Going Amish

When Barb and I moved into this old house we talked a lot about "going Amish."

I wanted to grow my own vegetables and herbs. Barb wanted to buy fabric and sew curtains for the house. I bought a table saw and started replacing cedar siding on the back of the house. Barb inherited a sewing machine and started sewing hems.

Well I ended up installing about 15-feet of siding upside down.

Barb ended up tangled in the sewing machine and swearing profusely.

So we're not exactly Amish. But we still like the thought.

This week Barb's Mom decided she had enough of paying %72 for a bottle of laundry detergent (soapy water). She decided that she was going to make her own laundry detergent.

I was very impressed.

The latest reports are that the first five-gallon batch of laundry detergent is working just fine. She's analyzing it for a possible tweak or two.

Not to be out done, Barb yesterday suddenly decided that she was making her own English Muffins. That's right. That's right - English Muffins.

Sewing may not have been her forte, but I'm telling you this Barbara girl can bake. I stood astounded yesterday as she worked her way right through a large batch of homemade English Muffins.

How great! I mean who in the world makes their own English Muffins?

I just finished a breakfast sandwich: ham, cheese and a fresh muffin. That muffin is perfect, out of this world. We may still have a chance to be Amish yet!

Fresh bread in this house is nothing new. I began to bake bread years ago, sort of as a homage to my grandfather's bakery - Albert Bros. Bakery, a one-time institution in Myerstown.

But now English Muffins is breaking into a whole new territory. That's just not something people make.

What could be next? Our quest to be more Amish continues . . .