June 22, 2009  THE AMISH COOK By  Lovina Eicher This is a daily diary of a recent Saturday here at the Eicher home: 7 a.m.  It is Saturday so we slept later this morning.  After getting up all week at 3 a.m.  my husband Joe is glad to get caught up on his sleep.  It is another cool morning. It sure makes for nice sleeping at night.  Our rain gauge shows we have received 3. 5 inches in the last few days. It sure has given everything in the garden a boost.  We have been enjoying fresh red potatoes and peas from the garden along with radishes, lettuce, green onions, and strawberries. 8:15 a.m. We eat breakfast which is eggs, fried potatoes (fresh from the garden), bacon, cheese, toast, rhubarb jam, milk, juice, and coffee.  9 a.m.  Joe and the boys are hauling manure.  The girls washed the dishes while I sort through some clothes that the two oldest have outgrown.  I will hand them over to sister Emma for her daughters. 9:45 a.m.  My oldest daughter, Elizabeth, 15, mows the grass while Susan, Verena, Loretta, and I wash off walls in the kitchen, dining room, and living room areas. It sure needed it after a long winter. 12:30 p.m. We all stop for a break to eat lunch which consists of vegetable soup and sandwiches. It is a very warm day which is different from the 60 degree weather we had a lot of the spring. 1:30 p.m.  Joe and the boys go back to hauling manure and Elizabeth goes back to mowing grass. The girls and I finish with the walls and then sweep and mop all the floors.  We also wash off the kitchen cabinets and dust the furniture.  Everything looks very refreshed.  Monday we will wash the windows and curtains if weather permits. 4:30 p.m. Joe and the boys quit hauling manure. With church being tomorrow Joe didn’t want to work too late.  Elizabeth keeps mowing and is nearly finished.  The girls start giving the younger children their baths.  I pop some popcorn for a neighbor lady to serve after services tomorrow.  The children take the popcorn over to the neighbor lady with our pony, Stormy, and buggy. 7:30 p.m. Everyone is cleaned up and Joe starts a fire in the fire pit so the children can roast marshmallows and hot dogs. We all enjoy sitting around the fire after a long days’ work. 9:15 p.m.  Bedtime. The children want to stay up later but morning will be here before we know it. We have plans to go to a neighboring church district tomorrow so we need to start out a little earlier in the buggy.  Tomorrow is Father’s Day so the children gave Joe a volleyball set which is something he has always wanted.  We will all enjoy it though.  COUNTRY POTATO SOUP 3 cups diced potatoes 1 /2 cup carrots or celery 1 /2 cup onions, diced 2 chicken bouillon cubes 1 teaspoon chopped chives 1 /2 teaspoon salt 1 cup sour  cream 2 1 /2 tablespoons flour 2 cups milk Combine potatoes, carrots, onions, and water (just enough to cover everything) bouillon cubes and salt in large saucepan.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes on medium heat or until potatoes are tender but not mushy.  Add 1 cup milk and continue to heat. In a separate, medium mixing bowl, combine sour cream, flour, chives and remaining milk.  Stir mixture gradually into the soup base.  Cook over low heat stirring constantly until thickened.  Serve immediately.

Blessings!.· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:-Miki
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

Dh has decided that he is going to go on my "Eat Half Diet" and wanted one more addiction fix before he went into rehab.  lol  He wanted to go out to eat is what I'm saying!

So we went out to eat at a local buffet restraurant last night.  The girls ordered a salad bar & DH & I ordered a meal.  My meal started off with a nice big salad w/ ranch dressing on the side & a roll w/ butter.  I start eating & about 12 bites into the salad I notice that there is a dead flying ant in my salad.  It must have been under the lettuce b/c it wasn't on top when I started to eat.  I guess I turned it over onto the top as I was picking at the salad.  Now her in northern Indiana the bugs haven't come out of their winter hiding spots quite yet so I'm not sure where this bug came from.  Dh said "Probably Mexico!"

GROSS!

DH motions for the little waitress girl to come over & I have to tell her that I have a "friend" for dinner.  I was so embarrassed for her.  She took the plate & said that she will tell her manager.  The manager comes out & apologizes profusely, then he gives us our money back for my meal.  He offers to get me another (NO THANKS!), another roll, or anything else that I wanted.  I declined & told him that I would wait for the rest of my dinner to be served.

I've never had a bug in my food before!  I wonder if I ate any larva?!?!?  Ewww!!! 

Think positive thoughts.

Think positive thoughts.

That poor waitress.  She was working on a tip & when someone finds a bug in their food that pretty much lowers the tip.  It wasn't her fault so we ended up tipping as much as usual.

I'll take my salad with no toppings please!

Blessings!.· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:-Miki
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

"March 18, 2009" THE AMISH COOK BY LOVINA EICHER We are done with the hog butchering around here for another  year, but I thought I’d talk about it one last time.  Some readers have written letters asking for a bit more detail.  So here is the step by step process for making homemade “pon hoss”, a fried dish we make using some of the leftover hog meat.  You start by cooking pork shanks until the meat it is tender enough  to fall off the bones.  We then strain everything to separate to the broth, bones, and meat.  The bones and meat are dumped onto a table so that we can separate the two. Then we bring the broth to a rolling boil and then add the meat and gradually add four cups of flour to every gallon of broth.  To every gallon we add two tablespoons of salt and one tablespoon of black pepper.  When everything is nice and thick and the mixture begins to come to a boil again then it is poured it into loaf pans until it sets and after it cools you can slice and fry it until  golden brown on both sides.  You don’t have to have to add any oil or butter, the pon hoss will make its own grease. When we do a whole kettle full at home we have too much meat to put in, so we’ll use a gallon of meat for pon hoss and the rest will be for our liver pudding. Mom would fix pon hoss every year that we butchered. It would be a winter dish after we butchered.    The pon hoss tastes like meat.  I like mine fried until it is crunchy, but some people will fry them just enough until golden brown on each side, but I like to fry mine hard.    Some of our children like it, others don’t.  For instance, Verena doesn’t care for it, but Benjamin loves pon hoss.  This week I will share two of our favorite fresh pork recipes. DELICIOUS HAM 1 cup of bread crumbs 1 cup of milk 1 diced onion 1 /2 teaspoon salt A large 2-inch thick raw ham steak Dash of pepper 3 whole cloves 1 /4 cup brown sugar 1 cup water Stir all of the ingredients except for the ham in a medium mixing bowl. Place the ham in a baking dish and pour the mixture over the ham. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour. PINEAPPLE HAM LOAF 2 eggs 1 /2 cup of milk 1 cup crackers, crushed 1 /4 teaspoon pepper 2 to 3 pounds of ground ham, fully cooked 1 pound of ground fresh pork 1 cup brown sugar 1 /3 cup vinegar 1 teaspoon mustard 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Then add milk , cracker crumbs, and pepper.  Add the ham and pork and mix well.  Shape into a loaf .  Bake uncovered 1 hour and 30 minutes at 350.  Then combine the remaining ingredients and pour some over the loaf.  Use the rest of the sauce of the sauce for basting frequently.

Blessings!.· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:-Miki
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven.
 
He is at the Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself.
 
However, the gates are closed , and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.
  
St. Peter said, 'Well, Forrest, it is certainly good to see you.
  
We have heard a lot about you . I must tell you, though, that the place
 is filling up fast, and we have been administering an entrance
 examination for everyone.
 
The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven..'
 
Forrest responds, 'It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir.
  
But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain't too hard.  
Life was a big enough test as it was..'
 
St. Peter continued, 'Yes, I know Forrest, but the test is only three
 questions.
 
First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?
 
Second: How many seconds are there in a year?
 
Third: What is God's first name?'
  
Forrest leaves to think the questions over.
 
He returns the next day and sees St. Peter, who waves him up, and says,
  
'Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, give me your answers'
 
Forrest replied, 'Well, the first one -- which two days in the week
 begins with the letter 'T'?
 
Shucks, that one is easy.
 
That would be Today and Tomorrow.'
  
The Saint's eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, 'Forrest, that is not
 what I was thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I did not
 specify, so I will give you credit for that answer.
 
How about the next one?' asked St. Peter....
  
'How many seconds in a year?
 
Now that one is harder,' replied Forrest, but I thunk and thunk about
that, and I guess the only answer can be twelve.'
 
Astounded, St. Peter said, 'Twelve Forrest, how in Heaven's name could
 you come up with twelve seconds in a year?'
  
Forrest replied, 'Shucks, there's got to be twelve:
  
January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd.. '
 
'Hold it,' interrupts St. Peter.
 
'I see where you are going with this, and I see your point, though that
 was not quite what I had in mind....but I will have to give you credit for that one, too.
 
Let us go on with the third and final question.
 
Can you tell me God's first name'?
 
'Sure,' Forrest replied,
  
'it's Andy.'
 
'Andy?' exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St Peter.
 
'Ok, I can understand how you came up with your answers to my first two
 questions, but just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy
 as the first name of God?'
  
'Shucks, that was the easiest one of all,' Forrest replied.
  
'I learnt it from the song,
 
'ANDY WALKS WITH ME,
 
ANDY TALKS WITH ME,
 
ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN.'
  
 
St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates, and said: 'Run Forrest, run.'
 
 
 
Give me a sense of humor, Lord.
  
Give me the ability to understand a clean joke,
  
To get some humor out of life,
  
And to pass it on to other folks.

Blessings!.· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:-Miki
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

Blessings!.· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:-Miki
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*