The Amish Cook: Gloria on the move

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Falling leaves are signaling the arrival of autumn and with it the slowing down of busy summer schedules. A major project has been crossed off our lists. We have just moved to our new home! In spite of the fact that we’ve only moved a mile down the road, this whole process has been quite involved.

My husband Daniel has faithfully labored on, moving dirt, cutting down trees at the building site, clearing brush, and everything else that is needed in establishing a new home. In the meanwhile, I was knee deep in packing and organizing our personal belongings. Those last days seemed to pass by in a whirl. There were countless decisions that needed to be made and worked on.

I’ll share several lines from my diary to give you a little glimpse of what our days were like.

Monday, Sept. 26: The race is on! Our modular home actually got delivered today. All went well with the delivery. The home has also been leveled, bolted, and anchored and is almost ready to accommodate its new occupants (us). Our friend Owen offered to bring supper to our new home where we were working. He roasted hot dogs for sandwiches, along with fruit rolls, smoothies, and chips that he brought for us. Be sure to keep an eye out for the fruit roll recipe in a future column.

Tuesday, Sept. 27: This forenoon we went to a work bee at my friend Leah’s house where us church ladies cleaned her house in preparation for them to host church services. In the afternoon I did more packing then joined Daniel at the new house where I helped him put in some flooring and did more odd jobs. Supper was eaten in on the run consisting of pepper bread with peanut butter and jelly, fresh apples, along with Jell-O and cake the neighbors had given.

Wednesday, Sept. 28: Last minute packing, cleaning, organizing, stack, pack, and racking your brain filled the day. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Should this be put in here or this box over there? Do we really need all of these dishes or should we pass some of them along to someone else? We will be relieved once all this sorting is done.

Just before leaving with our belongings we sent Julia and Austin across the yard to our little schoolhouse where my dad teaches to return a borrowed item. Austin wanted to take along daddy’s black Sunday hat which he found among the moving boxes. Soon he was off to the school with Daniel’s hat in one hand and holding Julia’s hand with the other. Later dad related how one of his students caught sight of the two little ones hand-in-hand with Austin wearing an oversized Sunday hat. The children gathered around the windows watching the mini couple. We laughed at his recollection of events. After the children returned we were ready to move to our new home. My parents and several neighbors helped us move our belongings into our house. Mom and my sister Keturah brought the pony cart to our new home and several neighbors chipped in to help us move.

By 8:30 p.m. everyone had left. We were alone in our new home. There were still a lot boxes to be emptied and things to be put away. Yet it seemed to good to be true. Sinking into bed knowing that we actually moved felt incredibly good.

We love our new setting. The 30 acres of wooded area and farmland contrasts to the three acres we had where we used to live. The long, winding driveway leads back to our house nestled into the edge of the woods. The ample amount of elbow room and privacy is a blessing we certainly won’t take for granted right away.

Thursday, Sept. 29: Can this be for real? I had a blast today cleaning up, finding new spots for items and hanging up mottoes, and you name it. Daniel came home from work at 3 p.m. We started a fire in the fireplace. (We have long dreamed of a living room fireplace.) It’s time to simply relax and leaving the remaining work for later, we decided. Candles flickered here and there while Daniel grilled deer/sausage burgers over the fire while I made pancakes and smoothies to go with it. Julia suggested that we sing and pray as we got dinner ready so that is what we did. It felt so good to relax after all this hard work.

Unfortunately as time goes by we can’t simply sit and relax like we did that first afternoon. There are still countless things that demand our attention. Take for instance: mud. What do you do when you don’t have a yard and it keeps raining? That means mud and puddles and lots of muddy little pants, boots, and dresses. Even if we wear boots, my kitchen floor keeps showing the effects of all the mud.

Laundry days are one of the biggest challenges. I don’t have a wash line yet. Grabbing a handful of hangers, shirts, and dresses I go from tree to tree looking for ideal spots to adopt as my washline for the time being. Daniel has done a wonderful job in doing these things for me around here. It’s just that he can’t do everything at once.

By the way, if you ever get the urge to visit us at our new home, please do so. We love having guests, especially with more room than we had in our mobile home. To us our new home is a gift from God. Our goal is to use it for His glory and the good of others.

Now how about trying out the pancake recipe I used our first evening in our new home?

The first time I made it we were all impressed with it. I make one batch for us and then fried the amount of batter we needed and saved the rest for the following day.

PRAIRIE GOLD PANCAKES

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup honey

3 cups Prairie Gold flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

Beat wet ingredients together in a bowl. Add dry ingredients. Mix until barely blended. Fry in a hot skillet.

Everything, right down to the ingredient canisters in the kitchen had to be packed up and ready to move.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2016/10/web1_Amishflatrockmovepiccol-1.jpgEverything, right down to the ingredient canisters in the kitchen had to be packed up and ready to move. Contributed photo | Kevin Williams

By Gloria Yoder

The Amish Cook

Readers with culinary or cultural questions or stories can write Gloria directly at Gloria Yoder, 10568 E. 350th Ave., Flat Rock, IL 62427-2019. To see more on the Amish go to www.amish365.com.

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