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Grandchildren share their thoughts

By
tammiehoeme
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0

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

 

Following are what the children told daughter Verena to write in the column last week. Space did not permit us to add this so we will put it in this week’s column. Daughter Verena stayed with daughter Susan and Ervin’s five children while they went to Florida to spend a week with his parents.

  Kaitlyn, 8,-  I do the chicken chores! I check if the water is frozen or not. My favorite chore is sweeping the floors. Abigail and Marianna are my friends at school. Dad and Mom went to Florida and I miss them. Verena is watching me and Anna is here too.

   Jennifer, 7,- I like washing dishes and I like when Verena is here. I like helping Kaitlyn with chicken chores. My favorite food is pizza and my favorite colors are pink and red. I went to Dustin and Loretta and saw their baby. Their baby Kylie smells good. I saw Denzel and Byron too. They gave me hugs and kisses. I was holding the tiny baby. Kaitlyn and I built a snowman and we named it ‘Unicorn’. My Mom and Dad went to Florida.  Anna is here and she gives us piggy back rides.

   Isaiah, 6, – I want to go to town to the pizza place. I like to lead our pony ‘Penny’. When I get bigger, I want to cut down trees. I want to clean out the barn and make a new barn. I miss my Mom and Dad and I want to see an alligator like they did. My favorite chore is giving my ponies ‘Penny’ and ‘Peanut’ hay. I like when my Dad takes us out on the pond when it is frozen.

   Ryan, 5,-  My favorite colors are blue and red. My mommy and daddy went to Florida and I miss them and my little baby Jr.  Verena is staying with us. I am missing my two front teeth.   I like all my friends. My favorite food is pizza and chicken. When I am big, I want to be a fisherman. 

   Curtis,5,- My favorite colors are green and red. I like Christmas colors. The horses are out in the field. Alligators are scary and they eat people. My Grandpa Joe is my favorite person. He goes to bed when it’s dark. A dog came here and bit our rooster and made it died. The Mom chickens were quacking because the rooster died.  My mom and dad are in Florida with alligators. My Mommy (Ervin’s Mom) is there too. (A lot of the Amish grandchildren call their grandma ‘Mommy’)

  On Thursday we had baby Kylie, Byron, 1, and Denzel, 2, here while Dustin went with Loretta to her appointment. Her leg had been bothering her and the doctor confirmed that she has a big blood clot that needs surgery. Her surgery is scheduled for Friday. Until then, Loretta needs to take it easy which is hard to do with three little ones. Dustin is great at getting meals and helping with the little ones. May God keep his protecting hands over Loretta.

  Baby Kylie is 4 weeks old and weighs 7 pounds. Daughter Verena gave her a bath while she was here and she was so relaxed.  Denzel is being potty trained and he does very well. He loved it when we cheered for him every time he “went potty”. His big grin is so sweet. Byron runs towards the potty every time after he already messed his diaper but he is getting the idea. Hopefully by this summer he will follow Denzel’s example and be easy to train. It was never one of my favorite parenting things when I potty trained my children. Some were so easy and others seemed to take forever. 

  Saturday we had daughter Susan and Ervin’s six children here. They brought them at 7:45 A.M. on their way to town. I made them all breakfast which was biscuits, sausage gravy, and scrambled eggs. I also made them each a cup of hot chocolate and the smiles appeared on their faces when they saw the dab of whipped cream in their cup. After driving in the buggy through the cold brisk morning it helped warm them up. Ervin Jr., 1, is so easy to care for. Joe rocked him to sleep for his nap. I think I might have broken a record and gave him his first taste of hot chocolate.  He emptied his cup in no time. His little grin is so precious and he has five older siblings that adore him. 

  May God always protect these sweet little angels as they travel into the unknown future. Our grandchildren have brought us much joy and happiness. God’s blessings to all!

 BUTTERMILK DRESSING

1 cup mayonnaise             

1 cup buttermilk 

¼ teaspoon onion powder 

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon parsley 

 

 In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate for 2 hours to blend flavors. If dressing is too thick, add more buttermilk.  

 

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her three cookbooks, The Cherished Table, 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 Questionsforlovina@gmail.com and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.

KC Chiefs: We are the villains, my friends

By
Guest Columnist
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0

Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, we and our team are the new villains in sports.

It is a good place to be. Somewhere between last years repeat Super Bowl win and this years opportunity to three-peat, we have stopped being Americas sweetheart, the plucky team with a history of heartbreak and disappointment.

Now, we’re the team that gets all the breaks. The NFL and the referees are being accused of rigging games in our favor. We are now what the New England Patriots were.

And it is wonderful. Sing along to the music of Queen, with altered lyrics:
“We are the villains, my friends.” This is where I could try to defend the Chiefs, especially against the ref accusations and Patriots comparisons. The idea that the officials as a group are trying to help the Chiefs win is ridiculous. Have some calls recently gone our way, especially in big moments? Of course. But if you’ve watched the Chiefs week in and week out, you know how many calls have gone against us or have not been made.

Mahomes has taken a number of hits that should have drawn flags and didn’t. The Chiefs were among the least penalized teams this season, but a year ago they were the fifth-most penalized team in terms of yards and 11th most in terms of number of penalties.

And unlike the early Patriots dynasty, we have not been illicitly taping our opponents practices, and our balls are not deflated. We don’t need to waste time defending our team against jealousy. Instead, let’s embrace our role as the NFL’s new villains. Our new motto: “Too bad.”

TV pundits are now debating how close Patrick Mahomes is to surpassing Tom Brady as the best quarterback ever. Mahomes is not even a Pro Bowl choice this season. He was pedestrian, at best, as the Chiefs won a record 11 games by one possession. The Chiefs have won 17 straight one-possession games.

Now that the playoffs have begun, Mahomes is back to looking like the best quarterback ever, Travis Kelce is revitalized, and the defense makes every play when it absolutely has to.

The Chiefs are no longer the circus act that can score 50 points in any game. Instead, they are the team that makes that one play to win a game, and avoids that one mistake that loses a game. They are business-like. They are a cat playing with its prey.
It may not be as exciting to watch for the casual fan, although the Chiefs are far more fun than the evil empire that was New England.

For K.C. fans of a certain age like me, every moment is appreciated. Many of these moments are also extremely stressful, because we are so traumatized by the team’s history. Between head coaches Hank Stram and Marty Schottenheimer, the Chiefs were irrelevant. The Chiefs had some great regular-season success under Marty and Dick Vermeil, but our playoffs were cursed after Joe Montana’s career ended with a concussion on the cold turf in Buffalo in the 1993 playoffs.

Then came a seven-year span where the Chiefs were a broken team, maybe the worst in the league. All of that made us very twitchy. This current run as the league’s best team was new territory for us as we still expected the worst to happen. But now, we are unequivocally the best team in the league. Can we be beat? Sure. But don’t bet on it.

It is time for us to be cocky. We should expect to win every game, and we should expect to get every call and every break. Bite my red-and-gold Andy Reid cookie. Let the hate flow through you. If you don’t like the Chiefs winning, tell your team to get better.
Until then, here is a bright yellow hankie to wipe away your tears. Go Chiefs!

Travis Mounts is managing editor of Times-Sentinel Newspapers in Cheney, a past president of the Kansas Press Association, and an ardent Kansas City Chiefs fan.

Daughter Verena Shares Her Adventures with the Grandchildren

By
Guest Columnist
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0

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

This is Lovina’s daughter Verena writing. I decided to write, as I have some free time. I am staying with my sister Susan’s five oldest children: Kaitlyn, 8, Jennifer, 7, Isaiah, 6, Ryan, 5, and Curtis, 5, for eight days, as Ervin’s parents took Susan and Ervin to Florida as a wedding gift. They took Ervin Jr., 1, with them. Ervin’s parents had been wanting to take them sooner, but something always came up.
My boyfriend’s sister Anna, 12, has been staying with me. She goes to the same school as the three oldest so she has been going on and off the bus with them. I have been getting the children up at 6:00 in the morning, and the bus gets here at 7:15.
On January 15, Jennifer turned 7 years old. She was excited when my sister Liz’s daughter Abigail, 8, and her son TJ, 6, came off the bus with the rest. They all had a snack and then went to the living room to play with the toys. My sister Liz’s husband Tim came to pick up TJ, and Isaiah went home with them to stay overnight.
Anna kept the girls entertained, and they had a real fun evening. Jennifer wanted potato soup for her birthday supper. I made cupcakes with that, and the girls frosted the cupcakes. It took me a while to get them settled down for bedtime. They were pretty tired the next morning, but I got them ready in time and on the bus.
Every night after supper, we have been keeping the toys picked up, floors swept, and dishes washed, wiped, and put away. I write each chore on a paper and fold it up, then I put it in a cup. I pick out a chore for each child, and that’s the one they do. This morning since they didn’t have school, they helped me clean up after breakfast. Anna swept the floors, Jennifer washed the dishes, Ryan rinsed the dishes, Isaiah wiped off, Kaitlyn and Curtis picked up toys. They all did a fantastic job! I zoomed around on my mobility scooter giving orders!
Kaitlyn and Anna have been doing the chicken chores every day and getting the mail in. Anna is very good with children and has been a huge help to me. I’m very thankful she has been staying with us. My boyfriend Daniel has been doing the chores for Ervin, but he will not be able to do them this weekend, as he had surgery yesterday to remove his wisdom teeth. He isn’t allowed to lift anything heavy for two days.
On Thursday, Daniel Ray came here to do the chores again, so I asked him if we could take all the laundry to my parents, as Mom had volunteered to wash it for me. Daniel Ray hitched his horse to Ervin and Susan’s two-seater buggy, and we gathered all the clothes. Once the children were home and had their snack, we drove the six and a half miles to my parents’ place.
Mom was making supper when we got there. I had wanted to go to Dustin and Loretta’s to see their children, as it felt so long since I had seen them. Mom told me I didn’t need to help with supper, so Daniel Ray, the children, and I walked over to Dustin and Loretta’s place. Well, I didn’t walk, as I can’t. I drove my scooter and got stuck in every snowdrift. Daniel Ray was always right there to the rescue.
Loretta’s boys were super excited to see us. Twelve-day-old Kylie fell asleep after her bath. Dustin was making supper when we got there. We didn’t stay too long, just long enough for me to get my cuddles from Denzel, Byron, and Kylie.
When we got back over to my parents, Mom had supper ready. She made mashed potatoes, noodles, and corn. We all ate very good. Mom’s cooking always tastes so much better than mine. Kaitlyn helped me wash the dishes before we left. We got home around 9:30 p.m. The children changed into their night clothes and they were sleeping as soon as they were in bed.
It is now Tuesday, January 21, just after noon. School was canceled for the day since it is too cold outside. Ervin and Susan will be home sometime this afternoon. All of the children are taking a nap, as they were pretty grumpy from staying up later last night. They are very excited since I told them Mom and Dad will be home today. They are also excited to see their baby brother Jr. He walks now and is at such a fun age, and he gets plenty of attention from his older siblings.
Well, I better sign off. You all take care, and God bless!
Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her three cookbooks, The Cherished Table, 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.

Digital Edition 02.05.25

By
tammiehoeme
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0
digital edition

Digital Edition 02.05.25

Lettuce Eat Local: From A to Za’atar

By
tammiehoeme
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0

Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local

“Big Z, little z, what begins with Z?” I knew Dr. Seuss and I would follow the same queries in our alphabet journey, although our answers would always be different. While my ABCs might not have been everyone’s piece of cake, at any rate mine didn’t result in things like Silly Sammy Slick sipping his six sodas and getting sick sick sick. (Well, at least I didn’t hear that any of you suffered illness after trying my recipes….) 

I could have borrowed a page from Jerry Jordan’s jelly jar and jam beginning with J, and Benson wouldn’t have minded if we followed David Donald Doo and dreamed up a dozen doughnuts, even if they came with a duck-dog too. I often feel like Young Yolanda Yorgenson, wondering if the chaos level would actually be less if I were merely yelling on the back of a yawning yellow yak. 

But I don’t need to make up characters like the Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz for my Z — although at first glance you might think I am. Zucchini would have been the obvious choice here, but you know me. We’re going with Za’atar instead! You can say it “zah-tar,” and a more authentic pronunciation would put the emphasis on the first syllable, and give that r a little roll. 

What is it, though? That’s a two-fold answer, as za’atar is both a Middle Eastern spice blend and an herb traditionally contained within that blend. The plant itself, also known as hyssop or Syrian oregano, has flavors similar to thyme and oregano, so in commercial blends on this side of the Atlantic they typically stand in its stead. 

Ironic, right; most za’atar does not contain za’atar. To be fair, I just wrote about wasabi that rarely ever has wasabi in it; and have you ever had popcorn shrimp with even a single piece of popcorn? Oh wait, that’s different.

Anyway, in addition to the dried herbs, za’atar also contains sesame seeds and sumac (a tart, lemony spice ground from dried red sumac berries). The ingredient list might stop there, or have a few more regional or personal additions, like marjoram, dill, or even orange zest. It’s often paired with meats, hummus, labneh, salads, and flatbreads.

While za’atar isn’t very common in these parts, it is possible to seek and find it even here in central Kansas; I have at least two different blends in my cupboard. That said, it’s likely easier to just make your own mix — which, incidentally, I’ll be sharing with you as this week’s recipe. 

But making za’atar does no good if you don’t know how to use it. Even though I have a couple jars of it and love the flavor, I have to admit that I rarely ever eat it. Zucchini is by far and away the more common Z in my cookbook indices. While I clearly don’t stick to following recipes, I ordinarily look at one/some and go from there; so if za’atar isn’t mentioned, I often forget it. If I’m just looking for “something something” as I spin my spice cabinet shelves, there are scores of other blends to catch my eye (baharat, tandoori, berbere…and so forth and so on). And I just realized my za’atar is on an inside row since it’s in a big jar, meaning I don’t see it as quickly. 

So I need to do some rearranging, because I do love za’atar and need to remember to use it. And it doesn’t even require a zizzer-zazzer-zuzz, so that should help. 

 

Homemade Za’atar

Za’atar is from the South West Asia and North Africa region, so it pairs well with flavors and dishes from those countries, but it could turn into your new favorite all-around seasoning. Herby, lemony, nutty…it’s got it all. There’s even an International Za’atar Day on September 23, so start practicing now incorporating it into your table. Adding it to a Super Bowl appetizer this weekend would be a perfect start. 

Prep tips: Remember this is a blend that you can personalize, so try this basic equal-parts ratio, but adjust to your preferences. If you can’t find sumac, try drying and crushing some lemon zest and using that instead.

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon sumac

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Mix all ingredients. Most blends don’t include salt, but to increase the ease of using as a sprinkle-on-anything seasoning, you can add a teaspoon of coarse salt. Use liberally. 

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