By Lovina Eicher
Oasis Newsfeatures
Spring break is over and the children are all back to school. It sure seems quiet this morning after a week of a lot of activity. There are only seven more weeks of school left, and the children are counting down the time until summer vacation. We had a mixture of weather on their spring break from 70 degrees to rain and then even snow flurries. We got a lot of raking done but we still have more yard left to do. The work went faster with the whole family out there pitching in.
One day over spring break, I took all eight children into town with the horse and buggy to get groceries, go to the dentist and get their eyeglasses adjusted. I took our horse Diamond. He is very safe around traffic and on busy roads, the big trucks don’t bother him at all. Six of our children have eyeglasses so it took quite awhile. As a treat for going on all these errands, I took them to McDonalds, and they were thrilled. They hardly ever get McDonalds, so this was a real treat.
As I write this, Kevin is slowly eating his breakfast and Lovina is still sleeping. They are tired from a long day yesterday. We had all-day church services in preparation for Communion in two weeks. The great news was to see Jacob and Emma’s eight-month-old Steven back in church. I think Emma and Steven have only attended church once this year. It was nice to see them there again. Steven doesn’t need his feeding tube anymore, which makes it so much nicer.
ADVERTISEMENT
My daughter, Elizabeth, had lunch with a friend she used to go to school with on Friday. They spent the afternoon visiting and they both enjoyed it.
My husband, Joe, is working only four days a week at the factory, and they will be off the last week in April. On Joe’s day off, the boys were helping him haul manure out from the barn. Now when it dries off a little more, Joe wants to spread it out in the fields.
Spring brings a lot of work but I enjoy the outdoor activity after a long winter spent inside. We are hoping the garden will be dried off enough the week Joe is home so we can get the early seeds planted. Early garden goodies includes potatoes, peas, lettuce, radishes and onions. If it stays warm enough I’ll do the green beans and red beets right away too, and probably some corn. I usually wait to do the plants — tomatoes, hot peppers, green peppers, cabbage and others — until the second week in May. All danger of frost should be gone by then. For instance, this morning it is sunny outside but we had a chilly 30 degrees.
I have been getting a lot of sewing done before it gets too busy outside. Meanwhile, I am keeping an eye open for the dandelion greens. I have seen quite a few but they are very small yet. Hopefully by the end of the week, I can find enough to make dandelion salad along with cooked potatoes and bacon. Yum!
My sister Susan fixed these bars for us this week. They were very tasty. Here is the recipe.
Cherry bars
1 cup margarine
1 1 /2 cups sugar
ADVERTISEMENT
3 eggs
2 3 /4 cup flour
1 1/ 2 teaspoon baking powder
1 /2 teaspoon salt
21-ounce can of cherry pie filling or equivalent homemade amount
Preheat oven to 350. Mix margarine, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix until well-blended. Spread two-thirds of batter into a 10 X 15-inch pan. Pour pie filling over. Drop rest of batter on top and spread. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool and then cut into 1-inch-square bars.
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.
