The Amish Cook

By LOVINA EICHER

The laundry looks dry on the wash-line and is ready to come in and be folded. Daughters Susan and Verena just came home from de-tasseling. They are always ready for a shower and getting cleaned up when they come home. I told them to go take a nap after they get cleaned up since they are home earlier today. The rest of the children are all taking a break and doing whatever they want because they worked hard this morning.

Before noon they dug up all of our red potatoes in the garden. The boys picked my tomatoes and cucumbers. They brought in 17.5 gallons using 5 buckets gallons full of cucumbers. I will probably have enough pickles to last quite awhile after working all of those up. And I now think I have enough tomatoes to make a batch of homemade thick and chunky salsa. It takes 14 pounds to make a batch of it. It will be good to have our own again. The children don’t care for the store-bought salsa like they do our own homemade.

Joe had two days off from work this week because he was caught up on his job. It worked out well because he was able to go with me to take Loretta to the doctor two hours away on Tuesday. Loretta has another appointment with an orthopedic doctor next week. The doctors think doing surgery on both feet would help her walk better. The surgery would lengthen her heel cords so she could get her heels flat on the floor again. Hopefully after six weeks she can get back into her braces. Verena had this same surgery done and has had very good results with it.

Verena is able to detassel corn but she always wears her brace to work. I think we need to order her a new one, though. She has had this one for 9 months and it is started to rub her skin. It will have to be a little bigger. She doesn’t have to wear her brace if she is not running or doing too much walking.

On Wednesday Joe and I and the six youngest children went to go help Emma and Jacob prepare for upcoming church services to be held at their home. Verena did not have to detassel that day so she went with us. Elizabeth was on her cleaning job and Susan went detasseling. Joe worked on the new patio at Jacob’s while our three boys drove our horse Diamond and our one-horse manure spreader to help haul manure all day. The girls and I washed walls and furniture in their house.

Once things slow down a little bit we want to butcher our older laying hens. I will can those for broth. Our new layers should start laying eggs this fall sometime. I will be so glad to have more eggs. Our older hens are not laying very many anymore. We only get 5 – 6 eggs a day which does not give us enough.

Last Saturday was the annual Albert Coblentz reunion in Berne, Indiana. We would have liked to have gone but we could not find a ride out there. Hopefully next year. To all my Coblentz cousins, uncles, and aunts who read this column I hope you had an enjoyable time together. It has been quite a few years since we were able to attend and I was looking forward to seeing everyone again.

My mother would always make the following recipe in the summer when she had fresh tomatoes. Mom called it goulash. Since we have so many tomatoes now I made it the other night and the children seemed to like it.

Amish Goulash

2 pounds hamburger
1 small onion diced
2 cups uncooked macaroni
Fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped

In a large skillet, brown hamburger and onion, adding enough tomatoes to make enough juice to cook macaronis in. Cook over medium high heat until macaronis are tender. Season to taste. Spoon into bowls and serve. It’ll have the consistency of a hearty soup.

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A Special Thanks to PA Readers

We want to thank Prairie Advocate readers who have sent emails, letters, and cards of encouragement to the Eicher family after a terribly difficult spring of fire and illness. Many Prairie-Advocate readers – too many to respond to individually – have inquired about helping the Eichers. You can do so by joining The Amish Cook Friend Club by August 31. Here’s how:

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. Anyone who has joined or joins the Friend Club will receive rewards by the end of September.