The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook (17 page)

½ cup vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a large nonmetallic bowl and soak overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, drain off the liquid and place in a serving dish.

Sour Cream Cucumber Slices

2 large cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced

1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings

½ cup sour cream

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Combine the cucumber and onion in a medium-sized bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss lightly to mix. Chill at least 2 hours before serving to blend the flavors.

Sour Cream Dressing

1 cup sour cream

2 T. vinegar

½ tsp. salt

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. green onion, finely minced

3 T. sugar

Combine the ingredients and shake in a jar until blended. Chill well before using.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

1 cup pretzels, coarsely crushed

½ cup sugar

¾ cup butter, softened

⅓ cup chopped nuts

1 8-oz. package cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 cup whipping cream, whipped

1 6-oz. box strawberry Jell-O

2 cups boiling water

2 10-oz. boxes frozen strawberries (approximately 2½-3 cups)

Mix together the crushed pretzels, ½ cup sugar, butter, and nuts. Press the mixture lightly into a greased rectangular glass baking dish. Bake 10 minutes in a 350° oven. Cool.

Combine the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and whipped cream. Spread on the cooled pretzel layer and refrigerate.

Dissolve the Jell-O in the boiling water. Add the frozen strawberries. When 75 percent set, put on top of the cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Summer Salad

2 cups fresh spinach, washed and dried

1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

4 green onions, chopped

½ cup radishes, thinly sliced

2 cups cottage cheese

paprika to taste

1 cup sour cream

2 tsp. lemon juice

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

½ cup fresh parsley, minced

Chop the spinach, add the cucumber, onions, and radishes, and toss lightly. Arrange in a large salad bowl and place the cottage cheese in a mound in the middle. Sprinkle the cottage cheese with paprika.

Blend the sour cream with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper and pour over the salad. Toss when ready to serve and sprinkle the parsley over the top.

Sweet Potato Salad

3 lb. sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cubed

½ cup onion, finely chopped

1 cup green pepper, chopped

1½ cups mayonnaise

salt to taste

¼ tsp. pepper

dash of hot pepper sauce

Combine all the ingredients except mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Add these ingredients together and mix well. Add to sweet potatoes, cover, and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Tangy Marinated Bean Salad

1 can (16 oz.) green beans, drained

1 can (15½ oz.) garbanzo beans, drained

1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, drained

½ onion, minced fine

1 cup celery, minced fine

1 tsp. salt

½ cup vinegar

¼ cup oil

Mix the beans together and then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Marinate this salad overnight before serving.

Thousand Island Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup sweet pickle relish, drained

¼ cup catsup

2 green onions, minced fine

salt and pepper to taste

Blend together all ingredients. Put in a container with a tight-fitting lid and store in refrigerator.

Triple-Layer Salad

First layer

1 package (3 oz.) strawberry Jell-O

2 bananas

Prepare the Jell-O according to the package direction, then pour into a 9 × 9-inch glass pan. Slice the bananas into the Jell-O and refrigerate until firm.

Second layer

1 package (3 oz.) lemon Jell-O

1 cup boiling water

4 oz. cream cheese

⅓ cup mayonnaise

Dissolve the Jell-O in the boiling water. Add the cream cheese and mayonnaise; beat mixture until well blended. Refrigerate until partially set; pour over the first layer. Refrigerate until firm.

Third layer

1 package (3 oz.) lime Jell-O

2 cups boiling water

½ cup crushed pineapple

Dissolve Jell-O in the boiling water. When it is cool, add the pineapple. Refrigerate until partially set, and then pour on top of other layers. Refrigerate until firm.

Wilted Dandelion Salad

4 cups dandelion greens, chopped

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

4 T. flour

1 tsp. salt

3 T. sugar

3 T. vinegar

1½ cups water or milk

Wash the dandelion greens carefully, then drain and chop them and place them in a bowl. Add the hard-boiled eggs.

Fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp. After it has been drained on a paper towel, crumble it and add to bowl of greens. Do not discard the bacon grease.

Combine the rest of the ingredients and add them to the grease in skillet (there should be 2 T. grease; if not, add a small amount of butter or oil). Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is smooth and thick. Pour over the dandelion greens and chopped eggs and serve immediately.

Very early in spring, before the flower buds develop, is the time to gather dandelion greens. With a sharp knife, gather the entire plant. Once you are back home, cut off and use only the leaves
.

Zesty Oil and Vinegar Dressing

¼ cup vinegar or lemon juice

¾ cup oil

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. paprika

½ tsp. sugar

¼ tsp. dry mustard

1 clove garlic, minced fine (optional)

Combine all ingredients and shake in a jar until well blended. Dressing will separate, but just shake it again when you use it.

Quilting bees are a common activity among Amish women, as quilts are used on all beds and given as wedding gifts or made to sell for charity. When the quilt is ready to be put in the frame and quilted, an Amish woman will invite her friends over for the day. She will provide the midday meal, which is often lighter fare than usual, with treats such as homemade grape juice, jam-jams (two sugar cookies stuck together with apple butter or raspberry jam), Tapioca Fluff, and sandwiches. The day will pass quickly as the women expertly stitch, all the while enjoying this special time of visiting and fellowship. They take to heart the saying that “many hands make light work.”

VEGETABLES AND SIDE DISHES

T
he Amish have a preference for farming, taking to heart the admonition found in Genesis 3:23, which states, “The L
ORD
God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.” The weekly farm and produce sales are an opportunity for Amish farmers to sell their products to outside markets, which provides needed cash.

Small farm stands are also commonplace on Amish homesteads—a small building or some tables set up at the end of the lane advertise seasonal produce as well as homemade quilts, jams and jellies, and other goods. Daughters may run these stands, answering questions and making sales. Sometimes, however, the family is busy elsewhere, so a customer might stop to buy garden-fresh produce and find no one in attendance. They pay on the honor system by placing the money owed in a box kept in plain sight for that purpose—even making their own change when necessary.

I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence
.

1 T
IMOTHY
2:2

Lord, I want to be known as a woman who follows You wholeheartedly. I desire Your name to be ever on my lips. And who better to tell Your glorious story to than my own family? May I always be ready to speak of Your saving grace so that their hearts will be ignited with Your holy fire to follow hard after You
.