By Kevin Williams
Got a whole slate of interesting blog posts to share this week, so let’s jump right in!
Amish Cherry Cookies
AMISH CHERRY COOKIES: Patricia at Patricia’s Patchwork offer up this delicious-looking recipe for “cherry cookies” from one of her Amish cookbooks. I’m not a huge fan of anything cherry for some reason. Give me apple, peach, blueberry or strawberry any day over cherry. Still, these cookies look good. Click here for the recipe.
STRAWBERRY SPONGECAKE: Shortcake and spongecake, are they the same thing? The title says spongecake, the link says shortcake. Oh well, either way, this looked like a great seasonal recipe from Lehman’s, one of my favorite stops in Ohio’s Amish country. Click here for the recipe.
MISSION TO AMISH PEOPLE: I don’t think I’ve shared this site before, because it is controversial within the Amish. Myself, I have mixed feelings about this group. On one hand, serving a resource for ex-Amish who are trying to find their footing for the first time in the non-Amish world seems like a great thing. Yet, I sometimes get the idea that this group is encouraging some Amish to leave and that, to me, seems like it should a decision left to the individual. Still, regardles of how you feel about MAP, there are some interesting testimonies on their site. If you read several you begin to really put together a mosaic about how textured and complex the Amish church and culture can be. Click here to read these interesting testimonies and explore MAP’s site.
SPLIT PEA WITH HAM SOUP: This recipe comes to us from “Meemaw” on the “Meemaw Eats” blog. Meemaw is based in Iowa near the large Amish settlement around Kalona but she sort of explores all over the place and offers up all sorts of delicious dishes. Check out her soup recipe here.
A COUPLE PINECRAFT POSTS:
Katie Troyer does a superb job of documenting life in Florida’s only Amish enclave, the little section of Sarasota known as Pinecraft. I’ve been to Pinecraft several times and have written about it a lot, but with so many newbies here, here is a link.
PIONEER TRAILS: The main link connecting Amish settlements in the Midwest with Pinecraft is the Pioneer Bus line which makes runs from Indiana and Ohio to Pinecraft throughout the year (much more during winter). Sheesh, I had never thought about this before, but, as Katie documents this week, it even brings coffins down for the Amish church to store for when they will inevitably be needed. Click here for the post.
PINECRAFT PARK: One of the hubs of Pinecraft is the local park, complete with shuffleboard courts that are usually full during the winter. This time of year, there are not nearly as many people in Pinecraft, but still enough lingering around to get a game of shuffleboard going. Check out the post here.
