12/25/2006

The Amish Cook

Family gathers to celebrate

BY LOVINA EICHER

Special to the Record-Eagle

We are almost all done with painting our new house. Jacob, Emma, Verena and Susan assisted us in getting it all painted. I still need to give one bathroom and the staircase walls another coat today. We gave the walls and ceilings a total of four coats of white paint. It takes a lot of time when you do a 32-by-56-foot house. I won't do the upstairs bedrooms until next spring, though. Painting is not my favorite thing to do but it has to be done. Next week the floors will be completed downstairs.

We had some bad news when we had someone come dig up our old well. They found everything all rusted out , so we will have to get a new well dug after all. Now we are waiting for the well to be dug. It will be a relief to know that we have our water taken care of for the new house.

My husband Joe is home sick today from work. He is very congested and has a very bad cough. He was running a fever through the night. Hopefully he'll get better soon.

On Saturday, my sister Leah, Paul and family came out to Michigan to bring sister Susan's horse, which she is buying off their son Ben. Paul's family, sisters Susan and Verena, and Jacob and Emma and family were all here for lunch and supper. I did laundry in the forenoon before they came. That wind was so cold that I didn't hang everything outside. I hung some in the basement in the new house, that way I could just let it hang until Monday.

On Saturday night while everyone was here, Jacob and Emma's 10-year-old daughter Elizabeth fell. She hit her head on the edge of a door, hitting the jamb part. She ended up having five stitches put in right by her eyebrow. Luckily it missed her eye.

On Tuesday night, we attended the Christmas program at school for our children, Verena, Benjamin and Loretta. It was so cute to see them sing Christmas songs.

Last Saturday, Dec. 16, we had the Christmas gathering for my family. We all gathered at Albert and Sarah Irene's house by 10 a.m. We ate around 12:30 p.m. Everyone brought a dish, it was a big feast of barbecued chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, corn, puddings and other foods. Dessert consisted of three kinds of pies, cakes and cookies.

In the afternoon, we sat around tables and sang songs and had snacks (deer sausage, cheese, vegetables, etc). Every year we sing the New Year's Song in German. The song is not sung in Michigan; it is something that has been passed down as far as I can remember through the family. Not sure how far back it goes. Everyone was at Albert's except for Leah's son Ben, who traveled with a vanload to Wisconsin to visit his girlfriend's family. Everyone left for home by 4 p.m.

The year after Mom died, we did not have a Christmas gathering. But the next year, 2004, Leah had it. Then in 2005, it was Amos' turn, and this year it was Albert's. Next year it will be at Liz's, and then Joe and I will take our turn in 2008. In 2009, it will be at Emma and Jacob's. Susan and Verena will take their turn together in 2010.

Some have requested a recipe for Christmas cookies. Here's one to try next year.

Christmas Cookies

• ½ c. butter
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. light molasses
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 c. all-purpose flour
• ¼ t. salt
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1 t. ground cloves
• ½ t. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease cookie sheets. Cream butter and sugar. Blend in molasses and egg. Sift dry ingredients together and stir into molasses-egg mixture. Roll out dough on lightly floured board and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 10 to 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. Go to amishcookonline.com to obtain additional information about the Amish, read an editor's blog, see a question and answer section, find out more information about cookbooks, and view videos.