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Pick Up A Six-Pack....(cookbook special)
For those not on amishcookonline's emailing list, I wanted to let you know about a cookbook special going on this month. There are six softcover Amish Cook titles available for a sale price of $85. The books make great gifts throughout the year. To order, just go to click the “donate” button on the right side of the page under the photo of the coffeemug. Type in $85 and your address and your books will ship before the end of the month. Additional sets can be purchased for $70 a set. The titles included in the sale are:
The titles are:
The Original Amish Cook Cookbook: First published in 1993, this is a classic written by Elizabeth Coblentz and Kevin Williams with recipes, stories and Amish artwork.
The Best of The Amish Cook, Vol 1 : chronological collection of all Amish Cook columns and recipes from 1991 – 1996.
The Best of The Amish Cook, Vol 2 chronological collection of all Amish Cook columns and recipes from 1996 - 2001.
The Best of The Amish Cook, Vol. 3, chronological collection of all Amish Cook columns and recipes from 2002-2007.
The Amish Cook’s Family Favorites & Facts: 2003 by Lovina Eicher and Kevin Williams, collection of recipes, facts about Amish life
The Amish Cook’s Treasury: a book of recipes only from Amish, Mennonite and German Baptist kitchens.
You can see the books covers by going to amishcookonline.com/books The cookbooks will come to you from Amazon.com, but to get the sale prices you have to use the "donate" button and then I'll place the order through Amazon.com for you using my author's discount. Enjoy!
<DOUBLE-SIGH> I Shouldn't, But Oh What the Heck......
There are plenty of good blogs out there about the Amish (I hope mine is one
). There is Erik Wesner's wonderfully informative www.amishamerica.com and one of our site regulars has a nice Amish-themed blog at http://itswonderfulgood.blogspot.com/2010/02/mesimplified.html .So I hate to give attention to a blog that I DON'T think makes the grade, but, what the heck, you gotta have a little fun sometimes
. Someone called my attention to this blog. Take a look at it! Sheesh....now, really, one of the joys of the internet is that it allows a person to just do as they please. There's no law against creating a fictional blog that is an enjoyable read and that is what I would characterize Rebekah's blog - fiction. I just don't buy a word of it. Read the "about me" section...Rebekah confesses to: "sneaking to the barn and blog during milking hours." It's funny, but - in my opinion - it's fiction. What is even funnier is when people believe that something like this is real (Rebekah has a list of "followers", I pray they are just people who enjoy funny fiction). There are a gazillion reasons I think the blog is contrived, but diction is one. Some people over compensate when trying to replicate an "Amish voice", by sprinkling in phrases like "gut"..."ja"....and other stuff...things that a typical Amish person just wouldn't say in the course of conversation. On the other hand, this blog just sound too sterile...it just doesn't ring true. What do you think? Star cake anyone?
SIGH, Hollywood Does It Again; Silliness in Update New York Continues.....
On March 28, the Lifetime channel will show a movie called "Amish Grace", a depiction of the tragedy at Nickel Mines, PA that saw a deranged gunman charge into a schoolhouse and start shooting. Of course, Hollywood then has to start shooting also, shooting a film. Hollywood's depiction of the Amish is always overromanticized, over-glamourized, or over-simplified. Too often rush-job producers sanitze and simplify what is actually a very rich and complex culture. The film is based on the book of the same name "Amish Grace", but the authors, all three are esteemed academics, declined to participate in the film's production. I can see why...based on early reviews, Hollywood has again failed to portray the Amish accurately. In fairness, I am only basing my opinion on reviews....I'll watch the actual movie and then decide, but it doesn't sound good. Take a look at this scathing editorial about the movie in the Harrisburg, PA Patriot-News.
In other news, Amish residents continue to be cited around Morristown, New York for building homes without proper permits. I'm just not sure why this tiny town is spending so much of its resources on this case. The courts have traditionally sided with the Amish on issues like this and it just seems as if they are attacking an ant with an Abrams tank.
Homemade Potato Bread...
Leftover mashed potatoes can have varied uses. I'm sure many of you have fried them up into patties, which is delicious. But ever tried using mashed potatoes to make homemade bread? I've seen this done in several Amish kitchens. It's a great way to use the leftovers and makes for a thick, delicious bread. This is an easy recipe for Amish Potato Bread given to me by an Amish woman in Tennessee. I am not sure that many of us buy yeast in a "cake" form, so maybe someone has an idea of what equivalent 1 /2 "cake of yeast" would be in teaspoons or packets?
AMISH POTATO BREAD
2 eggs
1 /2 cup sugar
1 /4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unseasoned mashed potatoes
1 /2 cake of yeast
3 cups bread flour
1 /2 cup butter
1 cup warm water
Beat eggs and add 1 /4 cup sugar. Add salt and mashed potatoes which have been passed through a sieve. Add yeast which has been dissolved in a little warm water. Stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Place in a buttered bread pan and let rise for 2 hours. Then cream butter and remaining sugar together. Work this into the dough and let rise very slowly for 6 hours. Then work in warm water and shape into a loaf. Let rise again until very light and then bake for 15 minutes at 450. Lower heat to 350 and bake for additional 45 minutes or until golden brown.
Court Rules in Favor of Amish Farmer....
An Amish farmer in Wisconsin challenged the state's new livestock registration program in court and has come away victorious. The new program would tag all commercial livestock in the Badger State with a numerical code so that disease outbreaks could quickly be traced and tamped down. But the Amish farmer saw it differently. The farmer invoked his religious rights claiming that this amounted to too much government intrusion and that the numbers could represent the "mark of the beast." Courts have traditionally helped sort out the murky middle where government needs and religious reason overlap. And in this case the judge was persuaded that the farmer's religious convictions truly would make this ID system untenable. So, in this instance, I think the Court did exactly what they are intended to do which is to umpire a dispute. Click here to read more about the outcome of the case.
