Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local

One of Benson’s current favorite phrases is, “When I get bigger bigger bigger, I will….” It’s adorable, especially when said with his typical high level of enthusiasm, but it’s also a bit heart-squeezing for this sentimental mama. He doesn’t just talk about getting bigger bigger bigger, he actually does it, and some days I’m not sure I can handle it. Where on earth has my baby gone?! 

To be fair, Benson’s not exactly an adult yet. And technically I would not like to dwell in this emotionally volatile developmental stage forever, so there may be some benefits to growing. But he turned three last week, so it’s hard not to think about how fast he’s growing. 

He had been looking forward to his birthday for quite a while, reminding me all the time that he was about to be three. “After I get three, then I will get five, and then six!” I know, child, I know. 

Brian and I are pretty lackadaisical when it comes to holidays and special occasions, and while neither of us want anything lavish or to have our kids feel entitled to extravaganzas, we know we need to be intentional about making our children feel special on their birthdays. Clearly, we adore our children; we’re just not party animals. 

Because I know we could slide into not making a big enough deal about the momentous day, letting it pass too closely to any other, I asked for my Christmas present to be a cake pan set. I already have cake pans, of course, but this single pan came with inserts and instructions on how to make all the letters and numbers shapes! I knew it would be a great way to ensure that I do actually make a special cake for my kids’ birthdays, and one birthday in, it’s been very successful. 

Well okay, it wasn’t as successful in the actual cake part as I was hoping, but that’s life — and Benson did get a tractor and combine on his cake like he wanted. The boy asks for oatmeal at least once a day, so I decided on a simple oatmeal cake as the base. It came out tasting amazing, and was deliciously moist, but due to its density didn’t exactly come out of the pan as well as I had hoped. 

That was the first in a series of not-how-I-anticipated situations. Since the top of the cake was structurally unsound, I had to change my icing plans to be softer so as not to be just spreading crumbles around. (Literally right now I realized I could have just flipped the cake over. Great timing on that epiphany.) A marshmallow/meringue buttercream is lovely and soft, and perfect since Benson gets ecstatic over even the idea of marshmallows…but somewhere between the fussy baby and the ticking clock, I didn’t let the sugar heat long enough to fully dissolve. Mm, crunchy frosting, everyone’s favorite. 

By the time I got my colors made (using cocoa powder, turmeric, and spinach for the brown, yellow, and green, because I’m weird like that), spent forever looking for the icing spatula I never found, appeased Kiah, and took for-ev-er to frost and decorate the cake, Benson was on his way home from playing with cousins. But I got it done just in time to surprise him — and the way he had to pull up a chair so he could just stand and gaze at it made it all worth it. 

Even though when it actually came time to eat it, all he wanted was the ice cream.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Cake

We’ve had oatmeal at all of Benson’s birthdays so far; the funny little guy loves it, which is great since his parents do too. He always wants copious amounts of cinnamon (like to the extent that it burns his lips sometimes), so I amped up the cinnamon extensively in a traditional oatmeal cake recipe I found. The tan brown color of the batter worked well looking like the soil under the frosting fields with their crops of sprinkles, coconut, and marshmallow, and was a nice diversion from the false dichotomy of chocolate versus vanilla. I’m not a cake person, but I keep coming back to the leftovers, which is saying a lot.

Prep tips: you can frost this essentially any way you like instead of with a marshmallow meringue; even a simple powdered sugar glaze would go well. 

1 ½ cups quick oats

1 ½ teaspoon salt

2 cups boiling water

¾ cup [6 oz] lard or butter, room temp

1 cup white sugar

1 ¼ cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon

Put oats in a heat-proof bowl; pour boiling water over and let set until cool. Meanwhile, in a stand mixer, cream lard, sugars, and remaining salt. Beat in eggs one by one. Add cooled oats to creamed mixture; and then add the flour, baking soda and powder, and cinnamon. Mix well so everything is combined. Transfer to a greased 9×13” pan, smoothing out the top with a spatula. Bake at 365° for 30-40 minutes, until sides are just beginning to pull away from the pan and no crumbs come up on a toothpick.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen
Lovina Eitcher,
Old Order Amish
Cook, Wife &
Mother of Eight

The ground is covered with snow again, which will probably be gone by tomorrow. On Sunday morning the ground was also covered, but it was gone by afternoon. Other than the cold spell the other week, we have had a pretty mild winter so far. 

Daughter Loretta doesn’t mind if there isn’t any snow on the ground when she drives her mobility scooter over every weekday morning a little before 4 a.m. Dustin started working back in the RV factory since being low in work for several months. He walks over every morning with Loretta and Denzel, 18 months, and Byron, 5 1/2 months. He carries Byron and Denzel sits on Loretta. Some mornings Denzel will go “brrr brrr” when he sees me when it’s cold outside. Loretta sleeps in the recliner with Byron and Denzel sleeps in the crib. They usually sleep until 7:30 to 8 a.m. Denzel is getting old enough that sometimes he doesn’t want to go back to sleep when he sees Grandpa in the kitchen eating breakfast. He’ll sometimes sit on Joe and eat a little something, too, then he’ll let me put him back to bed after Joe leaves. Last week Joe was yodeling, and little Denzel sat beside him trying to yodel too. We had a good laugh about that. 

On Saturday evening, daughter Lovina’s special friend Daniel had our whole family for supper at his house where he rents. I hadn’t seen the house since daughter Verena’s belongings were moved out and Daniel’s moved in. That house holds many memories for our family, with it being daughter Susan and Mose’s first home. 

On the menu at Daniel’s house was grilled chicken, vegetable soup, potato salad, chips, Swiss roll bars, Jell-o, and homemade chocolate ice cream. Of course, we all took a dish of something to help out. After supper we played games. 

Sunday was a quiet day, with just Joe and I home and daughter Verena and her special friend Daniel Ray. I made a brunch consisting of fried eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, cheese, hot peppers, toast, butter, and strawberry jam. It was nice and relaxing to just have a quiet day at home. 

Plans are for my daughters and I to go help daughter Susan clean tomorrow in preparation for their upcoming church services they will host in March. Ervin’s mother plans to go help too. 

January 31 will be three years since sister Susan passed away. Sister Verena has been staying with sister Emma and sons this past month. They both have lost a close loved one, and that makes lonely days. It is nice that they can comfort each other. 

Also on January 31 six years ago, brother Amos passed away. They are both still missed so much. 

Last night daughters Verena and Lovina stayed with daughter Elizabeth and Tim’s four children while they went to town. So getting supper was left to me for Joe and the three boys. I made grilled cheese, eggs, and ham, which was an easy but good supper. 

On Thursday, I am planning to go to the metal/truss shop where Joe works. They are having a Customer Appreciation Day and will serve a meal to everyone that comes. I am going along to help serve if they need my help. God’s blessings!

Potato Salad

4 cups cooked peeled potatoes (diced or sliced), chilled

1 cup chopped celery

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup salad dressing

1/3 cup mustard (yellow prepared)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup sugar or to taste

1 to 2 teaspoons salt (to taste)

2 tablespoons milk

4 hard-boiled eggs, cooked, peeled, and chopped

Combine potatoes, celery, and onions in a large bowl. In another bowl mix salad dressing, mustard, vinegar, sugar, salt, and milk. Mix into potato mixture. Add eggs and stir in. 

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her two cookbooks, The Essential Amish Cookbook and Amish Family Recipes, are available wherever books are sold. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, PO Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (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.