BY LOVINA EICHER
It is Monday morning, August 1 at a little past 6 a.m. Daughters Elizabeth, 17, and Susan, 15, just left for another tiring day of de-tasseling corn. A bus comes around and picks them up in the morning. The detasseling crew they work with has 300 workers.
It is hard to believe that we have entered the month of August. The year 2011 is over halfway over already. Meanwhile, canning season is in full swing. I made six batches of homemade freezer pickles last week and I want to make dill pickles next. I planted some cucumbers that can be fixed small so that whole dill pickles can be made out of them. My tomatoes are really starting to ripen. Before long I will be putting them in jars too. My husband Joe and the boys pulled the cooking onions from our garden on Saturday. We did not get them hung up yet. I just laid them out on newspapers so they can start drying. I take baling twine that we use for hay and tie the long stems of the onions into a bunch and then hang them under our porch ledge to dry. I move them inside before it freezes in the fall. Next on the list is to dig up our potatoes. And my red beets are big enough that I can start using them. I made some buttered beets with them but I let the rest grow larger so I can make pickled beets
I also ordered a bushel of peaches which will be ready in about 10 days. We like to eat them just as a snack I also like to dice them up, put them in little sandwich bags and freeze them. Then I put a bag in with Joe’s lunch and the frozen peaches help keep his lunch cool and by lunch time the peaches are thawed enough for him to eat them.
We are shocked and saddened to hear the news his morning that an 11 month old girl in our church district passed away. It brings backs so many memories of that Monday morning on May 24, 2010 when my 8-month old niece, Marilyn, passed away. God must need more angels in Heaven. We question “why” so many times but we need to trust him and lead the way. This little girl would be daughter Elizabeth’s boyfriend Timothy’s niece. She was such a sweet little girl and my heart aches for the parents. The four other siblings have been staying at Jacob and Emma’s house since Friday night when little Clara was admitted to the hospital. This brings back a lot of memories for Emma and Jacob and they can understand the heartache of losing a child.
After I get this column done I am going to go over and help with whatever cleaning or cooking I can and help with whatever needs to be done for the viewing and the funeral. I also want to prepare some food to take along.
We finally managed to get our second cutting hay in on Saturday night. Hay was rained on more than once We can’t control the weather. We need to look on the bright side and think that the rain was good for the third cutting
Daughter Verena’s surgery on her foot will be next week. I will be glad to get that taken care of. I do hope the surgery will be a great success.
Since I'll be having plenty of peaches in the weeks ahead, I thought I'd share this simple, but delicious recipe!
PEACH CREAM PIE
2 1/3 cups pitted, peeled and sliced peaches
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 T. flour
1 cup milk
1 pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients until smooth consistency and the peaches are evenly coated. Pour into a ready made pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Fresh rhubarb may also be used in place of peaches. Published on Amish Stories with permission from Oasis Newsfeatures. Richard from Amish Stories. Diner review on Friday of Lancaster county favorite "Jennies diner". Along with a real diner onion ring recipe and some diner lingo !
