THE AMISH COOK
BY LOVINA EICHER
Church services were held here at our house on Sunday. Our church district has around 175 people, with over 100 being children under the age of 16. We had very nice weather on Sunday and now today it is rainy. The rain took laundry off of our list. It is a relief to have all of the cleaning done for now. Our garden is doing very well so far. Corn has really grown and is pretty tall already. I had enough lettuce to serve with the church lunch. The services were held in our basement. After the services, tables were set up and lunch was served to everyone.
Our menu consisted of egg salad, peanut butter spread, red beets, hot peppers, lettuce, freezer pickles, dill pickles, rhubarb jam, butter, homemade wheat and white bread, and chocolate chip, sugar and oatmeal cookies. We also served ice cream to everyone in honor of Father’s Day. Along with the lunch, coffee and iced tea were also served.
Sister Emma made the tea fresh from her garden. The flavors were spearmint and peppermint. It is a good thirst-quencher on a hot day. She also made the rhubarb jam fresh from her rhubarb. We made the egg salad using 15 dozen eggs and 15 pounds of hot dogs. Some say that it resembles a ham salad. We had plenty of leftover egg salad. It is nice having our own chickens, so I didn’t have to buy any eggs. I cooked a kettle of chicken noodle soup for the younger children and older babies. Our church has a container that they call the “cookie jar.” The last lady who hosts services has to fill the container with some kind of homemade baked goods. They then have to deliver it to the next house where church services will be held. This helps the next lady preparing for church services to have a container of goodies on hand. The baked items can be used as either a snack for helpers , something to put in her husband’s lunch pail or just to feed to her family. I think it is a very good idea since it is hard to find time for baking while preparing the house for church.
The lady that brought the container to our house had whoopie pies and monster cookies in it for us. This was a treat for us all and was a good snack to put in my husband Joe’s lunch for work. Needless to say they did not last long around here. We made cookies to fill the container to pass on to the next person.
This is late afternoon now and I need to finish this. The sun is shining and it turned out to be a nice afternoon. The clothes might have dried after all but I am glad we have the basement back in order again. We cleaned it up instead of doing laundry. The bench wagon stores all of our benches and the church dishes. I remember when I used to hold church services in Indiana we had to use our own dishes. That was a lot of coffee pots, coffee cups, plates, glasses, and silverware to store every time in between. Now when the ladies help wash dishes after church they go back in the containers and into the bench wagon again. Sure saves a lot of work.
I told the children they can have the afternoon off to do whatever they want. They all did a good job helping with the work the last few weeks. Daughters Elizabeth, 17, and Susan, 15, were to help clean a house in town today but it has been rescheduled for another day. I think they were glad not to have to go today.
Corn de-tasseling will probably be starting soon. It is hard to believe it is that time of year again. Here is the recipe for egg salad that we served for church.Published with permission from Oasis Newsfeatures.Richard from Amish Stories.
Egg Salad
6 pounds of hot dogs
5 dozen eggs, hard-boiled
6 c. salad dressing (Miracle Whip could be used)
2 c. mayonnaise
Salt and ground pepper
Grind the hot dogs in a meat grinder. In a large bowl, stir the ground meat, eggs, Miracle Whip, and mayonnaise together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Can be stored. New post on Friday.
