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.

Readers with culinary or cultural questions can write to Lovina at: Oasis Newsfeatures, PO BOX 2144, Middletown, Ohio or for more information go online at amishcookonline.com

world wide web prairie advocate