07/16/2007

The Amish Cook

It's nice to live without a schedule

By Lovina Eicher
The Amish Cook
Read past Amish Cook columns here

We are enjoying my husband Joe's vacation week. We have no schedule to follow, no certain time to get up in the morning. It's really nice for a change.

On Saturday, we spent the day in Indiana attending the Coblentz reunion. It had been three years since we attended and a lot of changes can take place in a family in that time. Everyone was tired from the long day when we arrived back home around 11:30 p.m.

On Sunday we mostly rested and celebrated Loretta's birthday with a cake and candles. She and Benjamin will now both be 7 for two weeks until he turns 8. Benjamin is always glad to jump up to the next year so he feels older than Loretta again.

We went to Jacob and Emma's for a barbecued chicken supper last Monday. The chicken was from what they had raised and butchered themselves, so everything tasted so fresh.

On Tuesday evening, Jacob and Emma and family and sisters Verena and Susan came for a haystack supper. The nearby town was setting off fireworks for the 4th of July holiday, which we can see in the distance from our house. We enjoyed sitting on our front porch watching the fireworks. They seemed really close by so we had a nice view of them. Also on Tuesday, July 3, Joe and Jacob and some of the children took our boat out on the nearby lake for fishing. They caught some nice bluegills and cleaned them when they got back here.

Everyone stayed here for the holiday night and then Joe and Jacob went fishing again early the next morning. When the men got back from fishing, we all had a big brunch of eggs, potatoes, biscuits, sausage, gravy, cheese, hot peppers, cookies, applesauce, milk, tea and juice. In the afternoon, we played kickball with the children, which was enjoyable. Even 3-year-old Lovina liked to kick the ball and be included in the game. We didn't count her points but she loved running the bases.

We made an early supper with a lot of garden goodies. Fresh potatoes, green beans, cucumbers, onions, lettuce and hot peppers were on the menu. Joe also grilled pork steak and we had cake and strawberries. All in all it was a well-spent Fourth of July.

This morning we slept a little later than usual. Now we have the wash lines filled with laundry while Joe is working in the old house tearing out the cabinets. We'd like to set them up in our basement. We are gradually getting the old house emptied as we'd like to start tearing it down.

The finch's little birdies have now flown from the nest in my fuschia plant. It was interesting to see them hatch and grow.

I have another zucchini recipe to share this week. My zucchinis are really producing right now.

Zucchini Pineapple Bread

• 4 eggs
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 T. cinnamon
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 2 t. vanilla
• 1&1/4 c. oil
• 3 c. fresh grated zucchini (I peel mine first)
• 3 c. flour
• 1 c. chopped nuts (pecans)
• 1 small can crushed pineapple in its own juice

Mix dry ingredients except sugar together and set aside. Beat eggs until light, then gradually add sugar. Add oil, vanilla and pineapple, then dry ingredients. Fold in zucchini and nuts. Bake in loaf pans at 350° for one hour depending on loaf pan size.

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.