New Cabinets and Applesauce

What, you ask, do new cabinets and applesauce have to do with each other? Well, let me tell you.

This morning we took the motorhome to the Amish farm of Samuel Stoltzfus, the owner of Hillside Furniture in Gordonville, PA to have our new drawers installed under the cook top and kitchen sink. His son, Mahlon, who was doing the work, had already come to the motorhome and done all his needed measuring. They were ready to install.

We got the motorhome parked after I almost took out their clothes line. They saw us coming and reeled the clothes line in and I figured we would clear it - wrong! I didn't take into account that the cloths still attached were weighing it down. I think it (the clothes line) bounced over the King Dome before I came to a stop. I backed up to free it and the one daughter proceeded to take the clothes off the line which really helped. I pulled in and parked without further incident.

Mahlon met us and showed up the finished drawers and proceeded to begin installing them. I noticed that the mother and daughter were sitting pairing apples so I walked over to talk to them. That began a morning of fun and education for me. Linda, the mother, got me a chair so I could sit and talk while they paired three bushels of apples. I offered to help but guess I didn't sound like I meant it so I just sat and talked and watched. I noticed a wood burning stove type thing in the drive and asked what it was for. Linda told me that was where they would cook the apples to make applesauce. I could tell this was definitely going to be educational for me! After a little while she put about half of the apples in the top to cook. Of course she had to keep the fire going to keep it hot enough to boil. Midway through the cooking process, she asked if I would stir the apples that were cooking and I jumped at the occasion and said yes. There is a picture at Picasa as proof! After the apples were cooked enough, we dipped (yes, me included) them out into big buckets. From there, their youngest son proceeded to press the cooked apples, separating the skin and seeds from the apple(sauce). Picture of that is posted as well. I was put in charge of stirring the sugar into the pails of applesauce, it sure gave my arm a workout. We are talking 5 gallon buckets of applesauce! Linda was dipping the sugar out of a 100lb bag of sugar. I've never seen such a big bag of sugar. She said they always buy it that way during canning season because they use so much. Naturally I had to sample each bucket to make sure that Linda put in enough sugar and ummm good, the best applesauce I've tasted. Anyway, after the sugar was stirred in it was put into jars to be sealed. When the second batch of apples were cooked and the cooker emptied, it was cleaned out and then water put back in the top. Then the jars of the applesauce were sat in to heat back up. When they are taken out and sat on the table to cool, that creates a vacuum and thereby seals the jars for storage. Quite a process. I'll continue buying my applesauce in the grocery store but it won't taste as good as theirs. Linda insisted on giving me two jars for my hard work. One I'll have after we get back to Montgomery, the smaller one we will eat between here and there!

It was so nice talking with Linda and her daughter (I never did get here name). It was like we'd been friends for quite awhile. I talked about Amish ways and "our" ways. I told her that there were times when I long for the quiet peaceful lifestyle they live but that I know I wouldn't last over a day! She laughed and said I would probably last longer than that - at least until it was time to shovel manure - LOL! She asked about our lifestyle of living in the RV.

OK, during my fun time, Mahlon was installing the drawers and all to soon Dean said they were in and the work was done. I was hoping it would take all day! The work he did was really great and the fit is like it was made that way. No easy task because as Dean said, nothing was straight where the cabinets are concerned.

I want to recommend Hilltop Furniture and Samuel Stoltzfus and his five sons for any carpentry work any of our RV'ing friends may need done. Excellent workmanship and fair prices. I have posted pictures at Picasa of our new drawers. I'm sure they will serve us well. Now I don't have to climb inside the cabinet to get to something in the back!

If you get to Lancaster County and want some carpentry work done here is Samuel's contact information: Hilltop Furniture, 310 S. Groffdale Rd. Gordonville, PA 17529 Phone 717-768-8433. Never open on Sunday! Be sure and tell him we said hello.

There is a fair starting today in New Holland that I would like to go to. We'll see how the weather holds out. I'll post about it if we go. Till next time, God Bless....

Pictures are posted at Picasa.