The Amish Cook By LOVINA EICHER This is a diary of this past Saturday. 6:30 a.m. Time to get up. We are going to go help Jacob and Emma today. They will have church services at their house next weekend. 8 a.m. Our family begins the four mile ride to Jacob’s. Some of the children take Tiger, our miniature pony and the pony wagon. Some of the girls take the single buggy pulled by Diamond, our 17-year-old horse. Joe and I and a few of our children take the surrey which is our big two-seated buggy pulled by our 7-year-old horse, Ginger. The girls stay on the road behind the children with the pony wagon to make sure they don’t have any problems. It is a cool morning and the horses are eager to run.

9:30 a.m. Breakfast is ready at Emma‘s. On the menu is homemade biscuits, sausage gravy, fried eggs, fried potatoes, cheese, sliced tomatoes, hot peppers, V8 juice, orange juice, coffee and sugar cookies.

10:15 a.m. A few of the girls washed the dishes, the rest of us start cleaning windows, washing screens, etc.

The men and the boys haul manure. After the windows are clean we hang up all the curtains that Emma washed the day before.

1 p.m. The windows are done so we go outside to the building where they will have church services. The windows there get cleaned and the floors get swept and mopped. Also there is some organizing to do. The men and boys are still hauling manure. Jacob helps show us where to put his tools and so forth.

3 p.m. I help Emma get lunch prepared. It will actually be our lunch and supper together. We ate a late a breakfast so no one was hungry earlier. They still have sweet corn in their garden so we prepare that. We also make potato soup with potatoes and onions from their garden. Also on the menu is barbecued pork steak and ham, tomatoes, cheese, watermelon, Oreo cookie dessert and sugar cookies.

3:45 p.m. Ready to eat. Everyone comes in and cleans up.

4:30 p.m. The men and boys are back outside hauling manure while we wash the dishes.

5:15 p.m. The five girls leave for home with some taking the single buggy and others taking Tiger and the pony wagon.

6 p.m. Our neighbor comes over to Jacob’s to get Joe to take him back home to help the girls. They were taking Diamond off the single buggy and somehow his harness caught on the shaft. This was enough to get him all shook up and he started kicking. When 17-year-old Elizabeth tried to hold on to him he kicked at her and took off with the buggy which was only hooked by a strap on his harness. This spooked Diamond even more taking a circle through our yard, tipping the buggy on its side. He then tore his harness to get away from the buggy, took off down the drive and into our hay field. He was very skittish and wouldn’t let the girls get close to him. Our neighbor drove his truck with Joe in the passenger seat. They drove very close to him and after Joe did some coaxing and talking to Diamond, Diamond settled down. We are very thankful that all ended well and no one was hurt. Needless to say we had some very shook up girls. The buggy will need a lot of repair and so will Diamond’s harness. We are just glad it is all fixable. It is always surprising that your oldest, calmest horse can turn into a wild one if something unusual happens. Joe thinks when Diamond felt himself still caught to the buggy he must have panicked

7 p.m. Our neighbor brought Joe back to Jacob’s and we started for home with Ginger and the buggy. Everyone gets cleaned up and after the excitement we decide to call it a day. Our thoughts also go back to 9 years go today when we heard about Dear Mother’s passing.

This is recipe is a great way to use up end-of-the-garden green tomatoes before the first frost hits.

Green Tomato Jam

6 cups ground green tomatoes

4 cups sugar

6 ounces raspberry or strawberry gelatin

In a large mixing bowl, mix green tomatoes and sugar. Boil over medium heat for 20 minutes. Add gelatin. Remove from heat and stir well. Put into sterilized jars and seal. (Editor’s Note: proper canning procedures should be followed. Consult canning guidelines at USDA.gov or contact your local county extension agent)