Super Blogroll: Cinnamon Flop, Amish Banana Muffins, Bruce Stambaugh, Cheryl McNulty, and More!

By Kevin Williams

This is our weekly whirl through the blogosphere in search of anything and everything Amish (or Mennonite).  So click your seatbelt and let's get ready to see what is our there.  I tried to mix in some different blogs this week, I usually get stuck on my favorites (and there are a few of those too!).  So, let's get started:

AMISH SOUR CREAM RASPBERRY BARS:  I saw this recipe posted on a blog and thought I'd share.  Pretty typical Amish bar recipe. Seemed vaguely familiar, but I see so many recipes that they all can begin to blur together.  But the photo was nice and I liked the blog so I was about to share it with you when I noticed that she credited the recipe to another blog she found it on, so I clicked on it, and it is an Amish365 recipe. How cool! I posted it back in April for the first time, I love it when others sample and post recipes. So click here to enjoy this blogger's version of the bars!

AMISH SIDE OF ME -CINNAMON FLOPS:   I like this blog because Mandy just seems very down-to-earth.  Her parents were both Amish and left the church when Mandy was six months old.  A lot of the "Amish ethos" is still carried and incorporated into Mandy's life.  This week she shares a recipe that is popular in Amish homes: Cinnamon Flops.  I might have to try these with Aster sometime. Click here to see the recipe.

BRUCE STAMBAUGH:  I enjoy his writing so much because I feel like he very gracefully captures the beauty of Amish country and the nuances of the rest of the world.  He's at at a different place than I am now, finding his footing in a new phase (retirement), yet in some ways it is the same place as I am still trying to find my footing in a new phase: fatherhood. Transitions are tough and I think Bruce tackles them head-on.  Looking forward to meeting up with him this spring before he moves to the Shenandoah Valley, so I'm sure we'll still hear from Bruce.  Click here to read Bruce's thoughtful essay this week about his transition to Virginia and into retirement.  

KATIE TROYER:  Ha! I love these photos.  For newbies, Pinecraft, Florida is the an Amish enclave in the Sunshine State where Amish "snowbirds" arrive by the busload each winter to enjoy some time under the west Florida sun.  Katie often captures photos of ebullient Amish de-boarding the bus to the welcoming arms of warmth.  This week she captures the opposite: the glum faces of those savoring their final hours of warmth before heading back to cold, harsh climates  Click here for the photos.

AMISH BANANA MUFFINS:  Man, this blogger hit "gold" as far as I'm concerned.  She stumbled upon a trove of Amish recipes at an estate sale at an Amish home in Harmony, Minnesota.  As someone who studies Amish culinary culture, a stash of local recipes really help piece together a mosaic of the culture. So I'll be interested to see what else she posts from the trove of recipes. Click here for banana muffins!

CHERYL MCNULTY- AMISH BARN:  Promise...we'll have to the Aster portrait very soon. So stay tuned!  Meanwhile,  Cheryl took this amazingly crisp photo of a barn on an Amish farm framed against a crisp blue sky.  It's one of those kind of ordinary scenes that if you stop and look you'll realize that it is quite extraordinary.  The majestic ice-white barn against the equally stark blue sky.  It's amazingly simple imagery of Amish country that is quite striking. Click here to see.

AMISH PREPARING FOR WINTER?  I'm not sure when these photos were taken, or where (I'm guessing the Ethridge Amish settlement).  I know it is in Tennessee somewhere.  I found the photos interesting in showing the crops grown there (mustard, for instance).  Amish life in Tennessee does take on a bit more of a Dixie flavor than in other areas.  The growing season is longer, the food is slightly different.  Click here to view this collection of photos.