At 10 a.m. today as I write this, the temperature is still only at zero degrees with a wind chill of -17.

The last several days we have had even colder temperatures and wind chill down to -27. It’s been a challenge to heat the house for everyone. It seems the wind gets in everywhere.

Grandson Ryan seems to be doing OK but is still on antibiotics.

A happy birthday to our granddaughter Jennifer. She had her sixth birthday Jan. 15. Daughter Lovina made her a cake. She was so excited to blow out her candles on the cake.

When Jennifer was born, daughter Susan and her husband Mose had been living in an old house that didn’t heat well so they moved in here with us.

It was fun to help Susan with her firstborn and, of course, to spoil little Jennifer. I still remember how Mose would sit there and hold Jennifer and smile at her. At her first and second birthdays, Mose held her when she blew out the candles on her cakes. Then, less than a month before her third birthday, Mose was called from this earth.

God had other plans for this little girl. In the short years Mose was here, he gave this little girl lots of love, and she loves to hear me tell her stories of Daddy Mose. Jennifer has this mischievous grin on her face all the time, and her smile lights up the room. She was so excited that she lost her first tooth.

My grandchildren are all so precious to me. My children think I spoil the grandchildren more than I did them, but that’s what grandmothers are for.

The whole family came here for Sunday lunch despite the cold temperatures. Son Joseph and son-in-law Dustin grilled 20 pounds of chicken. I told them I could fry it, but they said they could stand inside our heated pole barn and check on the chicken on the grill outside every once in a while. That helped me out.

We had mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, chicken, cheese, hot peppers and onions. I sliced onions and put them in apple cider vinegar — does anyone also do this? We love them like that. Dessert was Jennifer’s cake, ice cream, Jello and doughnuts.

The afternoon was spent playing games, and some worked on a 1,000-piece Amish Country puzzle that we started recently. Some of the grandchildren, with the help of daughter Verena and special friend Daniel Ray, were putting together 100-piece puzzles. That was much easier for them to figure out.

We love the Amish Country 1,000-piece puzzles and always like to look for a different one. I usually use those peel-and-stick sheets to keep the puzzle to hang up. I’m using my puzzle board for the first time. It was given to me by daughter Loretta and her husband Dustin as a Christmas gift last year. It has a swivel under it so the board can easily be turned and has four drawers on the side to keep the extra puzzle pieces in. I love it very much, and it makes it so much easier to put away when you aren’t working on it.

The children didn’t seem to bother with the puzzle on Sunday. I can remember so often when the children were younger and we would have a puzzle on our table that we would work on when we had time. It seemed like the toddler who could climb on a chair would find the puzzle and mess it up. Then we would have to start all over again. Such sweet memories!

I’ll sign off wishing everyone God’s blessings. Stay warm.

Chicken Loaf

2 ½-3 pounds of chicken, cooked and cubed or shredded

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup uncooked rice

1 cup milk

1 cup bread cubes

2 eggs

1 cup celery, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients. Pour into a greased baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the center of the loaf.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight who lives in southeastern Michigan. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, P.O. Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.