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Lovina Eicher: The Amish Cook

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November 3, 2011

The Amish Cook: Brother Amos surprised

BY LOVINA EICHER Special to the Record-Eagle

This is the last day of October. It is hard to believe there are only two months of the year left.

Yesterday, Oct. 30, was brother Amos' 50th birthday. His wife Nancy had invited all his siblings to surprise him and come for dinner. Amos was definitely very surprised; he had not expected anything.

It is always easy for me to remember how old Amos is because he is 10 years older than I am. He is the second oldest of the eight siblings.

It was a chilly day outside but it was sunny, making it warm enough so that the men could play croquet outside. The children enjoyed riding their three ponies and taking a pony buggy ride. They also played kickball.

Meanwhile, for the birthday feast we were served a delicious meal of barbecued chicken, hot wings, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, corn, lettuce salad, sliced cheese, banana peppers, kohlrabi, celery, carrot sticks, green peppers, vegetable dip, homemade bread, butter and jelly, ice cream, peanut butter dessert, four different kinds of cake and several pies. I brought the homemade bread and a chocolate cake. There were a lot of cakes that were brought in so there was plenty of cake left.

Before we started back for home Nancy heated up some of the leftovers. Some of the family ate some chicken before heading for home. We started back around 5:30 p.m. arriving home around 7:30 p.m. The children were ready for bed early as they had a long day.

We had started out at 6 a.m. We stopped and ate breakfast on the way, which is always a treat for everyone. I think I enjoy it the most since I don't have to cook breakfast.

We arrived at Amos and Nancy's house around 9:15 a.m. Paul and Leah couldn't attend because they were in Wisconsin visiting their grown son Ben and family. Paul's son Levi stayed home from Wisconsin and is taking care of the chores for them so he was able to attend Amos' birthday party.

Brother Albert's family also didn't get to attend as it was their son's turn to hold church services.

Amos and Nancy had a nice harvest of endive this fall. I haven't had much luck in growing it, but Mother always had nice heads of endive. We would substitute it for lettuce in the fall.

Saturday we had a short visit from Uncle Joe and Betty and cousin Brian and his family. My husband Joe and the three boys were not home when they were here; they were over at Timothy's helping to build box stalls in his barn.

Just before Joe and Betty arrived we had some thunder and lightning and it even hailed for awhile. Later in the day, when Joe and the boys were coming home in the pony cart, they said it was sleeting. It had really cooled down by then. Our thermometer showed 28 degrees so it felt good to have heat in the house. Joe and Betty also stopped in at Amos' on Sunday afternoon to wish him a happy 50th.

I will share the recipe for homemade peanut butter dessert with your readers. The recipe consists of three parts.

Peanut Butter Dessert

Crust:

½ c. margarine

1 c. flour

1 c. chopped nuts, optional

In a bowl, mix together softened margarine and flour (and nuts) and press into a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until brown. Cool.

Filling:

8 ozs. cream cheese, softened

¼ c. milk

1¾ c. powdered sugar

1 c. peanut butter

8 ozs. whipped topping

In a bowl mix cream cheese, milk, powdered sugar and peanut butter well. Fold in whipped topping. Pour over cool crust.

Topping:

2¾ c. milk

2 (3-oz.) boxes instant chocolate pudding

Mix together and pour over filling and top with chocolate chips if desired. 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.

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