The Amish Cook, Week of Oct 28, 2013: Homemade Meatballs

THE AMISH COOK

BY LOVINA EICHER

We awoke to a world full of snow flurries.  The flakes were big and flaky but none of it stuck to the ground.  It was enough to get the children excited about winter weather, especially sledding.  My husband Joe started our coal stove which helps keep the house cozy on these cold mornings.  A few mornings we’ve had temperatures in the upper 20’s.  Leaves are emptying off the trees fast.  What colorful scenes painted by our Master Artist! The sun hasn’t been out too much this week.  It seems the solar freezer is still keeping charged enough though. 

This colder weather has made the deer move around more.  Timothy and Mose (the girls’ special friends) have both been lucky and each has shot a deer with their compound bows this month.  Benjamin-14 and Joseph-11 take turns going with Joe when he goes crossbow hunting for deer.

Next week will already be the first nine weeks of school over.  Teacher conferences are already being scheduled.  Where has the time gone so fast?

Last week one day sister Emma and her two daughters, my daughters Susan-17 and Verena-15 and I cleaned an Amish lady’s house.  It was a pretty big house.  It had four rooms and a bathroom upstairs and three bedrooms downstairs.  The six of us washed all the walls, ceilings, windows and some furniture in the whole house.  We were tired when we finished but was glad to help her out.  Her health hasn’t been the best and she recently had a hospital stay.  She fixed lunch for us which was delicious!  We had packed our lunch but her hot meal tasted a lot better than our cold sandwiches.  My neck was sore the next day from all the overhead washing.  The wall mops are so much easier than when we would have to use a stepladder and wash the walls and ceiling with rags.

We are still having tomatoes but they are the green ones that we picked and are letting them ripen.  The taste isn’t as good as when they are picked red from the garden.  Applesauce is being canned by a lot of women in the community.  I still have plenty so I didn’t need to can any.  Although we are enjoying apples for fresh eating.  Such a healthy snack.

With the colder weather winter coats are being pulled out of the closets.  Before long also snowpants, mittens and scarves.  It gets darker earlier at night so our evenings seem to come earlier.

I tried this meatball recipe this week.  Everyone seemed to like it.  I thought it was easy to make.   I made spaghetti to along with them.  A blessed autumn to all!

BARBECUED MEATBALLS

3 lbs. hamburger

1 3 /4 cup milk

2 cups oatmeal

2 eggs

1 cup chopped onion

1 /2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 /2 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons chili powder

Shape intro balls and brown in a 9 X 13” baking pan in moderate oven, approximately 30 minutes.  Pour the following sauce over all:

2 cups ketchup

1 1 /2 cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

1 /2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 /2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon mustard

Return to oven and bake another 45 minutes to an hour.