By Lovina Eicher

Oasis Newsfeatures 

We had our first snow on Oct. 15, which was very early for around here. It didn't stay too long, but one of the girls said, "Oh good, now we don't have to rake leaves!"

Everything is in its autumn splendor. Our gardens are all tilled up and are history for 2009. I still do have my carrots in the ground, though. I will just cover them with a pile of leaves and dig them up as I use them. They seem to keep better that way. Meanwhile, I would like to help sister Emma can her red beets this week and make her cabbage into sauerkraut.

These weeks are flying by so fast and time is so limited. Emma and Jacob's baby Marilyn is already 5 weeks old. It is a pleasure to hold her when she sleeps and watch the expressions on her face. So far it looks as if her eyes will be blue.

It is hard to think of my youngest child, Kevin, being older than 4. Kevin makes sure we know he is not a baby anymore and he reminds us often that he is older than his cousins Steven and baby Marilyn.

Daughter Lovina, 5, left at 7 a.m. today with the other children. Her classes will now be in the morning instead of the afternoon. She comes home around noon. She is not a morning person but did very well to be ready this morning. I had to tell Benjamin, 10, to quit teasing her as he kept telling her how scary it was to walk to the bus in the dark. Benjamin always enjoys picking on his sisters.

Yesterday, we had brunch over at Emma and Jacob's house. Brother Albert's family, his daughter Elizabeth, her husband and two children, and Albert's three oldest sons and their special friends all came along. They were also joined by uncle Joe and aunt Betty and sisters Susan and Verena.

This gathering was held so Albert's family could come meet little Marilyn Jane. Altogether we were a total of 41 people, so needless to say Emma and Jacob had a full house. At least the weather did warm up and the children could enjoy playing outdoors.

On the menu were biscuits and sausage gravy, potatoes, eggs, cheese, hot peppers, cherry pudding, peaches and three pies: apple, pumpkin and blueberry. Beverages included coffee, vegetable juice and homemade rhubarb juice.

Brother Albert's wife Sarah Irene brought us radishes from her garden. They taste just as fresh and crisp as they do in the spring. Probably with all the cool weather we have this summer it made a good year for radishes all season.

On Friday, Joe and I took our horse and buggy to the children's school for "vehicle day." The school had asked if we could bring our buggy so children at the school could also see how the inside of a buggy looks. A lot of the children got inside the buggy to see what it was like to be inside of one. This was a good way to teach young people about safety around buggies since cars and buggies have to share the roads. The school had various other kinds of vehicles there also such police cars, firetrucks, dump trucks and bulldozers. It was an interesting hour for all the children.

Apples are still in season here, so here is the recipe for the apple pie I took to Emma's on Sunday.

Amish apple pie

1 9-inch pie crust

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 to 7 cups sliced McIntosh apples

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 425. Mix the sugar and cinnamon with the apples in a large bowl and put into the unbaked pie shell. Mix the butter, brown sugar and flour in a medium bowl for the topping. Sprinkle over the pie. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350 and bake for 30 more minutes.

The Amish Cook is a weekly column written by Lovina Eicher, an Old Order Amish woman who lives in Michigan. To comment, send mail to Eicher at P.O. Box 2144, Middletown, OH 45042.

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