwhile, chop ham, onions and anything else you want to add (mushrooms, peppers, bacon, etc.). Remove omelet from oven and spread with mustard and half the shredded cheese. Add ham, onion, and any additional fillings then sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Roll up in jelly roll fashion removing paper as you roll. If desired, garnish with additional cheese and let stand 5 minutes until cheese melts. Serve with salsa or cheese sauce.

 

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.

 

 

Why work so hard cleaning for church services?

Today, as I write this, we will wrap up the month of August!

I am having a Tupperware party here today at 10:00 a.m., serving lunch to all who attend. I booked a party last year at daughter Susan’s Tupperware shower to help her get more points. The girls and I made two big pizza casseroles last night for lunch today. My sisters and daughter Elizabeth will bring in the desserts. I plan to make coleslaw yet to go with lunch.

Son Joseph is clearing out some of the garden and the cabbage heads are ready to be harvested. Last night we had sweet corn again. Our second patch is ready to use now.

Daughters Verena, Loretta and I attended the bridal Pampered Chef shower of our newly wed neighbor Rebecca. Supper was made for us by the Pampered Chef consultant.

A huge batch of Eicher thick and chunky salsa.

The girls and I made 52 pints of salsa yesterday so daughter Susan and Lovina finished cleaning up while some of us left for the shower. They also served supper to the men and boys here at home. Spaghetti and meatballs plus sweet corn were on the menu for them.

Saturday, September 2, is our youngest son Kevin’s twelfth birthday. Has it actually been that long since our youngest child was born? Time has a way of slipping by us.

Round one for hosting church services is done for us. We had a few families absent but company from other districts helped fill all the benches. We served eight tables of people for lunch. Each table seats 16-18 people. Toddlers and babies are fed ahead of time. Some women and girls that help serve also eat before so that makes less to serve at the table. We probably had around 150 people here for church services.

September 10 will be a baptismal church service here for daughter Verena and another girl, Anita, who is also following instruction for baptism. I’m not sure how many to expect. There is another church district in the community that is also having baptismal services for five girls on the same day. We couldn’t change it to Saturday as Verena is tablewaiter at her friend Rosanna’s wedding. The wedding is over an hour away from here. I still need to sew Verena’s dress for the wedding and also her baptismal suit.

Our church lunch this last time consisted of homemade wheat and white bread (forty loaves were brought in by the church ladies), ham, cheese, peanut butter spread, dill, and bread and butter pickles. Also had some freezer pickles; pickled red beets; hot peppers; tomatoes (from our garden); rhubarb, coconut, chocolate chip and sugar cookies; plus coffee and mint iced tea (sister Emma made tea concentrate so that made it easy for me). While dishes were being washed baggies filled with popcorn were passed out. I decided to not have anyone back for supper. It was nice to relax after a hard week.

A reader recently asked why we do all the cleaning before church services. I know that church services could still be held if we didn’t clean, but since we like to give the house a thorough cleaning what better time to clean than when you have a deadline. My mother taught us to keep our house clean and it’s just something that stays with me. It was harder to keep order in the house when the children were younger. I hope this explains to any other readers that were wondering about the cleaning. We can serve God from any house no matter how clean. What matters most is that we have a “clean” soul. May God grant blessings to every one of you readers!

And now I must not forget to mention that some of our children and I had the pleasure and joy of meeting sweet little Samuel Lee when he was five days old. He was born to niece Elizabeth and Samuel on August 24 weighing six pounds and some ounces. We enjoyed passing him back and forth. Such a sweet little angel. His bigger sister LaRose wasn’t too sure about us. She is 21 1/2 months old and loves her Grandma (my sister Liz).

I must get busy now. Kevin is waiting on the bus to come. Here is a recipe to maybe save to use up leftover turkey after Thanksgiving Day!

Cheesy Turkey Chowder

4 tablespoons margarine
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped potatoes
2 cups chopped carrots
4 cups milk
1 quart chicken or turkey broth
1 tablespoon chicken base
3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
pepper, if desired
2 cups Velveeta cheese
3 1/2 to 4 cups cooked turkey breast, chopped

Cook vegetables separately in margarine. Heat milk and broth; add chicken base. Make a paste of the flour and a little milk, add to heated milk and broth. Cook one minute, or until slightly thickened. Add salt, pepper, cheese, cooked vegetables and cooked turkey to cheese sauce. Heat, but do not boil. Serves 12–16.

 

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.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS: text = 827 words; end material = 57 words
Contact: DorothyH@MennoMedia.org; 540-980-2434

 

Helping family prepare to host church services brightens dreary winter days

We had a few days of sunshine, which we very much appreciated. A person is so much more energetic and life looks better when the day is sunny! We had a lot of gloomy January days when we didn’t see the sun too often. With all the solar panels we have, that can be a bad thing. We managed, although we had to use the generator to charge up the big battery packs when the sun didn’t shine.

Monday’s temperatures jumped up in the fifties with lots of sunshine. It was enough to give us all spring fever. We know winter isn’t over, though. And with butchering pork and beef yet ahead of us, that’s a good thing. We plan to do that as soon as we are done helping Jacob and Emma prepare for church services. We always help each other butcher pork, so we wanted to wait. January had a lot of warm days that would not have been so good for chilling the meat.

Last Saturday we assisted Jacob and Emma with cleaning for church services they will host this coming Sunday. My husband, Joe, and our sons helped hang drywall. Jacob and Emma are in the process of remodeling their house, so it’s hard to keep the dust under control. They have all the drywall hung now and will wait to finish the remodeling until after they have church services.

Church bench wagon, pulled by horses. It goes from one home hosing church services to another, bringing the necessary seating. Photo by Grant Beachy

Church services will be held in the attached garage they built onto their house last year. They will put in new floors after the painting is done. Emma is getting new kitchen cabinets sometime. I am sure she will like that because she didn’t have many before. She will be glad for more storage space.

Yesterday my sisters Verena and Susan, daughter Elizabeth and baby Abigail, daughters Susan and Verena and son Benjamin and I went to help Emma with her work. Benjamin helped clean out the tools and do the heavy lifting for us. He also started tearing out a bathroom they needed to have torn out.

Benjamin took our horse and a horse-manure spreader over to Jacob and Emma’s on Monday to help haul manure from their barn out to the field. It was such a beautiful day for the job to be done.

Tomorrow we will help Emma again. She will get more help on Friday, so things should start falling into place for Sunday.

Abigail is feeling a lot better and is sweeter than ever. She is starting to hug me when she sees me. On Friday she will be five months old.

Son-in-law Mose had a birthday Sunday, February 5. We had chicken, hot wings, and banana poppers on the grill in honor of his birthday on Sunday evening. We had chocolate and white cupcakes instead of cake. Lately there has been a lot of cake around, so it was a little different to have cupcakes. People loved the whipped-topping frosting on them. I will share the recipe at the end of this column. Cakes or cupcakes with this frosting have to be refrigerated.

I forgot to mention that sister Susan is also gaining strength and getting her health back since her recent hospital stay. My wish is for good health to all of you, and may God bless each of you!

Does anyone have a recipe for a banana roll (similar to a pumpkin roll)? A reader requested this recipe, and I don’t have one.

Whipped-Topping Frosting (for cake or cupcakes)

1 (4-oz.) box instant pudding mix, any flavor
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup milk
1 (8-oz.) container whipped topping

Add pudding mix, powdered sugar and milk in a mixing bowl. Mix until blended. Let mixture stand three minutes and then fold in whipped topping (defrost it first if it was in freezer). Spread on cake or cupcakes. Keep refrigerated.

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 Kitchen, will be published in 2017. 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.

Cold day for church services but easier clean up with new “church dishes”

Church services were held here on Sunday. It was a cold day with the temperature staying in the teens. We managed to keep our building warm enough.

After the services we served lunch including homemade wheat and white bread, summer sausage, cheese spread, peanut butter spread, dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, red beets, rhubarb jam, butter, hot peppers, cookies (sugar, chocolate chip, and snicker doodle), spearmint tea, and coffee. Younger children could have noodle soup. And we had popcorn after lunch for everyone.

LovinasNewStove2016
Lovina’s husband, Joe, installed a new gas stove in her kitchen so they could move the older stove to the building where church services are held.

All the women pitched in to help get the dishes washed and back into the totes. Since our church divided we have a new “bench wagon” and all new church dishes. This is so nice to have all the dishes come with the church bench wagon. When we lived in Indiana we didn’t have dishes in the bench wagon. We had to bring out a lot of our own dishes and it was always an extra chore to put them all away again. This makes it a lot easier. Our new bench wagon also has four six-foot tables we set up to wash dishes or prepare food.

Monday morning it was very cold with one degree and a wind chill reading of minus 18. Benjamin didn’t have to work since they couldn’t get the motor on the saw going right away. With it being so cold, Benjamin didn’t mind. I was really glad he was home to help clean up from Sunday.

Last night Benjamin stayed at Moses’s place for the night and went ice fishing with Mose and his brother. They caught 75 blue gill. This was the first time the water was frozen enough all winter to go ice fishing.

The girls and I attended a Tupperware shower at Timothy’s sister-in-law Arlene’s house. It was for Elizabeth. She had a nice turn-out and Elizabeth received a lot of nice Tupperware. This is the third shower held for Elizabeth. Sister Emma had a Pampered Chef shower. Timothy’s sister Dena had a Norwex shower. It all helps out the newlyweds.

Sunday, January 24, will be daughter Susan’s twentieth birthday. She is leaving her teenage years now. The years go by so fast. Sister Liz will be forty seven also on the twenty fourth. Susan was born on Liz’s twenty-seventh birthday. We had a lot of snow in 1996—the year she was born. I was really relieved once the midwife got to our house. We lived in a mobile home at my parents until Susan was four months old. Daughter Elizabeth was twenty-two months old when we moved to our own property. Elizabeth missed my parents and sisters after our move even though we were just a few miles from there.

Saturday we plan to butcher our beef and let it chill until next week. I will be so glad when it’s all cut up and in the freezer and in cans. We plan to butcher our pork in two weeks from Saturday if plans hold out.

Several readers have had questions about the breakfast haystacks we had on New Year’s Day. I’ll try to share it the best I can. The amount of each item depends on how many you will serve.

Breakfast Haystacks

Biscuits, torn into bite size pieces
Fried potatoes
Scrambled eggs
Bacon, fried and crumbled
Ham, diced
Tomatoes, diced
Green peppers, diced
Onions, diced (optional)
Hot peppers (optional)
Mushrooms
Cheese sauce or shredded cheese
Salsa
Sausage gravy

Prepare above items as noted, and serve each item in separate dish or pan. To serve, each person piles items on their plate until they have a “haystack.” Start with biscuits and then add a little of everything you like, ending with sausage gravy. Not all the ingredients have to be added. Other items can be used as well.

 

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.