AMISH BUGGY NEWSLETTER

Number 8

• PA - while making ice cream and talking too much, the steam pressure got to high.   The safety valve opened making a loud noise which scared the Haflinger pony that was providing the power to turn the freezers.  The pony took off running.  By the time the pony was stopped, the ice cream was whipped.

• IN - 300 fried pies where made for the auction but only 2,000 could be sold.   1,000 were flops.  Not sure if it was the flour or the shortening or both.

• OH - Draft horse auction
  Top selling was a grade gelding which sold for $3,700
  Top Belgian went for $5,200 - with a total of 250 Belgians sold
  Top team was a pair of hitch mares for $5,000
  Top Percheron pair - black geldings - $4,300 a piece
  Top standardbred - $4,200

• Columbus, Oh - Eastern draft horse sale - Expositions Center - November 15, 16, 17

• Shipshewana, In - Driving Horse Auction - December 16

• Buffalo/Bison Auctions
  Valentine Nebraska - November 19
  Salina Kansas - Livestock Barn - December 2 - 10 a.m.
  Custer State Park, South Dakota -  November 18 http://www.state.sd.us/sdparks/custer/custersp.htm - directions

• PA - here is what was served for breakfast this morning:  pancakes, pudden meat, eggs, tomatoes & cream, and gravy coffee.

• Sunflower birdfeeder - cut 3 strings approx. 5 feet long.  Put strings around a mature sunflower head bringing the ends together at the top and knot with a loop.  Hang.

• Candy recipes - http://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/desserts/candy/indexall.html - lots of recipes

• Wassail - Put all ingredients in a pot - 1 gallon sweet cider, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 10 small sticks cinnamon, 1 teasp of allspice.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down and simmer for 10 minutes.  Can be made without allspice. (delicious - I tried this)

• Roasted Chestnuts - CAUTION: be sure to prick each chestnut real good or else will explode in oven. Prick each chestnut with fork.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake in preheated oven 425 deg. for 15 to 20 minutes or until they crack open. (mine exploded, but those that didn't were good.)

• Tip - when forming meatballs, keep a trickle of cold water running in the sink.   Wet the palms of your hands after every other meatball.  This keeps the meat from sticking to your palms and makes rolling easier.  This also works for crispy rice treats when patting into the pan.

• Amish Peanut Butter - Mix - 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/4 cup marshmallow cream, 1 cup light corn syrup.   Place in covered container and store in the refrigerator.  Use as bread spread or ice cream topper.  Makes 1-1/2 cups.

• Oatmeal Pie - Blend together 3 beaten eggs, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 teasp. butter, 2/3 cup oatmeal, 2/3 cup coconut (optional), 2/3 cup milk, 1 teasp. vanilla.  Pour the mixture into an unbaked pie shell.  Bake pie for 30-35 minutes at 350 deg.  Can add 1/2 teasp. cinnamon and 1/2 teasp. cloves.

• Bison Recipes - http://www.bisoncentral.com/bison/recipes.asp

• Baked Pumpkin Seeds - separate seeds from pulp.  Place seeds on cookie sheet and add about 1/4 cup of melted oleo.   Sprinkle with a small amount of salt.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350 deg. or till lightly brown.

• OH - George R. Smith, 93, died October 22 following an illness.  He worked for the Amish newspaper "The Budget" for 80 years and served as the national editor for 74 years.  He had retired earlier this year.  Mr. Smith sold the newspaper years ago to two Budget employees but stayed on as editor.

• You know its autumn when - click here

• PA - November is wedding season.

• GA - Their horse doesn't like to sleep in the dark and regularly pulls the light chain to put the light on.

• Canada - a horse got out of control at the top of a hill driving over the buggy wheel of another buggy.  This caused a few other horses to stampede.  No injuries were reported but a total of 6 buggies and 1 parked car were damaged plus 2 runaway horses.

• NY - A 34 year old Amish woman died suddenly with no apparent symptoms.  She canned and baked that day, dropping over that evening.  She leaves her husband and 7 children ranging in age from 8 months to 12 years.

• KS - a house fire killed six Amish - the mother age 47 and five daughters age 3, 6, 8, 13, and 15.  The husband and five other children escaped by jumping from a second story window.  The fire started in the wood stove.

• PA - the community bench wagon was damaged by a mini van when a lady failed to look behind when backing out of her driveway.

• OH - an Amish woman had one of those days.  She went to get eggs to bake pies and fell breaking all put 4 of the eggs.  She baked the pies then heading out her drive to deliver them on her bike she dumped the pies.  She decided to stay at home the rest of the day.

• Cookeville, TN - this group is having their community land surveyed for a future sale.  The community is disbanding.

• WI - extra deer hunting tags are being given out this year because there are too many deer in the area.

• A new publication by the plain people is making its debut in January 2001 - "Plain Interests".   It will be a monthly magazine with such topics as herbs, gardening, road safety, homemaking, medicine, nature studies, etc.  The cost will be $12 per year.

• Amish settle in Berks County, PA in 1710.  This was the first known settlement of the German and Swiss Plain sects.  The community died out in the early 1800's but was supplanted by other settlements from Lancaster and Somerset counties in PA and Holmes county in OH.

• Winter tire tips for the English.
  Keep your gas tank at least half full.
  Put snow tires on all four wheels for maximum traction.
  Drain and flush the cooling system on any care two years old.
  Windshield-washing solution - label and keep away from children.  
        1 qt. rubbing alcohol, 1 cup water, 1 tablsp. liquid dishwashing detergent.

• Zidderich - shaky

• Summerblog - diarrhea

• Niesse - to sneeze

• Reedle - measles

• PA - 1/2 acre sold for $150,000 at auction.

• MO - 90 acre farm sold for $200,000.
           5 acre farm sold for $76,000.
           120 acre farm sold for $128,000.

• IA - land is being bought for about $3,000 an acre.

• IA - sorghum is harvested by hand, put through the mill by horsepower and cooked by steam.

• IA - Corn is being harvested at approx. 160 bushels per acre.

• IN - Sweet potato plant produced 20 lbs. of potatoes - the largest weighing 12 lbs.

• IN - One pumpkin that was harvested weighed 160 pounds.

• KS - Hay has been a challenge to put up due to the weather conditions.  Wheat is being sown into the dust.

• WI - many of the potatoes spoiled in the ground this year.

• Bison - history, classifieds, raising bison - http://www.bisoncentral.com/

• An unborn cloned copy of a prize winning Holstein (Mandy) brought $82,000 at auction bought by a MN diary group.  Mandy produces 3,300 gallons of milk per year about 2 times the national average.  Source - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• MO - it has not been a good year for the honeybees.  Only 30 pds. have been extracted from each hive.  An average year produces 60 pds.

• TN - Soybeans are being harvested.

• MI - the U.S. government is paying farmers $1,100 an acre to plow under their sugar beets.

• Canada - new implantable microchips technology for range animals has been developed for cows and steers with hopes of putting cattle rustlers out of business.   Satellites, receivers, computers and software will track animal location.   Designed by Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Source - Calgary Herald

• Garlic - did you know?
  Usually planted in the fall and harvested in mid July to early August
  Grows best on well drained soils
  Plant point side up
  Varieties - soft necked and hard necked.  Soft neck keeps longer in storage.

• PA - $11.89 down $3.90 from last year

• MI - $11.00

• PA - $9.75

• MI - $11.50

• KY - $14.00

• IN - $10.85

• MO - $10.31 for Class III

• Paper - on Amish technology practices and change - http://www.loyola.edu/dept/philosophy/techne/sharp.html

• Pennsylvania German - http://alpha.fdu.edu/~boyer/PaDeitsch.html

• Milk facts, games, etc. -  http://www.moomilk.com/

• Your not old unless you remember..... https://www.angelfire.com/fl2/thisnthat/oldunless.html

• Hayrides - http://members.aol.com/mempenny4/hayrides.html - cute poem

• Crafts on a Budget - hints, templates, crafts, etc. - http://www.geocities.com/twilagail/

• Party Games for the holidays - https://www.angelfire.com/fl2/thisnthat/partyindex.html

• Thanksgiving - recipes - crafts - music - etc. - http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/index.htm

• How to select a cut christmas tree - http://www.themestream.com/articles/203018.html

• Live farming cams field trips - there is a monthly charge for this but you may want to take a peak at the site anyway - no charge for just browsing - watch hay baling, cow milking, etc. - http://www.efarmlife.com/

• Yogurt was invented in 1647, but not until 1911 that people realized you could eat it!

• 342 chests of tea were dumped overboard at the Boston Tea party on Dec. 16, 1773.

• The Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver from "Its a Wonderful Life".

• The average person sees more than 20,000 TV commercials in a year.

• Russet is the most commonly used potato variety in the U.S.

• In 1898 a California perfume and cosmetics company sold door to door and became known as Avon in 1939.

• Enthusiasm is contagious and so is the lack of it.

• No one has ever choked to death from swallowing his pride.

• Pouting is a silent temper tantrum.

• It's not what we take up but what we give up that makes us rich.

• Experience is something you don't get until after you need it.

• A smile adds a great deal to face value.

Take Care - Have A Safe Holiday - See You Next Month