Well, with Valentine’s Day coming up I thought I’d push a little romance novella on you.  Last summer, inspired by a journey to Florida I made with the Amish Cook’s family, I penned the short story, Rebecca at the Beach.  It’s a quick read, but a sweet story.  There are definitely autobiographical elements in the book relating to  my own life.  It was fun to write, the first time I had tried my hand at fiction.  Now I’m working on my much longer novel, The Amish Appeal.  Sheesh, The Amish Appeal is like War & Peace length-wise compared to the breezy Rebecca book.  Anyway, if you want a nice read for Valentine’s Day, you can order a Kindle copy for 99 cents  or if you are old-fashioned and actually like paper books you can get it from Amazon by clicking here.  And I see there’s a used copy for sale on Amazon also….what the heck, the book hasn’t been out long enough to be used:)

I can’t wait to see a documentary in February on PBS entitled “The Amish.”  Pass the popcorn, I will absolutely be watching!  After “boasting” yesterday here about how many different Amish settlements I’ve been to, here comes a documentary that takes a wide-ranging geographical view in offering a 2-hour documentary about the Amish.  The title is simply The Amish.  I can’t wait to see where they visit, who they talk to, how they interpret what they find?   This documentary sounds like it might be one of the best produced about the Amish and in the link at the end I am sharing there is a TEN MINUTE preview of the documentary, so go watch it!:)  I am hopeful that this will be the rare media that showcases the diversity within the Amish. I will have to say that I chuckled when reading about the producers being in such a conundrum about how to film a people who don’t want to be filmed.  Yea, tell me about it! I’ve been dealing with that dilemma for 20 years.  That’s why I go on morning TV shows to make Lovina’s recipes and Lovina doesn’t.  That’s why you see ME in videos on this website and not Lovina.  The vast majority of Old Order Amish would not agree to be filmed (although there are exceptions, see “Amish 101″ above)  We dealt with this extensively when producing our next major cookbook, Amish Cooks Across America. I still think we did a superb job of capturing the essence of the Amish in America without capturing them on film.  So I’m eager to see how the producers of The Amish do it for two hours.  Click here to watch the 10 minute clip and read a great article about in Mennonite Weekly.

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to visit so many Amish settlements over the years. This isn’t meant in the least in a boastful way, but when I think of the pure breadth of Amish communities I’ve visited, from remote Rexford, Montana to Unity, Maine and dozens and dozens in between I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone – Amish or not – who has been to as many plain communities as I.  Again, that’s not meant as a challenge to anyone:)  There are some Amish settlements I’ve been to where I’ve thought to myself “wow, I’m not too crazy about this place, I can’t wait to leave” (those will remain nameless, because I’ve met truly wonderful people everywhere) and other settlements I’ve come away completely smitten and practically wanting to move there.  Aylmer, Ontario and it’s daughter settlement of Lindsey/Glenarm are two that I just love, although on each occasion (separate years, ironically) we visited in the dead of winter when the towns were in the deep freeze.  I would eagerly go back to either locale when it’s warm, I would imagine either of those places are God’s country in the spring or summer.

I have visited so many Amish and Mennonite food businesses through the years: bakeries, bulk food stores, candy-makers…but the above photo captures one of my favorite Amish country businesses: Menno-Mex on the eastern edge of Aylmer.  Aylmer is a tiny town but a bubbling cultural cauldron of plain…there is a large contingent of Russian-Mennonites with their European features and distinctive dress, an equally sizable community of traditional Old Order Amish, and still a bunch of Mexican Mennonites who have returned from south of the Rio Grande to live. It’s a community coursing with a “plain diversity” unseen elsewhere. Many of the Mexican Mennonites, fair-featured as they are, still crave the staples they grew up on.  It’s this group of returnees that was the inspiration behind Menno-Mex a store that sells typical plain food and wares alongside jalapenos, tamales, and Mazapan chocolates.  Truly a unique – and as the photo shows – colorful store to visit.  Have any of our readers been to Aylmer or Lindsay? If so, what are some of your favorite stops?

SIGH, my one regret is not getting a recipe for caramel-walnut pie t from an Amish man in Aylmer.  He had offered to run inside to get it from his wife, but being in kind of a hurry I passed up on that…bet it was good!

There are so many great blogs out there that I’d like to highlight some and I’ll be adding them to my blogroll at the very bottom in the days ahead.

One blog I’ve really come to enjoy and I think you will  too is “Little House Living“.  I go back there again and again because Merissa – the site’s proprietor – is so full of interesting tips and ways to live simply yet enjoyably.  She’s not Amish, but she is in spirit (out in the rural Dakotas). Check her blog out here.  You’ll find uses for potato water, how to make homemade olive oil candles, and some neat photography among other things.  If you’re like me you’ll find yourself going back there again and again, but, hey, keep coming back here too!:)

For good, solid information about Old Order Mennonite life, visit “Inside the Buggy”…the site is sometimes a bit tricky to navigate, but I think the information there is worth a visit.  So much is out there about the Amish, but less about the Old Order Mennonites.  The Inside the Buggy blog is a good resource. Click here to enjoy.

I also want to occasionally highlight some of the talented writers from within our own ranks.  Amishcookonline site regular Beth Derrington Russo has a nice blog. If you enjoy a laugh and reading about the travails of a suburban housewife, Beth Derrington Russo’s blog is a good one.  She writes about a hodgepodge of topics, has neat photography and even something occasionally Amish. Click here to visit her blog.

And last, but absolutely not least, I love Magdalena Perk’s blog about living a plain Anglican existence in rural New Brunswick.  Didn’t know there was such a thing as a “plain Anglican?”   Neither did I, but she’s a great writer with always some thought-provoking insights. So check her out here.

Okay, so visit all of those:), but keep coming here!

I’m trying to experiment with new, fun, interesting content on this website. Some stuff will work, some won’t.  I’m going to leave it up to all of you to tell me what you like and don’t like. One of the new things I’m trying is teaming up with my sister-in-law, Jamee Diver, who is a versatile baker, cook, and homemaker in her own right, to bring you “The Almost Amish Kitchen.”   This occasional series (weekly, if you REALLY enjoy it:) will bring video demonstrations of how some of the Amish Cook’s recipes are made and we’ll also chat about some of the topics we discuss on here.  Now to address the obvious:  Lovina – The Amish Cook – can’t participate in these videos.  One of the very things that makes The Amish Cook so appealing – it’s authenticity – also makes it a difficult brand to promote.  Lovina’s church, like most others, don’t typically participate in projects that involve being photographed.  But I’m hoping these videos are one way to sort of bring her recipes to life.

To watch our first episode, click here.  Let us know what you think.  And at very least, my nephew, Cooper, and niece, Reese, enjoyed the by-product of the video: cookies!  That’s them with Jamee below!

Thanks to Jamee’s husband, Aaron, for watching the kids during the video and my wife Rachel for doing the behind the camera work.  And the link to Park and Vine, the store we talk about, is here.  And as always, I’m only discussing this business because I think it’s neat, no one is paying me to promote (Lord know I wish someone were, if any business ever does, I will tell you in the interest of full disclosure)

The By-Jo Theater, located in a charming, old-time store-front in downtown Germantown,Ohio.

A night at the movies these days is like getting mugged.  Not trying to sound like a tightwad, but for Rachel and I to go see a first-run movie at the local multiplex, it would cost $20 just for two tickets, then add some popcorn, soda, and maybe some candy on top of that and it can easily be a $40 night.  Movie concession prices are nose-bleed high and many of the movies released these days – in my opinion – just aren’t worth it.  But I know a place where it is worth it and I found it last night: the By-Jo Theater.  A visit to the family-owned By-Jo takes one back to the golden era of films when it seemed like a shared, intimate experience and an enjoyable night out.  There are very few “one screen movie houses” left, as they long ago succumbed to the behemoth multiplexes.   My hometown had a couple that held on into the early 80s until they too shuttered.  The By-Jo Theater is located in charming downtown Germantown, Ohio in a 1920s store-front.  You walk up to the window, by a $4 ticket…Yes, folks, FOUR DOLLARS….enter and enjoy.  The concession stand is located in the ticket window.  The largest size popcorn is $3, but you can get a snack size for $1. A bag of Skittles: $1.  Okay, granted, the largest popcorn size is also 1920s portion but, really, who needs a KFC chicken bucket size vat of popcorn?  Once you purchase your concessions you settle into the dimly lit theater with comfortable seats, a fine view of the screen and lose yourself in Hollywood’s attempt at magic. We saw the movie Sherlock Holmes, but once I was in there I didn’t really even care. I just enjoyed the ambiance” the old building, the rainbow-colored sconce lights on the walls, and the small-town feel of the place. Many people seemed to know one another and they paid attention to the movie, not their cell phones. The fact that I enjoyed the movie was a bonus. Anyway, if you are anywhere in the Cincinnati-Dayton area and just want a different movie experience, go to Germantown and check out one of their charming cafes or restaurants for dinner and then an 8 p.m. show at the By-Jo.  The movies are not “first run”, but they aren’t old old…Sherlock Holmes was released in mid-December and just came to the By-Jo, so not terrible.  I think I may just see most of my movies at the By-Jo, better price, better experience (SIGH, no, they are not paying me to shill for them..I just like the experience so much I thought I’d share it). To see the By-Jo’s website, click here.  I had written a small article about the By-Jo for Cincinnati Magazine back in 1997. It was a small sidebar to a much larger article, but I had never seen a movie there until last night. It is kind of cool to see my article framed on the wall in their lobby:)