It is Monday morning and it is time to start another week.
Today also brings the last day of November. So far we have not received more snow than just some flurries.
Sons Benjamin, 10, and Joseph, 7, can't wait until we have that first big snow. Every morning they jump out of bed and look out the window to see if our first snow has arrived.
They keep talking about the fun they will have, like hitching our pony, Stormy, to the pony cart and tying the sled behind the cart.
The pony will pull them around the field through the snow. Last year that provided hours of fun for them.
Everything is always a little bit of a mess when they start pulling out those extra coats, snowpants, boots, gloves and so forth.
The boys are looking forward to the snow a lot more than I am.
We had a very nice Thanksgiving with some friends and family over. We set the table using my good china. The girls had fun setting the table and using all the best dishes I have stored away in my cupboard. It was fun for them to use the special dishes and not have to use our everyday dishes.
I prepared a 21-pound turkey stuffed with dressing for the Thanksgiving meal. With the food that family and friends brought in we had quite a big menu.
Along with turkey and dressing we had mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, potato salad, cheese, hot peppers, vegetables and dip, homemade bread, butter, rhubarb jam, pumpkin roll, sugar cookies, buttermilk and sugar cream pies and cherry cheesecake.
We had way too much food but leftovers made for easy meals the next day.
The afternoon was spent playing board games. And before everyone parted ways and headed for home, root beer floats were served. It was an enjoyable day. We do have so much to be thankful for. I hope all you readers had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, too.
My husband Joe has still been trying his luck for another deer. He has seen quite a few but they are keeping their distance from his tent. I think today is the last day of shotgun season but I am not sure because I don't get as excited about keeping track of the dates as he does.
With pumpkin still plentiful, I thought I'd share the recipe for my pumpkin roll with you.
Be sure to roll up the "short side." Fresh pumpkin or canned can be used.
Pumpkin Roll
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 t. lemon juice
2/3 c. pumpkin
3/4 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. nutmeg
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs well. Then add the sugar, lemon juice and pumpkin and beat well. Then add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg and beat well until smooth in consistency.
Pour pumpkin mixture into a wax paper-lined jelly roll pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip over the pan onto a powdered sugar-covered dish towel. Be sure to roll the towel and cake together as if rolling up a jelly roll and place in the refrigerator for 45 to 60 minutes or until the towel doesn't feel warm any longer.
When cool, unroll and spread cooled pumpkin mixture with the following filling:
8 ozs. softened cream cheese -
2 c. powdered sugar
4 T. butter
1/2 t. vanilla
Beat ingredients until smooth and spread onto cooled cake roll. Reroll and refrigerate at least an hour. After chilled you can slice and serve.
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.
Can't get enough of the Amish Cook?
There are numerous Amish Cook cookbooks now available at Amazon.com as well as at www.amishcookonline.com.
-"The Original Amish Cook Cookbook": First published in 1993 and written by Elizabeth Coblentz and Kevin Williams with recipes, stories and Amish artwork.
-"The Best of The Amish Cook, Vol. 1": A chronological collection of all Amish Cook columns and recipes from 1991-1996.
-"The Best of The Amish Cook, Vol. 2": Columns and recipes from 1996-2001.
-"The Amish Cook's Family Favorites & Facts": A 2003 publication by Lovina Eicher and Kevin Williams
-"The Amish Cook's Treasury": A book of recipes from Amish, Mennonite and German Baptist kitchens.
A new volume of "The Best of The Amish Cook" will be released soon and will feature columns and recipes from 2002-2007.
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