4 a.m. My alarm rings… I get up to make breakfast for son Joseph, eighteen. He helps me fill his water cooler and pack his lunch. His work crew is leaving early because they are building a pole barn close to Lake Erie, which is a two-hour drive away. For breakfast I make scrambled eggs with bacon, green pepper, and onions.

4:30 a.m. Joseph leaves for work. I take a short rest in my recliner until son Benjamin, twenty-one, gets up to leave. He doesn’t want breakfast. The RV factory where he works is off this week because they were not able to order enough parts. It seems that building material is scarce everywhere. Benjamin is going to help Loretta’s special friend, Dustin, with some construction work that they are doing for our friends John and Barb. (Our sympathy goes to Barb and John as they mourn the passing of her father. May God be with them through this trial in life.)

5:30 a.m. Benjamin leaves and my husband Joe gets up to feed the horses and do the chores, which aren’t too many right now. I make him the same breakfast I did for Joseph, along with a pot of coffee.

6:45 a.m. Joe leaves with our horse Midnight and buggy to help at Mose and Susan’s. Mose’s dad will also be there. So far Joe hasn’t been able to find work again. That makes it hard to make ends meet, but the good Lord watches over us, and it means that Joe can help out at Mose and Susan’s house. Mose is still off work due to an accident with a saw at work. The doctor wants to make sure his cut heals well. The saw hit his bone, which makes it harder to heal.

8 a.m. Daughter Susan and children Jennifer and Ryan arrive. She brought her laundry since she doesn’t have her wash lines back up and has no hot water.

9 a.m. I make Egg Dutch—a simple easy breakfast—for the rest of us. I slice some tomatoes to go with it. Jennifer loves tomatoes.

10 a.m. Daughter Lovina, sixteen, leaves to help daughter Elizabeth for the day. Elizabeth also has plans to wash her laundry.

Noon. My clothes lines are all filled. We washed yesterday but I also washed the laundry we had this morning, and a day’s worth of clothes for eight people adds up. The sun is out but it’s chilly. The temperature is in the 50’s and was 41 degrees this morning.

1 p.m. We make an easy lunch of meat and cheese roll ups, using tortilla shells with ranch dressing, deli meat, cheese, and lettuce. Some of us like diced hot peppers with them.

4 p.m. Susan leaves for home. Her laundry is all dry and folded. Ours is folded as well. The temperature never got higher than 60 degrees all day, but the sun stayed out. Leaves are falling—autumn is here! I finish sewing a new white apron for Jennifer and sew Susan a new white cape.

4:30 p.m. Lovina comes home. Benjamin came home earlier, but is across the road helping Dustin with building his patio, which he is trying to get finished.

6:30 p.m. Joseph is finally home—his crew put in extra hours to finish the job.

7 p.m. Benjamin and Kevin finish evening chores. Joe still isn’t home. Susan left a voicemail on our phone to say that he went to pick potatoes in a field near their house. After the farmers pick potatoes from the field, many are left behind, and people ask permission from the farmers to pick them up. Otherwise, they just get tilled under.

Supper is ready, so we don’t wait on Joe. Dustin comes over for supper. We have cooked potatoes, beef chunks, cheese, leftover casserole from last night, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and sour cream.

8 p.m. Joe is home and eats his supper. It’s been a long day.

Last Saturday we helped Tim and Elizabeth with their work. Granddaughter Abigail, four, came home with us for the night. On Sunday we made sweet banana poppers—sweet banana peppers stuffed with cream cheese and shredded cheese, wrapped with bacon, and then grilled. Abigail wanted to help stuff the peppers. Her little fingers looked so cute stuffing them!

 

Egg Dutch

5 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
ground pepper, as desired
1 heaping tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cheese, shredded (any kind)
bacon bits, cooked (optional)

In a bowl, beat together eggs, salt, pepper, flour, and milk. Pour into a heated, greased skillet and cover with a tight lid. Place over medium-low heat.

When mixture begins to set and bubble, cut into four pie-shaped pieces and turn each piece over to finish cooking. Top with shredded cheese when almost cooked through. Add bacon bits, if desired.

 

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her newest cookbook, Amish Family Recipes, is available now from the publisher, Herald Press, 800-245-7894. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email  LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.