Today we are enjoying cooler weather giving us relief from the recent 90-degree heat.
My husband Joe and the three boys just left to go fishing on a nearby lake. The lake also has a beach area for swimming so they might swim also. Brother-in-law Jacob and his boys are going, too.
Three-year-old Kevin was determined to go along and thought he had to have his life jacket on before he left. Last year he was scared to go out on the water. I am hoping he has gotten over his fear of water. Joe, meanwhile, is enjoying a one-week vacation from the factory. He hopes to get a lot of fishing done this week.
It sure is relaxing to have a slower pace around here with Joe off work. Friday evening daughter Elizabeth invited 14 of her friends for a graduation dinner to celebrate the end of her school years. Sister Emma, Jacob and family came to help us prepare the food. Joe and Jacob grilled 100 pounds of chicken and we also made a 20-quart kettle of chili soup over the open fire.
It was nice to cook all the food outside as it was another hot day. Not everyone was able to come so we had a lot of food left, although we did still have a nice-sized group here.
Along with barbecued chicken and chili soup we had macaroni salad, lettuce salad, a mixture of watermelon, muskmelon and grapes, cake and ice cream, punch, pop and coffee. Some played volleyball and the rest just visited with one another.
On Saturday we did laundry and cleaned up the house from the evening before and prepared for an overnight journey. Around 5:30 p.m. our family and Jacob's started the two-hour journey to Albert and Sarah Irene's house. I think from our house it would be around 22 or 23 miles. Jacob's house would be about three or four miles farther than us.
Daughter Elizabeth, 15, drove Jacob's two-seated open wagon with some of our children and Jacob's children. We took our covered buggy and Jacob took theirs, so we had three buggies making the trip. We were lucky to not have any rain going or coming home with the children on the open wagon.
We all spent the night at Albert's and had a good breakfast of biscuits, sausage gravy, egg casserole, potatoes, cereal, coffee and milk. For supper, we had grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, lettuce, salad, cake, ice, cream and fruit.
Sunday was Sarah Irene's 44th birthday. Albert Jr. had some of his friends over for the night so Albert had a full house. This was the first time we had seen where they lived since they moved in November. They have a nice, new house. They also have a walk-out basement and a wrap-around porch. This house is a lot bigger than their other house was so I am sure they are enjoying the extra space.
Sunday at 6 p.m we started back for our two-hour journey home. Lovina and Kevin slept most of the way home while the rest of us just enjoyed the ride in the beautiful weather. We arrived home shortly after 8 p.m. Everyone was tired but we enjoyed the weekend at Albert's.
This is a great recipe to try on some of the fresh lettuce from the garden.
Swiss Dressing
4 slices of bacon, cut into pieces and crumbled
1 T. flour
Pinch of salt
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. vinegar
4 fresh green onions, chopped
Two boiled eggs, diced
Fresh lettuce leaves from the garden or 1 head of store-bought lettuce
In a skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from the skillet to a paper-towel-lined plate, but reserve the grease in the skillet. Brown the flour and salt in hot bacon grease over medium heat. Have the sugar, vinegar and water stirred together and ready to pour into the flour when nice and brown. Be careful so it doesn't bubble over. Keep stirring the mixture. Cook a minute or so until it thickens. When the dressing is cooled off you may want to add a bit of cream or milk if it is too thick. Pour over lettuce leaves that have been torn into bite-sized pieces. Add bacon, eggs and onions and toss lettuce.
Lovina Eicher is Old Order Amish. She hand-writes this column from her home in southern Michigan. Anyone with cultural or cooking questions can send them to: Lovina Eicher, The Amish Cook, P.O. Box 2144, Middletown, OH 45042.
Read all of her columns online at www.record-eagle.com/amishcook.
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