Promise Lodge

by Charlotte Hubbard

  “—but I’m putting the cart before the horse,” Noah continued in a rush. His pulse pounded with anticipation. “Walk with me, Deborah. I’ve got something to show you.”

  Her hand fit perfectly in his, and as they strode toward the barn Noah was glad that he, too, had seen the truth of Deborah’s confrontation with Isaac Chupp. He searched for the right words—the perfect way to say them—as he led her to the shed where they kept the tools and outdoor equipment.

  Noah felt her pulse thrumming as his grip tightened on her strong, slender hand. Deborah looked eager to see his surprise, yet she was quietly waiting for him to reveal it. How far they both had come since their earlier courting days, when he’d kept his thoughts to himself and she had impulsively blurted her questions and demands.

  Noah propped open the shed door with a rock. The sun’s rays fell upon his gift and he held his breath as Deborah stepped inside. “For you,” he murmured. “I need to paint it white yet, but I—I hope this is what you had in mind.”

  Deborah hurried toward the trellis. “Oh, Noah, it’s exactly what I want!” she exclaimed. “And would you look at these hummingbirds? And the way the ivy follows the arched top and—oh, think how pretty this will be with red rose bushes climbing up both sides of it!”

  When Deborah hugged him, Noah felt ecstatic. “Marry me, Deborah,” he whispered. “Let’s make it work this time—please? I love you so much.”

  When she gazed at him, Noah saw himself reflected in her deep green eyes. It was a wonderful place to be, as though he was looking out through the windows of her soul, already at home in her heart.

  “You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Noah,” Deborah murmured. “It’s you and me now, through thick and thin. In sunshine and shadow.”

  They embraced again, their hearts beating as one. When he thought he could speak coherently, Noah eased away from her. “Shall we pick out the place to put your trellis—and our house?”

  Deborah thought for a moment. “It’s hard to know where we should live until we see where Dat—or your mamm—put their houses.”

  Noah smiled, not surprised at Deborah’s response. She had always placed her family’s desires ahead of her own. “No, sweetie, they want us to choose—and Mamm has decided to live in the lodge rather than maintain a house,” he reminded her gently. “I suspect Amos will keep trying to change her mind about that, however. He says his house will go up right after ours does, and he doesn’t intend to live in it alone for long.”

  Noah led Deborah over to a large piece of paper on the wall. “Here’s the sketch Amos and I roughed out, with Truman’s suggestions about where to put the roads and the water lines and such. This’ll help you picture the colony better, I think.”

  He watched Deborah’s facial expressions as she traced the pencil lines with her finger. “So this row of plots would face the lake . . .”

  “We’re keeping the space between the lodge, the cabins, and the lake open as common ground for everyone to enjoy,” Noah explained as he pointed to these features. “And of course Mamm’s produce plots and the orchard will remain intact.”

  “Could be one of our families will want the orchard as part of their tract—even if Ruby puts her hives there,” Deborah murmured. Then she smiled. “What about this plot? Am I right that the apple trees would be the back boundary, and the house could face Rainbow Lake? It seems far enough from the entry road that we wouldn’t be bothered by folks coming and going—”

  “And this section is big enough to raise hay for our horses, and for a barn,” Noah said as he pointed to these spots within the plot’s boundaries. “It only totals about fifteen acres—one of the smaller plots—but since I don’t intend to farm for a living, that’s fine by me. Less fence to maintain. Less mowing, too—although I’d be happy to let Aunt Rosetta pasture her goats with us to save me some labor.”

  Deborah laughed. “Tell me true, Noah. Is this the spot you like the best?”

  He grinned as he slipped his arm around her. “And how’d you know that, missy?”

  She shrugged, looking very happy. “You’re talking about acreage for hay and Rosetta’s goats as though you’ve already figured out where you want the house and your outbuildings.”

  Noah smiled at her observation. “It helped that your dat liked the looks of this place to the south of it. If he puts his forge in this corner, we could build it big enough for both of us to use,” he explained. “Amos told him, though, that you and I had first choice. And I want you to be happy, Deborah.”

  “That’s quite a nice gift Amos and your mamm have given us.” She sighed pensively. “When I came here, I never dreamed I’d be—that we’d be—picking out a new place that’s nowhere near where we would’ve settled had we married sooner. I love you, Noah. You’re so gut to me.”

  Deborah’s smile did funny things to Noah’s insides. Her tender words made him feel he’d become a man who was truly worthy of her. “Let’s have a look, shall we?” he suggested. “You’ll get a better feel for this plot if we walk around it instead of deciding by how it looks on paper.”

  As they left the shed, the sun and clouds shifted, casting an ethereal light over the lodge and the lake, the grassy hills, and the woodlands that rolled farther than they could see in all directions. When they reached the approximate front boundary of the plot they’d discussed, Noah led Deborah to the top of its gentle rise several yards back from where the road would be constructed.

  “If we built the house here, we’d catch the breeze,” he pointed out. “And we’d be looking out over the lake, toward the lodge and the gardens.”

  “Better to be within sight of your aunts’ places than looking at other families’ property, don’t you think?” Deborah remarked. She shielded her eyes with her hand, her face aglow in the rays from the setting sun. “Your mamm and aunts are right. This place surely must resemble the Garden of Eden, even if some of the trees and underbrush need to be cleared away. And look—a double rainbow!”

  Noah’s breath caught. Against a backdrop of clouds, two shimmering bands of color seemed to rise out of the lake and arch over the orchard, one above the other. “Wow, it’s not often you can distinguish all of the colors. Twice,” he whispered as he held her hand tightly.

  “It’s the sign of God’s promise to His people.” Deborah gazed at the sight for several seconds, lost in thought. “Maybe He wanted you to take your time while we were courting before, Noah. He might’ve even used my impatience—our breakup—and Isaac’s troublemaking to bring us where He intended for us to live. After all, you don’t see the rainbow until you’ve come through the rain.”

  Noah smiled, because he couldn’t see anything except Deborah’s gentle smile and shining eyes, and the love that radiated from her face as she gazed at him. He knew he’d recall this moment as the new beginning of their life together. He held her close, kissing her cheek. “There’s no place like home,” he murmured.

  “Jah,” Deborah replied. “And here we are.”

  From the Promise Lodge Kitchen

  Rosetta Bender loves to cook, and as she prepares for the opening of the Promise Lodge Apartments, she’ll be trying out her favorite recipes for her new friends the way you and I do! In this recipe section, you’ll find down-home foods Amish women feed their families, along with some dishes that I’ve concocted in my own kitchen—because you know what? Amish cooking isn’t elaborate. Plain cooks make an astounding number of suppers from whatever’s in their pantry and their freezers. They also use convenience foods like Velveeta cheese, cake mixes, and canned soups to feed their large families for less money and investment of their time.

  These recipes are also posted on my Web site, www.CharlotteHubbard.com. If you don’t find a recipe you want, please e-mail me via my Web site to request it—and to let me know how you liked it!

  ~Charlotte

  Deborah’s Peppermint Brownies

  No wonder Noah can’t resist these moist, chocolaty treats with a surprise burst of mint in the
middle! This recipe was originally featured as a Christmas cookie recipe, but why wait for the holidays to enjoy them?

  1½ cups butter (3 sticks), melted

  3 cups sugar

  1 T. vanilla extract

  5 eggs

  2 cups all-purpose flour

  1 cup cocoa powder

  1 tsp. baking powder

  1 tsp. salt

  24 small peppermint patties (1½”), unwrapped

  Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9” x 13” baking pan with nonstick coating. In a large bowl, stir together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time and stir until well blended. Stir in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Reserve 2 cups of batter.

  Spread remaining batter in the prepared pan. Arrange peppermint patties in a single layer over the batter, about ½ inch apart. Carefully spread the reserved batter over the patties. Bake 50–55 minutes, until the center is set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut in 4 columns of 9 rows for 36 brownies. Freezes well.

  Kitchen Hint: These brownies can be served as is, or you can make a topping of ½ cup powdered sugar, 2 drops peppermint extract, and enough milk to make a liquid glaze. Drizzle over brownies when cool, before cutting.

  Amish No-Bake Peanut Bars

  This is a go-to recipe in many Plain households. It resembles other no-bake recipes that use crispy rice cereal, except the peanut butter makes the bars a bit looser and more crumbly—and adds some protein! This will be a hit with peanut butter lovers!

  1 cup peanut butter

  2 cups marshmallow cream

  1 stick butter or margarine

  1 cup brown sugar

  1 cup dry roasted peanuts

  4 cups Cheerios or other toasted oat ring cereal

  Melt the peanut butter, marshmallow cream, butter, and brown sugar, stirring until well blended. Stir in the peanuts and dry cereal. Press into a greased/sprayed 9” x 13” pan. Cool and cut into squares.

  Kitchen Hint: You can melt the sauce either on the stove or in the microwave. I don’t recommend freezing these bars (the cereal will get soggy)—not that you’ll have many left over!

  Cinnamon Swirl Bread

  This is a quick bread that doesn’t require yeast, so prep time is short and you don’t even need a mixer! As the bread bakes it makes its own cinnamon swirl, and your house will smell heavenly. Might as well double the recipe and make two loaves while you’re at it.

  Bread Batter

  1 egg

  1 cup milk

  2 tsp. vanilla extract

  cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

  2 cups all-purpose flour

  1 T. baking powder

  ½ tsp. salt

  ½ cup sugar

  Swirl

  cup sugar

  2 tsp. cinnamon

  2 T. butter, melted

  Glaze

  ½ cup powdered sugar

  2–3 tsp. cream or milk (more, as needed, for drizzle)

  Preheat oven to 350° and grease/spray a 9” x 5” glass loaf pan. To make the batter, combine the egg, milk, vanilla, and yogurt or sour cream in a large bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar and stir everything with a spoon, just until blended. Pour into the prepared loaf pan. To make the swirl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Drop by spoonfuls across the batter and use a knife to swirl it into the bread.

  Bake for 45–50 minutes or until the center tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan and cool completely on the rack. Stir the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the top of the bread.

  Kitchen Hint: To save some calories and sugar, I don’t make the glaze. The bread is so moist and pretty with that cinnamon swirl that nobody misses it. Freezes well.

  Hummingbird Cake with Banana Glaze

  If you love dense, moist, flavorful cakes, this one’s for you! Because it’s chock-full of bananas (I used 5 large bananas, total), you can serve it with a glass of milk and call it breakfast!

  Cake

  3 cups flour

  2 tsp. baking soda

  1 tsp. salt

  2 cups sugar

  2 T. cinnamon

  3 large eggs

  1 cup vegetable or canola oil

  2 tsp. vanilla

  1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained

  1 cup chopped pecans

  2½ cups chopped bananas

  Banana Glaze

  3 T. butter, softened

  ½ banana, mashed

  2 tsp. vanilla

  2 cups powdered sugar

  Preheat the oven to 350° and grease/spray a 9” x 13” baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the flour, soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. With a fork or spoon, stir in the eggs and oil, just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the vanilla, pineapple, pecans, and bananas. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40–50 minutes, until center of cake is firm and a toothpick comes out clean. Gently pierce the cake surface with a fork in several places.

  When cake is nearly done, combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and mix until smooth. (I was glad I had a hand mixer for this part.) Frost cake while hot from the oven, spreading the glaze that flows toward the edges back onto the center so it will soak in. Cool completely. Freezes well.

  Kitchen Hints: When I had chopped the bananas into a measuring cup, I mashed them a bit with a fork so they would incorporate into the batter. Totally mashing them would work fine, as well.

  If a regular fork is tearing up the hot cake surface, try using a meat fork.

  Lemon Shoofly Pie

  I confess that shoofly pie is not my favorite—but the lemon in this recipe cuts some of the heavy sweetness of the molasses.

  Crumb Topping

  1½ cups flour

  ½ cup sugar

  ½ cup shortening or softened butter

  ½ tsp. baking soda

  Filling

  1 egg

  Juice and zest of 2 lemons (strain out seeds)

  2 T. flour

  ½ cup sugar

  ½ cup molasses

  ¾ cup boiling water

  1 unbaked pie shell

  Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, combine ingredients for crumb topping until you have an even-textured crumb mixture, and set aside. Stir together all filling ingredients until well blended and pour into the pie shell. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the filling. Bake for 45–60 minutes, until center of pie is set.

  Molasses Cookies with Lemon Frosting

  These soft, spicy cookies are a hit with young and old alike! Easy to make, easy to eat, and they freeze well.

  Cookies

  2 cups sugar

  1 cup shortening (such as Crisco)

  2 eggs

  1 cup molasses

  1 tsp. vanilla

  6 cups flour

  3 tsp. baking soda

  1 tsp. salt

  1 T. cinnamon

  2 tsp. ground ginger

  2 cups buttermilk

  1 cup chopped nuts

  1 cup raisins

  Frosting

  3 cups powdered sugar

  4 T. butter, softened

  4 T. lemon juice

  6 T. milk

  Preheat oven to 375°. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and shortening, then add the eggs, molasses, and vanilla and beat well. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger, and add to the sugar mixture alternately with the buttermilk until well combined. Stir in the nuts and raisins. Drop by spoonful on the prepared baking sheets about 2” apart. Bake about 8 minutes, until set but not browned. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on baking sheet before removing to a wire rack.

  Mix the frosting ingredients until smooth. Spread on cooled cookies.

  Kitchen Hints: No buttermilk? Place ¼ cup vinegar in the bottom of a 2-cup measuring cup and add regular milk to equal 2 cups. Stir and allow to sit about 10 minutes, until t
hick. For extra lemon zing, add the grated peel from one lemon to the frosting before spreading.

  Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies Ever

  These are fabulous cookies. You can make them on the spur of the moment—and they’re gluten-free! Might as well double the batch, because these disappear fast.

  1 cup peanut butter

  1 egg

  1 cup sugar

  Additional sugar

  Preheat oven to 350° and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Stir the first three ingredients with a fork until well blended. Roll dough into balls, roll in additional sugar and place on the cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork to make a crisscross design. Bake about 7 minutes or until firm. Makes 6–8 cookies, depending on size.

  Deborah’s Best Bread

  Here’s a wonderful bread that stands up well to slicing, toasting, or any sort of filling you care to put into a sandwich! Amish women would mix this by hand, but using a mixer makes the dough smoother and easier to handle.