06/11/2007

The Amish Cook

Amish feel pinch of high gas prices

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

Editor's note: Today's column was compiled by Kevin Williams of Oasis News Service. Lovina Eicher's column, which she sends via U.S. mail, didn't arrive on time for this week's deadline so he made this substitution.

With the price of gas pushing well over $3 a gallon in most places, even the Amish aren't immune from the impact.

While it is true that the Amish rely largely on horse-drawn buggies for local transportation, they take rides in automobiles owned by non-Amish. For faraway funerals, the Amish will travel by van.

Some Amish like to hire non-Amish drivers to take them into nearby towns for errands simply because the horse and buggy can be dangerous on car-clogged streets. Still, some Amish say that trips into town that once cost a few dollars are now routinely $30 or more.

Because of this, rural public transportation — buses — are seeing an increase in ridership in Amish communities in Pennsylvania. Lovina Eicher recently told me: "I'm going to start taking the horse and buggy more into town.”

So as the Amish do slowly modernize, high gas prices are having the paradoxical effect of pushing them back to reliance on horse and buggy.

Also, check out www.amishcookonline.com this week. I visited Lovina on June 4 and have posted a video tour of her garden.

The season for this tart plant is winding down, but readers still are asking for good, different rhubarb recipes.

Here are some of Lovina's favorites:

Springtime Salad

• 2&1/2 c. rhubarb (cut into 1-inch pieces)
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 6 oz. package raspberry flavored gelatin
• 1/2 c. boiling water
• 2 c. celery (chopped)
• 1 c. chopped walnuts

In a medium saucepan, boil rhubarb in a 1/2 c. water until tender. Add sugar to dissolve. Add lemon juice and chill. In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin with boiling water and cool. Blend all ingredients together and chill.

Homemade Rhubarb Cookies

• 1 c. shortening
• 1&1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1&1/2 c. diced fresh rhubarb

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar. Beat in eggs. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in rhubarb. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Frost with homemade cream cheese frosting.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch

• 2 c. sliced strawberries
• 3 c. chopped rhubarb
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/2 c. quick cooking oats

Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, combine strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and 1/4 c. flour; mix well. Pour into 9-by-9-inch baking pan. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar; cut in flour and oats. Sprinkle evenly over fruit. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly before cutting into serving squares. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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/columns/amish.