The Amish Life

I just reviewed a book called The Amish Cook's Anniversary Book by Lovina Eichel with Kevin Williams for Story Circle Network Book Reviews (http://www.storycirclebookreviews.org/reviews/amishcook.shtml). The book is a collection of newspaper columns first written by Elizabeth Coblentz in 1991 and taken over by her daughter, Lovina Eichel, after Elizabeth's sudden death in 2002. I found this oversize book with full color photographs not only beautiful but interesting far beyond the relatively few recipes scattered throughout. I think we're all curious about Amish life. This is what I found out: the Amish still ride in a horse-drawn buggy, but they can drive, particularly long distances, in a car driven by a non-Amish person, and they can stay in modern hotels that have all those conveniences they lack at home, like electricity. Some Amish farmers have bought mechanized tractors--the old ways may be fading a bit. Rules vary from region to region but in some places they may have small appliances--alarm clocks, radios, flashlights. And in Michigan they may have gasoline-powered freezers but not in Indiana. Since they butcher their own meat, freezers must be a huge help.
The Amish life is one of hard work, and women get together to feed several hundred people abundant meals at weddings and other celebrations. They generally rise at four or five in the morning and work until evening--sewing, canning, quilting, cleaning, washing, cooking. Their life is guided by their absolute belief in God's ways. At one point, Elizabeth writes, "God makes no mistakes." I am always envious of people with such absolute faith. My faith is strong but not quite that strong.
There are recipes scattered throughout the book, several that I think I'll try, but here's one that called out to me:
Amish Classic Ham Salad
3 c. diced ham                                                                  2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 c. sweet pickle relish                                                   1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. minced onions                                                         1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. prepared mustard                                                    1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. mayonnaise                                                             2 c. crushed potato chips
1 c. diced celery
Preheat oven to 425
Combine all ingredients except potato chips. Stir until well combined. Pour into 2-quart casserole and sprinkle with crushed potato chips. Cover and bake 20 minutes or until top is bubbling and golden.
I'm a big fan of ham salad, so I'm anxious to try a baked version. This serves eight.
Otherwise, a ho-hum day. I started by emptying the dishwasher only to realize I hadn't run it and the dishes were still dirty; this evening I did a rag and rug wash, belatedly realizing that the dishtowels I washed last night were still in the washer. So I had to fish out the rags and rugs, dry them, and wash the dishtowels again. Went to the audiologist at 9:30 this morning, thinking I'd be in plenty of time to volunteer at Bill White's campaign headquarters at ten. Wrong--the audiologist was overbooked for one thing, and for another he replaced the tubing on my hearing aids and adjusted the volume--it was, he said, too low for the amount of my hearing loss, something we did because I was so uncomfortable with the aids at first. I'm pretty used to them now. Then an hour at the campaign headquarters, most of which I spent calling people who weren't home. Frustrating. Proofreading this afternoon and doing a few odds and ends.Not an exciting day. Oh, and my agent forwarded, with regret, a rejection of my first mystery from a publisher--I think this is the fourth publisher that's turned him down. I try to be philosophical, but this criticism hit home--there wasn't a sense of urgency about the action. If there isn't in that novel, it's surely lacking in the next one and the one I supposedly have in progress. Well, I'll think abut that tomorrow. Meanwhile back to proofreading for a bit and then that mystery I'm reading that is really fun.

Campaign volunteering

I spent my usual Tuesday morning two hours at the local Bill White campaign this morning. Last week, I made a record number of phone calls because no one would talk to me. This week, I got all kinds of chatty people--much more fun. A number of them answered immediately they were voting for White, and one said, "Well, it won't be Rick Perry." I had one man say gruffly yes, he'd made up his mind, and he wouldn't vote for Bill White. So I assumed that meant Perry. But some women, after having declared for White, wanted to tell me all about how they couldn't volunteer because they babysat their grandchildren or some other reason. I'm about to ask the office personnnel if there's some significance to the fact that all the people I call range in age from late 60s to early 90s. When they respond affirmatively to my offer of a yard sign, I almost know better than to ask if they can pick it up--we're not supposed to offer to deliver unless necessary. But a lot of these folks are old enough that if they want a yard sign , they need it delivered. One woman vascillated and kept coming back to the topic of a yard sign--seems she's a Democrat and her husband, a Republican. She wasn't sure how much trouble it would cause but seemed interested in finding out. Finally she said she guessed not. It would save several people a lot of trouble.It's also interesting to read the household statistics of the people I'm calling. Maybe it's a sign of the times, but a lot of grown children--I'm talking 40s and 50s here--seem to be living with their parents.
My goof for the day: a lot of the time you have to leave a message. I try to vary my message so it doesn't sound canned, but sometimes I lose my way in the middle of it. I usually try to end with, "Thank you and have a good day." One notable call I said, "Thank you, and leave a message." I'm sure the woman thought White had an idiot working on his campaign--hope I didn't swing her vote the other way.
I know the odds are long, but from the responses I got today I can't see how Perry is seven points ahead in the polls. Several people said to me that he's been in office too long, though I read hints tonight on Facebook that he has his eye on a national election in 2012 and that's why this election is important to him. Heaven help us!
I had lunch with the assistant dean of our library today and, of course, her attention was much focused on the shooting at UT-Austin. Seems the dean of our library was on the Austin campus for a meeting but called quickly to say she was safe. The dean of the UT Austin Library System is a friend of mine, and his wife emailed early to say he and his staff were safe. I was grateful, though I kept thinking what an administrative nightmare this would be for him. I expect to have lunch with his wife Saturday, so I'll catch up.
Jacob was here tonight but spent the evening glued to the TV, which was fine--I read, and we had a pleasant evening.

Milestones

I hit two miletones yesterday--and one of them almost slipped by me. When I reached the mark of 19,000 hits on my blog, I thought I'd watch and have a blogobration (is that a blog celebration?) at 20,000. But I must have turned my head. Either that or more people read it than usual, because last night I looked and it was at 20,077. Now folks, this is not the Huffington Post--that probably gets over a thousand hits a day. I've been blogging four years, so that probably averages to 20 hits a day, though I think it's been growing lately. I guess the good news is that people don't read it once or twice and get bored but seem to come back. So I'm pleased. I enjoy blogging, and I'll keep doing it. I thank those of you who read it daily--Jeannie and Marcia and Elizabeth, among others--and those of you who check in when  you have time. Sometimes I think my blog is such a mish-mash that I'm not sure where it's going--but I try to keep it a mix of writing, cooking, and grandmothering--hats off to Melanie for coming up with that concept and title. And I try to avoid politics, though every once in a while I can't resist inserting a bit of my opinion on that subject. But thank you all for reading and caring. I'd like to hear more from you--what do you want me to talk about, what interests you, what bores you?
The second milestone was that I sent the rough draft of my Texas food book to the publisher who's expressed interest--I guess I blogged about that last night. But it was an accomplishment, because when I first looked at the list of foods that began in Texas, I thought writing about all of them was insurmountable. It wasn't. Instead it was fun.
Another phone bank day at the Bill White campaign office. I particularly liked the lady who said she didn't know anything about White, and we got to chatting. At one point she said to me, "I'm 70, but I'm not a dumb 70." I replied, "I got you beat. I'm 72." We laughed and continued to have a good conversation. It makes you feel good when you open someone's eyes to study the issues and the candidates, even if they don't immediately agree with you. Several people said to me, "I don't want to get involved." A campaign worker said, "You should ask them why they don't want to get involved. Don't they realize this is their state, and who is elected affects their daily lives?" I'll try it next week.
Jacob came for supper tonight. Supper consisted for him of seven chicken nuggets and one blackberry. I made myself another version of tuna salad--this with lemon, tomato, fresh tarragon from my porch, mayonnaise, red onion, and ate it along with hearts of palm and hummus. Good dinner, and not too fattening. Jacob's dad came and together they fnished the blackberries. But I turned a deaf ear to Jacob's pleas for ice cream. I think I've learned my lesson about sweets. He proudly pointed out to his dad where he hid under the dining room table the other night, and Christian, bless him, used the occasion to reinforce that Jacob was not ever going to hide from Juju again.
I'm usually a sound sleeper but last night I could not get to sleep. I would swear I didn't sleep all night, but my mom used to tell me I did and just didn't know it. But I do know I never got that deep REM sleep we need--and this morning at an 8:00 breakfast I felt like I was sleep-walking. Jacob's early arrival interrupted a good nap that Scooby and I were sharing, so I'm off to bed early. It seems a busy week looms, but when I think about it, I suspect its easily manageable.
Again, thanks for being interested in me and my doings, my writing, my cooking, my family.

Campaign Kickoff and Critters

This is the table for my Grassroots Campaign Kickoff party for gubernatorial candidate Bill White tonight. I was actually rather proud of the table arrangement, though it doesn't look as good in the picture as it did in reality. But I liked the idea of scattering bumper sticks as table decorations--Jordan arrived a bit late with a sign that said, "Please take the table decorations home," and people did. I gave out lots of stickers and bumper stickers, as well as yard signs, and I got a list of about twenty guests--of course one works for the White campaign and another, longtime friend Lon Burnam, is a Democratic state rep who told people he was here as a surrogate candidate. Nobody watched the video; nobody looked at the editorial from the Nacogdoches paper that I had up on my computer, in which the reporter, usually a conservative, declared that Bill White was the genuine article, not just a politician talking the talk. I've heard that a lot, and I'm impressed by the energy of the campaign. I keep telling people if they're on Facebook to friend Bill White--he posts daily, sometimes several times, and his local office tells me he writes the posts himself rather than letting a staff member do it. His main focus is on education, and I think he'd be a good governor. I hope he has the momentum to oust the current governor, and I'm willing to do what I can.

Of course I made too much food--chili/Velveeta queso, cheese queso (Jordan's recipe calls for Velveeta, cream cheese, and Rotel), a corn dip (more cream cheese--this was an artery-clogging menu), hummus and pita rounds, Megan's Texas caviar recipe (really good--I used Paul Newman's lime vinaigrette--very tasty), and the bourbon hot dogs which are almost a tradition at my parties. Now what to do with the leftovers? I think I can freeze the bourbon hot dogs, and I'll eat the hummus, but the dips---hmmmmm.

Jacob is spending the night again, full of good spirits after being a bit shy at the party. But for him, the highlight came when his mother was leaving to go to another party. She stepped out on the porch and screamed--a garter or garden snake was right there by the door. New neighbor Brian leapt to the rescue and threw the critter into the bushes, but then of course Jacob wanted to see it, so he and Brian spent long times leaning over the railing looking. Much later in the evening Jacob wanted to go back to see the snake, but it was gone.

Now I've had possums, raccoons, and a snake. I also have geckos all over the front porch and on the windows in the playroom in the back. When the outdoor light is on at night, their little bodies are almost translucent. Jordan just doesn't like creepy crawly things, and I remember once when she was living in this house years ago and found a gecko in the shower with her. She freaked, as she did tonight. Sometimes a gecko makes its way into the house, but the cat often goes after it with glee. Jacob and I had a long talk about some snakes, like this one, are our friends.

Most of my day was consumed with the party--and my evening was certainly consumed with cleaning up. But I did read a lot of Frank X Tolbert's 1953 book, A Bowl of Red, a history of chili, and found it most interesting. Chili really is a Texas dish--it did not, contrary to many beliefs, originate in Mexico. We can rightly claim it.

Now it's late, I'm tired, and I'm waiting for Jacob to go to sleep, so I too can sleep. Last night, he was asleep by 10:15, but that mean he was a cheerful earful by 7:15 this morning. I'm hoping he'll sleep later tomorrow.

Air conditioning

Most of us know, unfortunately, that blessed sense of relief that comes when your house is once again cool after being without a/c. Mine went out, as I've said, Sunday afternoon, and it was today, Tuesday, in the late afternoon before it was fixed. I am wrung out from being hot for almost three days and two nights. The technician's prognosis for how long the "fix" would last is not good, and I'm watching it like a hawk. He also put a bucket under a place where it might drip and told me to watch that carefully. I'm having a houseful for happy hour Saturday, so I'm apprehensive about all this.
I decided to put my money where my mouth is, so I'm having a kickoff party for Bill White grassroots campaign for governor. Maybe I'm like my dad who always said he voted for the best man, but, what he didn't admit aloud, was the best man was always a Democrat. I was raised in an FDR-Democratic home, with even praise for the first Mayor Daley of Chicago. But in this case I really do beileve Bill White is the best man for the job--he did a good job in Houston. Granted,  he's attacking Perry on a lot of fronts (and Perry is remaining almost frighteningly silent) but I believe Perry's departure from the governor's role is long overdue. I sense a lot of energy in the White campaign--especially because he's all over Facebook, which is how President Obama started. When one friend said to me, "It's good of you to give the party, but it's like tilting at windmills," I said I didn't think so. I think White really has a good chance.
So tonight, as is my uusal compulsive habit, the serving dishes are all laid out, with little notes in them indicating what goes in which one. Today is Tuesday--the party isn't until Saturday. I know, I know. Jordan does this too, and Christian once looked at her and said, "You and your mother have a screw loose." Hey, it works for us.
Tomorrow night I am fixing supper for Charles' daughter, Marsha, which means I must go get her and take her back to the friends she's staying with because she can't drive because of blindness, Thursday night I'll cook, and Friday I'll have Jacob. Tonight was definitely the night to set the table. Hmmmm--how to keep Jacob from fiddling with all the campaign material I've spread all over the table as decoration?
But right now, I'm glorying in my cool home. Being hot, for one thing, makes you feel like you want to wash your hands every ten minutes.