814-Lancasttr Fanning, Saturday, Dacember 2. 2000
A Stitch
MICHELLE RANCK
Lancaster Farming Staff
YORK (York County) “She
can’t sit idle,” said Merle Smeltz
er, describing his wife, Edith’s,
penchant for hard work.
A typical day for Edith, 80, be
gins at 4:00 a.m. when she rises
to do the laundry, cook, or bake
pies, cakes, or bread. She usually
begins working on her current
quilt project at 8:00 a.m. and will
continue, off and on throughout
the day, until 7:00 p.m except on
Sundays, however.
The log cabin quilt top, her
current project, will take approx
imately four weeks to complete
with Edith working six days a
week. She remains busy despite
two hip operations.
Besides quilting for friends
and family, word-of-mouth ad
vertising has brought Edith more
business, including out-of-state
requests, than she will be able to
handle this winter, she said. Most
of her quilting is accomplished in
the winter months.
Although she doesn’t have a
favorite pattern to quilt, the dou
ble wedding ring seems to be a
popular pattern, observed Edith.
One of her favorite quilt tops was
a stained-glass pattern which
looked like a church window.
“I’ve done quite a few wall
hangings also,” she said. Cur
tains and mending for family
which includes nine grandchil
dren and four grandchildren,
and friends are also examples of
Edith’s work with the needle.
Besides needlework, however,
Edith is busy canning and freez
ing. She estimates she put up 50
quarts of fruits, pickles, and corn
this year. “We did all of our own
butchering until last year,” said
Edith. The couple raised their
own beef and years earlier had
raised 3-4 hogs a year to butcher.
“She just picked peas three or
four weeks ago,” said Merle.
“We put in a second planting,”
said Edith.
Merle and Edith Smeltzer display two newly-finished
quilts at their home in York. Mrs. Smeltzer stitched the
tops of 14 quilts last year.
Healthy Holiday Foods
SPRINGFIELD (Delaware
Co.) Treat yourself to a class
on Healthy Holiday Foods that
include methods to lighten some
calorie laden favorites while re
taining that great taste, food
preparation and taste testing on
Dec. 6, 7-9 p.m. and repeated on
Dec. 7 at 1-3 p.m.
The class will be held in Smed
ley Park, Springfield and pres
ented by Fran Alloway, family
In Time
The couple has lived at the
same home, which adjoins the
Samuel Lewis State Park, since
they were married. At their 30th
anniversary Merle began the tra
dition of buying Edith a bouquet
of roses, one rose for each year
married. This past August, for
their anniversary, he bought her
60 roses.
Merle, 81, has lived in the
same farmhouse since he was
born. Edith, 80, grew up in near
by East Prospect, the youngest of
five girls and one boy. She
learned quilting from her moth
er, who taught all of her girls to
quilt. One of Edith’s older sisters
married Merle’s brother.
Edith never worked away
from home but “I worked out in
the field just like a man,” said
Edith. Her love of farming en
abled her to be a help to her fa
ther until she was married.
During her childhood years
Edith also helped to take care of
the family’s cows. When she was
married, she helped to take care
of the couple’s cows, which they
had until 12 years ago. These
cows provided the butter and
cream cheese which Edith made
and sold at the couple’s roadside
stand. Besides milk products, the
couple also sold eggs from the
family’s chickens. At one time
1,000 chickens were housed on
the farm, a number which has
changed to the 100 chickens. A
garden supplies the stand with
turnips, potatoes, raspberries,
strawberries, tomatoes, peppers,
and cabbage.
The stand also has a steady
supply of walnuts during the fall
months. So far this fall Edith has
collected several bushels from the
tree in the backyard and has
hulled and cracked the nuts to
yield 10 pounds so far this fall,
with more on the way. “My hus
band made the nutcracker,” said
Edith.
“I was always interested in
living agent, Delaware County
Cooperative Extension.
To register, send a check for
$6 made out to Delaware County
Cooperative Extension, 20 Paper
Mill Road, Smedley Park,
Springfield, Pa. 19064. Include
time preferred, and a daytime
phone number.
Additional information, call
(610)690-2655.
Busy fingers: Edith Smeltzer stitches over large stretches of this log cabin quilt
almost every day. Her window view overlooks the Susquehanna River and, in the far
distance, the Blue Ridge Mountains. This quilt top will take approximately four weeks
of work to complete.
making things,” said Merle. “We
didn’t buy much. If there was
anything we needed we just fixed
it up ourselves.” Merle simply
used an existing nutcracker as a
pattern.
A nutcracker is really only the
beginning of the workmanship
Merle has invested into the farm.
He not only added onto the
farmhouse but also built the
farm’s outbuildings. “We’re pret
ty self-sufficient,” said Merle.
Merle, who has always been in
farming, has combined agricul
ture with working off the farm
over the years. He has seen many
changes in agriculture, and re
members farming with mules
and horses or seeing cattle being
driven on foot from Lancaster to
nearby Red Lion.
“I remember when my brother
and I played in the dirt road.
You didn’t need to worry about
cars,” said Merle, who went to a
one-room school. “I also remem
ber that we used to use the reap
er to cut wheat. I was 12 years
old when my father died. We
looked out for ourselves.”
The Smeltzer’s children, John,
Eugene, Ray, and Mary Lou all
live with their own families with
in four miles of the 6-acre home
farm. Two sons have taken over
farming the additional 150 rent
ed acres that Merle had farmed.
Handling And Processing Wild Game Safely
Small game hunters need to be
cautious in how they handle,
process, and prepare game birds
properly to prevent contami
nation from field to table. Dr.
Catherine Cutter, Penn State
Cooperative Extension muscle
meat specialist, offers the follow
ing suggestions for ensuring the
safety of wild game.
Fields Dressing
To reduce the risk of exposure
to disease, wear disposable plas
tic gloves while handling birds.
Use clean water, premoistened
wipes, or alcohol swabs to clean
the knife frequently or between
cuts to avoid dragging bacteria
into the meat.
Dress the carcass as soon as
possible.
To prevent bacterial growth,
quickly cool the carcass to 35-40
degrees F.
After cleaning the cavity,
place carcasses in plastic storage
bags and pack on ice or snow, or
refrigerate as soon as possible.
Keep carcasses out of direct
sunlight and allow for adequate
air circulation.
Transporting And Processing
Marie Smeltzer demonstrates the nutcracker which
the couple uses to crack bushels of walnuts from the
tree in their backyard. This fall Edith has hulled and
cracked 10 pounds of nuts for their roadside stand where
they also sell produce from their garden.
I OMESTEAD OTES
Keep carcasses cool during
transport. Keep them out of sun
light. Do not put birds in a vehi
cle’s trunk while still warm.
Allow for adequate air circula
tion.
Hold the carcass at 40 degrees
F. or less. Freezing the carcass
before processing may toughen
the meat.
If aging a carcass, do so at 40
degrees F. or less for two or three
days.
Kitchen Processing
Store any unfrozen meat in
the refrigerator and use it within
two to three days.
Keep raw meat separated to
prevent cross-contamination in
the refrigerator.
Thaw all frozen meats in the
refrigerator or microwave and
use immediately.
Heat all game meats to
155-160 degrees F. to reduce the
risk of food borne illness. Use a
calibrated meat thermometer to
ensure proper cooking.
If you will be stuffing birds,
use a calibrated meat thermome
ter to ensure an internal temper
ature of 165 degrees F. for stuf
fing and 180 degrees F. for the
bird. Remove stuffing from the
bird before refrigerating it, be
cause stuffing is a great place for
bacteria to grow.
Use leftovers within one or
two days, or freeze for later use.
freezing Tips
Freeze meat while it is still
fresh.
Use heavily waxed paper,
freezer wrap, heavy duty alumi
num foil, or plastic freezer stor
age bags for meat storage. Wrap
meat tightly, and remove all air
from the bag before sealing.
Label packages with contents
and dates.
Space packages in freezer to
allow proper air circulation for
cooling and freezing. Once pack
ages are solidly frozen (within 24
hours), you can re
stack them within the freezer.
Properly wrapped meat will
store in the freezer for nine to 12
months.
For more information on han
dling game birds safely, call your
county’s Penn State Cooperative
Extension office for a free bro
chure called Proper Care and
Handling of Game Birds From
Field to Table.