Weekly Blogroll: Mennonite "Stretch" Chicken, Serene Amish Scenes, Grandma's Coconut Cookies, and More!

By Kevin Williams

Happy Tuesday to one and all, welcome to our weekly whirl through the blogosphere in search of anything and everything Plain.  Have some delicious posts to share today, so let's get right to it!

MENNONITE  CHICKEN:  Okay, it's actually "Al's Stretcher Chicken", but who's Al?  And "Stretcher Chicken" just sounds...well, I imagine an ambulance carrying a chicken on a stretcher somewhere.  But Patricia at the Patchwork Quilt blog snapped up some Mennonite cookbooks from an estate sale (and these are some really, really culturally relevant cookbooks, I tried to find copies for sale on Amazon, but no luck).  I'm going to venture to guess that they call this recipe "stretcher" chicken because it stretches out the meat supply, not because the chicken is being rushed to the hospital. Click here for the recipe and some interesting background about the books!

SERENE AMISH SCENES:  Tom the Backroads Traveller captured some serene Amish scenes on the backroads of Upstate New York. I love the brown buggies.  He has a photo of one in this batch, the brown buggy Amish are affiliated with the group in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.  Several daughter communities are in New York State. Click here to see the batch of photos!

GRANDMA'S COCONUT COOKIES:  Man, when did I become such a coconut junkie?  I can't get enough coconut.  SIGH, unfortunately, Mounds bars are great sources of coconut, but I'm trying to steer clear of sweets like that, so maybe these cookies would be a better bet. Click here to take a look.

PEEK INSIDE AN AMISH CANDY SHOP:  Wow, this store is a gem.  I've been to plenty like this, but the beauty of this post is that the blogger has a list of Amish-candies that this tiny bakery makes AND they will ship to you.  SIGH, there goes my Amazon commission.  But, seriously, take a look at this post.  Even if you don't order any candy from them, the photos really capture one of the joys of exploring Amish country and that's finding these tiny treasures: home-based businesses that churn out amazing products.  Click here to see this post.

OVEN-CRUSTED CHICKEN FROM CHARM CITY:  This recipe comes from a wonderfully authentic looking Mennonite family cookbook (the Martin Family Cookbook)  Martin, by the way, is almost always a Mennonite surname (at least when you're speaking of Plain people, there are plenty of non-Plain Martins). I have met one Amish Martin and that was in Canada, a Mennonite to left his church to join the Amish.  That in itself is rather rare, far more Amish leave their church to become Mennonites than vice-versa.  Anyway, click here for this chicken recipe!