By Kevin Williams
A lot of interesting Amish in the News stories today, so let's get right into them!
AMISH SEEING RED IN MAINE: This is interesting. The Maine legislature is considering a bill which would allow Amish hunters to don red hunting vests as opposed to the bright orange. As the article rightly points out, plenty of Amish elsewhere do embrace the reflective orange traditional hunting gear. This legislation is being prompted by Amish hunters who live near Fort Fairfield, Maine and perhaps, Sherman. In both places the Amish are ultra-conservative Swartzentruber Amish. I doubt that the more progressive Amish near Unity and Smyrna object to the orange color. Click here to read more.
AMISH PASSING THROUGH COLORADO? This is an interesting little article that appeared in the Glenwood, Colorado paper. Man, I wish the writer would have delved more into her conversations with the Amish, where they were from, how old they were, etc. But it's still an interesting read. Click here.
MENNONITE RELIEF SALE IN ILLINOIS: One of these days I will make it to this sale! There are various Mennonite relief sales throughout the country each year, but the one in Illinois is one of the largest and best-run ones. Click here to read about it.
MENNONITE REMORSE: This is a fascinating nugget of history. The Hitler regime in Germany was interested in united German people everywhere and that extended to the Mennonites and there were even attempts to interest the Amish in the Third Reich. Attempts to get the Amish to pledge allegiance to the Third Reich were generally rebuffed, but the Mennonites, at least some, were more receptive to Hitler's overtures and even willing to cast aside long-held pacifist principles to do so. A series of conferences are taking a look back at this dark chapter. Read more here.
SARA MILLER'S AMISH CORNER: Out of all the various Amish writers out there who share their thoughts in books or newspaper columns this is one of the best. The reason she is one of the best is just that her writing is so authentic, so connected to Amish culture. She's clearly writing for an Amish audience and because of that you get this wonderfully unvarnished, unfiltered peek into the Amish community in Geauga County, Ohio. Click here to read.
Homemade Scrapple or "Pon Haus"
WHAT IS SCRAPPLE? A good article in Good Food delves into "scrapple" and its Amish origins. Definitely worth a read. It didn't put a recipe, though, for scrapple in the piece so I dug deep into the Amish365 archives and posted a recipe for it below. Click here to read the article.
- Homemade Scrapple (Pon Haus)
- 3-4 pounds pork shanks or hocks
- Cornmeal or flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- Over medium heat in large pot, cook pork until tender.
- Remove bones and skim fat from broth.
- Return meat to broth and add corn meal or flour, just enough to thicken.
- (Editor’s note: Amount of flour to be added will vary widely depending on the meat used; add flour one cup at a time until broth is a thick paste.)
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Pour into loaf pans.
- Chill overnight in a cellar or refrigerator.
- The next day, slice and fry over medium-high heat until golden brown on each side.
- Serve.
BUTTERMILK PIE WITH SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE: This was a recipe post in the Rural Messenger, a creative, rural Kansas newspaper. The recipe isn't Amish, but I like the Rural Messenger, so thought I'd share and buttermilk pie IS a quintessentially Amish concoction, the salted caramel sauce adds a twist to it. Click here for the recipe.
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