AMISH GRADUATION: The public perception of Amish kids is that they all go to "one room school houses". This is not the case. In fact, the one-room schools are a relatively recent trend among the Amish. Building their own schools has been a response to the increasing secularism, consolidation, and technology found in public educational settings.
Over the past 30 years there has been an accelerating trend of Amish attending their own schools but in many areas public schools are still frequented by the Amish. Tuition can be steep at the Amish schools and if you have 7 or 8 kids, that adds up. I LOVE this story and the photos by The Goshen News's Sam Householder are just amazing. The pink shirts the boys are wearing are stunning in their color and the addition of the bow-tie is fascinating. Amish men rarely ever wear ties. This - and perhaps their wedding day - may be the only occasion they'll wear a tie. Click here to read and be sure to click the 'related photos' gallery to see more. The Goshen News is located in the densely populated Amish areas of northern Indiana. They know how to respectfully over the Amish settlement, so the photos with this article were absolutely permissible. Amish youth are not officially church members so photographs of children are often permitted.
HUTTERITE COOKING: Mary Ann-Kirby has a new book out called "Secrets of a Hutterite Kitchen." Hutterite cooking (I will make it to a colony one of these days!:) is more "organized" than Amish cooking. Whereas the food found in Amish homes is more tailored to the tastes and traditions of the particular family, Hutterite kitchen have to church out 3 meals a day for over 100 people. So the menus are more regimented and organized. You'll also find more Russian and eastern European influences.
Click here to read this fascinating article about Hutterite cooking.
HUTTERITE LIFE IN PHOTOS: You do NOT want to miss this....Kelly Hofer just captures some stunning images of life on a Hutterite colony. SIGH, I know it's easy to over-romanticized and that is a trap for anyone interested in Amish , Mennonite and Hutterite culture but the sense of community captured in these photos are quite appealing. Click here to scroll through. All the pictures are stunning, the winter scenes, etc, but the combination of colorful Canadian scenery and the picture of the girls laying on the riverbank is just breath-taking. Do you have a favorite photo?
Hutterite colonies are similar to Amish settlements in that some colonies are ultra-conservative while others have a more progressive bent. The colony captured in these photos appear to to show a very traditional, middle-of-the-road group.
Christine McMahon-Chase
Hi Kevin. There is a Hutterite colony near my city: Spokane Hutterian Brethern commune on Spokane County’s West Plains.
Kevin
Neat, Christine, have you visited it?
Barbarainnc
Where can we get the Hutterite Cookbook you wrote about? I didn't see it on Amazon??
Missy
Visited a Hutterite colony in Canada in '94. They had a huge hog setup. Most of the adults were at another colony butchering turkeys, but we got a tour of the place by the young folks. It was very interesting. It wasn't till we got back to the hotel that we realized we reeked of pig poop! I mean, I felt like we should burn our clothes. In the end we sealed them in a plastic bag until they could be washed. I remember talking to a young teen about gardening. Something was said about asparagas and I said we hadn't stayed long enough in a place as it takes 7 years to produce and I got a blank look. She will spend her entire life in the colony, the concept of not having enough time in a place is foreign.
tracey berthiaume
kevin, what happened to lovinas column, amish cook? its gone from website
Kevin
Tracy, it's there https://www.amish365.com/amish-cook-mackinac-island-adventure/
Karen mcgarry
Re: return to Amish.
Mary cooked a nice dinner which lovingly included chapel as a guest. There were a few ill feelings but all politely
Kept their mouths shut EXCEPT chapel who opened the can of worms. That was utterly rude at a hosts table right in the middle of dinner. I was shocked that NO ONE hushed her up or that she could exhibit such childish and really stupid behavior. She needs to apologize especially to her hosts!
Merissa @ Little House Living
There are many Hutterite Colonies very near where we live now. They shop in the same town at us and I buy chickens from them at the farmer's market. If you ever make it over here to visit one of the many colonies (I have the contact for one of them if you'd like it) just let me know!
Kevin
Good to know, Merissa, I may just take you up on that sometime! My Hutterite contacts are very limited