Loretta has more patience than I do

I have 10 loaves of bread rising and daughter Susan is mixing two batches of ranger cookies. The cookies are being made to take along to church services on Sunday. She’ll probably end up mixing another batch so we will have some to keep for ourselves.

The boys picked the tomatoes last night and didn’t even get a five gallon bucket full. Looks like they are slowing down fast. If I do get more I would like to make a batch of pizza sauce to put in jars. I still have plenty of green peppers so I could still use those.

I went with husband Joe to see a doctor after he came home from work. He has been feeling very sick the last few weeks with wheezing, coughing, sinus congestion. After putting in our hay it seems to be worse. He wears a mask to cover his mouth and nose to put in hay but it still bothers him. The doctor told Joe it was allergies and the start of bronchitis. He prescribed an inhaler and medication which will help him get over this. This is starting to keep him awake at night so he finally decided it was time to see a doctor. He will be working five day weeks so he needs to keep his energy level up.

Loretta went back to school on Tuesday and it went very well. She seems worn out in the evenings, though. She has a lot more patience with the cast than I would have. Her feet and legs get itchy and she can’t scratch them. I still remember when I was young and had a broken arm. After a few weeks the arm would start itching and you couldn’t scratch beneath the cast. I thought back then it was very miserable.

Loretta really tries to do a lot for herself without our help. To get into bed she puts her wheelchair up to the bed and braces it. Then she puts her cast on the bed and scoots herself on the bed. By getting out of bed, she slides backward into her wheelchair. She has also figured out how to get her wheelchair to the toilet so she can go to the bathroom without help. She is determined to get better.

Saturday our new Amish neighbor Joas and Susan and three daughters biked over to see Loretta. She was glad for their company. Sisters Verena and Susan came over for a few minutes to see how her surgery went. Neighbor Susan brought us apple fry pies and a pumpkin roll from her bakery. That was a treat for us since I didn’t get any baking done that week. They operate a bakery where they used to live and will gradually move it over to their new home. Their daughters are the same age as our daughters and they seem to have made friends quickly.

Daughter Elizabeth started working in the cabinet shop area of the trailer factory this week.

Her job had been to do the caulking around the windows and wherever it was needed.

Her hand broke out in a rash so bad, they think she was allergic to something she was working with. It was pretty painful but it seems to be clearing up now.

I will share my pizza sauce recipe with you this week.

PIZZA SAUCE

1/2 bushel tomatoes

4 garlic cloves

3 pounds onions, sliced

Two green peppers

5 hot peppers

1 cup vegetable oil

12 3 ounce cans of tomato paste

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon sweet basil

1 tablespoon oregano

3 tablespoons pizza spice

1/2 cup salt

Cook tomatoes, garlic, onion, and peppers until soft. Put through sieve. Add vegetable oil and cook 30 minutes. Add tomato paste, sugar, and seasonings. Simmer until it boils and thickens a little. Put in jars and seal. This makes 24 pints.

Readers with culinary or cultural questions or to share recipes write Lovina at: Lovina Eicher, c/o Oasis Newsfeatures, P.O. Box 157, Middletown, OH 45042. To learn more about Amish culture and the Amish Cook column and to sign up for the twice weekly newsletter, visit www.amishcookonline.com or “The Amish Cook Fan Page” on Facebook.