Lovina’s Amish Kitchen
Lovina Eitcher,
Old Order Amish
Cook, Wife &
Mother of Eight
We are in the middle of August already. Happy ninth anniversary (on August 14) to daughter Elizabeth and Tim. May they have many more happy, healthy years together. God has blessed them with four sweet children: Abigail, 7, Timothy (T.J.), 5, Allison, 4, and Andrea, 2.
Grandson Byron turned a year old on August 7. He is taking a few steps, so I’m sure it won’t be long until he is running around with his “big” brother Denzel.
Granddaughter Kaitlyn (Ervin and Susan) is excited about her upcoming birthday. She will be 8 on August 18. She and Abigail are three weeks apart in age with Abigail turning 8 on September 10. They have become the best of friends since becoming “cousins” several years ago. They are my two oldest grandchildren out of the 12.
On Saturday, our family all gathered at daughter Loretta and Dustin’s house to help with preparations for son Joseph and Graces’s wedding, which will be in a little over three weeks. It is coming up fast. Lots of jobs were accomplished Saturday. The roof on one side of the house was redone. This was a job Dustin needed to have done quite a while already. The manure was hauled out to the fields and lots of weed trimming done. Windows were cleaned, and her back porch was cleaned thoroughly. Lunch was brought in by all of us. We furnished the hot food, which was barbequed chicken and creamed potatoes. Also on the menu was ham and cheese sandwiches, cucumber salad, pudding, muskmelon, and ice cream.
On my to-do list this week is sewing for the wedding. I have my suit cut out but need to sew it. I will help daughter Lovina with hers and also daughter Verena. I really hope I can get all that done this week, but canning season is here, and I will need to put our tomatoes into juice one day. I also want to make another batch of salsa. I have my corn in the freezer and also green beans. We have lots of hot peppers, but I don’t need more in cans, so I’ll let one of the girls have them to can.
We have had lots of peppers on the grill already. We have sweet bananas and jalapeños. The sweet bananas are not hot for those that don’t care for the spice. We mix shredded Colby cheese and cream cheese. After taking out the seeds, we stuff the peppers with the cheese mixture, then wrap them with a slice of bacon. We use toothpicks to hold the bacon in place. We grill them on the charcoal grill.
On Sunday, I made broasted chicken for the first time. I usually fry or bake our chicken or Joe grills it, but I always wanted to try broasting it in the deep fryer. I made my own breading for the chicken and just guessed on what to put in it such as flour, corn meal, seasonings, etc. It was a success, and everyone loved it. Son Joseph wasn’t here Sunday evening, and I put a few leftover pieces in his lunch. When he came home from work, he asked who made that chicken. He said the flavor was so good, and he really liked it. Since he does construction work, he doesn’t have a way to heat food up, but he still likes cold chicken in his lunch.
I also made fries after I made the chicken on Sunday. Dustin and Loretta’s little boys love fries. It was nice to cook everything on the porch. Dustin had marinated a pork roast that he cooked on the grill to add to our menu.
Daughter Verena and Daniel Ray (her special friend) were here for supper as well. We played Phase 10 with Dustin, Loretta, and them.
Wishing everyone God’s many blessings!
Gingersnap Cookies
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup cinnamon sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt. Blend well. Beat oil, egg, brown sugar, and molasses. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture, blending as you add. Repeat until all the flour is added. Roll the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Roll in the cinnamon sugar and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes until the tops are rounded and slightly cracked.
Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her three cookbooks, The Cherished Table, The Essential Amish Cookbook, and Amish Family Recipes, are available wherever books are sold. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, PO Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email [email protected] and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.
