Promise Lodge (32 page)

 

 

 

Who wouldn't love this tasty variation on a favorite comfort food: meat loaf with pizza seasoning and cheese!? It's become a favorite at our house.

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a loaf pan. Combine all ingredients except cheese, and press half the meat mixture into the pan. Sprinkle about
of the cheese on the meat and then cover with the remaining meat mixture. Bake uncovered for about an hour. Remove from oven and sprinkle with reserved cheese. Allow loaf to sit about 5 minutes before removing from pan to slice it.

 

 

I was intrigued by the loaf “format” of this potato recipe, and delighted by the results—and the fact that you make it ahead. This makes a yummy side dish for any meat!

In a large, deep skillet melt butter and gradually stir in flour until blended. Slowly add the half-and-half and simmer until thickened, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Gently add the potatoes, parsley, and green onions, stir to coat with the sauce, and simmer 2 minutes longer. Spoon this mixture into a well-sprayed bread pan and press down firmly. Chill for several hours or overnight.

 

About 45 minutes before serving time, preheat oven to 350°. Invert the potato loaf onto an ovenproof pan or serving platter. Bake for 30 minutes, sprinkle with the cheese, and bake for another 10–15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

 

 

Here's a way to make the equivalent of about three pies—in a convenient one-pan format! The tangy fruit filling and glaze make this a hit at potlucks, too.

 

To make the crust, combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender. Beat the egg and mix the vinegar into it, then sprinkle small amounts of the egg mixture over the flour mixture, tossing lightly until all the particles are moistened. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill. Return to room temperature. Roll slightly more than half the dough on a floured surface and fit it into a 10½” x 15½” jelly roll pan/cookie sheet (with sides) so the pastry hangs over all the edges.

 

To make the filling, combine the filling ingredients in a medium bowl. Spoon this fruit mixture over the prepared crust. Roll out the remaining pastry and place it over the filling, then fold the bottom pastry up and over the top crust. Seal edges. Prick the top crust with a fork. Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven. Stir the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the top.

 

Don't miss the first of
Charlotte Hubbard's Simple Gifts,

 

A SIMPLE VOW,

 

coming this June.

 

Read on for an introduction to this heartwarming series,
featuring three newcomers to the beloved
Amish community of Willow Ridge.

Edith Riehl stepped out onto the front porch of her new home, bubbling with anticipation. On this beautiful spring morning everyone in Willow Ridge would be attending the wedding of Ira Hooley and Millie Glick, over at the big house on the hill where Nora and Luke Hooley—mother of the bride and brother of the groom—lived. Horse-drawn buggies were already pulling up the driveway and behind the Hooleys' home as guests arrived, and Edith was excited that she and her two sisters would be among them. Loretta and Rosalyn agreed that helping serve the wedding dinner after the ceremony would be a wonderful way to meet their new neighbors on such a special occasion.

As Edith gazed out over the pasture where Bishop Tom Hostetler's dairy cows grazed, beyond the homes and small farms that formed the patchwork of Willow Ridge, her sisters' voices drifted through the upstairs windows. They were trying one last time to convince their father to come with them, but weddings weren't Dat's cup of tea now that Mamm had passed on.

When she heard loud crying, Edith walked to the other end of the porch, wondering where that baby was and why it was fussing. She spotted an enclosed buggy on the side of the road, and behind it two men in Plain clothing and black straw hats were having an agitated conversation.

Don't they realize how they're upsetting that poor wee one?
Edith wondered as she hurried down the porch steps.
And where's the mother?

As she approached the buggy, the men's raised voices became disturbingly clearer.

“What was I supposed to think when I got a phone message from a total stranger, accusing me of—of impregnating his wife?” the taller fellow demanded tersely. He was standing in front of a saddled horse, gripping its reins.

“And how do you think
I
felt when your name was the last thing she uttered before she died?” the other man shot back. “
Tell Asa I'll always love him.
Do you know how those words tore my world to shreds?”

Edith's eyes widened. Clearly, this conversation was none of her business, yet the crying baby compelled her to walk faster. Perhaps she could suggest that these two men speak with Bishop Tom about such a troubling situation—although he was probably already at the Hooley home, preparing for the service that would precede the wedding.

“I'm telling you that I've never so much as
met
your wife, let alone—”

“Shut up! This explains why Molly got so big so fast, and why the twins came two months early!” the man with his back to Edith lashed out. “Not only have I lost my wife, but I've learned that my marriage of seven months was a lie!”

Twins? And their mother's name was Molly—and she died?
Edith's thoughts whirled as she stepped up through the buggy's open door. Two tiny infants wiggled in carriers on the backseat as their wails filled the vehicle.

“Oh, look at you,” Edith murmured. “Shhh . . . it'll be all right now.” She gently scooped the nearest baby, which wore a crocheted yellow cap, into the crook of one arm before lifting its white-capped twin to her other shoulder. It seemed these newborns had no mother and a very distraught father, and they'd been born into a confusing, distressing situation.

As the men's discussion escalated, Edith frowned and stepped carefully down from the buggy. One fellow's voice sounded familiar. She didn't want to believe the scenario he'd been describing, but right now her main concern was for the babies.

“Would you please lower your voices?” she insisted as she came around the buggy. “You've upset these little angels so badly that—Will Gingerich? Are these
your
twins?”

“Edith! Thank God I've found you.” The handsome young man to whom her sister Loretta had once been engaged removed his hat to rake his brown hair with his fingers. “
Jah,
I believed they were mine until Molly named this—this
other
dog as their father—”

“I'm trying to get to the bottom of that story,” the taller man protested, “but—”

“Stop it, both of you!” Edith insisted in a low voice. “These babies are wet and hungry and upset. Your problems will have to wait until we've taken care of more important matters.”

Both men stared at Edith as though she was crazy, and maybe she was. What had possessed her to stick her nose into this business, which sounded more dubious by the moment? She had never seen the taller man with the black hair and riveting eyes, and the last she'd heard of Will Gingerich, he'd married another young woman rather quickly after Dat had called off the engagement between him and Loretta. Edith thought they'd left this heartache behind them when they'd moved away from Roseville to start fresh in Willow Ridge, but it seemed a fresh batch of problems had popped up like a crop of dandelions after they'd left.

“I came to ask you—your family—a huge favor,” Will implored her. His Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed, gazing at her with a desperate expression. “I—I have no idea how to care for these kids, what with Molly dying right after they were born. I was hoping you and your sisters would take them until I can get my life together and—”

Edith's eyes widened. “Is there no one in Molly's family, or—”

“That's just it,” Will continued in a desperate whisper. “Molly's
mamm
and grandmother were there at the birthing when she blurted out
this
guy's name—”

“She was no doubt delirious and unaware of what she was saying,” Edith suggested.

“—and then when Molly passed on not an hour later, her grandmother had some kind of attack and wound up in the hospital,” Will went on doggedly. “Molly's mother isn't speaking to me now. I've had a lot of
stuff
thrown at me these past few days. I trust you Riehl sisters to tend to the twins until I get through the funeral and then figure out, well—what to
do
with them.
Please,
Edith?”

It was indeed quite a favor Will was asking, but how could she refuse? The babies had almost stopped crying. Edith gazed at their red, puckered faces as she swayed from side to side, calming them. By the sound of Will's incredibly sad story, these helpless infants might not have anyone caring for them—for how long? “Of course we'll look after them,” she murmured, “but we don't have so much as a diaper or a baby bottle—”

“I brought all that stuff. I was looking for your house when
this
guy”—Will glowered, pointing at the other man—“caught up to me and claimed I'd accused him falsely.”

The stranger looked ready to protest again, but instead he crossed his arms, clenching his jaw. Behind him, his black horse nickered and shook its mane.

Edith gestured with her head. “We're in that two-story white house just down the road. The one with the lilac bushes on either side of the porch steps.”

“Hop in. I'll give you a ride.”

Before Edith could reply, Will jogged around the buggy and stepped up into the rig. As she followed him, she realized just how scattered his thoughts must be—and how inexperienced he was with babies—because there was no
hopping in
when she was holding an infant in each arm. Gazing into the backseat, Edith was about to ask for Will's help when a strong arm curled around hers.

“Let me hold them, and I'll hand them up after you get in.”

Edith blinked, gazing up into the stranger's face. She'd known Will Gingerich—and liked him—for most of her life, so she felt a bit traitorous appreciating help from the man who'd supposedly had
relations
with Molly before she'd married Will. He calmly took one baby and then the other, however, smiling at her as she situated each of them in a carrier.

The buggy lurched and Will drove them down the road without closing the door. “I'm sorry to spring this on you girls,” he said ruefully. “Sorry about—well, I just never saw any of this coming.”

“I can't imagine,” Edith murmured.

“I hope you'll understand if I'd rather not see Loretta—or your
dat,
” he added quickly.

Edith smiled sadly. Her sister and Will had been sweethearts all through school, and their broken engagement was still a sore subject. “It's probably best that way,
jah
.”

He halted the horse at the end of their lane. While Edith carried a baby basket in each hand, Will followed her to the porch with a large cardboard box. “You're a godsend, Edith—an angel—and I can't thank you enough,” he murmured. “I'll come back as soon as I can, after the funeral.”

She nodded mutely, wondering how on earth she would explain to her family about the monumental responsibility she'd just taken on. “So, what are the babies' names? Are they boys or girls or—”

“One of each. Leroy and Louisa.” Will kept his eyes on her, as though he couldn't bear to look at the children he apparently hadn't fathered. “They were born October tenth, so they'll be six months old tomorrow, and—well, you probably think I'm already a total failure as a father. Give Loretta my best.”

As Edith watched Will's rig roll down the road, her mouth fell open. She'd put on her best purple dress to attend the wedding, and now she stood on the porch with two babies and a box of whatever Will had tossed into it.
What were you thinking? What sort of mess have you gotten yourself into? How long will it be before Will comes back—and what if he doesn't?

Edith's whirling thoughts were interrupted by the tattoo of boots on the porch steps. She turned to find the raven-haired stranger studying her intently with eyes the color of rich, deep molasses. He removed his straw hat.

“My name's Asa Detweiler and I live in Clifford—south of Roseville about ten miles,” he said in a low voice. He ducked slightly so that his eyes were level with hers, mere inches away. “I swear to you that I've never met Will's wife—never saw
him
before today, when his phone message accused me of fathering these twins. Do you believe that, Edith?”

She blinked. Asa Detweiler told a compelling story and had the voice and eyes to back it up. But what did she know about any of the stories she'd heard this morning?

Asa smiled wryly. “I admire a woman who doesn't blurt out the first thing that comes to mind—and who has put the needs of these two babies first,” he added. “I promise you I'll get to the bottom of this situation, and I'll be back. Promise me that you'll mother these kids—and that you'll hear me out when I return, all right?”

Edith couldn't help staring into his midnight eyes. Even as she nodded, she sensed that Asa's request, and her unspoken affirmation—such a simple vow—would change her life in ways she couldn't possibly predict.