My heart was warmed. How special, a gift from my boyfriend. It was 14 years ago and I was spending time with Daniel and his family. The stone he had bought for me was a treasure; it bore the words, “After the storm comes the rainbow.” At that point in my life there were not many storms. Life was good, I was in love and waiting for the day I would be Mrs. Daniel Yoder.
I took the stone home and set it on my desk.
Years later, that stone could always be seen somewhere in our house as we cared for the family God had given us.
Twelve years down the road of time I was sitting in the kitchen recliner minus the one who had given that stone. Instead we were making funeral arrangements. It was true. There was no reversing it.
“Gloria, would you like a table with special items linked to Daniel and gifts that you or the children gave to him and he gave to you?” someone suggested.
It sounded painfully precious. “Yes, and get that stone.”
More items were added to the growing stash. I leafed through random notes we as a family had given to one another and came across one note that especially caught my attention. This is what it said: I can’t wait to see you all again. I love you all! W/ love, Daniel
The following morning was intense. We were getting six children dressed to Daddy’s visitation in the afternoon and evening.
It seemed that every way I turned, a pair of pants were missing or suspenders were misplaced. I was in the entrance grabbing another sweater when I glanced out the window. “Look! It’s a rainbow- a rainbow in the West!”
Only moments later, everyone was on the porch absorbing the reality of the wonder before us. A perfect rainbow was arched right over the track hoe where Daniel had been pinched between the tracks on the hoe and a tree. Both sides of the rainbow came down in front of the treeline. The scene was richer than I could absorb. And to think that it was in the West! Never before did we have a rainbow in the West. I pondered over it all as I helped the children finish getting ready for the day ahead.
Then my mind briefly flashed back to a paper my little sister Keturah had colored for me right over the time Daniel had given me that stone. She had the words, “Make it a rainbow day,” printed in large letters.
Today as I think back over the whole scene, it is so real- I feel as if it is happening today, my stomach even feels much like it did on that unforgettable day. You know, I’ll never forget… I will never forget the anguish in seeing my children minus the Daddy they adored, I will never forget the depth of the realization that I’m a widow at the age of 32, and never will I forget the presence of my Lord, even closer than the worst of the situation.
Now, dear friends, I must be moving on with getting breakfast for the children, but as you go about your day, make it a rainbow day. Yes, you won’t be able to do it on your own, but as you give those fragments of pieces that cut the depth of your being to our Great God, He will heal and mend in ways never thought possible.
📋 Editor's Notes On Apple Cider Bars
Wow, this is such a simple and delicious recipe. I had an evening with my 7-year-old where we didn't have anything to do while her sister was at a friend's house. So I asked Beatrice if she'd like to make apple bars and she gave an enthusiastic "yes." So we got to work.
It's so much fun baking with her now because at age 7 she can do so much more in the kitchen than those frazzling days of trying to bake with her five years ago. She can crack the eggs just fine, although I still have her do it into a separate bowl and then add (a good tip for people of any age) to the batter. I can read through the ingredient list and she'll fetch each one from the pantry.
📷 Editor's Apple Cider Bar Photos
Nothing fancy in the ingredient assembly. Just use a large bowl and stir. Simple enough for a seven-year-old to do!
We had bought some fresh apple cider at an orchard earlier in the day so it occurred to me that maybe this bar would taste even better if we added a splash of it to the batter mixture and the topping. Beatrice was excited by the thought when I suggested it, so we added it to the batter. We generally followed the recipe as given, but, as always, you can adjust to your taste. You could throw a little nutmeg in or add additional cinnamon to enhance flavor.
My seven-year-old did almost all of the recipe, the mixing, etc. As you can see I kind of lost patience with the chopping of apples after awhile so some of the chunks were kind of large, but that was fine. I think the bar tasted good with some apple chunks in it. But you can chop them down to whatever size suits.
We realized deep into the recipe that we didn't have brown sugar for the crumb topping part. But we did have molasses, so we just added molasses into white granulated sugar in a bowl and mixed. That is a perfectly legit substitute for brown sugar since that is really brown sugar is anyway. We may have overdone it on the molasses just a bit, but we were fine with that, the taste was very good. The recipe didn't specific light brown sugar or dark, with our excess molasses I think we did a dark. But oh well. Still turned out.
Beatrice dumping the apple filling batter into the prepared pan. I used oil to grease the pan, but if I had had parchment paper I would have just lined the baking pan with that. The great thing about having your kid make the recipe is you have someone else to blame if it doesn't turn out. (I'm just joking, it was a true team effort and I always tell my kids you learn just as much from your mistakes, if not more, than your successes).
This is what the bar batter looked like after it was in the pan and we sprinkled the crumble topping all over. So you pretty much have two layers, the filling and the toppjng. The topping sort of spreads out during baking. We didn't have butter also, so I used vegetable oil in its place and it seemed to turn out fine. But I'd use unsalted butter or lightly salted butter if I had it.
These golden brown apple cider bars were just amazing. So amazing that we started devouring them before I could get a photo of the full pan. I would recommend letting the bars cool, though, before cutting because they were really crumbly when we were eating them warm but they firmed up nicely after cooling.
These bars turned out amazing. The total time in the oven was about 45 min. Only about 20 minutes of prep time to get them into the oven. Check with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. You'll have a Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram-worthy dessert!
Use fresh apples. We used Honeycrisp and they worked very well in the bar. But gala, Jonathan, or even Granny Smith apples would perform well in this depending on what kind of apples you like. I think these bars would have been great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (don't worry about calorie count, just indulge!)
🍎 More Amish Apple Recipes
Gloria's Apple Goodie - So amazing!
Baked Apple Pudding - Delicious!
Apple Dumplings - A classic
Paperbag Apple Pie - Wow!
🖨️ Full Recipe
Apple Cider Crumble Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- ¾ cups oil
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup fresh, cold apple cider
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 cups apples, chopped
Topping
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 /2 cup apple cider
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup chopped nuts optional
Instructions
- Beat together first 5 ingredients.
- Add flour, salt, cinnamon. Fold in apples.
- Spread in a 11 by 15 inch greased pan.
- Mix together 2 T butter, ½ c brown sugar, 1 /2 cup apple cider,1 T cinnamon, ¼ c flour, and 1 c chopped nuts (I prefer pecans).
- Sprinkle on top of dough. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
D. Smith
Kevin, I'm also widowed and wondered if you could/would pass this article along to Gloria. I found much comfort in it. It is quite interesting reading. This is what I recently wrote to a cousin of mine who also lost her husband. My husband's name was also Dan, wasn't that Gloria's husband's name? I hope she can find some solice in the words I wrote.
I found this article to be rather comforting. I always feel Dan's presence, it seems. I wake up at night talking to him, I feel his presence in the basement more than anywhere because he spent a lot of time down there watching tv, & in the sauna, and in his jaccuzi tub. He and his friend RandDee put in that tub about 14 years ago and I'm pretty sure Dan used it every day. He showered in it every morning before he left for work but in the evening he would run it full of water and turn on the water jets. My connection to him is definitely in the basement, but really it's everywhere I go.
I meet with other ladies who are widows at least once per month at a local Culver's where we drink coffee or iced tea. Sometimes we meet at the local Senior Citizens Center (also where I vote now) but that can get really depressing because many of them are not able to feel like they "connect" with their lost ones. It also talks about having lost our animal friends, Since I also don't have Amos *our cocker spaniel anymore, I sometimes even feel he's around, especially if I'm sitting out on the back deck because Amos spent a lot of time out there chasing squirrels and laying in the sun. Only really furry dog I ever saw who adored the sun. So did Dan. Me, not so much because I burn so easily.
I don't have any evidence but I'm pretty sure this house is built in an area that used to be inhabited by American Indian tribes. This is the Black Hills, after all !! It may even have been some sort of burial ground since we have often found what we know are human bones laying around in the backyard after a heavy rain, and so have our neighbors. The kid who mows for us has often found bones, too. A couple of years ago my neighbors had a baby black bear in their back yard walking along an old telephone pole they have laying in their yard. Annie uses it to divide parts of her garden - the veggies separate from the flowers and roses because many veggies are quite invasive and will choke out the flowers. She grows beautiful roses of all colors my favorite of which are the yellow because they were my Dad's favorite flowers. Then I met Dan who also thought yellow roses were the greatest, and spent almost 35 happy years with him. We were 6 wks short of 35 years together. He was my buddy, my best friend. I also adored his parents and he adored mine. Always a good sign, right?
BTW, I have a whole JAR full of dimes. Every night when Dan came home from work he'd empty the change out of his pockets and I had separate jars for the quarters, dimes, nickles and pennies. The other day I put them all in bags and put them in my safe along with my accumulated gold, silver and copper acquisitions from Money Metals.com - - always a good thing to have to help hedge the upcoming unprecidented inflationary bust. biden keeps claiming it's not going to happen but he's doing everything he can to make sure it does. Just you wait and see - - copper is going to be worth A LOT OF MONEY one day soon. I recently purchased a whole bunch of copper coins with Trump's outline engraved into the coins. They're going to be valuable someday soon. I hope the electric company and the water company take coinage!!
This is great stuff: https://www.farmersalmanac.com/signs-from-deceased-115532?utm_source=jeeng&utm_medium=email&trigger=click
Finding Dimes? Could Be A Sign From A Loved One
When our loved ones pass, do they communicate that they are still with us? Here are the 6 most common signs that may hold the answer.
http://www.farmersalmanac.com
Kevin Williams
Thank you for that moving, poignant piece, I'll definitely pass it along to Gloria asap!
Sandy
Question - the instructions say to beat the first FIVE ingredients, but there are SIX ingredients listed before the flour, salt, cinnamon. Does the 1/2 cup apple cider belong in the batter??
Kevin Williams
Oops, sorry, yes, the cider goes in the batter.