It is early Monday morning and another week is before us. August seems to be disappearing as fast as the rest of these summer months have. We are also having cooler weather again.
I decided to let the children sleep a little later this morning, which will also give me some peace and quiet to get this column done. Their school term begins after Labor Day, so it will be here very soon for them.
Daughters, Elizabeth, 15, and Susan, 13, are done with detasseling corn for the summer. They attended the detasseling picnic Friday evening, around eight miles from here. They took the horse and buggy. I still have to get used to the idea of seeing them drive that far alone. They had to cross a busy highway but they are both careful drivers and have a safe horse.
I think it is just the mother in me that makes me always feel better when they are back home safe and sound. They arrived home safely shortly after dark.
Having church services here a week ago got a lot of our household cleaning completed. We are now trying to get caught up in the garden with weeding and canning.
Last week we canned 45 quarts of sweet corn and froze five quarts. This week we will do peaches and hopefully tomatoes and green beans. I also need to make salsa, V8 juice and tomato juice so I am hoping my supply of tomatoes will hold out. I would also like to make pickle relish, which I mix with salad dressing to make tartar sauce when we have fish.
Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty spent the weekend out here in Michigan. They slept over at sister Emma and Jacob's house and were here Saturday for lunch. We appreciated Uncle Joe fixing our mower, which had been giving us some problems. They brought a new tent for the younger children and set it up for them. We had some excited little children as we don't have a tent for them.
Tomorrow the children will have more swimming lessons given by a friend of ours. We will have a picnic by the lake while they have their lesson. We sure do appreciate her time in giving them swimming lessons. It looks like it takes a lot of patience. Daughter Lovina, 5, seems to be comfortable in the water but doesn't like to get her head wet. We have been letting her take showers in the bathtub to let her get used to having water in her face. Hopefully this will help her. Kevin, 3, is still scared of going in the water too far.
My husband Joe is at work at the factory. They are working five days these last months, which we are thankful for.
Try this recipe for a good way to use homegrown vegetables from the garden!
Garden Supper Casserole
2 c. cubed soft bread
1/2 c. cubed cheese
2 T. butter, melted
1 c. peas
1&1/2 c. cream sauce
2 T. chopped onion
3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
1 large tomato, sliced
Cream sauce:
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1/4 t. salt
1 c. milk
Mix bread cubes, cheese,and butter. Spread 1/2 the mixture in greased 1-quart baking dish. Add peas and half of the cream sauce. Brown the onions in butter and add eggs; pour over peas. Arrange tomatoes over top and cover with remaining cream sauce. Add remaining bread mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
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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