The Amish Cook By LOVINA EICHER 2:45 a.m. We are up earlier than usual. My husband, Joe, will ride in to work with a vanload of men from our community. Joe will be the first one picked up. Our neighbor usually takes him but he didn't go to work today. Joe will sure be glad to be leave 35 minutes later again tomorrow morning. 3:10 a.m. Joe has left for work at his factory job and I go back to bed for a few hours. 6 a.m. Time to get the children up and ready for school. 6:40 a.m. The girls have fixed scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.

7 a.m. Everyone has eaten except , Lovina, 5, and Kevin, 4. I am letting them sleep in. Five of the children leave for school. Needless to say after "rush hour" of getting everyone off to school all is quiet around here.

8 a.m. Elizabeth, 15, washes dishes while I sweep all the floors. Lovina and Kevin are awake and eating breakfast.

9 a.m. Elizabeth and I gather laundry that needs washed. We wash our clothes in the basement. We usually take out a cold air vent from the floor upstairs and let Lovina and Kevin throw the dirty laundry down to the basement. It saves us some energy carrying it all down the steps. Lots of laundry needs to be done each week for a family of 10!

9:40 a.m. We have the washing machine and rinse tubs filled with water and it is time to start doing a huge laundry. Elizabeth hangs the clothes on the lines outside while I do the washing. It is a bit frustrating as the wringer on my washing machine is giving me problems. It stops everytime I put something thick through. It is badly in need of being repaired but I keep putting it off.

10:45 a.m. Lovina leaves for school with the bus that picks her up. She looks so cute trying to climb those big bus steps. The lady bus driver helps her get up the steps. I thought it was cute when Lovina told me "Mom, I'm a big girl and she doesn't need to help me up the bus steps."

11:45 a.m. We are finally done with our laundry. We had to hang some of the clothes closer but we managed to get everything hung up on the lines.

12:30 p.m. Elizabeth, Kevin, and I go over to sister Emma's house to do her laundry. Kevin keeps Emma's 2-year-old Steven occupied. Baby Marilyn is such a sweet bundle of joy. She is hungry so Emma feeds her while Elizabeth and I start her laundry. Sure is nice to use a wringer that works good.

2:30 p.m. Emma's laundry is done and it looks like it will dry. After quite a few rainy days we are quite thankful for a sunny day to get our laundry done. While we were doing laundry Emma fixed us soup and sandwiches for a late lunch. She fee Steven and Kevin while we were doing laundry.

3:20 p.m. We leave from Jacob and Emma's house as I have an appointment to get to. Emma said her daughters can bring the clothes in after they get home from school.

5 p.m. We are back home. The school children and Joe have all been home awhile. I am so glad the teachers have arranged so that the children don't bring home nearly as much homework as prior years. It takes a lot of the stress off the parents, too, this way. The girls and I get the laundry off the lines and start supper.

6:30 p.m. We enjoy a "haystack supper." And Joe grills some bacon-wrapped banana peppers. We really like these. We use banana peppers because jalapeno peppers are a little too hot for the children. Sisters Verena and Susan stopped by with some banana peppers. I had a hard enough time keeping some on hand so I was happy for more.

8:30 p.m. Dishes are done and children are off to bed. I am ready to call it a day also. Been a long day but I was glad to help Emma out. She has her hands for full with little Baby Marilyn, Steven, and recovering from a surgery.

Here is the recipe for haystack supper which the children like. Ingredient amounts can be varied according to what you prefer. We just put all the ingredients in bowls like a "salad bar" and let each child build their own haystack.

Haystack Supper

24 soda crackers, crushed

1 1 /2 pounds of hamburger, browned and taco seasoning added

Head of lettuce, chopped

3 -4 large tomatoes, diced

3 -4 green peppers, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 /2 pound of spaghetti, cooked and drained

2 cups of shredded Cheddar cheese

Put some spaghetti on your plate first and then layer each of the above ingredients on your plate. Top with shredded cheese.

Readers with culinary or cultural questions can contact Lovina by writing to: Oasis Newsfeatures, PO BOX 2144, Middletown, Ohio 45042. To learn more about the Amish Cook column, visit amishcookonline.com.

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