The Amish Cook

By LOVINA EICHER

Daughters Susan and Verena worked six long days last week de-tasseling corn. By Saturday night they were tired girls. Verena’s brace rubbed her foot open in two places. I wanted her to stay home today but she wanted to go detasseling again. Benjamin is now a teenager since the 14th. And Joe and I had our 19th anniversary yesterday, July 15th. Time has gone too fast. Daughter Loretta sat down one day last week to write the column. She said she wanted to do something to help me out. I am glad she did because it was good for her to put her thoughts into writing. She has a journal that she writes in, which is a good way for her to vent through this difficult trial which she is facing at this young age in her life. Here is what she wrote:

I hope you are all doing great. I had a wonderful day today. For breakfast, we had grilled cheese sandwiches and cereal. I love grilled cheese. Sister Lovina dries the dishes for me while I wash them. Then I swept and mopped the floors. With all of us home from school the floors get tracked up fast. Mom, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Joseph, and Kevin are all out weeding in the garden. They like to go out early in the morning when it is still not so hot. Elizabeth might start her new job this week. She will work for a lady who will train her to do professional cleaning.

Susan and Verena are detasseling corn. I am not going to get to go detassel corn like my older sisters did. It would be too hard for me to pull the tassles when my hands feel weak. Verena is trying detasseling but she is tired at night. She doesn’t want to give up. Sometimes I think it is unfair that other people can do fun stuff like running and biking. There are times when I am walking and my knee will give up and then I will fall. It happens a lot when I am coming down the stairs. It is really hard to know that I can’t do all the stuff that I used to. I want to keep my faith in God. I know God will help me if I have faith in him. I get discouraged a lot, but I am so happy my family is there to help make things easier for me. I have to try to keep looking on the bright side.

We went camping the week of July 4 when Dad was on vacation. My birthday was July 1. I turned 12, so next year I will be a teenager. If anyone has muscular dystrophy I would like for them to write to me. It helps me to talk to someone with muscular dystrophy because they can fully understand what it means. When we were at the lake I went in the water a lot. At first I needed help getting out because I fell sometimes. My nice, kind sisters Elizabeth, Susan, and Verena would help me get out. One time, Verena was helping me out and we were almost out of the water and my knee gave up. I grabbed Verena and she wasn’t wearing her brace to support her and we both fell back into the lake. We laughed about it and thought it was funny. One time Susan was helping me and my knee starting give out but Susan just pulled me back up. I don’t know what I would do without their help. One night when Susan’s friend Mose was there we took Dad’s boat to go fishing. Mose, Susan, Verena, and I fished even after it was dark. It was fun even if we didn’t have much luck. Susan had a fish on her hook and instead of taking it off she flipped it into the boat. It flipped right into Mose’s face and we all laughed about that.

Then I thought I had a big fish and pulled the line in, it was a bunch of weeds. It was their turn to all laugh and we had a lot of fun.

July 4 sister Elizabeth and her friend Timothy asked me to go to the parade in town. Sister Lovina also went with us. We got a lot of candy from the parade but we took it back and shared it with our brothers. It was fun to watch the parade. There were firetrucks, horses, and little ponies. They look so cute. Also some race cars. My sister Susan has a new miniature pony that she is training for someone. The pony’s name is Tiny Tim. He is still a little rowdy. Susan is line driving him. Susan is a good trainer because she has a lot of patience. Even if she comes home late from detasseling corn all day she wants to work with the pony. I don’t know what else to write now.

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement. God bless you.

For the recipe I will share my coffee soup recipe. I love it for breakfast but Mom doesn’t let us have it often since it has caffeine. She doesn’t think it is a healthy breakfast. Most of us like it with crackers in it but Mom and Dad like it with toast.

We really like it with Pon Hoss when we have some in the winter.

Coffee Soup

1 cup water
2 teaspoons coffee
4 teaspoons white sugar
3 cups milk
Crackers, bread, or toast

Heat water in a 2 quart kettle Lift off and add coffee and sugar Put back on the stove and add milk. Take off when hot. Crumble crackers, bread, or toast into it or eat without either one. Some like it plain.

Friend Club

The Amish Cook Friend Club is a fun way to help Lovina in her battle against Muscular Dystrophy and in keeping her column around long-term. There are several levels of support that you can offer the column:BASIC ONE-YEAR MEMBERSHIP $10: thank you note and recipe for “marriage meatloaf.”ONE-YEAR SILVER $25: thank you note and a packet of 25 unpublished recipes from The Amish Cook recipe archives.ONE-YEAR GOLD $50 all of the above, plus an 8 X 10 photo of a suppertime scene at Lovina’s and a copy of The Amish Recipe Project Cookbook.SUPER SUPPORTER, $100.00: all of the above, plus a complimentary copy of the Amish-themed fiction book Abraham’s Redemption when it is released. To join, visit www.oasisnewsfeatures.com/friendclub or send to:Oasis Newsfeatures, PO BOX 157, Middletown, Ohio 45042 100 percent of the funds benefit Lovina by going to her directly or being reinvested in the column.