Hello readers! This is Lovina’s daughter Verena writing once again.

Mom has been extra busy preparing for church services, so I decided to help her out by writing the column and give her an extra week of not having to worry about writing. When she has to, she does a very good job to sit down and write when she is very busy and has many other things to do.

It is 4:30 in the afternoon and I just got home. All of us sisters were at Mom’s for today. Elizabeth and Susan were cleaning the walls and ceiling on the main floor. Loretta, Lovina and I watched the children and kept the dishes washed and helped clean things hanging on the walls, etc. Us three women have a disability so there is only so much of the cleaning that we can do. We do our best and do what we can. It is always nice to have someone look after the children so the others can clean.

I played memory with Andrea, age 4, Denzel, age 3, Byron, age 2, and Ervin Jr., age 2. It was a little hard to keep them from going out of turn or keeping cards that weren’t matching. Haha! Ervin Jr. kept running off, it was not very interesting to him. Denzel didn’t like that he was only allowed to pick up two at a time and Byron wanted to put his matching cards back with the rest. It was a challenge, but I had a good laugh watching it unfold. The game never ended since one by one they dropped out. Andrea was the only one that really loved it. It was fun while it lasted. Haha!

My sisters and I take turns taking lunch to Mom when we go home every week. Lovina took the hot food for lunch this time. She made vegetable soup and sandwiches. Each one of us always takes something and so the meal is prepared. Daniel Ray is outside cleaning out the barn. My brother Ben is helping him as well. It makes it nice when two of them can work together.

I hosted brunch here on Sunday for my parents and my siblings. Benjamin and his special friend Joanna, Kevin, Joseph and Grace, Daniel and Lovina, and baby Brooklyn, Dustin and Loretta and their three children, Denzel, Byron, and Kylie, age 1. My cousin Steven was here also. Elizabeth and her family, Susan and her family were not able to come due to it being their church Sunday.

They are on the opposite church Sunday than the rest of us. Everyone brought something so it made it easier and we had a breakfast haystack. The menu consisted of hash browns, scrambled eggs, smokies, bacon, biscuits, tomatoes, green peppers, hot peppers, gravy, cheese sauce, salsa, coffee, rhubarb juice, and V8 juice. Cake and cookies were put on to eat as well.

After dishes, we played games and visited. Later in the afternoon, Daniel Ray popped popcorn and we put out a few snacks. Many memories were made and I cherish them so much.

I had so much fun watching Denzel and Byron play together. They had their toys set up so nicely and Kylie would come destroy it. They weren’t very happy with their little sister. Byron had a runny nose so Denzel grabbed a Kleenex and wiped Byron’s nose for him. It was so sweet.

Tomorrow Elizabeth and Susan are planning on dropping their children that are not in school off here with me since they are going to go to a few garage sales. I’ll have Andrea, Ervin Jr., and Sharlene, 8 months old. I’m looking forward to it. I always enjoy spending time with my nieces and nephews.

Well, I better go put my dishes away that I washed this morning. You all take care and God bless!

Deviled eggs

Ingredients:

6 hardboiled eggs

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

2 tablespoon dill pickle or sweet pickle relish

Paprika

Directions:

Peel shells off hard-boiled eggs and slice in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, gently remove yolks and place in a small bowl. Mash yolks into small pieces with a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard, and relish to the yolks and mix until well combined and creamy.

Carefully scoop some yolk mixture into the hollow of each egg half. Repeat until all egg whites are filled. Lightly sprinkle with paprika and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 6 servings.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. Her three cookbooks, “The Cherished Table,” “The Essential Amish Cookbook” and “Amish Family Recipes,” are available wherever books are sold.