We have entered June. Oh goodness I am actually getting nervous with the wedding of daughter Verena and Daniel Ray being in 18 days.

I have not done much grocery shopping yet. I am still working on my list. It takes a lot of brain work to figure out all the ingredients you need for making over 1,000 meals for the wedding day. And of course it does not help being another year older. Haha.

I want to thank everyone for all the nice birthday wishes, cards, gifts, etc. Also, a thank you to my precious children for their lovely tributes to me. I thank God for blessing me with children that are so thoughtful and show me such great love. It is not easy being a mother but I do the best I can. I remember my mother always saying that it takes a lot of prayers to raise a family. I fully understood what she meant not far into motherhood.

I had a lovely birthday on May 22. Our whole family came in honor of my birthday on May 25. They brought supper in so I didn’t have to cook. We had a delicious meal by the time everybody brought something. Nephew Ben and Crystal brought me a nice supply of radishes from their garden. I love those first radishes from the garden. I planted mine later this year so they aren’t ready yet.

Last night, we were invited to niece Elizabeth and Manuel for supper. They invited all the church families back for supper as they hosted church services again. Two weeks ago, they also hosted church services. We were also invited to go to Daniel Ray’s parents for supper. They also hosted church services at their house.

Last week one afternoon and evening quite a few men from our church district gathered to put a fence up in daughter Loretta and Dustin’s field. They worked until the fences were all up and the gates all hung. This was greatly appreciated by Dustin and Loretta. They are quite busy raising three children all under age 3. There is not a lot of extra time to do these jobs.

Congratulations to our neighbor girl Marianna and Matthew. They had a nice wedding May 23. We also attended the five o’clock meal at the wedding of Dave and Linda May 29, which was Ascension Day. Congratulations to them as well.

We have another wedding invitation yet on June 19, the day before Verena and Daniel Ray’s wedding. It is another neighbor girl, Loranna and Leon. I am doubtful that we will make it with Verena’s wedding the next day. We wish all three couples a long happy married life and with God as their guide.

Tomorrow night, we plan to attend the kindergarten graduation of grandson Timothy, TJ, son of daughter Elizabeth and Tim. Time has a way of slipping by.

Saturday we have our family and Daniel Ray’s family coming to help prepare for the wedding. Lots of jobs should get done. The list includes cleaning the barns, power washing the house, trimming the fences, washing windows in the house and barn, and generally getting the barn cleaned so tables can be set the following Saturday.

We have had a lot of meals of asparagus this season fixed in many different ways. The season of asparagus is coming to an end. Next in season is strawberries. I would like to make strawberry freezer jam, which is our favorite jam.

My rhubarb plants are doing very good this year and I canned 38 quarts of rhubarb juice last week. Enjoy! God’s blessings!

Rhubarb juice

INGREDIENTS:

8 pounds rhubarb, washed and diced

8 quarts water

2 (12 ounce) cans frozen orange juice

2 (46 ounce) can of pineapple juice

4 cups sugar

2 (3 ounce) packages of strawberry gelatin

DIRECTIONS

Combine rhubarb and water and cook until rhubarb is soft, about 25-30 minutes. Strain liquid into a large bowl or pot, discarding rhubarb. Add the orange juice, pineapple juice, sugar, and gelatin to the rhubarb juice. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. The juice may be frozen or canned. Makes around 12 quarts.

To can it, I ladle the warm liquid into jars and place the jars into a water bath that is about the same temperature as the juice. I bring the canner to a boil, cover it and process for 5 minutes. I know others process it for up to 20 minutes. I can the way my mom taught me and her mom before her. It is probably good to check the USDA website for more detailed canning instructions.

NOTE: only use 1 can of pineapple juice and add an extra 3 ounces of strawberry gelatin. After the juice is canned you can mix it with a clear pop to make a punch if you would like.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight who lives in southeastern Michigan.