It's that time of year when rhubarb is beginning to appear on the Amish dessert menus. Rhubarb pie, rhubarb pudding, rhubarb cookies, rhubarb cobbler, and oh horrors! even a rhubarb drink they will serve cheerfully with Sunday afternoon popcorn.
I never liked rhubarb, and LV absolutely loathes it. While we were Amish we made a point of politely declining dinner invitations during rhubarb season to make sure we wouldn't be stuck trying to choke down the one food we disliked the most.
Personally I don't think rhubarb was ever meant to be eaten. Since we have left the Amish we have happily been rhubarb free, and are no longer bombarded with rhubarb "treats" made by hopeful cooks sure if we would try their rhubarb creation we would learn to like it. It's nice not having it shoved at us every where we turn. Makes springtime a little more enjoyable.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Quotes
The Amish enjoy quotes and will often jot any down that they like.
I don't remember many of them, but a few that I heard often while growing up have stuck with me.
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or do without.
I don't remember many of them, but a few that I heard often while growing up have stuck with me.
~~~~
Use it up,Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or do without.
~~~~
It is not happy people who are thankful. ...... It is thankful people who are happy.
~~~~
Habits are first cobwebs, then cables.
~~~~
It is better to give others a piece of your heart than a piece of your mind.
~~~~
He who is not content with little, will never be content with much.
~~~~
Speak kind words and you will hear kind echoes
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Wednesday Hodgepodge
Yesterday people were out searching for a small airplane that had crashed. Someone had seen it go down and called 911. The weather was terrible with torrential downpours, but that didn't keep the community from coming out and helping with the search.
They found what the person had seen, simply a bunch of birthday balloons that had been swept away in the wind.
I'm glad it wasn't a plane crash, I'm also glad I wasn't the person that called 911 to report it.
2. What's the last thing you wanted but didn't get?
A rack of ribs. I find most grocery runs I have to leave things there that I want, but don't really need.
3. May 28th is National Hamburger Day...when did you last have a hamburger? Other than your own kitchen or BBQ grill, where is your favorite place to go for a hamburger? And for all you non-meat eaters out there...when you're invited to a cookout what is the one side dish you hope is on the menu?
We have burgers several times a week. Last time I had one was on Monday. If I go out to eat I never order a hamburger. Beef is my least favorite meat, so if I have the option to have fish or some kind of seafood I'll take it, with chicken and pork being my number two and three choices.
4. How have your priorities changed over time?
I don't think they have changed. My children are still my top priority, the house doesn't have to be perfect, I will pass up on "opportunities" if they would hurt the most important part of my life, quality time with my family.
5. What's a favorite memory with your grandparents?
Oh my, there are so many of them. One of the things I treasure the most though was the year before my Grandpa passed away I would go to their house every evening with some kind of little treat I had cooked or baked. Grandpa was bedridden and hardly had an appetite, but he looked forward to seeing what I would bring, the next hour or two he would spend telling me memories of his childhood, teenaged years, and early married life.
6. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being fantastic!), how good are you at multitasking? Share an example.
When it comes to working in the kitchen, a ten. I don't have a problem cooking a big meal and having to multi task to make it all come together at the right time.
Out of the kitchen, maybe an 8 or 9. I usually have multiple things going at one time, even when I'm sewing it is common to have Buddy perched on a chair next to me with a book that I read to him.
7. How would you summarize your highs and lows for the month of May?
May was a very pleasant month filled with ordinary days. I can't think of any highs or lows.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
There are half a dozen tomato plants sitting on the porch waiting to be planted. With all the rain we have been having it looks like it will still be a couple of days before they get transplanted. I'm hoping they do well, we live in a hollow where wildlife roams freely. Deer and raccoons I'm fearing will be our biggest troublemakers.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Pow-wow Doctors
Pow-wowing is a practice that seems to be disappearing from the Amish, though some of the more conservative churches still believe and practice it.
My parents did not believe that it was something to get involved in, but that didn't keep others from trying to get them to visit their well loved pow-wow doctors whom they thought could cure everything from shyness, all physical ailments, to infertility.
I never could understand how chanting several specific Bible verses three times, then spinning around and quoting them backwards six times was supposed to heal anything. There was a whole list of creepy remedies, but of course only someone with the "gift" of pow-wowing could do them.
I only ever watched something being performed once, it involved a piece of red cloth, and an egg which was wrapped into the cloth that had been rubbed all over my little brother. It was then placed in some hot ashes and when it exploded the doctor claimed he was healed.
My parents were not at all happy with the "doctor", especially since they had not given permission for that ritual to be performed.
My parents did not believe that it was something to get involved in, but that didn't keep others from trying to get them to visit their well loved pow-wow doctors whom they thought could cure everything from shyness, all physical ailments, to infertility.
I never could understand how chanting several specific Bible verses three times, then spinning around and quoting them backwards six times was supposed to heal anything. There was a whole list of creepy remedies, but of course only someone with the "gift" of pow-wowing could do them.
I only ever watched something being performed once, it involved a piece of red cloth, and an egg which was wrapped into the cloth that had been rubbed all over my little brother. It was then placed in some hot ashes and when it exploded the doctor claimed he was healed.
My parents were not at all happy with the "doctor", especially since they had not given permission for that ritual to be performed.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Ordination
An average Amish church has one bishop, two ministers, and a deacon.
When a new church starts, or a district becomes large enough that it is time to have it divided it means it is also time to ordain new ministers.
Ordinations occur on the day of communion, which makes a long day even longer. Communion is usually over around 4 PM and then it's time for the ordination proceedings to begin. Visiting bishops, ministers, deacons, and of course any of the home districts ministry go to a room away from where services had been held and one by one the members will take turns going to the door of that room and whispering the name of the man they think would make a good minister.
After the votes have been counted the ministry will file back into the room carrying a stack of songbooks each held shut with a rubber band and place them on a little table at the front of the room. They will then call the names of all the men that had received three or more votes. They come forward and take a book and sit on a bench that has been cleared for them.
The bishop will open the books one by one looking for a little piece of paper they had tucked into one of the song books. When the paper is found it indicates that God has chosen that man to be a minister. Lots of crying follows, as the bishop places his hands on the new ministers head and ordains him to now be a messenger of God.
In order to ordain a new bishop all ministers in that district have to have been a minister for two years. Until that happens a bishop from another district will care for that church too. Bishops are chosen much the same way, but instead of voting for any man only ministers are eligible to become a bishop.
Being ordained is often not the choice of the person being ordained, and it is a lifetime commitment. Now on top of all their usual responsibilities they also need to lead a church, unpaid.
When a new church starts, or a district becomes large enough that it is time to have it divided it means it is also time to ordain new ministers.
Ordinations occur on the day of communion, which makes a long day even longer. Communion is usually over around 4 PM and then it's time for the ordination proceedings to begin. Visiting bishops, ministers, deacons, and of course any of the home districts ministry go to a room away from where services had been held and one by one the members will take turns going to the door of that room and whispering the name of the man they think would make a good minister.
After the votes have been counted the ministry will file back into the room carrying a stack of songbooks each held shut with a rubber band and place them on a little table at the front of the room. They will then call the names of all the men that had received three or more votes. They come forward and take a book and sit on a bench that has been cleared for them.
The bishop will open the books one by one looking for a little piece of paper they had tucked into one of the song books. When the paper is found it indicates that God has chosen that man to be a minister. Lots of crying follows, as the bishop places his hands on the new ministers head and ordains him to now be a messenger of God.
In order to ordain a new bishop all ministers in that district have to have been a minister for two years. Until that happens a bishop from another district will care for that church too. Bishops are chosen much the same way, but instead of voting for any man only ministers are eligible to become a bishop.
Being ordained is often not the choice of the person being ordained, and it is a lifetime commitment. Now on top of all their usual responsibilities they also need to lead a church, unpaid.
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