July 1st (yesterday) was my daughter Loretta's 24th birthday.
We wish her many more happy and healthy years ahead. Her two sons keep her busy. Denzel turned two on July 10th and Byron turns one on August 7th. On Sunday, Joe and I drove to the park with Dustin, Loretta and the boys. Byron sat in the back seat with Loretta and me, but kept sulking until he was able to sit in the front seat with Joe, Dustin and Denzel.
Then he looks back at Loretta and me with a broad grin, as if to say, “Ha ha, I like it better here.” He likes watching the horses run. Denzel takes the reins to steer their horse, Spirit. Spirit is a gentle horse, and a safe ride. Of course, Dustin keeps an eye on the traffic on the road.
Our family enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park on Sunday to celebrate my daughter Verena's best friend Daniel's birthday (June 29th). We hiked the walking trails and just relaxed and chatted.
Our daughters Lovina and Daniel joined us at the park. They just got back from their honeymoon. After their wedding, they spent a week at a cabin by the lake. They are enjoying married life.
Last night, they came to pick up their luggage and wedding gifts again. Thank you to everyone who sent gifts and cards to support their new life. They were very happy. Lovina made vegetable soup for us here and we had dinner together.
It's always hard when my kids leave home. As a mother, my heart hates change. I'm happy for my kids, but I feel lonely when there's one less person in the house.
At least, not like losing a loved one. Sarah Eileen (my sister-in-law) attended the wedding with some of her family. She really missed her brother Albert. She hid her sadness well and did her best to make it a joyous day for the newlyweds. I know her heart hurts and she misses her dear husband. Her 59th birthday was on June 28th, her first birthday without her loving husband by her side.
Daniel and Lovina had a great day to get married, even though it was a very hot week, with temperatures reaching 90 degrees F. The cooks did a fantastic job preparing the food in the heat.
Our son-in-law, Daniel's brother, and my sister Emma's son-in-law and son started roasting the chickens at about 5 a.m. They roasted 300 pounds for lunch and another 100 pounds in the afternoon for dinner. We had 480 pounds of chicken here, but only roasted 400 pounds.
We had a lot left over. The chicken was cooked great and tasted really good. We had 9 or 10 grills going and were done by the time the wedding started at 9am. It was a 90 degree day so it was very hot work.
The menu for the wedding meal was bread, strawberry butter, mashed potatoes, gravy, buttered noodles, dressing, barbecued chicken, mixed vegetables, lettuce salad, pecan, rhubarb custard, strawberry pie, caramel pudding, fresh fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes), coffee. The cake was cut during the meal at 7pm and decorated by the bride and groom.
Daniel and Verena and Dustin and Loretta were witnesses. There were 14 couples who were table servers and 12 special helpers (handling out guest books, gifts, etc.) The remaining nieces and nephews who were too young to help (3 and under) were called Day Brighteners and the girls wore yellow dresses.
The boys wore gray pants and yellow shirts. The special helpers wore light green. The table servers wore coral, the cooks wore burgundy, the family wore green, the mothers wore dark green. The bride wore dark teal, and the witnesses wore light teal. Lovina had a wall hanging made with all the colors she chose. It's so beautiful.
I chose my sister Emma and niece Elizabeth to be the chefs for my wedding and once again they did an amazing job making everything run smoothly.
The Wednesday and Thursday before the wedding were busy days, with over 20 women coming each day to bake over 80 pies and 30 loaves of bread, dicing carrots, celery, and onions, washing and slicing strawberries for the pies, cutting rhubarb for the pies, etc. We had good help these two days and everything was finished by lunchtime. Casseroles, salads, and desserts were brought to us each day by the women who came to help.
We had over 50 chefs help prepare the food for our wedding on Friday, and we really appreciated their help. We also want to thank the chefs who took an extra day of prep and gave up two days of their time to help out, we really appreciated them.
And a special thank you to Sister Emma, my niece Elizabeth, and my friend Ruth, who were there all the time. Sister Verena came along every day with Emma. Ruth arranged transportation for them to get there and back. If we forgot something, Ruth had to go get it.
god bless you!
Pie crust
Makes six 9-inch pie crusts
6 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups lard
2 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 teaspoons of vinegar
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the lard to the flour mixture to form breadcrumbs. It's best for the breadcrumbs to be quite moist – add a bit more lard to achieve this. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, water, and vinegar and pour over the breadcrumbs. Mix with a fork until the mixture forms a thick consistency – be careful not to overmix.
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and roll each into a ball. Press each ball into a disk and roll on a floured surface until 1/8 inch thick. Place the dough into a 9 inch pie plate and trim the edges. If using prebaked dough, bake at 450o F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
