The Amish Cook By LOVINA EICHER There are only a few days in August left. The school doors open for another term next week. Where have these summer months gone to so fast? Son Kevin is down to counting “5 times to sleep” before his 6th birthday on September 2. Kevin is our youngest and he will be 6 and and starting kindergarten. The years go way too fast for me. Daughter Lovina, 7, will still let me hold her on my lap a lot more than Kevin does. He tells me “Mom I am not a baby anymore.” At the recent family gathering, Kevin told my husband Joe that he doesn’t need help carrying his plate anymore. He said “at school I carry my own plate.”

You can just really see them grow up. Kevin was helping Benjamin, 12, and Joseph, 9, clean out the chicken coop this week. He came walking in with farm boots 2 times too big for him and said “see, Mom, I am helping I have manure on my boots.” It just made me laugh to think that if he is dirty he thinks we will know he is helping.

Daughter Susan, 15, is training another pony for a family in our church. This one is named Minnie and is quite a bit calmer to handle. Lovina will lead it around a lot and crawl on its back. It is tinier than ours so it is easier for them to get on and off. Our border collie dog, Buddy, likes to take the pony’s rope and lead it around.

Friday evening we went to a local benefit auction and supper for an Amish man in the community. The proceeds went to help pay his medical expenses. And on Saturday we had an easy dinner as chicken was being delivered in our community to help an Amish man from a nearby community with his medical expenses. It is nice to be able to share one another’s burdens.

Verena has managed to start walking without crutches now. She has a walking sandal on her cast. She still has to put the brace on her leg at night. It is just nicer for her to not have to get around using crutches. She seems to be able to keep the pain under control most times.

Our third cutting hay is cut down and should be able to bale within a few days. We are hoping the rain holds off until the hay is inside.

I have more tomatoes to can that the boys picked for me. Our potatoes didn’t do so well so it looks like we will end up buying storage potatoes for the winter. Last week we also did several more batches of salsa and canned more green beans and hot peppers. If my cucumbers keep doing well I would like to can some more dill pickles. The children like these with sandwiches. When our horses accidentally got out while I was at the hospital with Verena a few weeks ago they trampled some of my cucumber plants. The horses killed a few of the plants, but others survived.

Elizabeth, 17, wants to cut the boys out some pants for school. We are hoping to get those sewed this week and also some new shirts for them. The girls seem to have enough dresses for now. I want to have Susan help her sew. Susan would much rather clean out the horse stalls than do any sewing. I think once she gets the hang of it she will enjoy it, though.

Try this sweet potato casserole.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon melted butter

Peel cook mash and whip sweet potatoes until smooth. You should have 3 cups of potatoes after mashing. After mashing the sweet potatoes and placing in a large mixing bowl, add beaten egg, heavy cream, sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Beat until light and fluffy. Put everything into a buttered 1 1 /2 quart casserole dish. Optional: sprinkle evenly with 2 teaspoons of finely grated orange rind. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until brown.

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