Note the lack of measurements. That’s the sign of a truly good cook. They measure by sight and taste. For those of us trying to follow along, the lack of measurements presents a challenge. But hey! That’s what experimenting in the kitchen is all about, right?

Dutch Potatoes

Cook potatoes with the jackets and then slice thin by hand. Put butter or oleo (1/2 stick) in the skillet. Melt. Add potatoes and sprinkle with flour, and then add milk, enough to thicken. Fry slowly so milk doesn’t scorch. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a few slices of cheese about the last 4 to 5 minutes to melt over the potatoes. Turn very carefully. Serve at once.

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For instance, there’s an article in here about a dog immigrating to America along with the Beck family in 1834. Apparently the children had a hard time leaving the family pet behind in Switzerland, so Papa Beck allowed them to bring it across France with them, with the understanding that when they boarded the ship to America, the dog would not come. (Dogs were not permitted on the immigrant ships.) So the morning they were to board the ship, Papa Beck instructed his oldest son to take the dog out and drown it. (I know. Harsh. But before this current enlightened age, dogs were treated like…well, like animals.)

Little John, however, did not obey, but snuck the dog onboard. The family kept the animal hidden for a while, but then the dog gave birth to a litter of six puppies. It’s kind of hard to keep six puppies quiet and under wraps on a ship. They were discovered when none other than the ship’s captain witnessed a puppy escaping from its confines and prancing across the deck. John thought for sure he would be ordered to throw all the dogs overboard. Thank goodness the captain turned out to be a dog lover. He picked out a puppy for himself, and paid John a silver dollar plus a daguerreotype of himself. Papa Beck promptly confiscated the money and the photograph, because it was wrong for Amish to have pictures. Not sure what happened to the rest of the puppies, but Mama Dog arrived safely in Fulton County, Ohio with her family.

Don’t you just love fun glimpses into history?

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Consider this section of a letter from the scribe in the Amish community in Hestand, KY: “Two of Dan Bye’s girls went over to Joseph Troyers’ to get some pots to put plants in. It was windy and on the way home some pots fell off so both girls went after them and left their tame old horse standing. The horse decided they could walk home and left without them. No harm was done but the girls had to carry all the pots home.”

Or this one from Reedsville, WI: “Several weeks ago Leroys had some very anxious moments when 2 year old Matthias turned up missing. Linda had sent him out to the veal barn with a note for Leroy. Leroy finished his duties in the barn, snapped out the lights, hooked the door from the outside, and went for the greenhouse. Two hours later it was dinnertime and Leroy had never seen Matthias! A quick run to the school cabin and all the children joined the search party. They tramped through the muddy woods, checked the creek and fields. It was a grave concern with all the water from snow melt. Then one of the girls thought of checking the barn and there he was, what a welcome sight! He had traces of tears, but had snapped the lights back on and was putting barn lime in the calves feeding bowls and seemed none the worse for the experience. The 45 minutes they spent looking for him seemed a long time.”

And how about this one from Sugarcreek, OH: “Alta Beachy came home from the hospital and is doing better each day. She is able to eat again, although not staying alone through the day. We were over to visit her Sun. evening. Sara Beachy was in church on Sun. She is doing lots better since her fall in church 4 weeks ago. She wants to try and do her washing for the first time today.”

Oh, how I giggled when I read about those girls walking home, their arms loaded down with pots! I sympathized with poor Linda when her toddler went missing, and I wondered how Sara’s accident happened. When I read these accounts, I’m getting glimpses into the day-to-day lives of the people in these Amish communities. In fact, I think I might subscribe to The Budget. I’d rather read about Dan Bye’s girls than the latest exploits of campaigning politicians.

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PORCUPINE MEATBALLS

1 ½ pounds ground beef
½ cup uncooked rice
1 tsp water
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can tomato soup

Combine meat, rice, salt, pepper, and onion. Shape into small balls. Blend soup and water. Put in casserole and pour soup and water over the meatballs. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

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The other day I was making up the guest room in preparation for a friend’s visit. As I spread a quilt over the mattress and smoothed out a wrinkle, my fingers lingered over a seam. This quilt is one of several I received when my husband’s father passed away. He and his wife lived in northern Ohio, an area that has deep Anabaptist roots. They were devout members of the Church of the Brethren, which shares a history with the Amish and Mennonite traditions.

My in laws were plain people – not Plain, but like their Amish neighbors they lived hard-working, no-frills lives as farmers. My mother-in-law made these quilts decades ago with her church quilting circle. They’re beautifully bright and colorful, and the stitches are small and even. But not perfect. Every now and then one stitch will be longer than the others, or will point slightly toward one edge instead of lining up in a machine-like line. Those tiny imperfections somehow add to the beauty of the design, and remind me of the human hands that created them. They make me appreciate the quilters’ efforts even more. Just looking at them makes me smile, and I find myself hoping the quilt will bring happiness and comfort to my friend when she snuggles beneath it while visiting my house.

Now, personally, I don’t quilt. I have a feeling I would be lousy at it. My creative gifts tend to find expression in words, not crafts. But when I look at these quilts, admire their beauty, and run my fingers over the stitches, I confess that I have a desire to give it a try. None of us are perfect, are we? And yet, we’re all beautiful creations that God has pieced together. Like my quilts, perhaps even our imperfections can be testimonies of our efforts to become something bright and beautiful that God will use to bring happiness to others.

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I am constantly amazed at the prevalence of canned soup in Amish recipes. Not sure why – I use it regularly in my own culinary creations. It just seems the Amish would have a natural alternative, or something. But when I give it a second thought, the Amish lifestyle is all about simplicity. What could be simpler than making use of a can of soup?

WIGGLES

1 ½ pounds hamburger
5 slices bacon
2 small onions
1 ½ cups diced potatoes
1 ½ cups diced carrots
1 ½ cups diced celery
1 can mushroom soup
1 cup peas
1 quart tomato soup
2 pounds Velveeta cheese
1 pound spaghetti (or noodle of your choice)

Cook vegetables separately. Fry bacon, take out of skillet. Fry hamburger and onions in grease. Put in a roaster, add potatoes, celery, carrots, and peas. Add mushroom soup and cooked spaghetti. Arrange bacon slices on top. Add grated cheese. Pour tomato soup over top. Bake 1 to 1 ½ hours at 350 degrees.

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In fact, we like this cow so much we’ve decided to run a contest to name our cow! Come up with a terrific name for our cow and you might win an Edible Bouquet – a delightful and beautifully arranged assortment of fresh fruit. The contest entry forms are posted on our websites:

VirginiaSmith.org
LoriCopeland.com
CopelandAndSmith.com

We will post the entries and declare a winner in two weeks. So put on your thinking caps and get creative. Our cow needs a name!

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I’ll be honest, that didn’t sound like such a big deal to me. I mean, who cares about a chair at the supper table? In the overall scheme of things, being banned from a meal didn’t seem all that important.

But when Lori Copeland and I started writing The Heart’s Frontier and I began really delving into the traditions and deeply-held beliefs of the Amish lifestyle, I realized something. A shared meal *is* a big deal. The evening meal is a time of intimacy, of sharing with each other, of relaxing after the day’s labor, and of giving thanks. It’s a time when families and close friends come together to enjoy God’s bounty, and express thanks for God’s blessings. In our rush-rush-rush society, many of us have forgotten that. Amish families still treasure traditions others have forgotten, though, and shared meals are a very special time of intimate fellowship for them.

The Amish are not the only ones who hold family mealtimes in high regard. In Jewish traditions, family mealtimes are precious, and intimate, and special. I have a friend who recently spent some time in Israel, and she told me that when she was invited to dinner with a Jewish family, her guide told her, “It is a tremendous honor they are bestowing on you.” Think about it. What did Jesus say? He said he stands at the door and knocks. If we open the door, he will come in, and sup with us. He is saying, “I’ll get to know you intimately. I’ll share special times with you.”

It wasn’t until then that I realized why my Amish friend was so affected by his banishment from the family table. It was not simply a matter of saying, “I don’t really feel comfortable in that church, so I think I’ll try this one for a while.” The Amish faith is not simply another denomination, like Methodist or Baptist or Presbyterian. It’s a lifestyle, a culture, a way of living. To accept an outsider into the intimate circle of community is a tremendous thing. And my friend had become an outsider. Suddenly, I understood the situation from both sides. I felt the pain that each of them suffer.

I’m happy to report that, in the ensuing years, my friend has enjoyed a reunion with his Amish relatives. After years of absence, he made an effort to reach out to them, and they responded. He’s become their driver when they need to run errands beyond the reach of their buggies, like to the doctor or hospital. He has attended family weddings and funerals. To his surprise, his tentative offerings of reconciliation have been received and welcomed. And just a few months ago, one of his brothers invited him to share a family meal.

Don’t you just love it when God heals a broken relationship?

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My Brother-in-Law's Family Farm

My brother-in-law was raised in an Amish home in Holmes County, Ohio. He and my sister-in-law spent most of their adult married lives in Florida, but a few years ago they moved back to that area. What a treat to visit them! When I was working on The Heart’s Frontier, I was able to spend some time in the area, driving over those beautifully green rolling hills, visiting the sites of Aden’s childhood, hearing him talk about his upbringing on the farm. Though his parents have passed away, one of his brothers still lives on the family property, in the dawdi haus, while the younger generation has moved into the main house and runs the farm.

One thing I love about Holmes County is all the cheese! There is a very strong Swiss heritage in Holmes County, and they have preserved the traditions of cheese making. Every time we visit we take at least one day to visit all the local cheese factories. My in-laws drive us around from one to the other, and Aden points out the places where he used to deliver the milk from their cows. The cheese makers still use locally produced milk to make their cheese.

 Most of the shops have tasting rooms. In the Guggisberg Cheese factory you can watch the cheese making process, and sample dozens – and I mean many dozens – of different cheeses. I never leave there without stocking up on incredibly tasty Swiss cheese and smoked cheese and spicy pepper cheese and… oh, there’s something different to try with every visit. I also love Heini’s, and Troyer’s, and Walnut Creek, and… oh, there’s too many to name. I love them all.

Someday I’m going to write a book about Amish cheese making. Then I’ll have an excuse to eat as much cheese as I want.

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In the end, Lori Copeland and I decided to approach the story of The Heart’s Frontier as we would any other story – from the perspective of the viewpoint characters.

I admit it took quite a bit of research to discover how Emma Switzer, Amish woman in 1881, would view her contemporary world and how it differed from her non-Amish contemporaries. It’s so different from anything we encounter today! But in the end, Emma and her family were such intriguing characters, and their beliefs were so strong, that the story of The Heart’s Frontier pretty much unfolded naturally. The Amish lifestyle hasn’t changed much since the late 1800’s, but the English lifestyle had undergone several dramatic changes. Today the difference are extremely noticeable. Back then…well, not so much. But there were some very important differences, and I hope we’ve captured the essence of those differences in The Heart’s Frontier.

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