Lovina's Amish Kitchen | Year winds down with farewell to a favorite cousin

One day after another goes by, bringing 2015 closer to history. We do not have snow. We had seven inches of snow several weeks ago, and last week a few flurries that stuck to the ground for a few hours. Our children are hoping it snows for Christmas. Snow does bring in the holiday spirit more, but we cannot forget the real reason for the season -- Jesus our savior was born.

Our church will have our annual potluck Christmas dinner on Dec. 20 -- our next church service. I will take a casserole, although I'm not sure what kind yet.

Tomorrow is daughter Verena's 18th birthday. I just try to grasp the fact that 18 years have passed since she was born. What a precious young lady she has become. I still remember well the day she was born. She was a petite, dark-haired baby. Always little but mighty. At 6 months old, she was crawling all over the house. She is still petite.

With Kevin, 10, growing taller and taller, it won't be long before he will pass Verena in height. My wish for Verena is to have a very happy birthday and God's guidance through her teenage years and always. Verena will never leave or go to bed without giving me a hug and a kiss. What a joy to be her mother.

This week I will share the recipe for pecan-white chocolate chip cookies. Daughter Verena baked these last week.

Pecan-White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1- 1/2 cups oatmeal

2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix together butter and brown and white sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in oatmeal. Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda and add to rest of ingredients. Stir until combined. Add pecans and chocolate chips. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Note: for a soft, chewy cookie, bake only 9-10 minutes. A longer bake time will make a crisper cookie.

Lovina Eicher, an Old Order Amish writer, is cook, wife and mother of eight. E Readers can contact Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply).

or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Lovina's Amish Kitchen | Year winds down with farewell to a favorite cousin ."