GRANDMOTHER OLIVE'S RECIPES FOR HOMEMADE CRACKERS

Someone asked for recipe for homemade crackers, but didn't say what kind of crackers.  So here are a couple of recipes that Jean and I make.

GRANDMOTHER OLIVE'S CHEDDAR CHEESE CRACKERS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
3/4 cup butter, chilled
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 Tablespoons cold water, or so

In medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, white pepper, and mustard.  Cut in butter, with folk until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add cheddar cheese.  Stir in water, one tablespoon at a time until dough is held together.  Roll the mixture into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Set oven for 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

On lightly floured surface roll the dough into a 16x12 inches rectangle about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut into 1x3 inch stripes.  Put stripes onto baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake in oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until crisp.  Remove from oven and let cool.

GRANDMOTHER OLIVE'S WHOLE WHEAT CRACKERS

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
salt for sprinkling

Set oven for 350 degrees

Sift together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt.  Pour in vegetable oil, water and mix together until blended.

On lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick.  Place dough on ungreased baking sheet and mark squares out with knife BUT don't cut through. Prick each cracker with fork a few times, and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp and light brown.  Remove from oven.  When cool remove from baking sheet and separate into separate crackers.

GRANDMOTHER OLIVE ANSWERS YOUR QUILTING QUESTIONS

Thank you for asking questions.  As Jean says it gives us some idea of what you are interested in  and we know what to tell you about.  We run out of things after a while.

Quilting bees are held in someone's house.  I or Jean can hold a quilting bee in our house or someone else holds one and invites us.  At a quilting bee there is usually a reason for the quilt.  It could be someone's son or daughters wedding quilt, a baby quilt, someone lost their house quilt, quilt for a coming auction, a payment quilt, etc.

How many ladies usually get together at once?  As many as we can get.  Usually, we get between five to ten ladies.  On the other hand, sometimes we work with less.  If we get more than ten, we don't turn them down either.  Sometimes if we are working on more than one quilt, like say for the Haiti auction, we have some working on one quilt and some working on another.  We usually let the ladies know a week or so ahead before we hold the quilting bee.  Sometimes all the ladies can come, but sometimes, as life goes, some have other plans or commitments that they have to take care of on that day.  We try to hold quilting bees after harvesting season in the fall and before planting season in the spring.  Like right now, we are making quilts for the Haiti auction.  The auction is in June, but we now have the time to make them.

The pattern is decided before we have a quilting bee.  If it is for say the Haiti Auction, we ladies usually talk after church and decide what we want.  If we are making for us to personally sell or for ourselves we have to make up our minds.  Sometimes it is something we have made before.  Maybe a pattern that has been passed down for years.  Sometimes we look at the material we have and figure out what kind of a pattern would look well.  Maybe is a pattern that we think up.

Some patterns we make to sell, we wouldn't make for ourselves.  Like the wedding ring quilt, for example.  We don't wear rings or jewelry so we wouldn't put it in a quilt for us.  But we make them because they are a great seller to Englishers.  I made a quilt for someone once, they wanted a car in it.  So I worked up a pattern with a car in it.

Do we purchase fabric specifically for a pattern or does everyone bring their extra fabric and we decide on a pattern from what we have?  Today, we usually purchase fabric for a specific pattern.  Back when I was a little girl, we use to go to the store to buy material for a quilt and all you could get was white.  You had to take it home and dye it to the colors you needed.  My Grandmother told me, when she was little girl, they use to make the fabric - then color it.  So I am glad we can go to the store and buy it today.

Notice I said usually, because sometimes we do bring our extra fabric and decide what the pattern will be or maybe make a patchwork quilt.  It is fun to put all the materials together and see what colors go with what - and what don't.  It is sort of a mix and match.  Then we decide if a specific pattern comes to someone.  Sometimes we just cut the material into squares and mix and match.  We don't want good material to go to waste.

Is everything hand done or do you use a sewing machine?  Well, now, in most cases, the pattern is done by sewing machine.  Not all, but most.  At the quilting bee, we sew the batting, the bottom and pattern together.  Some people still do the pattern by hand, but most are done by machine.

Do we put the quilt on a frame to quilt the layers together?  If we do use a big frame where is it stored before visits to work on?  Yes, we usually put the quilt in a frame to quilt the layers together.  Where do I keep my quilt frame?  When Jean and David added on the addition for Albert and I, they put on a sewing room for me which made Albert very happy.  Albert didn't care to see all my sewing materials all over the kitchen table.  So I keep my frame in the sewing room.  Jean has her frame in her and David's bedroom, but David is thinking in his third remodeling of finding a room for Jean's frame and other sewing materials. Jean would like it so she, Susan and maybe Katie, too, could all be working there sewing.   I have been in homes where they are set up in the living room.  .

I hope this has told your more about our Old Order Mennonite quilting.  If you have more questions, just ask.

Be With God,
Olive

JEAN TELLS OF AFRO-AMERICAN OLD ORDER MENNONITES

Everything is fine at Elmer's house.  Being this is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Elmer and I got talking and that this would be a great day to tell about Afro-American Old Order Mennonites.  Martha was going to do a post about this a year or two ago and never had time.  Then I was going to.  Today just seemed to be the best to tell.

When Edward came into our home, being the only black color skinned  person in our family, he said it did not bother him because he knew Michael and our family.  Even at meetings, he was at first, nervous not because of the color of their skin, but of meeting people he didn't know.  When he got a bit upset was when we were going to a family funeral out of our area.  He thought he would be the only black person there.  Edward really didn't want to go.  We finally talked him into it.  When we got there and went to the viewing, Edward was so surprised to see that he was, by far, not the only African American Old Order Mennonite there.

Mennonites as well as the Amish believe ALL men are created equal.  The color of one's skin white, black, red or any other makes no difference.  No one is any better or worse than anyone else, we are all sinners.  Even going back before the Civil War or what some call the War Between the states we treated all alike.

Mennonites, and I say that in general, because Old Order Mennonites are not the only of our group that does many ways of service.  Over the years, I have mentioned many of our ways of service.  Of course, foster parents is one of them.  Visiting prisons is another one.  In going to prisons we try to help the people.  At Christmas we bake cookies and candies to make into packages for the people.  During the year, we try to help in people keeping contact with their families.  Of course, we also tell of the Lord.

We noticed that women and men going to prison sometimes do not have anyone to take their children.  Mennonites, in most areas, have taken it upon themselves to provide homes for the children. Of course they got approval from the state.  Sometimes women are expecting when they go to prison, the baby is born, a Mennonite family will take the child.  If the parents come out of prison, we try to help the person find work, set up a household so they can provide for their child or children and return them.

Sometimes, like in Michael's case, the parents are in prison and they will not be coming out or at least for many years.  We took Michael into our home and made him a member of our family.  Some of the Foster Children are white, some black, - it does not make a difference.  When they come into a Mennonite Foster Home, they are loved, taken care of, provided for and like us, some are adopted.

A while back, I don't know if it was New York State of Mind or Amish Stories, Sarah had a post on.  In her foster home, she takes in children that have special needs.  She also takes children that will come into her home while their parents are in prison and return them when the Children's Service of the state tells her too.  I will be honest and don't know if I could stand having one of the children taken from my household, after many years, and returned.  Not because the parent, might not be a good parents, which would concern me, but after raising a child for years, seeing it leave my house. It takes a special person to be able to do that.

We raise the children as our own, in our beliefs and ways.  When the children grow up, and it comes time to make the decision and be baptized, many become Mennonite as Edward has done in our home. When it comes to courting age, sometimes they marry Afro-American, sometimes they intermarry.  There is no prejudice.

Be With God,
Jean

GRANDMOTHER OLIVE WILL BE BACK TOMORROW ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS.



 

IN HONOR OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

Martin Luther King, "I Have A Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial at Washington, DC on April 27, 1963.

OLD ORDER MENNONITE FARM THE GIRL ON THE SWING LIVES AT

This is the farm that the Old Order Mennonite little girl on the swing lives at.  You saw her on the swing, thought you might like to see the farm.

OLD ORDER MENNONITE FARM TRACTORS AND MORE

Here are some tractor pictures and other farm items that I have taken along the way over the months.  Most of these were taken on Amish or Old Order Mennonite Farms except seven and eight - they were taken at the Wayne County Fair.

SWISS - GERMAN AMISH FARMER PLOWING THE FIELD

Several of the Swiss - German Amish Farmers were plowing their fields when I was in their area on December 27th. It is the first time I had seen an Amish Farmer in the horse drawn plow plowing the land.  Hope you enjoy it, too.