Traverse City Record-Eagle

Lovina Eicher: The Amish Cook

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November 23, 2009

Amish Cook: Daughter offers cookie recipes

BY ELIZABETH EICHER

Hello! I'm Lovina's oldest daughter Elizabeth. I have not written the column in a long time, so I decided to give Mom a break and take a turn at it again.

I'm 15 years old now and no longer attend school. I do housecleaning jobs sometimes, but mostly I enjoy my days at home helping Mom.

There is always plenty to do with cleaning, laundry, etc. This summer we filled many jars with fruits and vegetables. I enjoy working out in the gardens on nice summer days and also doing yard work. I don't mind helping with canning; I would actually rather do canning than cleaning and laundry.

I fried chicken for our supper tonight. Along with chicken we had mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. Yum! Everything was delicious! It gave Mom a break from cooking.

All my brothers and sisters except Susan, 13, have retired for the night. They will have another long day at school tomorrow so a good night's sleep will do them good. I am reading a Janette Oke book during the evenings after everything calms down around here.

My sisters, Susan and Verena, love to tell the younger children bedtime stories. Mom has asked Susan if she would like to write the column but she would rather write a story. Her stories are usually about horses. The boys love when she writes a short story and reads it to them at bedtime. Susan's stories seem to relax them. If she only gets a story halfway finished Benjamin will always keep asking her to finish it as he wants to know what is going to happen.

Tonight Dad and Mom went to town with the horse and buggy to get groceries. Benjamin's new glasses were also ready to be picked up at the eye doctor's office. Benjamin was glad as his others were almost too small for him. He likes the new ones as they have a bigger frame and are more comfortable for him.

Dad and Mom also bought the boys new shoes for school. The boys were so proud to come home and show us their new shoes. Joseph said he can run faster with the new shoes. It's always nice to see my brothers and sisters happy.

It's hard to believe it's November already. Winter seems to be moving in awfully fast. We have enjoyed some beautiful autumn scenery. I'm always glad when the job of raking up all the leaves is finished. I always hope for a few windy days to blow away some of them.

Thanksgiving Day is now only two weeks away. I'm not sure what we will be doing for Thanksgiving Day but I'm sure we will have a turkey somewhere. I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

I tried a different chocolate chip cookie recipe last night. The one I usually use takes oatmeal and we were out of oatmeal so I tried this one. It turned out pretty good. I will call it "Cousin Jane's Chocolate Chip Cookies," because my Mom got the recipe out of our family recipe book.

As a recipe note, Jane said that she makes these into balls and places them on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen. She then puts them in a freezer bag until she wants more cookies. Around here we don't have any chance to do that as we usually need all we can make.

Cousin Jane's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

2 c. brown sugar

6 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

4 c. chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugars and mix well. Add eggs, vanilla and baking soda and mix well. Add flour. Then add chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 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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  • Thursday, August 18, 2011
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    Aug 18, 2011 8:23 am 1 Photo