The Amish Cook By LOVINA EICHER It is early Monday morning and another week is before us. August seems to be disappearing as fast as the rest of these summer months have. We are also having cooler weather again. I decided to let the children sleep a little later this morning which will also give me some peace and quiet to get this column done. Their school term begins after Labor Day, so it will be here very soon for them. Daughters, Elizabeth, 15, and Susan, 13, are done with detasseling corn for the summer. They attended the detasseling picnic on Friday evening around 8 miles from here. They took the horse and buggy.I still have to get used to the idea of seeing them drive that far alone. They had to cross a busy highway but they are both careful drivers and have a safe horse.

I think it is just the mother in me that makes me always feel better when they are back home safe and sound. They arrived home safely shortly after dark.

Having church services here a week ago got a lot of our household cleaning completed. We are now trying to get caught up in the garden with weeding and canning. Last week we canned 45 quarts of sweet corn and froze 5 quarts. This week we will do peaches and hopefully tomatoes and green beans. I also need to make salsa, V8 juice, and tomato juice so I am hoping my supply of tomatoes will hold out. I would also like to make pickle relish which I mix with salad dressing to make tartar sauce when we have fish.

Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty spent the weekend out here in Michigan. They slept over at sister Emma and Jacob's house and were here Saturday for lunch. We appreciated Uncle Joe fixing our mower which had been giving us some problems. They brought a new tent for the younger children and set it up for them. We had some excited little children as we don't have a tent for them.

Tomorrow the children will have more swimming lessons given by a friend of ours. We will have a picnic by the lake while they have their lesson. We sure do appreciate her time in giving them swimming lessons. It looks like it takes a lot of patience. Daughter Lovina, 5, seems to be comfortable in the water but doesn't like to get her head wet. We have been letting her take showers in the bathtub to let her get used to having water in her face. Hopefully this will help her. Kevin, 3, is still scared of going in the water too far.

My husband Joe is at work at the factory. They are working 5 days these last months which we are thankful for.

AMISHCOOKTV is a new internet TV channel which expands on the topics and recipes founds in Lovina's column. Programming will include visit inside an Amish school, tour of a buggy shop, cooking demonstrations of Lovina's recipes, a look at Lovina's quilts, canning room, tours of Lovina's home, and a weekly "Amish in the News" anchored by the column's editor. All the videos arel available to subscribers of AmishCookTV or can be obtained on DVD for those with slow connections or no internet. For more information, visit amishcookonline.com

Try this recipe for a good way to use homegrown vegetables from the garden!

Garden Supper Casserole

2 cups cubed soft bread

1 /2 cup cubed cheese

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup peas

1 1 /2 cups cream sauce

2 tablespoons chopped onion

3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

1 large tomato, sliced

Cream sauce:

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 /4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

Mix bread cubes, cheese, and butter. Spread 1 /2 the mixture in greased 1 quart baking dish. Add peas and half of the cream sauce. Brown the onions in butter and add eggs, and pour over peas. Arrange tomatoes over top and cover with remaining cream sauce. Add remaining bread mixture. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

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