Amish in the News: Buggy Technology, Amish Onion Patties, Amish and the Law, and More!

By Kevin Williams

Some interesting Amish in the News this week, so let's get right to work!

These buggies are more high-tech than meets the eye...

AMISH BUGGY TECHNOLOGY:  Popular Mechanics decided to explore the world of Amish buggies and came up with a pretty good piece. I can tell you from my experience that Amish buggy makers are very gifted craftsmen who have to use a lot of sound science in producing the buggies.  A Mennonite buggy maker in Virginia once explained to me the psychics of crash safety (which this PM article kind of skipped over) and how the buggies - opposite of car safety - are designed to throw the occupants off in case of a crash. If a two-ton car is going crash into a buggy, the wooden buggy will be no match, so the occupants best hope is to be ejected and land in a shrub or some other soft spot.  Anyway, this PM piece really walks the reader through all the ins and outs of designing a buggy adopting all the latest allowable technology.  Click here.

AMISH ONION PATTIES:  A columnist with the Lincoln, Nebraska newspaper decided to use up a bunch of winter onions using an Amish recipe.  Mmmmm, this sounds like an awesome recipe. Click here.

AMISH AND LAW:  Okay, this article might sound like a snore but, especially for newbies here, it is a pretty good primer on the ins and outs of when the law and the Amish faith butt up against one another.   Curious about the Amish and taxes?  The Amish and puppy mills?  Click here to take a look.

MOM MURPHY'S AMISH CHEESY CHICKEN CHOWDER:Yum, sounds like an awesome winter recipe!  

Um....who is Mom Murphy?  Well, kind of a fun story it turns out...92 year-old woman decides to publish a cookbook.  Wonderful story, everyone needs to live their live to the fullest as long as they are able! Click here to read more about her cookbook.

SARA MILLER'S AMISH CORNER:  This is a superb monthly column in the Geauga Maple Leaf, a local paper in Geauga County, Ohio.  The column is a wonderful insight into the goings ons in this large Amish settlement.  But, this week's, she publishes a diary from what sounds like Amish friends or family in the brand new Vermont Amish community.  Since that settlement is so new I've not had a chance to check it out yet or correspond with anyone there, so this provides super insight.  And it can be described in one word: SNOWY.  Click here to take a look.

An Alabama TV station gave this rave reviews.

DUTCH OVEN AMISH CLEANING TONIC:  WHNT, a CBS affiliate in Huntsville, Alabama, says it does a great job. Click here to read their review.  Has anyone tried it? If you want it, you can buy it from Amazon here.