The Amish Cook: Horseshoe Special

THE AMISH COOK

BY GLORIA YODER

It was Saturday morning, the children and I were all eager to have Daddy home for the day. After breakfast and family devotions Daniel headed out to do the chores. I was surprised a few minutes later to see him coming back to the house already. We were all thrilled when he informed us of the latest news in the barnyard. "Our pony, Sassy Sundae, had a colt!" Excitement reigned. "Is he (or she) okay? Is it a boy or girl?" we wanted to know.

 "Yes, it's fine as far as I know, and I don't even know if it's a boy or girl, I just discovered it and wanted to come to tell you right away. It is still very tiny," he informed us.

 Of course, the children thought they had to see it right away. Daniel assured them that that won't be a problem.

Going over to the pasture he scooped up the little colt and carried it just outside the dining room window where we could all get a good look at it. "It’s a girl Daniel informed us. We oohed and ahhed over it, exclaiming at how tiny and cute it is. "Why her colors  remind me of a Holstein calf!" I exclaimed. Little Rayni was absolutely in awe of the "baby horse" as she crooned affectionately over it. Sassy wasn't too sure about all the ado about her brand new baby as she nervously pranced around it.

Julia and Austin quickly helped me with some of our morning work such as helping clear the table and picking up toys, before going outside and petting the new baby.

After a bit Julia came in the house and excitedly informed me that she and Daddy were discussing various options of what we could name the brand new filly. "How about something with Saturday?" she wanted to know.

"That would be a neat idea," I told her. The colt's mother was born on a Sunday morning and named Sassy Sundae since she was born on a Sunday morning and its owners' love for sundaes! The name Sassy just fit her," they told us.

With our other horses' names also starting with the letter "S", it only seemed practical to have another one. The horse we use in the buggy is named Sapphire and its colt bears the name, Sasha.

"So what would go well with the name, Saturday?" I asked Julia. We tossed around various options until Daddy came in, then got his input on it. "How about Silver Saturday?"

"That's it!" we agreed.

That first day we were constantly checking on Silver Saturday.

Julia and Austin weren't too impressed when we told them that we might not be able to keep this little pony. "We simply can't keep all of our colts," we tried to explain, "It would be too expensive to feed too many horses that we really don't need, especially over the winter months when they can't eat green grass from the pastures."  In the meanwhile, we will enjoy watching her grow until we find another good owner for it, perhaps this fall.

 Sassy is the pony we use to hitch to our new pony cart. No doubt Silver will also be perfect to be hitched in the cart and used for riding, in a few years from now once she has matured and been trained.

Well, obviously the horses and people don't share the same diet, so I can't really give you the horses' favorite recipe and expect you to like it! That is unless you eat apples! So perhaps we can try Horse Shoe Special.

HORSESHOE SPECIAL

½ loaf bread, cubed and toasted

1 pound hamburger, fried with salt and pepper to taste

1 ½ pound french fries, baked

1 quart cheese sauce

Layer onto your plate in the order given. You can use your imagination and add all kinds of things such as peppers, onions, salsa sauce, and the likes.  This amount serves 6 people ready for a unique dish!