Memories... of food and stuff....

Dearest Family, 

For the next step in getting the cookbook ready for publishing, we would like you to comment on your favorite foods you remember eating growing up in the Graber Family. You can also include any memories associated with the food.

This is so we don't miss any favorite recipes.  

We appreciate all your input.

Thank you!

First Pictures -- Montana

The first photos of us that we have in our possession.  West Kootenai, Montana, about the autumn of 1993. It was the year I had to dig up and replace the entire water line from the well which was down the hill to the right and the tank which was up the hill to the left.  This shows part of the wood supply we needed for each winter. The shed had to be pretty much full of wood to last all winter. It is still quite empty here. And of course, everybody's favorite horse, Root Beer.

Rachel asked recently for these first pictures.  I found them and scanned them.   Not the best quality but that doesn't matter.  These pictures contain priceless memories.  Those days have slipped away much too fast.

You can download the pictures by right clicking on them.   --Dad

Growing up with Horses

Rebecca Graber shared this on Facebook 16 March 2014 as a comment to a thread on Amish and Beyond.

My Dad was always training horses for people so we'd have all kinds of horses to drive when we worked in the field. But Dad always made sure he'd hitch the less trained ones with a solid well trained one and I never had a runaway till the day my older brother (married )was in charge to help out while my Dad was in Hot Springs getting relief for his back. My brother would not listen to me about which horses to put beside each other and made me put the ones together that were always fighting..... I made a couple rounds in the field with the disc and the four horse team when the one horse got mad and went after the other one and they started going in circles. I hung on for dear life, praying that somehow I would be able to stay out from under the disc .... All of a sudden they took off running across the field and I fell off as they crashed into a fence and a neighbor came to my aid.... That's when I started having the problem that I later learned was a hiatal hernia... When Dad came home he took me to the chiropractor which helped but of course didn't fix the hernia .... Needless to say that brother is not my favorite and for some reason he will not speak to me at funerals etc..

Memories of my Father - Part 3

   The summer between sixth and seventh grader my Dad hurt his knee real bad. So he had to elevate it awhile and missed church a couple times and those Sundays I and a couple of the younger ones, I think Danny & Sammie, got to stay home with Dad and he told us Bible stories. He started in Genesis and worked his way through the Old Testament telling us all the things he could put in story form for us.

   After supper in the summer often Dad would get us all to go out together to hoe and pull weeds in the garden or the peanut field or cane patch. Then in the fall it was picking peanuts off the stalks that had been pulled and put on stacks to dry.

   When it got cold outside we'd sit around the stove in the evening shelling popcorn(which had to be blown out in the breeze the next day) or shelling peanuts.

   My Dad was a man who was scheduled and on time. We were to get up before 5:00 and have the chores done and be at the breakfast table by 7:00. That way we had time to wash dishes & clean up before going to school; church or whatever needed to be done. In the evening the chores and milking were started at 5:00 and done by 6:00 so we could eat supper and have time to relax and get to bed by 8:00.

   The one time I can remember Dad being late was once when the turkeys were ready for market and the trucks where scheduled to be there early in the morning with the neighbors notified and ready to come help as the turkey farmers helped each other load turkeys.

   Anyway the next morning I heard the turkey trucks - big 18 wheelers come down the road and drive in. Excitedly I woke sister Katie who slept with me and we got dressed and hurried out to help.

   Lots of people where already there so when I couldn't find Dad right away I went about getting the turkeys herded up in the pens which were made the day before so the biggest guys could catch them easier and stuff them in the cages on the trucks - After a while the field manager came over to me and called me honey(which I was not used to and it kinda creeped me out) and asked where my Dad was. I said, "He's around here somewhere." He said he couldn't find him and would I please find him and tell him he wanted to talk with him. So in the semi darkness I started looking at each man closely and could not find my Dad - Strange, I thought. Well maybe he went back to the house for something - So I trotted to the house - everything was quiet and dark - I went to my parents bedroom door - I heard heavy breathing - I timidly said, "Dad?"  I heard my Dad sit up and sleepily say - "What do you need?"

   "The turkey trucks are here." - "Ei yi yi, Was zeit id es? Wie hab ich schlofa karma?" And Dad was dressed and out in a twinkling of an eye. The strangeness of the atmosphere lifted and all was right with the world - My Dad was in charge.

- Mamaw Graber

Memories of my Father - Part 2

   Some other special memories are of winter evenings leaning against the rocking chair and his shoulder as he read or told us stories - he usually told them as the younger ones couldn't understand English. One of my favorites was Rosanna of the Amish, The Little House or the Laura Ingalls series etc. Alone yet Not Alone was too sad. Christie's old organ was sad but has a happy enough ending and enough bright spots in it to carry me through and like it.

   One of my fondest memories is of the whole family being bundled in the buggy with Dad at the lines, talking to the horses and humming or whistling  and the sound of the buggy wheels whirring along, the harness clinking and clanging and nobody fussing because Dad was there and would not allow it. Oh precious family time - everyone together.

   One inbetween Sunday morning there was a lot of flies so I took a swatter and was killing them as they sat in the sunshine on the living room floor. After killing all the flies I could see I got the broom and started sweeping. In a little bit Dad comes in, looks at me and comes over, puts his hands over my hands on the broom and shows me how to sweep without kicking up dust - "You must not flip it up at the last which sends the dust flying, always stop while the broom is still on the floor then start another stroke."   I remembered that many times as I swept.

   Dad was always teaching and encouraging us to sing. We sang German and English songs. Quite often he'd bring a copy of a song he wanted us to memories and tack it above the sink where we'd see it while washing dishes. He would encourage us to sing as we worked in the kitchen so we'd learn songs but also to keep us from fussing among ourselves as we worked. Dad would get us to all sing together while driving. Not on the way to church though - he wouldn't even whistle, just hum a church hymn.

   Dad would take us to widows or widowers or the sick or elderly people to sing. And not just the Amish, he frequently took us to Non-Amish and even took us to sing Christmas songs and encouraged us to make homemade candy to give to people at such times. Dad was always inviting people over for a meal or a bed - even brought home a homeless tramp for the night once. After supper he got us to sing songs in English for the poor fellow.

   Dad had an English Bible and Prayer book to use if people were with us who couldn't understand German. After Mother died, Dad got us to memorize songs such as; "Mother's Grave & "Will the Circle be Unbroken?" Which we'd sing for people and they'd be smiling and we'd be smiling to cheer them up.

- Mamaw Graber

Memories of My Father - Part 1

 
   One of my earliest memories of Dad was hearing the horse & buggy arriving home and tugging, pushing, and dragging a heavy kitchen chair across the uneven floor to the door and struggling to get up on it to look out the window in the door watching for Dad to come in. Then getting so excited when he comes up the path that I forget he can't come in while my chair is against the door and having to get down and push is away and then being caught up in my Daddy's arms and being intrigued by the tiny icicles on his beard.

   After supper my sisters Lizzie & Katie wold join me as we'd untie Dad's shoes and help each other tug and pull to get his shoes off, taking many a merry tumble on the floor till we finally succeeded.

   Next would be memories of sitting on Dad's lap in church. Snuggling as close to him as possible to be safe from the big boys in the back who made faces or winked at me if I looked at them and gradually being lulled to sleep by the preacher's voice droning on and on.

   Also remember getting jealous of the little boys that came over to my Dad after church when the men sat around visiting and my Dad would talk to them and give them candy - That was my Dad and therefore my candy!

   These memories I know where when I was three years old and younger because they were of Bowling Green, MO, and we moved out of there when I was three.

- Mamaw Graber

Some Exciting News.... That y'all already know but so what? :P

Well someone has officially joined us here at our fireplace. :) As of the 20th of this month, our darling brother, Jonathan has asked the lovely Marci Merkle to be his wife.

They have not yet set a date although they did set a date to set date. :P Which would be Christmas break(it's like a pun only not....).

Yay, celebration!!! *partyyyyy* Yay them. :P

P.S.

    See I waited a few days so technically it's the past. :P And it was remembered very fondly. ;)

Dorcas: The Girl Who Gave Me Her Birthday

In 1995 she was a beautiful baby. We named her Dorcas- adorable Dorcas. Today she is seventeen. Along the way she has been many things and meant a lot to me. Among other things she has been my little Texas Star, my Bluebonnet Princess, the Apple of God's eye, A Brave Adventuress, a Seeker of Hidden Treasure,  a Beloved Daughter of the King, a Bearer of Light, a Cute Young Lady, and a someone with a unique perspective on life. On top of everything else she gave me her birthday last year for my wedding!

I love you Dorcas! And just to prove that you've been all the things I mentioned above I've included photos:

Confessions of Baking, Bakeries, Bake Goods, Anything and All things Baked under the Sun.........

   Round Top......  Through The Eyes of Dorcas Graber

   Did shivers run up your spine at the very mention of the words? What memories flashed through your mind? Did the taste of smashed cherry pie somehow form on your lips? What was the first thought that passed through your mind.......

   For those of you who have moved away from our home you may have easily forgotten that this weekend is Round Top. But it's very know to all members of the Graber Nuts who still reside inside the four walls of what is affectionately know as the Graber Funny Farm. (No, really it's still known as that. Congratulations whoever started it). You know the drill. The late nights, the stressful breakdowns (I try and keep mine dramatic and artistic), the breakfast tacos, the freezing A/C to keep the bake goods, the early mornings, the trading, talking to all those people, and let's not forget the memorial car rides in between where I usually made everyone's breakfast fun by throwing up. :) Didn't you just love me?

   I well remember the uneasy feeling I would wake up with and know, just know, that later in the morning my annual appearance would be made. I also remember the first year I did not throw up on the way to Round Top. Was that a time of celebration or what? It was the first year that it was just Rosemary, David, Mom, and me.

    As a young child, Round Top was one of the most exciting events of the year! Honestly, I didn't know why y'all always complained so. I thought that is was the best thing ever. And peddling too. I thought peddling was the bomb and didn't find out until later years that Jonathan disliked it very much. Or that he sent me in because the people were more adapt to buy from me then him. Aren't we a family of business geniuses?

   Another memory that is forever burned into my memory is that of Ruth baking cookies with Rush Limbaugh talking on the radio. To this day whenever I hear his show, I can taste chocolate chip cookies. Which makes it rather hard to focus on politics. :)

   Well, I hope you enjoyed my rambling about Round Top and that maybe somehow I managed to bring up some good memories in your mind. 

   Life life to the fullest!  ;)

                                                      Following His Star,

                                                                 Dorcas  (akaMadBakerGirl)

   Note:  This post was written during Round Top week but due to extreme work overload and sketchy memory was posted at a later date.  Enjoy. :)

Confessions of Dreams Come True......

   Today Mother was cleaning out her room and found my journal from 2006. I spent quite a while reading it and discovered two things. 1. My handwriting, however bad it is right now, was actually worse. 2. God has brought me so far and brought so many dreams of mine to live.

   I just wanted to take this time to say Thank You to all of y'all. Thank you for everything you've ever done for me. Thank you for never giving up on me as I've grown through the years. I know I must've been rather annoying and frustrating at times but you still believed in me and knew God had a plan.

   With God all things ARE possible. Those were just words to me before but now they're really coming to life for me. In the pages of my old journal, there is a dream and desire recorded for all to see. My dream was to one day work on movies for the glory of God. And that dream is coming true.

   This summer, I got to work on "Indescribable". "Indescribable" is the hymn history behind the song, "The Love of God". It was an amazing adventure and God taught me so much, This movie was Joseph and Stacie's first project and first of many, hopefully. Stacie was the Director and Joseph, Screenplay Writer, Producer, and 1st AD.

   Jonathan also had a part in the film as a horse wrangler and actor. He played the part of Bennie, Mama Ellie's son. Mama Ellie being played by our own very dear mother.

   I was your very own Behind The Scenes director and made a BTS video for each week of production which you will see on the DVD. The videos were donors eyes only during production but were be released to the public later. This film was a great learning experience for me. I learned basic lighting skills, how to use and operate two editing programs (Adobe Premier and Sony Vegas), and much, much more about the many wrinkles one runs into with film making. I know that this was a huge step up for me and that God has more in store for me. I am determined to use my new found skills to further His kingdom. I have already acquired a job directing and producing a small political ad for Kyle Gresinger, candidate for Speaker of the House, Patriot Academy 2013.

   To be there and see the action. To see my dream unfold before my eyes in a project that was bigger than I could ever imagine was truly breathtaking. I hope that all of y'all are will enjoy "Indescribable" when it premieres sometime next year. I know that God has already used it to change lives and I pray that more will be changed.For more pictures of "Indescribable", visit our fan page on Facebook.

   Another thing I want to add is that my handwriting is really improving. :)  I've really been working on it. God has brought some many things to my attention this summer. Things that still need working on and improving so that I will become even more affective in His great plan for my life. And He you used you guys most of all. They say that "Family is like sandpaper. It grinds you down till you're a smooth finished piece." Let us continue to storm hell's gates and ride for the King of Heaven and Earth. 

Following His Star,

            Dorcas

   

P.S.

  Keep Dreaming! God has a plan for you and one day, when we are gathered around the throne I want to hear 'Well done, good and faithful servant" not "Well, I had a plan but you just quit dreaming and stayed in your comfort zone"..... God can't use us if we don't take that first step of faith.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish..."

Proverbs 29:18

Keep The Vision Alive!

In Memory of Mary D. (Borntreger) Borntrager

This is posted for Rebecca:

Today it is 46 years that my mother died after 9 days in the hospital. We didn't know she had cancer till she was in the hospital. She left 10 children with the oldest being 18 and the youngest 3 of which I was 10.

Christmas Food Memories

Hey ya'll! It's time to make the Graber Family Cookbook a reality. I talked to Pops, Mamaw and Ruth and they all said that it's fine for me to go ahead and get the ball rolling. I'm not "making" the cookbook, I'm just helping the family get it done. :-) The cookbook is going to include food-related memories shared by the family. So I guess we'll start with Christmas! Post your fond food-related memories of our family's Christmas's, please. Keep it short, like a paragragh. Thanks! Make it fun and be nice!
Warning: Anything you post, can and will be used in your favor in The Graber Family Cookbook! You do not have the right to remain silent!

What The Shepherd Saw

Here is the trailer for What the Shepherd Saw, You guys are the first to see it!

Thanksgiving 2010

Mother's Day Memories

As I was wishing all my friends on Twitter who are mothers a happy Mother's Day this morning, I realized that it has been 41 years this summer that my mother went on to be with the Lord.

One of the memories that I have of her is when I was yet a very young fellow and we lived there in Middlebury. I must have done something bad, I can not remember what, but there must have been some lying involved. She preached to me the sins of lying and how people who lie will go to the lake of fire and burn forever. She preached it so well that I remember later that afternoon still watching behind me, expecting that anytime now the car with the guys who would haul me off to that lake of fire would show up and it would be over.

One time I was perhaps slow in following some command and again, I can not remember what it was. She was making popcorn and I really liked popcorn and of course wanted some. She did not let me have any until I had completed the task, then she made a big popcorn bowl just for me.

And of course the Monday when I was perhaps around 4 or 5. We had just had church at our house the day before and there were left overs from the church dinner, including some cold coffee in a big kettle (like a 10 qt or something). I saw the coffee and decided that I really wanted some and that it would be good, very good in fact. I tried to convince her but at first she refused to let me have any. Suddenly she changed her mind, said that I could have some, poured me a cup and then taunted me after I had taken one taste about why I was not drinking the coffee. She was not a coffee drinker and I am sure she thought this cured me. Sorry, Mama, but I like my coffee hot. And if you were here today, you would have enjoyed a hot cup yourself. How grand that would have been. To share that cup together with Mama and our family on this glorious Mother's Day of 2010.

At least we have the memories.

Remembering My Father: Fernandis R. Graber

Three years ago this month I found myself standing in a little Amish cemetery near La Grange, Indiana and watching while my father was being lowered into his grave and then covered with the earth to which we all shall return one day. It was a day of mixed feelings for me as well as for my brothers and sisters.

Dad had been born in Middlebury, Indiana 78 years earlier in the early years of the Great Depression. He had married my mother in 1951. Then he, along with mother, served in Terre Haute, Indiana in the IW or Conscientious objector program. Six and a half years after their marriage I was born and was the only child till more than ten years later when my sister arrived in 1968. Three and a half years before she was born we had left both dad and my childhood home of Middlebury, Indiana and moved to Missouri. Mother had suffered with cancer before my sister was born and was in remission but sometime after that it all came back and she passed away in 1969 just days after my sister's first birthday. Dad married again in 1970 to Suvilla Stutzman who stepped right in and took on the job of raising us and being the help meet she was meant to be. Sister Ruby was born in 1971 and Vernon joined us in 1972. In 1973 we moved back to Michigan (and I say back, because for Dad it was going back closer to his childhood home) where LeAnna was born. Four years of living in Michigan and we moved to La Grange County, Indiana where Irene and Henry were born. This place on 400W in La Grange County became the old home place for Dad's family, even though I left home and married later that year. Dad eventually built a Doddy house there and Henry moved into the big house when he was married to Leah and they took over the farm from Dad. Here in LaGrange County, less than 15 miles from his childhood home, Dad lived out his years.

So there I was, with most of my family around me, on a cold day in February 2007, watching as the era of Dad's life here on earth came to a close. I remembered standing at another grave hundreds of miles away on a hot August day in 1969 when my mother was being lowered into the grave. I remembered so many things that had happened over the years in my life that had involved Dad. I remembered a year earlier when my Uncle Ora had passed on and Dad was there, on a wheelchair, to witness the events. It was a bitter cold day in Bronson, Michigan where that funeral was held in someone's workshop and Dad was very cold. I was able to spend several hours with him and Mom the next morning before heading back to Detroit in my rental car and flying back home to Texas, never seeing him alive again. But it was a very good visit. We talked about things from over the years and dad recounted memories he had. We talked like we hadn't talked in years. I remembered when we had left the Amish in Montana years earlier. Dad had protested in his way. He didn't like it. But eventually he accepted it. Accepted it to a point. And there, that morning, around the kitchen table in Dad's house, we for the first time in years, had a wonderful time together. Right now I can't remember much that we talked about. But that doesn't matter right now.

But standing there beside his grave that morning, I was flooded with a flood of memories. Memories that are still coming back today. His life was over, but we are still living and still bringing to memory things he did and said over the years. The good times we had. The not so good times that we had gone through. But in my heart I had forgiven him for things that had happened that I didn't like. Things that had affected me in ways that I didn't like. Things in which I thought he was wrong. Was he wrong? No, usually not, but stubborn first born sons often think like that. But now I was filled with a peace. We had made our peace a year earlier. And I am very thankful to this day for those few hours we spent around the kitchen table in his house that morning.

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 turned out to be very special in several ways.

Today I was thinking about Christmases past and realized I don't have many memories specifically of Christmas when I was young. I have memories of Christmas at school because at school we made a big deal out of it. We had gift exchanges, special games that day, singing the Christmas songs (yes, including many songs about Santa Claus). We always had a day just before Christmas that we did not do lessons but did special Christmas stuff all day. Those were the days we pushed all the desks up against each wall of the little one-room schoolhouse (plus an entry) there near Clark, Missouri and we would play games that involved the whole school including the teacher. Later we would exchange greetings, get candy and oranges and stuff like that from the teacher and exchange gifts. We had exchanged names earlier. Actually I can't remember having a program for the parents. I really don't think we did. Later when we (Mom and I) were teachers we did have programs for the parents and that was the big Christmas thing but back in the day in Clark I don't think we really had any Christmas programs.

Then on the actual Christmas day I have very few memories. Seems like perhaps we often went to Aunt Edna's house but we didn't call it that. We just called it 'Elmers". We went to Elmers a lot so they all blend together. But we often went to other people as well when we were invited. I remember the big dinners and things like that. Christmas as a day became more special to me, at least the way I remember it now, after I was a teenager and we moved to Michigan. Now we were closer to Indiana and all the aunts and uncles in the area, so we often got together around Thanksgiving or Christmas with all the aunts and uncles and cousins. Those were special times. I remember the uncles telling all kinds of stories about when they were younger.

After we were married it became more about family, at least the way I remember it. I am not sure just how soon we started having a big deal with the family at home for Christmas, but it definitely was already happening in Montana, perhaps in Tennessee. Before that it was usually something we did with the extended family, such as a dinner or something. For me it was also marked in Amish church, as at Christmas you would restart the year with the scriptures that were to be used in Amish church service. You would start real close to Christmas with Luke 1 and 2 as the chapters of choice for reading that Sunday in church. Then it would be followed by Matthew 2 and 3 (usually including part of chapter 1), and then the year would follow the pattern that was set by tradition.

Today for us it has become, and rightfully so, a family thing. And that is exactly what happened in New Mexico this year. We all somehow got there, strangling in over a day or so. Actually it probably wasn't that bad, but some of us had more snow and ice to deal with than others. Personally we had a very nice drive to NM and then a very nice drive home. The Lord was good to put the snow up just a bit higher in elevation that I didn't really have to live in it every day, but we were able to go up into the snow and the children had especial fun in it.

When we did the family picture in front of the tree, starting with Mom and then working our way through the family, that was special. Somehow it brought back memories of bygone times, when the family was smaller. It wasn't always like this, and it won't stay like this for long. The most sure thing about life and living is that there will be change. There will be births.........and marriages....and inevitably.......deaths.


Somehow I was abruptly reminded of that when the tree was being decorated and Joseph brought out his contribution -- the little egg shaped balls with every persons name painted on them. I didn't think of it right away, and nobody else did either. But all of a sudden it hit me, and I knew I had to do something about it right away. Not everybody understood right away what was happening to me, but suddenly the memories of Timothy hit me so hard that I knew we had to do something about it, and now. I don't blame Joseph for forgetting. And I don't blame anyone else for not understanding right away. But suddenly it all came flooding back and I knew I had to do something right away. I was so thankful when one of you came up with the cross to hang there on the tree, along with all of our names, in memory of Timothy L. Graber, 1981-1981.

The following morning when we were taking the family pictures -- and again appropriately we took one special photo of where Timothy was missing.

When all of this went down back in 1981 I suppose I did not show as much emotion as I could have. But it did hurt, and there is a spot for Timothy in my heart yet. This Christmas my whole family was there, and the memory of Timothy was very fittingly included. There was just a bit more healing going on. And a bit more understanding. And a bit more of surrendering to God knowing that He sees the bigger picture when we don't. And also knowing that we just saw a bit more of that bigger picture.

There are many other memories. Coffee in the morning (from a pot that brews before you get up, but often didn't!). Mountains. Clear air. Quiet. Quiet that you could hear early mornings outside. Four wheeler rides. Games played together. Pool shot. Candy ate. Memories shared. Food cooked. Food ate together. Watching wondrous expressions on the faces of grandkids. Grandkids who were experiencing new memories but didn't realize yet how important those memories were. Knowing that somewhere out there was a great big world and stuff was going on. But for us, it was right there in that valley. On those mountains. In that house. Memories we will never forget as long as we live.

We all left there and have now gone back to our everyday lives. But somehow, those days together in NM are a link to who we where before to who we are now. And for me especially, have connected the past to the present in a way that never happened before. And I am glad for it. I really enjoyed it.

Does Anybody remember ALL of this??

November 2004

Let it hereby be known to each member of the Graber Family that it is our desire to have each and every member together for Thanksgiving Dinner and a day of working together putting together a memory book of photos for each one.
It is also our desire to start a tradition of taking an annual family picture plus creating a video where each member performs for a recording either by singing, acting, saying something witty or wise, or simply saying, “Hi”, for future generations to observe and learn from.
Please dress according to family principles and have your creative juices flowing.
If for some reason you can’t be present on Thanksgiving Day, please give notice as soon as possible so we can arrange another date as close to Thanksgiving as possible.

Looking forward to seeing ya’ll–

Dad and Mother Graber

Warm Memories...

On the subject of warm memories, I have a few that are were rather cold at the time but are extremely warm in my mind.
I wish we could duplicate them.

Remember waaaay back in Montana? Those beautiful clear nights with a full moon reflection of the snow and flying down a hill on an innertube. I wish we could do that again, I do remember a time though that on a new route...hitting a covered stump and getting some snowburn.

But remember that hill there by the garden? That was a good tubing hill and then that curvy road by the shop scared me quite a bit.

Timothy Graber

On November the first 1981 they brought home my baby, wrapped in a soft yellow blanket but life had fled. I sat on the bed with Ruth on one side and Joseph on the other as their Dad soberly handed the bundle to me . I helped each of them hold their baby brother one last time as I explained to them that Timothy was no longer in that body, he'd gone to heaven to be with Jesus.

Timothy died in the Cuero Hospital and I was in too bad shape physically to be with him so I was at home while Grandma Borntrager and Dad , Lester, were in the hospital with Timothy.