St. Ignatius, Montana Amish

ST. IGNATIUS, MONTANA AMISH

St. Ignatius, Montana Amish: It was almost a year ago that I visited the Amish community in St. Ignatius and Rexford, Montana.  Lots of great memories from the visit.  When we were there in early October 2011, summer had lingered longer than usual.  Temperatures were in the 70s and 80s and we have lots of super photos in our upcoming book Amish Cooks Across America of that visit. There are two Amish church districts that lay at the base of the Mission Mountains outside of St. Ignatius.  The Amish community is the only one in the United States that is located on an Indian reservation (an Amish settlement outside Clare, Michigan runs up against one, but no Amish live on the Isabella Reservation to my knowledge), so that creates some interesting cultural dichotomies, although the two groups generally move in different orbits.  The Amish communities here are New Order. This is a photo of their church and school with the Mission Mountains rising dramatically in the background.  Huckleberries are the culinary crown jewel in this Amish settlement.  The sweet berries grow wild in the mountains and are coveted not just by the Amish but most Montanans.  This is a yummy huckleberry shake I enjoyed.  Many Amish make their own homemade huckleberry shakes or ice creams. Our cookbook has a number of delicious huckleberry recipes from my Amish friends, so stay tuned!:)