THE AMISH COOK
BY GLORIA YODER
The house is relatively quiet with several of the children taking naps and Elijah sleeping on my lap. Life certainly has been interesting these days. Elijah is slowly leaving his baby newborn stage, which almost makes me sad, yet it's such a blessing to see him healthy and growing! He certainly is a plump little one now and still has his mop of dark brown hair. We thoroughly enjoy his sweet smiles as well as the cooing he just started with.
Six-month-old Jesse definitely adds his own ray of sunshine in our lives. Most of the time he is just bursting with smiles and even giggles. A lot of his waking times are spent jumping in his jumper here in the living room. He really is a little pro at it by now. As he gets excited when we talk to him he jumps all the more. His hair is exactly opposite of Elijah's. He has a tiny sprinkle of blond hair complementing his big blue eyes. Isn't it amazing how each child is so perfectly designed in its own unique way? At any rate, we love them all, exactly how God created them!
Rayni (22 months) is really getting to be a chatterbox around here. We speak English to her, which is her mother tongue, but then Dutch the remainder of the time. Amazing how her sharp little brain is picking up both! Recently she voluntarily used a Dutch word for the first time as she called for Julia, saying, "Cumm (come) Julia!" She has a very sunny disposition (most of the time!). In our way of thinking her curly brown hair and biracial skin color just tops her off! She is a very dramatic person when it comes to telling stories, some of which we can understand and some we can't. She excitedly waves her arms, pointing here and there then just bursts out in peals of laughter at her own story!
Austin (3) is still all boy. While he loves playing with the babies he needs constant reminders of being "a little more careful". One of his favorite activities these days is playing "farm" with Dawdys' (Grandpas') brand new farm set, complete with a big barn, a selection of farm animals such as horses, cows, pigs, and sheep. He is also getting to be my helper when it comes to picking up toys, clearing the table, or helping me with cleaning, which is always a treat for him.
Julia is my little lady. At six years old, she loves helping me in the kitchen, helping me prepare food, or helping me decide what we want to make for lunch which she really enjoys. She is also good at setting the table, washing dishes, hanging up laundry, and folding it. Of course, she is still young so we try to ration the jobs accordingly. Last night after supper I told them that for a treat I'll do the dishes by myself if they'll help Daddy sing for me. They were all in. Before long their voices blended in song as they were singing, "Praise him for Mama dear..." Ah, bless their dear hearts. I just had to dry my hands and go give them each a hug!
As you can hear we enjoy our family a lot, but let me assure you, we also have what I call "mother moments". Such as those nights where we are awake every hour, or the times we have squabbles to settle, noses to wipe, or teething babies to care for.
This week I told Julia she can pick what recipe we want to put in the column. She chose the cookie recipe she helped her aunt Mary with when Mary was helping at our house right after Elijah's birth.
molasses sandwich cookies
Molasses Crinkle Cookies
3 /4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/ 4 cup sorghum or molasses
1 /2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1 /4 cup water
1 /2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 /2 teaspoon ginger (opt)
1 /2 teaspoon ground cloves (opt)
2 1 /4 cup flour
CARAMEL FROSTING
1 / 2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 /4 teaspoon salt
1 /4 cup milk
Powdered sugar
Melt butter, add brown sugar, bring to a boil and add milk and salt. Boil a few minutes then remove from heat, cool slightly then add powdered sugar till desired consistency is reached.>
*Instructions*
Cream together butter and sugar.
Add egg, sorghum, and soda mixture.
Blend together well.
Add dry ingredients.
Mix well. Chill a couple hours, then shape into balls.
Put a half cup white sugar in a bowl and roll cookies in sugar (rolling
in sugar is optional, I don’t just to cut down on sugar intake).
Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.
Don’t overbake.
After cooled, put together sandwich style with frosting in the middle..
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