This recipe is one I found in my old archives of Elizabeth Coblentz's.  It kind of makes me laugh because I never, ever remember Elizabeth fixing salmon, so I'm not sure where this recipe came from.  Maybe I never used it because I just didn't think salmon sounded "Amish" enough.  But I would have been wrong.  There are avid salmon fisherman among the Amish in Montana, so perhaps this is where the recipe originated.

2 cups fresh,flaked salmon

4 tablespoons flour

1 egg

2 tablespoons minced onion

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup bread crumbs

1 /2 cup milk

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.   Fry in hot oil in heavy skillet until browned on both sides.  Makes 8 croquettes.

I found a recipe from the old archives of The Amish Cook today.  It's never been published anywhere before and it looks a little quirky, but good.  It's a recipe for "quick waffles."  Did not know there was such a thing.  Here is Elizabeth's recipe as she wrote it word for word:

QUICK WAFFLES

4 eggs

2 1 /2 cups milk

3 /4 cup melted shortening

3 1/2 cups flour

6 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients and beat for 1 minute. Bake waffles in a hot waffle iron.  Makes 10 waffles or more.

This is an interesting recipe I found in my Amish Cook archives from about 5 years ago.  Rhubarb is still in season in many locales, so this is one you might want to try.

Homemade rhubarb bake

* Fresh-cut finely chopped

rhubarb (as much as you like)

* 1/2 cup brown sugar

* 2 cups flour

* 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

* 1/2 cup butter or margarine

* 2 eggs

* 2 3-ounce packages of Jell-O (any flavor you prefer)

Topping: 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup flour and 1/2 cups sugar

Mix everything except rhubarb and Jell-O together and press into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Cover completely with finely chopped fresh rhubarb. Sprinkle Jell-O powder over rhubarb. Crumb together butter, flour and sugar. Sprinkle on top and bake at 350 until golden and bubbly.

I love going through piles and files of old hand-written recipes that I have from the late Elizabeth Coblentz.   I think through the years - at various times - we had different cookbook projects going and she just ended up submitting more recipes than I could use.  They could almost be compiled into a cookbook of their own.  Most of the recipes are written in long-hand on sheets of scrap-paper and are quite simple.  This looks like an interesting recipe for broccoli cheese soup, the unique ingredient is "cottage cheese." I have never heard of that in a soup?  Okay, for anyone who wants to give this recipe a whirl:

2 cups celery, chopped

1 cup onion, finely chopped

1 package (10 ounce) chopped broccoli

1 cup cottage cheese

2 cups whole milk

1 can (10 3 /4 ounce) cream of chicken soup (undiluted)

1 /2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

In a saucepan cook broccoli, celery, and onion until tender.  Stir cottage cheese vigorously until smooth (editor's note: for those that have blenders, food processors, or Magic Bullets, these can be used here).  Slowly add milk while continuing to stir. Add chicken soup to cheese-milk mixture.  Blend. Add mixture to cooked, undrained vegetables. Heat on medium until tender.

Okay, this comes from my old files of Elizabeth Coblentz's recipes exactly as she wrote it.  Anyone brave enough to try THIS one??

2 tablespoons flour

Brown the flour in lard in a skillet, adding 1 cup watrer to it.  When browned then add 1 cup of milk.  Season with salt and pepper to your taste.  Bring to a boil then pour this over two or three slices of bread cubed in a bowl

Such recipes were common concoctions on Amish farmsteads during the tough years of the Great Depression.  Such dishes may be making a comeback in today's times.

I've got no clue why a chow chow is called a chow chow. If anyone knows, please share.  I've heard that the name's origins are a French twist on the word for cabbage.   I'll freely admit to not being a chow chow connisseur.  I'm not sure that I've ever had it, although it really is just a souped up relish.   I saw jars for sale on my recent trip to Lancaster County and being that this is such a favorite among the Amish I should have bought a jar.  Chow chow is a regional favorite among the Amish, it is quite popular in Pennsylvania.  This doesn't mean that the Amish elsewhere don't eat it and enjoy it, but its best known there.  Lovina's mother, an Indiana Amish, did have a recipe for chow chow and fixed it on occasion.  So with the garden season here, I will share Elizabeth's recipe for chow chow.  A note, though, this is a recipe that Elizabeth had submitted for an earlier cookbook. I never ended up using the recipe because her instructions were just too vague.  I set it aside and just thought I'd ask her to clarify another day.  Well since she is no longer with us, I can't ask...so I'm simply printing it as she wrote it....someone with a bit more canning/kitchen knowledge can hopefully figure it out!

1 gallon of green tomatoes

2 gallons of cabbage

1 dozen onions

1 dozen green peppers

Put through food grinder.  Put handful of a salt in.  Pour boiling water over.  Let set with cover on for 10 minutes. Stir and drain well and then add:

1 1 /2 quart vinegar

2 1 /2 cups sugar

1 /2 tablespoon celery seed

1 /2 tablespoon mustard seed

1 /8 teaspoon cloves

1 / 8 teaspoon dry mustard

1 / 8 teaspoon ginger

Cook 10 minutes. Cold pack 10 minutes.

Ewww, I don't know about this. I usually am pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new stuff...but, rhubarb soup??? An Amish woman gave me this recipe last week when I was in Lancaster County:

2 carrots,chopped

1 parsley root

2 celery stalks,chopped

2 onions, sliced

1 pound of mushrooms, sliced

1 cup water

1 teaspoon salt and pepper

2 tablespoons flour

1 /4 cup cold water

1 /2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon dill

1 pound finely chopped rhubarb

1 pound macaroni noodles

Cook the carrots, parsley, celery and 1 onion in 4 cups salted water for 20 minutes. Strain. Cook the mushrooms and second onion in 1 cup water for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Combine with vegetable broth, add the flour mixed with 1/4 cup cold water. Boil. Remove from heat. Add sour cream, dill and parsley. Add noodles, fine macaroni.  Cook until pasta is tender.

Amish homemakers have traditionally been very inventive, creative cooks fashioning a complete meal out of the most basic ingredients.  This stems from their long history of self-sufficiency and not wanting to be dependent on others for their meals.  So when times get tough economically, the Amish are better equipped to "hunker down" and wait it out.  So from time to time until this economic turmoil mercifully ends, and it will end, I'll be sharing some favorite "recession recipes."  This first one came from Lovina's Mom and was once quite common among the Amish.  It's called "pot pie soup."

POT PIE SOUP

2 cups flour

1 /2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

water

broth

3 diced potatoes

Crack the egg yolk and white into a cup and fill the cup halfway with water.  Stir and pour into a bowl.  Then add flour and salt and knead until a pie dough consistency forms.  Roll out thin and cut the dough into 1-inch by 1-inch squares.  In a kettle put sausage or ham broth (vegetable, chicken or beef broth can also be used) and bring to a boil.  Then drop in the squares of rolled out dough.    Add diced potatoes and heat on medium until potatoes are tender. Serve warm.