Commenting on Friday

Okay, time again to explore and respond to some reader comments from Amish365.com over the past week.

Barb enjoyed reading about my visit to Knox County, Ohio:

Another interesting “tour”,Kevin!! I really enjoy these. The Amish bulk store and feed store that I go to are also closed on Thursdays for the same reason. The shops are owned by brothers(independently) and are a mile or so apart. Funny,I’m going there tomorrow..we need feed..again.

Barb lives in northern Pennsylvania.  The "closed on Thursday" that some Amish businesses observe does make sense. Most Amish businesses are open long hours on Saturdays anyway, so they get Sunday and Thursdays off, sort of a broken-up weekend.  Not bad.

One read "tweaked" me on the use of "farm implement" in a post!:)

Ruth: I hope you know what that Amish implement is? LOL I know!

I'm a city boy and I just don't know all my farm equipment like I should, I usually get it wrong (shout-out and thanks to Barb W in northern Indiana for your farm knowledge and support over the years!) so the other day I thought "hmmmm, maybe if I just call something a `farm implement' a sort of catch-all term, I can sneak it by."  Ah, but Ruth caught me:)

Brenda:  I am wondering about substituting cracker crumbs for oatmeal in Rosanna's Hamburger-Zucchini casserole recipe?

Brenda said she was going to make a meatless version. I think oatmeal would work wonderfully to gift the casserole more texture and bulk. So give it a try!  On the "easiest pork chops ever" recipe

On the easiest pork chop ever recipe, Nancy posted:

I fixed this recipe for dinner tonight. I wondered about the addition of ketchup to a baked pork chop. Served with fresh green and yellow beans and corn on the cob, it was a tasty meal. I think this recipe is more appealing to me as a summer recipe, as I prefer a savory taste during the winter (in MI). Also, in the future, I would bake it longer and at a lower temp

Sounds good, Nancy! I agree with you about it maybe this being a better summer version.

Gloria Yoder wrote in her column a few weeks ago about their "hectic lifestyle" a comment that Cathy wondered about:

I was quite surprised by the comment “Something that stood out for me was what a brother said about having hectic lifestyles and schedules. He challenged us to examine our lives to see whether we have a Jesus schedule or if we weren’t too busy to take time for what really counts in life.” I think of the Amish way of life as being very simplified. I am curious as to what activities would be referred to as “hectic lifestyles and schedules” and “being too busy.” I would love further discussion and believe it would be helpful for all of us.

I think Gloria would be happy to write more about this and it is a good question.  But as the editor, I'll chime in here too...The Amish way of life IS - in many ways - simpler.  But that doesn't mean it is less hectic.  For an Amish homemaker there are piles of mending, home-canning, gardening, parenting, church-planning, shopping, and the list goes on and on and on.  Plus you don't have the conveniences.  Gloria has indoor plumbing (about 50 percent of Amish do), but there are a lot of amenities that we are used to that she doesn't have, time-savers like cars and microwaves and the internet.  Things take longer when you're Amish and that can make for a hectic lifestyle because they too have the same number of hours in the day that we have....

Ruth: I hope you know what that Amish implement is? LOL I know!

https://www.amish365.com/opportunity-knox/

I fixed this recipe for dinner tonight. I wondered about the addition of ketchup to a baked pork chop. Served with fresh green and yellow beans and corn on the cob, it was a tasty meal. I think this recipe is more appealing to me as a summer recipe, as I prefer a savory taste during the winter (in MI). Also, in the future, I would bake it longer and at a lower temp.

https://www.amish365.com/random-recipe-easiest-amish-pork-chops-ever/

I was quite surprised by the comment “Something that stood out for me was what a brother said about having hectic lifestyles and schedules. He challenged us to examine our lives to see whether we have a Jesus schedule or if we weren’t too busy to take time for what really counts in life.” I think of the Amish way of life as being very simplified. I am curious as to what activities would be referred to as “hectic lifestyles and schedules” and “being too busy.” I would love further discussion and believe it would be helpful for all of us.

‘https://www.amish365.com/amish-cook-amish-love-story-wedding-salisbury-steak/