Strawberry pie | Lovina’s Amish Kitchen

Another hot week in July! Last week we had over an inch of rain but it didn’t cool off much.

Today son Kevin had a therapy appointment so I took him to town. With the heat I didn’t want to take the horse and buggy. Our friend Beth took us.

The photo caption should read: Using no-cook pectin allows freezer jam to be prepared without any cooking–an especially welcome option on hot July days.

We put 12 quarts of strawberries into freezer jam. Still need to get more, as we all love strawberry jam. I use the no-cook fruit pectin so there isn’t any cooking involved.

When we were almost done our friends Ray and Lucille from Virginia stopped by for a visit. We knew they would be stopping by so we were trying to have the jam done before they came. We still had some left to do and the women pitched in to help us. Ray and Lucille brought three other couples along. They are Old Order Mennonites, and it’s always interesting to compare our customs and communities. We served them popcorn, peanut butter swirl bars, and fresh lemonade and were rewarded with gifts from Ray and Lucille. The cheese and peaches were much appreciated. They milk cows and their milk goes to this cheese company. We sure will enjoy it. As always, we enjoyed the visit from them.

On Sunday, son Benjamin had his 20th birthday. Our family gathered at daughter Susan and Mose’s for a birthday supper for Benjamin. With the evening being hot we ate outside on the newly built deck. The deck and ramp were built one day by my husband Joe, sons Benjamin and Joseph, sons-in-law Mose and Timothy, and Loretta’s boyfriend Dustin. They did some fast, good work. The ramp makes it so nice for the girls and Kevin to use instead of steps. Little Jennifer loves to run up and down the ramp.

Our 26th anniversary was on Monday, July 15. We kept the three grandchildren here in the evening while Tim and Elizabeth and Mose and Susan ran some errands. It’s always fun to have them here.

Tim and Elizabeth came for supper tonight. With it being so hot the girls made supper out on the grill, which helped keep the house cooler. Tim and Elizabeth will leave two-year-old Abigail here for the night. She is excited to stay and has her little overnight bag. She showed me her little toothbrush. She wants to sleep upstairs with the girls. They are much more fun to her than Grandma—smile!

Tomorrow is Tim’s 94-year-old grandmother’s funeral. She leaves to mourn her children, 67 grandchildren, 255 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great-grandchildren, if I have it correct. A lot of the family is in this community, so the funeral will be largely attended, I’m sure. It sounds like it will be another hot, humid day. Tim and Elizabeth decided to leave Abigail here instead of taking her to the funeral. It was a little hard for them to leave without Abigail, but she never changed her mind and wanted to stay the night. She told Elizabeth to not be sad, “because you still have baby T.J. to hug.” T.J. is seven months old today and is such a lively, happy baby.

We received our new Michigan Amish Directory, which is so interesting to look through. The directory is renewed every four years. Michigan now has 47 Amish communities, with two being in the Upper Peninsula. It is always interesting to look through the updated information. It also says in these 47 communities that there are a total of 114 church districts and 2,673 households. In 1975 there were three Amish communities in Michigan and six church districts and 127 households.

It is later in the evening now. Abigail brushed her teeth with daughter Verena and went up to bed. She is settling down well and happy to stay all night here. I am ready to call it a day as well.

Good night to all, and God bless!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup water, divided
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons strawberry gelatin
1 quart (4 cups) stemmed and sliced strawberries
1 (9-inch) baked pie shell
Whipped cream or topping

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 3/4 cup water. Mix the remaining 1/4 cup water with the cornstarch. Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and slowly add the cornstarch mixture. Cook until clear. Remove from heat and add gelatin. Allow to cool. Add sliced strawberries. Mix to coat. Pour into baked pie shell, then add whipped topping.

Note: Peach pie can be made in this same way. Substitute peach gelatin and 4 cups sliced peaches.

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.

We had a nice but warm day for the wedding of Mose and Susan, our second oldest daughter. There was a light rain in the forenoon, but it didn’t last long. We are very much in need of rain. The grass is turning brown everywhere.

On the Monday before the wedding, we washed laundry and my friend Ruth took us shopping for the many, many groceries that we needed for the wedding. We bought 400 pounds of potatoes and have only 75 pounds left after the wedding. We bought 600 pounds of freshly butchered chicken but only grilled 500 pounds the day of the wedding.

Our menu for the wedding meals consisted of mashed potatoes, gravy, noodles, dressing, barbecued chicken, green beans, corn, broccoli and cauliflower salad, cheese, bread, butter and strawberry jam. Desserts were: strawberry, pecan and cherry pies (we had over 75 pies altogether); angel food cake; a fruit mixture of watermelon, musk melon, pineapple and green and purple grapes; and cinnamon pudding. Ice cream was added to the evening meal.

Wedding services were held at neighbors Joas and Susan’s. The couple chose to be married at 11:30 a.m. A meal followed soon after here at our place. All the guests came over to our house after the services were over. Supper was also served at 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. the table waiters, family and the youth ate and then stayed seated to sing the songs picked by the bride and groom. Sundaes and punch were served to the table waiters and family.

More than fifty cooks helped prepare the food. Some came Wednesday to bake pies and cakes and Nothings (see last week’s column for a description and recipe for Amish Wedding Nothings). The rest came Thursday to chop vegetables for dressing, salad, etc. They finished whatever else had to be done.

Mose and Susan gave these plaques to the table waiters at their wedding as thank-you gifts.

Sixteen couples were table waiters. Usually, those picked for table waiter are brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. Six coffee servers served the coffee. The extra helpers passed out the guest book, and pens with Mose and Susan’s names and wedding date on it. Susan and Mose also appointed some girls as babysitters to help the cooks with their children.

Witnesses were Mose’s brother Alvin and his wife Suzy, and Mose’s brother Freeman and daughter Verena. As mothers of the couple, we wore sage color dresses. Table waiter girls wore mint green dresses, and the boys wore white shirts, black pants and vests. The bride wore a green dress with a white cape and apron. Suzy and Verena wore another shade of green. The family wore grass green–colored dresses. The cooks were asked to wear hunter green. By now you can tell that Susan’s favorite color is green! The groom and witnesses also wore black pants and vests with white shirts.

Susan had a local Amish lady make her three-tiered wedding cake. It was all white with white decorations. Fresh flowers were put on top for a cake topper. The tables were lined with mint green tablecloths. Grass green napkins with Mose and Susan’s names and wedding date were used. Mose and Susan made the centerpieces with wood and horseshoes and a vase of flowers in the middle.

This wall hanging hung near the table where the bridal party ate at Mose and Susan's reception. — This wall hanging hung near the table where the bridal party ate at Mose and Susan’s reception.

We could seat 360 people at one sitting for the meal. I still haven’t gone through the guestbook to count the total number of guests that day. I can write more in a future column.

Mose and Susan are both back to work. We made living quarters in part of our pole barn until they find a property suitable for them. It’s nice to have them close by. They hooked up their gas stove and refrigerator this week. A few more adjustments have to be made, and I think it will be a very nice place for them to live.

Other news: Joe’s sister Esther and David from Ohio were blessed with their first child, David Tyrel. He was born August 9. Esther is 42 years old, and we are glad she could finally carry a baby full term. God is good! We wish them God’s blessings and also all of you wonderful readers. More on the wedding in future columns!

Strawberry Pie

Serves 6 to 8

Crust
1 1/2 cup all-purpose four
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons sugar

Filling

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup water
3 tablespoons strawberry-flavored gelatin
a few drops red food coloring (optional)
6 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

To make crust: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together flour, salt, oil, milk and sugar in a medium bowl. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

To make filling: Combine sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil about 5 minutes until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in gelatin and food coloring. Let cool until lukewarm. Add the strawberries and pour into cooled crust. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

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.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen

Tag Archives: Strawberry pie

Putting up freezer jam, Virginia visitors, and a young overnight guest

Lovina details the joy and work of her daughter’s wedding