Scenes From An Amish Picnic

The Amish and picnics go hand-in-hand during the toasty summer months.  Amish homes can often be very warm, without the benefit of air-conditioning or fans.  And who wants to share a room with a hot stove during July?  So it's not uncommon at all for Amish families to eat their meals outside during the summer, or better yet,  pack up some food and head for their favorite swimming hole.

A Picnic With The Amish Cook & Family

So when The Amish Cook's husband, Daniel, called me the other day to tell me they'd be passing through my part of Ohio and perhaps we could all meet for dinner, I jumped at the chance.  At first I thought maybe we could just meet at Cracker Barrel, but the idea of trying to keep 7 children (5 for the Yoders, 2 for us) in line while the adults visited seemed daunting.  That's when I quickly thought that a picnic at a park might be a better venue.   This was literally planned 24 hours in advance and Rachel and I already had a lot on our calendars so there was no time to make anything home, so Rachel planned a menu of carry-in pizza and cookies and she bought a watermelon and cut it up so that we could have that also.

I've also gathered a few of Gloria's picnic specialties below!

We all had a super time.  It was great to see Gloria and Daniel again and it was my first time meeting their foster children and new baby Elijah.  They have a lot of cuteness (and I'm sure chaos) in their house.  One of my favorite things yesterday was just seeing our kids play together.   We'll have to plan a visit to Flat Rock in the near future to spend some more time with them.

We met for our picnic at Carriage Hill MetroPark in Huber Heights, Ohio, a bucolic park right off I-70.  There's an 1800s working farm on the premises (which made the Yoders feel at home, I'm sure) and a lot of nice trails and a pond.  Here are some scenes from our picnic!

Our Favorite Amish Picnic Recipes!

Enjoy these recipes, all of them perfect for any summer picnics you have coming up!