4:40 a.m. — Our alarm rings, telling us it’s time to start a new day. Joe only works until 12:30 today, so I don’t have to pack more than some snacks for him and fill his water jug. I make him breakfast, which is the usual weekday sausage patty, egg and cheese on tortilla. I cut an 8-inch soft tortilla into four pieces and use two every morning to make a sandwich. It’s a way to stay away from too much bread.

5:10 a.m. — Joe leaves for work.

6 a.m. — While son Benjamin goes out to do the morning chores, I pack his lunch.

6:25 a.m. — Benjamin leaves for work. Daughter Lovina arrives. Daniel dropped her off on his way to work. She goes up to her old bedroom to take a nap.

I sit on my recliner and after trying to read, I fall asleep. I didn’t set an alarm, so I don’t wake up until 8 a.m. After a shower, I get some mail ready, then gather the dirty laundry. We are getting more snow. It is wet snow so the steps and ramp are slippery. I scatter some ice melt.

9 a.m. — Lovina makes us breakfast, which is sausage, egg and grilled cheese. I mix up a batch of sour cream cutout cookies so the dough can chill while I do laundry. Daughter Verena goes over to daughter Loretta and Dustin’s house to help her. Her special friend Daniel Ray doesn’t have to work today, so he goes to help Verena with the work at Dustin and Loretta’s house, too. Denzel and Byron love tearing it up with Daniel Ray.

Dishes are washed, floors swept up and so on.

12:30 p.m. — Daniel stops in to pick up Lovina on his way home from work.

1 p.m. — Joe is home from work. I make Joe and Kevin something for lunch and then finally get started on the laundry. I was waiting for the solar batteries to charge more. Usually when they are low we can start the generator, but we are out of gas.

4 p.m. — Benjamin is home from work and will leave soon to go to town to get gas. He also runs a few errands for me. He does the chores most of the time and helps me with being caregiver to son Kevin.

4:30 p.m. — Laundry is hung on the lines in the basement. Joe is refueling both coal stoves while I bake the cookies. I frost them after they are cooled.

6:30 p.m. — We all go over to Dustin and Loretta’s house for supper. Daughter Elizabeth and Tim bring supper to Dustin and Loretta. They tell us to come, too. I am glad to not have to make supper. I take some freshly baked cookies.

It is so good to see Tim, Elizabeth and their children. We haven’t seen them since Christmas. I don’t think we’ve ever gone that long without seeing them before. Tim and Elizabeth are making their unattached garage into living quarters to move into. Sadly, their house has so many different kinds of mold in the walls and elsewhere. They received two professional opinions that it is not worth saving.

8 p.m. — Supper’s over. We spend the rest of the evening visiting and playing games. Abigail, 8 (our firstborn grandchild), comes to sit on my lap. She says, “Grandma, I hope I can always sit on your lap.” She is such a sweetheart. The children are excited to meet their new little cousin Kylie. She is 6 days old.

10 p.m. — Good night! I wish you God’s many blessings!

Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 (9-inch) premade graham cracker pie crust

8 ounces cream cheese (softened)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup milk

1 (3.4-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

Directions

Combine peanut butter and powdered sugar until mixture is crumbly. Spread half of these peanut butter crumbles evenly in the bottom of the graham cracker crust. Set aside remaining crumbles for the topping. Beat together the cream cheese and granulated sugar until smooth. Add the heavy cream and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and pudding mix until thickened. Fold the pudding mixture into the cream cheese mixture until well combined. Pour over the peanut butter crumbles in the crust. Top with remaining peanut butter crumbles. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

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 and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.