The Amish Cook By LOVINA EICHER Seems there are a lot of birthdays around here right now. Today is Jacob and Emma's son Benjamin's sixth birthday, which he was really looking forward to. Also May 10 was sister Susan's birthday. We were there in honor of her birthday last night and enjoyed a delicious supper of pizza, lettuce salad, veggies and dip, ice cream cake, and homemade rhubarb juice. Sunday was a really rainy day but the children were excited to give me some Mother's Day gifts. Before we left for church the children surprised me with a nice Mother's Day present: a stainless steel insulated air pot. It will keep hot beverages hot for a long time and dispenses coffee by pushing a button on top. I have always wished for one of these for coffee or tea when company comes. The children had all made cards for me too. They made the cards whenever I was not around and I cannot believe that I never caught on. Even Joseph and Lovina kept their secrets! All the kind words they wrote on their cards makes me proud to be their mothers. My husband Joe was in on the deal helping the kids buy the air pot. Meanwhile, Jo seph, 5, lost his first tooth and was excited to show everyone. He was wiggling that tooth around for a few days before it finally came out.

We have three new babies in our church district. One was in church yesterday and the others are not old enough yet to come. It seems you forget how tiny the children were until you see another new baby. My niece Susan and her husband Joe had their first baby, Nancy, on April 26. Brother Amos and Nancy have two granddaughters now.

With all the rain we had yesterday we will finally plant our grass seed. We have someone coming tonight with a big heavy roller and it will push the grass seed down enough so it will not blow around. Our garden is looking good so far. We've been having temperatures in the 40s but once it warms up again I want to go to a local Amish greenhouse to get my plants such as tomatoes, green peppers, cabbage, and so forth. Until the rain clears away, though, I have been getting caught up on mending. I have material here which I hope to cut a dress out for me and a shirt for Joe. Hopefully I will get the material sewed up right away.

Benjamin came home from school with a sunflower plant now. He wants me to help him plant it after the garden dries up. Asparagus is on the menu now and rhubarbs are taking over. I canned some more rhubarb juice last week I made up my own rhubarb juice recipe which I will share with you readers. I made a few changes to it this year which I like even better than the one I had last year. This is a good tart, tangy juice, but delicious!

Rhubarb Juice

8 pounds rhubarb, diced

8 quarts water

2 ­12 ounce cans of frozen orange juice

2- 46 ounce cans of pineapple juice

4 cups sugar

2 ­ 3 ounce boxes of strawberry gelatin

Combine rhubarb and water and cook until rhubarbs are soft. Drain (discard rhubarb) and add rest of ingredients to the juice. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Put hot juice into jars, seal and cold pack for five minutes (editor's note: proper USDA canning procedures should be followed by doing any home-canning). Store jars in a cool, dark place. When opening the jars you can pour into a glass and drink or add a bit more of your favorite juices and soda. Sometimes I'll add more pineapple juice.

For information on how to support The Amish Cook column by enrolling in The Amish Cook Friend Club please call (877) 571-4112 or visit www.amishcookonline.com

The Amish Cook Friend Club

Thank you to all the readers who are supporting The Amish Cook by enrolling in the Friend Club. We could still use some new members over our final week of the "membership drive." For editor's essay about more indepth reasons for creating the club, go to amishcookonline.com

BASIC ONE-YEAR MEMBERSHIP $10; "Lovina Eicher name card". "Name cards" are small business-card type identifiers that the Amish often exchange at social events. ONE-YEAR SILVER $25; name card, signed 8 by 10 color photo of the Eicher's horse and buggy or meal-time scene. Free access to any premium content at amishcookonline.com ONE YEAR GOLD $50; all of above, plus quarterly newsletter, "The Amish Cook Extra," with recipes, color photos of Lovina's home, stories and Amish information EDITOR'S CIRCLE $75; All of the above, plus a happy birthday card from Lovina sent to the home of one loved one .Memberships can be sent to: Oasis Newsfeatures, P.O. Box 2144, Middletown, Ohio 45042. Allow two to four weeks for delivery of certificates or thank you cards. Readers can also join by calling 1-877-571-4112

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