By Kevin Williams
Time for our weekly whirl through the blogosphere in search of everything and anything Amish. Â Let's begin our journey in Natchez, Mississippi.
NATCHEZ AMISH? Â No, there are no Amish near Natchez (locals pronounce it "Natches" like "Matches" but an N instead). Â The closest Amish settlement is far from there in the NE part of Mississippi. Â I've been to Natchez before and it is a charming, history-rich river town, but hardly a place where you'd think there's be a lot of appetite for Amish things. But an "Amish store" has opened up there. Â I'm seeing more and more non-Amish opening "Amish stores." Â The store formula and formats are strikingly similar, bring in some Jake and Amos products, some Walnut Creek cheese and some crafts and mission accomplished. Â I don't want to sound like a stick-in-the-mud, there's nothing wrong with those products....good stuff, but if it's mass-produced then it really doesn't make the cut as "Amish" in my book.....Oh well, read more here.
AMISH FESTIVE CHICKEN: Â Oooh, this sounds - and looks - like a great recipe featured on Fox 8 Cleveland....Amish Festive Chicken, straight from Ohio's Amish Country. Â A key ingredient is Emma Yoder's Breading Mix and best I can tell, that is something very local...you can buy it commercial at some Amish bulk food stores, but most of you won't have access to that, so you'll have to improvise. Â Click here for the recipe.
SARA MILLER'S AMISH CORNER: Â I've said before that Amish writers are becoming increasingly common. There are many talented Amish writers out there and there's always an appetite among the public for good writing from Amish writers. Â The Geauga Maple Leaf is a local newspaper and Sara Miller is a columnist for it. Â What a delightful column! Â I will try to learn more about her soon and share. Geauga County's Amish settlement has some real progressive streaks that would allow for an Amish columnist and some very successful, forward-thinking Amish business people. Â I'll share more about this area soon and more about Sara, in the meantime, check out her column here.
GLORIA ON HUNTING: Â Lots of Amish hunt. A reader of the Dayton Daily News objected to the notion of being Christian and also hunting. Â Click here to read his letter to the editor. Â Â Anyone have any thoughts? Â I do hope the writer is vegetarian, simply because if he thinks shooting a deer is cruel, the reality is that a package of ground beef from the supermarket involves far more animal mistreatment usually than some venison. Â I can see both sides on the topic, so call me neutral.
AMISH IN SHIPSHEWANA: Â There's not a ton new to be gleaned from this piece, but the Voice of America ran an article about the Amish which contains an interesting interview with Alvin Miller, who has been Old Order Amish and Beachy Amish Mennonite. His comments comparing and contrasting the differences among Amish are worth reading. Click here to read.
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