Traverse City Record-Eagle

Lovina Eicher: The Amish Cook

Related Photos

June 15, 2009

Amish Cook: Funeral means visits with family

BY LOVINA EICHER

We spent the past weekend in Indiana. My Aunt Barbara's funeral was held on June 6. It was exactly one month after her sudden death.

Uncle Henry was dismissed from the hospital June 3 after being admitted May 8.

The funeral had been postponed until he was dismissed from the hospital. He still looks very weak. We wish God's blessings to the family as they go through this trial in life. We started out on Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m. to attend the funeral.

While at the burial we could also saw where my father and mother's graves were in the same cemetery. We drove past my parents' old home place, but things looked very different. There are two more sets of buildings on it and also several hog barns have been added.

We stopped in at the place where Joe and I lived for eight years before our move to Michigan. The young Amish couple who lives there now were very nice and let us look around. It is hard to believe that only our three oldest children seem to remember the place. Benjamin was 4 at the time and barely remembers any of it. We appreciated their hospitality while we were there. They have a 2-week-old baby and had company coming for supper, but they still took the time to let us look around.

After visiting our old home-place, we stopped in to see where niece Susan and her husband live and meet little Susan, who was born in May. Afterwards, my brother Amos and his wife Nancy invited us to come for supper. We had an enjoyable meal outdoors. They made soup in the kettle over the open fire and also cooked sausage links and made hot wings on the grill. Everything was very delicious.

Joe and I and our six youngest children spent the night at my Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty's house. Betty fixed a very good breakfast for us. After breakfast we drove around visiting families.

Meanwhile, daughters Elizabeth and Susan went to Joe's sister Ruth's house to spend the night with their cousins. They attended church with them the next day.

We arrived back home in Michigan on Sunday evening safe and sound. Everyone was tired and ready for bed.

\We had not all been out to our old Indiana community for more than a year. With gas prices soaring again it affects us when we have to hire a driver to take us. Then, if we stay the night, we have to pay for the driver's hotel room, making it quite an expensive trip.

We are enjoying strawberries out of the garden. I have June-bearing strawberry plants, but I am sure we will enjoy plenty of strawberries. We are also enjoying lettuce, radishes and onions from the garden. Looks like it won't be long before the peas are ready.

Try this delicious recipe for using up your fresh strawberries.

Homemade Strawberry Bread

2 eggs

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 c. sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. almond extract

1&2/3 c. flour(stir or sift before measuring)

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1&1/2 c. chopped strawberries, fresh or frozen and lightly drained

1/2 c. chopped nuts, your choice

Preheat oven to 350˚. Beat eggs until foamy. Add oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extract to eggs and mix well. Stir well or sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Add to previous mixture and stir until just barely moistened.

Add strawberries and nuts and lightly mix, being careful not to overmix. Pour into greased 9x5 loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes until nicely browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. May need to put foil over top if browns too quickly.

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.

Text Only
  • Amish Cook: Warmth helps stove breaks

    The sun is shining and it almost seems like spring with the unusual warmth we are experiencing.

    Continued ...
    Feb 9, 2012 7:30 am
  • Amish Cook: Feverish boy still dervish

    Kevin, 6, is home from school today. He has been running a fever since yesterday morning.

    Continued ...
    Updated Feb 7, 2012 10:38 am
  • The Amish Cook: Cookies in a jar
    CSSED12.jpg

    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.

    Continued ...
    Jan 26, 2012 7:33 am 1 Photo
  • The Amish Cook: More work on a snow day
    CSS66D2.jpg

    Continued ...
    Updated Jan 30, 2012 2:39 pm 1 Photo
  • The Amish Cook: Breakfast haystack tasty
    CSSC5E8.jpg

    Continued ...
    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
    CSSB29E.jpg

    Continued ...
    Dec 15, 2011 7:18 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, December 8, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Kids still love snow
    CSS2B5F.jpg

    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
    CSSA4C1.jpg

    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
    CSS973D.jpg

    Continued ...
    Nov 17, 2011 7:22 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, November 10, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Junior is back in town
    CSS10FD.jpg

    Continued ...
    Nov 10, 2011 7:12 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, November 3, 2011
  • The Amish Cook: Brother Amos surprised
    CSSFA88.jpg

    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
    CSS44A4.jpg

    Continued ...
    Oct 20, 2011 7:32 am 1 Photo
  • Thursday, October 13, 2011
  • Amish Cook: Lots of sunshine, laundry
    CSSC10C.jpg

    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
    CSSB147.jpg

    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
    CSS2521.jpg

    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
    CSSCFB2.jpg

    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
    CSS3A5E.jpg

    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
    CSSC019.jpg

    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
    CSS3668.jpg

    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
    CSS5E20.jpg

    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