The Amish Cook By LOVINA EICHER Saturday was the funeral of 90-year-old Amos Schwartz. He was a member of our church. I will always remember him as a friendly man who always had a smile for everyone. He was a relative to both my grandmothers. It was a cold morning with the mercury dipping down to a little above zero the day of the funeral, which was held in the local Amish community center. Once again the community women did a wonderful job of preparing lots of food for the funeral meal. There was more than enough food. Quite a few of the women in our church district gathered at the building around 7 a.m. to prepare sandwiches. It is hard to guess how many to make or how much food is needed for a funeral. Along with the ham sandwiches, chicken noodle soup and casseroles were also served. Also potato salad, cheese, jello, fruit salad, cake, and coffee.

The six scholars have all left for school. Four-year-old Kevin is trying to entertain himself. He makes ups imaginary people and makes them talk to one another. It is cute to listen to him, at that age children have such imaginations! Kevin is already looking forward to noon when Lovina, 5, comes home from her half day of school. Last week one day Lovina’s class went on a field trip and they were gone all day. Kevin was disappointed when Lovina didn’t come home at noon.

These cold mornings make for a few extra outside chores for daughter Elizabeth, 16. The water is usually frozen in the water tanks or in the chicken coop, so she has to break through the top layer of ice with an axe.

I think we are all beginning to look forward to spring weather. We ordered our fourth ton of hard coal. We are hoping that the weather will stay mild and it will be our last one for the winter. This cold weather keeps the ice frozen for the ice fisherman. So far we haven’t had snow as we do other winters.

It would be nice if we could get our butchering done while Joe has a week off from work next week. The factory where Joe works is on reduced hours for a lot of the month. We pray for the continued improvement in the economy. We have been fortunate so far and we can’t thank God enough.

Kevin seems extra bored this morning and wants me to read him a book about a bear and a fish. He is eating one of the sugar cookies Elizabeth made last week. She baked several hundred cookies and the sugar cookies are going faster than the chocolate chip. I am hoping they won’t disappear too fast, but the children enjoy cookies and milk for an after-school snack. I need to get busy with household duties. Elizabeth and I hope to get some morning sewing done this week.

With all the deer meat we have from Joe’s hunting this fall, I thought I’d share a recipe with you readers for venison.

Venison Bake

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1/4 cup green pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons margarine

1 pound of ground venison

1 egg

15 saltine crackers, coarsely rolled

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup catsup

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

Sautee celery, green pepper, and onion in the margarine until tender, about 10 minutes. In large bowl, thoroughly mix rest of ingredients. Add in the sautéed vegetables. Form in a loaf and place into a baking dish. Bake covered at 350 for 1 hour.