Traverse City Record-Eagle

Lovina Eicher: The Amish Cook

September 14, 2009

Amish Cook: Use last of zucchini in pie

We have just enjoyed a "breakfast supper" consisting of fried eggs, potatoes, bacon, toast, butter, rhubarb jam, tomatoes and hot peppers. Since my husband Joe is often so rushed in the mornings before work he often doesn't get to eat this type of breakfast. Enjoying a leisurely meal of breakfast foods in the evening is a real treat for Joe.

While I am cleaning up supper dishes, the children are outdoors enjoying some biking before bedtime. This is a more relaxing evening than last night when we concluded our haymaking for 2009. It was our third cutting this year. My sister Emma, Jacob and family assisted us in helping and also a few friends. We appreciated all of their help.

We were without the help of our son Joseph who has a splint-type cast on his hand for two weeks. He fell from our pony wagon, but X-rays did not show a fracture. The doctor thinks it might be badly strained but wants to be sure there is not a small fracture that the X-ray is missing. We are thankful it is his left arm so it will not affect his school work. Our school doors opened on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Daughter Lovina, 5, kept saying, "only five more times to sleep" before I get to go to school. She was very excited as I bought her first book bag today.

Our youngest child, Kevin, had his fourth birthday yesterday. He was very thrilled for the couple of toys we gave him and the birthday cake. We only attempted to sing "Happy Birthday" to him twice. Kevin wanted to always start crying while we were signing. He also wouldn't blow out his candles on his cake. I wonder if other children have this problem about birthdays? A few of our eight have been like this but outgrew it.

We gave Kevin a bag of candy which he enjoys distributing among his siblings. It is funny, though, because he will tell them to take only one piece and then tell me to put it way on top of the cupboard. He says that is so no one can sneak his candy.

Recently he took our rat terrier dog Frisco to his sister Elizabeth's bedroom upstairs. Before anyone found them Kevin had been helping himself to some of Elizabeth's hidden candy and also been giving Frisco some. There were candy wrappers all over the floor. I remember Frisco sneaking a sucker out of the little children's hands more than once and licking it. Kevin blames Frisco saying she wanted candy and that is why he took her upstairs.

We are all excited about our weekend camping trip to a nearby lake. We are sleeping in cabins and will be able to do swimming, fishing and cooking outdoors. We are hoping for nice weather. It will be relaxing to get away from all the work for a few days.

Thank you so much to all the readers who sent me zucchini recipes last month. This is a recipe from our upcoming baking book; my daughter Verena learned it at school. It is a good way to use up some last zucchinis of the summer.

Zucchini Pie

2 9-inch pie crusts

3 c. peeled, shredded zucchini

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 t. ground allspice

1 1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 T. butter

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, cinnamon, lemon juice and allspice. Stir until the zucchini is evenly coated and then add the sugar, flour, butter and salt. Continue to stir until the mixture is well-blended. Spoon into the prepared pie crust. Use some water to wet the rim of the bottom crust which will help both crusts adhere together. Cover the pie with the top crust, crimping the crusts together all the way around. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

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    Feb 9, 2012 7:30 am
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    Updated Feb 7, 2012 10:38 am
  • The Amish Cook: Cookies in a jar

    This has been a different winter so far weather-wise. We had another snowstorm during the past week, but then as quickly as it snowed, it warmed back up.

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    Jan 26, 2012 7:33 am 1 Photo
  • The Amish Cook: More work on a snow day

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    Updated Jan 30, 2012 2:39 pm 1 Photo
  • The Amish Cook: Breakfast haystack tasty

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    Jan 12, 2012 7:44 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, January 5, 2012
  • The Amish Cook: Christmas green, but now white

    Continued ...
    Jan 5, 2012 7:42 am
  • Thursday, December 29, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Holiday food

    Continued ...
    Dec 29, 2011 7:33 am
  • Thursday, December 15, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Christmas is close

    Continued ...
    Dec 15, 2011 7:18 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, December 8, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Kids still love snow

    Continued ...
    Updated Feb 9, 2012 2:53 pm 1 Photo
  • Thursday, December 1, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Kids want snow but I'm not ready

    Continued ...
    Dec 1, 2011 6:14 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, November 24, 2011
  • Amish Cook: Five kids have the flu

    Continued ...
    Nov 24, 2011 6:14 am
  • Thursday, November 17, 2011
  • Amish Cook: Favorites for Thanksgiving

    Continued ...
    Nov 17, 2011 7:22 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, November 10, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Junior is back in town

    Continued ...
    Nov 10, 2011 7:12 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, November 3, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Brother Amos surprised

    Continued ...
    Nov 3, 2011 7:42 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, October 27, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Sunny days are numbered

    Continued ...
    Oct 27, 2011 7:43 am
  • Thursday, October 20, 2011
  • Amish Cook: Coal is in; bring on winter

    Continued ...
    Oct 20, 2011 7:32 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, October 13, 2011
  • Amish Cook: Lots of sunshine, laundry

    Continued ...
    Oct 13, 2011 7:32 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, October 6, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Apples put to good use

    Continued ...
    Oct 6, 2011 7:51 am
  • Thursday, September 29, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Lots of work for church

    We've been busy helping sister Emma and her husband Jacob. My husband Joe and I and the children will go to Emma and Jacob's today to help with final preparations for church, which will be held there tomorrow. Yesterday Joe and I also assisted them with their work. I helped Emma do jobs inside the house while Joe worked outside in the building where church will be held. He put up a partition using canvas on one end of the building so lunch could be served there tomorrow.

    Continued ...
    Sep 29, 2011 7:33 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, September 22, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Busy day turns frantic

    This is a diary of this past Saturday.
    • 6:30 a.m. Time to get up. We are going to go help Jacob and Emma today. They will have church services at their house next weekend.
    • 6 p.m. Our neighbor comes over to Jacob's to get Joe to take him back home to help the girls. They were taking Diamond off the single buggy and somehow his harness caught on the shaft. This was enough to get him all shook up and he started kicking.

    Continued ...
    Sep 22, 2011 7:52 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, September 15, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Garden is history

    I still have red beets that I need to pull and make into pickled beets. We still have tomatoes, peppers and popcorn but otherwise my garden is pretty much history for 2011. This is the first year we have tried growing popcorn, so we'll be interested to see how it turns out. My jalapeno and serrano peppers are still doing well so I want to make homemade hot pepper butter soon. I won't add as many hot peppers as the recipe calls for so that it is not too hot for the children.

    Continued ...
    Sep 15, 2011 7:39 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, September 8, 2011
  • Amish Cook: Chilly first day of school

    Verena will be in seventh grade, Benjamin in sixth and Loretta will enter middle school in grade 5. In the elementary building Joseph will be in third grade, Lovina in first, and Kevin in kindergarten. The house will seem empty when all six leave for school at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. We are hoping and praying that Verena will have a better year this term. Elizabeth, 17, is sewing Joseph some new pants hoping to have them in time for him to wear to school tomorrow. She has cut out quite a few pairs of pants for the boys, I think a total of 10. It seems like we will be able to have more time to sew after the children are in school.

    Continued ...
    Sep 8, 2011 7:35 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, September 1, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Kevin awaits birthday

    Son Kevin is down to counting "five times to sleep" before his sixth birthday on Sept. 2. Kevin is our youngest and he will be starting kindergarten. The years go way too fast for me. Daughter Lovina, 7, will still let me hold her on my lap a lot more than Kevin does. He tells me, "Mom I am not a baby anymore." At the recent family gathering, Kevin told my husband Joe that he doesn't need help carrying his plate anymore. He said, "At school I carry my own plate." You can just really see them grow up. Daughter Susan, 15, is training another pony for a family in our church. I have more tomatoes to can that the boys picked for me. Our potatoes didn't do so well so it looks like we will end up buying storage potatoes for the winter.

    Continued ...
    Sep 1, 2011 7:32 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, August 25, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: A belated Christmas

    The laundry is on the line and we have a nice sunny day to dry it. Mornings have been cool with temperatures in the upper 50s and lower 60s. It warms up during the day but sure makes for nice sleeping weather at night.
    We had a busy week last week with lots of home-canning on the list. We canned salsa and tomato juice. We also put peaches into the freezer. I still have plenty canned. I put some orange juice concentrate and sugar on the sliced peaches for the freezer. It gives it a little orange flavor in the peaches. I fill a lot of small containers so I can put them in Joe's lunch or the children's for school sometimes. This week I will can some more hot peppers. Our favorite are Serranos. They don't seem quite as hot as the jalapenos but I will still can some jalapeno and banana peppers.

    Continued ...
    Aug 25, 2011 7:47 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, August 18, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Surgery goes well

    Daughter Verena had surgery on her foot yesterday and was admitted to the hospital. Doctors were just in here to see her but are not sure if she will be able to go home today. She had some pain through the night but is now taking some pain medicine and sleeping really well.
    Since the surgery the feeling is back in her right leg and foot. It had been numb from her knee on down since the end of May. We are very excited to see that her feeling is back since the surgery.
    She'll have to wear a hard cast for four to six weeks. The cast comes up to her knee. At nighttime she has to wear a brace on her whole leg to keep it straight. We are also so thankful that her post-concussions have not reoccurred for 2 1/2 months. We pray they are gone for good. Hopefully she is now on the road to permanent good health.

    Continued ...
    Aug 18, 2011 8:23 am 1 Photo