Joe and the three boys left to take two of our horses, Ginger and Diamond, to be reshod. He had one horse pulling the buggy and the other hitched behind. The ride was probably about 4 miles.

It seems pretty quiet around here now. I thought I’d take this time now to write the column while I try to decide what to fix for supper. We have sweet corn that is ready so I think that might be on the menu. We are having cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, and red potatoes as our garden goodies now. Also we are still having peas, onions, and lettuce. My green peppers and hot peppers are ready to use. Our tomatoes are coming along and are a little slow in getting ready. It seems that first tomato takes forever to get ripe enough to pick.

Yesterday was son Benjamin’s 12th birthday. We still need to celebrate his birtthday as I was gone from 6 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. Daughter Verena had several appointments at Mott’s Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. The doctors decided to do an MRI on her foot. In order to do this in the same day we just waited in between the appointments, it was a long day. We also took Verena to Ann Arbor on Tuesday where she saw the neurologist. Her effects from the brain concussion seems to have healed and the effects of her post-concussion have been gone for six weeks now. She did lose the past year of her memory, though. She has problems with her right foot now. She has no feeling from her knee on down in her foot and leg. The MRI results will let the doctors know what the next step to do is. She has been going to physical therapy twice a week for the last month.

Joe and the boys have been doing some fishing since Joe has not been working at the factory this week. Every time they come home with around 25- 30 bluegill. I fix them for supper. I’ve made a couple of meals for us.

We received the news of Aunt Catherine’s death, age 75. She was my Dad’s sister. There are now 3 of Dad’s 13 siblings that have passed away. God has a plan for each one of us. May we put our trust in him and accept the plan he has. Our sympathy goes to the family. We will attend the funeral tomorrow which is around 60 miles from here.

We are unpacked from our recent Florida trip but not caught up with the garden. The weeds have taken over and I need to can green beans next week. And right behind that pickles should be next on the list. The dill I planted is growing very well which will be nice for making the dill pickles. We still talk about the ocean and how we enjoyed it all. It was something we will remember all of our lives.

The girls just came home from detasseling so I should get supper started. Zucchinis are starting to become abundant in the garden, this is sort of my own made up recipe for zucchini casserole, but everyone seemed to like it. I hope you do too!

Zucchini Casserole

1 pound hamburger, browned

1 medium onion, diced (add to hamburger)

1 package of taco seasoning (add to hamburger)

1 green pepper, diced

6 cups shredded zucchini

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Shredded cheese of your choice (16 ounces)

Layer everything in a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Readers with culinary or cultural questions can write to Lovina at THE AMISH COOK, PO BOX 157, Middletown, Ohio 45042 or visit www.amishcookonline.com