We had some nice warm days this last while. The weather made it nice for our recent camping trip. We had three enjoyable days and two nights at a nearby lake.
My sister Emma, husband Jacob, and family were also there and we stayed in cabins. The children spent a lot of time in the lake swimming. Even 4-year-old Kevin was getting really comfortable with the water.
We cooked most of our meals outside over the open fire and on the grill. For breakfast, we did fried eggs, scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage gravy and side pork on the grill. For one of the supper meals we did a campfire stew over the fire. One evening for a meal we made bacon-wrapped jalapeno peppers over the fire and grilled some meat.
For dessert, we brought homemade brownies and chocolate chip cookies.
The men and boys did a lot of fishing. The boys had fun fishing from the dock but went through a lot of bait. I think they enjoyed feeding the fish the bait more than catching them to keep.
It was so nice to get away from all the work at home, but when we came back home we had plenty of garden goodies to work up. We have been making more salsa and vegetable juice from the garden tomatoes.
When we walked into our house it seemed extra big after staying in tiny cabins a couple of nights.
Now I am very excited as the good news arrived in time to put in this column. Congratulations to sister Emma and Jacob as they were blessed with another addition to their family. Marilyn Jane was born by C-section this morning. She is a very tiny bundle weighing 4 pounds, 10 ounces and is 17 inches long. Jacob says she has black hair.
Emma is doing as well as can be expected. We have their son Steven, age 2, with us today. We told him about his new baby sister, but he acts like he is not interested at all. Kevin keeps him active and those two little boys can get into a lot of trouble.
Jacob and Emma's four other children will spend the next few days here until they arrive home from the hospital. With our six children and Jacob's four children we'll have 10 children at night. Jacob and Emma now have three girls and three boys.
My cabbage is really doing well. I fixed some homemade cole slaw for our camping trip. This is a good recipe to use up some of your cabbage from the garden.
Stay Crisp Cole Slaw
1 medium head of cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, shredded
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 c. onion, chopped
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 c. cold water
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. vinegar
1 t. celery seed
1&1/2 t. salt
Black pepper to taste
2/3 c. vegetable oil
Mix cabbage, carrots, pepper and onion. Sprinkle with a 1/2 c. cold water. Cover and refrigerate until crisp, about an hour.
Soften gelatin in a 1/4 c. cold water. In saucepan combine sugar, vinegar, celery seed, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in gelatin. Cool until dressing is slightly thickened. Beat well and gradually stir in vegetable oil. Drain vegetables. Pour dressing over top and toss until cabbage is well coated. Refrigerate until serving time. This cole slaw stays crisp for several days in refrigerator.
Lovina Eicher is Old Order Amish. She hand-writes this column from her home in southern Michigan. Anyone with cultural or cooking questions can send them to: Lovina Eicher, The Amish Cook, P.O. Box 2144, Middletown, OH 45042.
Read all of her columns online at www.record-eagle.com/amishcook.
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