AMISH COOK
BY old order Amish : LOVINA EICHER
Our house seems extra quiet after a week with the whole family being home. The children were home from school for spring break and my husband Joe was off from the factory. Once the children left for school this morning it was pretty quiet. Verena, however, wasn’t able to go today because of another post-concussive spell. We had a warm weekend after a rainy, cold week last week. We enjoyed our first meal of dandelion greens. I always make ours into salads with diced hard boiled eggs and homemade sour cream poured over it. The sour cream is something I make with Miracle Whip, vinegar, and milk. We like to eat our dandelion salads over boiled potatoes and bacon. Green winter onions also taste good to eat with the salad.
Joe finally managed to get our manure spreader fixed. The boys and Joe hauled a lot of loads of manure and spread it across our fields. Kevin, 5, was so proud to help with little forkfuls of manure on the spreader. Benjamin, 11, and Joseph, 8, said Kevin didn’t help too much but they let him think he was really helping. I guess that is how they learn. We managed to get one coat of primer on the walls and ceilings in an upstairs bedroom. Our bedrooms are big so it takes a little longer. I put the painting off until this week since I pulled a muscle in my right shoulder. My neck also felt sore but it feels a lot better now. I think it all came from doing too much overhead painting. Elizabeth, 16, left around 9 p.m. on Wednesday last week and traveled to Mays Lick, Kentucky. She went with her friend Timothy and family and they traveled with a charter bus full of wedding guests. All went to the same wedding in the Amish settlement at Mays Lick, Kentucky. The wedding was held on Thursday and around 8 p.m. that evening they all boarded the bus for the return trip home. Elizabeth arrived home a little before 5 a.m. Friday morning. It was good to see her arrive home all safe and sound. I was surprised to hear she met up with some of my relatives and some of Joe’s who live in that community.
We recently purchased a used single buggy at a local consignment sale. We really would have liked to buy the Queen buggy but the price was not in our range. A Queen buggy also just has one seat but has space behind the seat to store groceries. Our single buggy has some room under the seat and in back but not as much as a Queen. When Joe and I went to get groceries and fill gas jugs we used our new buggy trailer, which gives us extra room to carry items. The trailer has bicycle wheels and is really light weight for the horse to pull. We can fit a lot of groceries in that small trailer.
Loretta, 10, and Lovina, 6, had dentist appointments one day last week. I took them in the single buggy. There were a lot of cars there so I was glad for a smaller buggy to park. The dentist office does not have a hitching post so I tied the horse to a tree. It makes it a little hard where there is not a place to tie your horse at some of the doctor’s offices. Our children’s medical doctor has a hitching post which I have been so blessed for already. With gas prices going higher it is cheaper to take our buggy instead of hiring a driver to take us into town.
At the same sale where we bought our buggy Jacob and Emma bought a horse. We needed a way to get our buggy home and Jacob’s needed away to get his horse home so they borrowed a harness. They hitched the horse to our buggy to bring it home. Jacob asked what the new horse’s name is and found out her name is Rose. It is funny because they have one other horse and her name is Rose also.
Try this delicious candy recipe for Easter!
CHOCOLATE EASTER EGGS
1 pound butter, softened
Dash of salt
1 can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
6 to 8 pounds of powdered sugar
semi-sweet chocolate, melted
In a large bowl, mix together the butter, salt, milk and enough powdered sugar to make it easy to handle. Work together with hands. Divide into portions and add different flavors, cherries, or nuts. Form into egg shapes and dip into melted chocolate.
