I follow the “Amish Cook,” a syndicated column written by Lovina Eicher, an Old Order Amish woman and mother of eight children living in Michigan. There is nothing special about her writing, as it is nearly always a mere accounting of what the family is doing: what daughter is hanging laundry or sweeping the kitchen, the menu when they visited sister Emma and husband Jacob, what is being grown or canned from the garden, who is cleaning the barn. I think my fascination is with the life they lead, which we think of as simple, or plain, as they would say, but it is no romantic dream-deal.
I also mistakenly assumed the Amish are as strict with their eating as they are with their dress. But in this they’re like a lot of ordinary folk: big on sugar and white bread. I wait for mildly shocking recipes like this.
Church Cheese Spread
6 pounds Velveeta cheese
1 ½ cups butter
8 cups cream
Put everything in a roaster and bake at 200 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes until melted. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent from getting crusty top as it cools. Serve on a sandwich with or without meat.
This was made in large quantity for the lunch after a church service. Once or twice a year each family in the community must take a turn hosting the church service on their farm.
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6 comments:
That's awesome. I like someone with that much self-security!
(Smiling). It's funny how we like to romanticize different lifestyles. Velveeta, hmmm. Never have cared for that stuff. No doubt it is a crowd pleaser!
I am married to a man who makes mac and cheese for about 50 people for Halloween night. It began as a quatrro fromagi-type thing: 3 cheeses with delectable foreign names, and Velveeta. We are now down to 1 cheese, and I guarantee it's not burata, if know what I mean. People ask for the RECIPE. Gosh.
You gotta die of somethin. Although I might pick donuts over Velveeta, if forced.
Jessie, Deborah, I've spurned, thinking I'm too grown-up for it. But, I admit it makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches. queeno-rat, aka, Leslie, my man also loves it; he sneaks it into the grocery cart whenever he can.
My two children attend a college in Southern Michigan, close to the Indiana border where there is a sizable Amish community. We always stop at the local bulk food store run by the Amish when we are out there. The bulk candy section alone is four shelves high and runs half the length of the store. I always enjoy looking in the shopping carts of the young Amish couples to see what's going to be for supper - a stack of frozen pizzas, a couple of loaves of sliced white "Tasty-like" bread, and a package of lunchmeat. I love it! They are as busy as we are trying to live out life the best they can.
Pour it over Ground Beef and pile high with tator tots and you got yourself a downright casserole to feed the entire fam!
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