It is the first day of autumn! Our gardens are cleared out, being tilled, and are history for 2020! We had a frost Saturday morning that put an end to them. We have lots of tomatoes and peppers that I want to use to make spicy vegetable juice. A lot of people covered their plants to avoid the frost, but we didn’t take the time to do that. We are thankful for the harvest we did get, though. Next week we will be going to the u-pick orchard to pick grapes for grape juice. We ran out of grape juice this year, so I want to can more this year than I did last year.
Saturday morning was chilly for the local consignment auction but ended up being pretty warm by the end of the day. I made pecan pies for the auction’s bake sale to help with hospital bills for a local family. Of course, I made a few extra to take to daughter Susan and Mose on Friday when we went to help them with last minute work. They hosted church services again on Sunday under a tent. Mose ran a propane heater in the tent to heat it up somewhat. It was a cold morning, with the temperature in the low 40’s, but it warmed up as the sun came out, and the heater soon had to be turned off. Susan and Mose were relieved to be done with their two turns to host church services and now be able to concentrate on remodeling their house. This week, Mose is trying to install the bathtub, toilet, and vanity, so at least the bathroom will be available. The living room and bedroom are ready to be painted.
My husband Joe doesn’t have any work, so he and Mose’s dad helped on the house for the last few weeks.
Tomorrow the girls and I plan to go help daughter Elizabeth clean her house. Church services will be at their house next time. It will be a longer service because we will have a council meeting in preparation for Communion two weeks later. (Editor’s note: Some Amish refer to this service as “rule church,” when, as the name implies, rules of the church are discussed. It is usually held the service before Communion.)
Saturday, our plans are for the whole family to help Tim and Elizabeth with preparing to host church services. They did a lot of remodeling and painting in their home and added a few closets. It is all looking nice. The renovations make so much more room for them.
The week after Tim and Elizabeth host church services, they will travel to Kentucky to attend the wedding of their niece. I will sew granddaughter Abigail’s dress, and Tim’s sister Martha sewed T.J.’s shirt. Such little deeds help a busy young mother.
I am starting to wonder why I thought we were busy before our daughters were married, when we had no grandchildren. I am so glad we can help and the joy the grandchildren bring is wonderful.
I made a breakfast casserole to take to Elizabeth’s tomorrow morning. Sister Emma, niece Elizabeth, and niece Emma and her two little ones also plan to help clean at Elizabeth’s.
Elizabeth told us all to come for breakfast, so I told her that I would bring breakfast. Daughter Susan made a casserole for lunch to take along. It helps so much when we don’t have to stop to prepare the meals and can keep on cleaning.
It is always enjoyable to get together with my daughters and with Emma and her daughters. There are seven little children between my five grandchildren and her two children, with the oldest being Abigail at four years old.
I am now writing the morning after I began this column. Son Benjamin, twenty-one, left for work at 4:30 a.m. and it’s time to get lunch packed and breakfast made for son Joseph, eighteen. He leaves a little before 6 a.m. today.
Daughter Verena is answering my reader mail since my time is so limited lately. I really appreciate it. She loves to write to readers. I’m sure that they get longer letters back than the ones they wrote (smile!).
I will share the recipe for pecan pie this week.
Wishing you all a safe and happy week and may God bless you!
Pecan Pie
6 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water
2 (9-inch) pie shells, unbaked
2 cups pecans (halves or pieces), divided
Mix together beaten eggs, sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and water. Divide mixture evenly between the two pie shells. Sprinkle 1 cup pecans on top of each pie.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce oven to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 40–50 minutes, or until middle of pie is set. Cool completely before serving. Makes two (9-inch) pies.
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 [email protected] and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.
I love pecan pie! I haven’t made any for years although I make pies frequently.
How ironic that this week’s recipe is for pecan pie! We are Catholic, and last night our older son had his Confirmation. Our parish and school typically prepare and confirm students in the 7th grade, but COVID-19 had other plans this past spring so the sacrament was postponed for 6 months. When I asked our son what type of dessert he would like for after the Confirmation Mass, I thought he would say a cake from a locally well-known high-end bakery. Instead, he asked me to make my homemade pecan pie. It gave me an excuse to brush up on my crust making and rolling out skills before the holidays.
Our garden too is finished for the year, thank goodness. I’m thankful for the bounty and also grateful that canning and freezing time is over. All blessings have their season, don’t they?