Colorful Grilled Veggies Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 1 medium green pepper, sliced
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, sliced
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Divide the vegetables between 2 pieces of heavy-duty foil (about 18 x 18 inches).

In a small bowl, combine vinegar, oil, lemon juice, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper; drizzle over vegetables.

Fold foil around vegetables and seal tightly. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp-tender.

Yield: 6 servings

This recipe has been provided as an excerpt from The Amish Family Cookbook by Jerry & Tina Eicher.
Learn more below.

Filed under: Amish Fiction by AmishReader.com
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I faced an interesting dilemma while researching Love Comes to Paradise in Missouri. I marked Clark, MO, on my map and headed there with eager anticipation. However, when I arrived this “town” had all but packed up and left, or blown away in the last storm. Yes, there were plenty of Amish families living in the general area of Randolph, Audrain and Boone Counties. But the town of Clark, although it survives on maps, had little to say for itself. Remember, I live within an hour of Sugarcreek, Berlin, Walnut Creek, Charm, and Mount Hope–charming, lively, and thriving Amish villages. I wasn’t used to a non-thriving town. So I visited the entire area, including Sturgeon and Higbee and then created the fictional town of Paradise. It reflects the people, weather, and history of the area, but if you head to MO looking for Paradise…you’ll need a map better than I own. Hope you enjoy my photos of MO.

Filed under: Amish Fiction, Mary Ellis by Mary
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Apple Creek is a real place.  It is a village set in the heart of Wayne County, Ohio, eleven miles from Dalton and ten miles from Wooster.   There are real streets, and real people in Apple Creek.  There are Hershbergers and Springers and some Halversons living there.  Apple Creek and the surrounding area is home to a large Amish community and has been since the mid 1800s.  Not far to the east lies Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where the first Amish that came to America settled in 1720.  I chose Apple Creek as the setting for “A Quilt for Jenna” while doing research on the Amish in Ohio and in particular on Amish quilt-makers.  Apple Creek, Dalton and Wooster, Ohio are known throughout the country for the marvelous Amish quilts that are produced there.

Dalton has one of the biggest quilting fairs in Ohio.  A town named Apple Creek was just too good to pass up as a location, so I started my story there.  I used the actual streets and highways, the localities and even local family names.  As I mentally planted myself in the heart of Apple Creek, the characters in the book began to spring out of the earth, fully grown, with lives and stories, joys and sorrows.  The story was easy to write because it seemed as though I was reading someone’s journal as I wrote it.

The more I explored Apple Creek, the more I realized how connected I was to the village.  My great-great grandfather, Anthony Rockhill, was born 49 miles from Apple Creek in Alliance, Ohio in 1828.  Apple Creek is 85 miles from the site of Fort Henry, West Virginia on the Ohio River.  Fort Henry was the site of Betty Zane’s run for life during the British and Indian siege during the revolutionary war in 1782.  The book ‘Betty Zane,’ by Zane Grey, was a childhood favorite and still has a place on my bookshelf.  As a child I poured over stories about Lewis Wetzel and Jonathan Zane and followed them through the trackless Ohio wilderness only a few miles from what would become the village of Apple Creek.  I’ve never been there, but I feel I know the area like the back of my hand.  And so it was no coincidence that I came to choose Apple Creek.

Though the characters in this book are fictional, they have become very real to me, as I hope they will become to you.  It is my hope that their stories will touch a place in your heart as you read, and that you might find something of your own life here in Apple Creek, Ohio, that may be changed for the better by the end of the book.  So, as I think about it, maybe it was coincidence that I chose Apple Creek.  After all, coincidence is just God choosing to remain anonymous …

*Thanks to Ron Jansen, my new friend from Apple Creek, who sent me these pictures.  Ron and his wife found “A Quilt For Jenna” in the ‘choice books’ display at Der Dutch Restaurant on Kidron Road.  Kidron is the road where Jerusha and Henry crashed their car on the way to the quilt fair in Dalton.  Coincidence??  Find out more about Apple Creek at my website:  www.PatrickECraig.com

Filed under: Amish Fiction, Authors, Patrick Craig by Patrick Craig
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I’m on with Suzanne Woods Fisher today, April 4th, at 5 PM Eastern. Suzanne & I & two other guests will be discussing the Amish and war, a theme that comes up in many of my Amish stories. In addition, there will be a giveaway of my Amish American novel, Whispers of a New Dawn, which is the sequel to the popular Wings of Morning. Why not join us for the show? Here’s the link: http://toginet.com/shows/amishwisdom/articles/5055

GOD BLESS!

Filed under: Amish Fiction by murray
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20 years after the events in Wings of Morning, Jude & Lyyndaya Whetstone, strong-willed daughter Becky in tow, return to their Amish community in Pennsylvania & are welcomed with open arms. But life takes some strange twists & the family is hit hard. Becky needs the strength & grace of God to recover. So do her brother and her mother’s sister, as well as the man Becky comes to love. And one Sunday morning in 1941, so does her country. “Pura delivers another astonishing Snapshots in History story. The characters are believable and enlightening, so much so that you won’t want the story to end. 4 ½ stars – Fantastic!” RT REVIEWS – WHISPERS OF A NEW DAWN

It was RT REVIEWS themselves who called for a sequel to The Wings of Morning. Here it is and it’s nice to see the folks at RT Reviews are as enthusiastic about Whispers as they were about Wings. The book is now available everywhere and there will be a big giveaway on my FB author’s page, Murray Pura Writing, from Wednesday to Thursday, April 3rd – 5th. It would be great to see you there. Blessings!

Filed under: Amish Fiction by murray
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Here’s a recipe from one of my Amish friends, Rosanna Coblentz. I hope you enjoy baking as much as I enjoy eating!

Molasses Crisp Cookies

3 cups butter

2 ½ cups white sugar

2 ½ brown sugar

Mix well, then add:

4 beaten eggs and mix again

Add: 6 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1 cup buttermilk

Next add: 1 cup cane molasses (lighter molasses OR 1 cup dark molasses) whichever your preference.

2 teaspoons baking powder and then gradually add 10 cups flour

Chill dough for at least 2 hours and then roll into balls about the size of walnuts.  Then roll the balls in a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon to taste.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes depending on your oven.

Filed under: Amish Fiction, Authors, Mary Ellis, Recipes by Mary
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Hi, AmishReaders!

If you love ebooks, we have some great reads on sale! For a limited time, every ebook title listed below is available for just $2.99/each. It’s a terrific way to discover a new series or a new author!

Check with your favorite ebook store for all the details. And Happy Reading!

–Your Friends at AmishReader.com

Wonderful Amish Novels

A Promise for Miriam by Vannetta Chapman (Book 1 in the Pebble Creek Amish series)

A Dream for Hannah by Jerry Eicher (Book 1 in the Hannah’s Heart series)
A Hope for Hannah by Jerry Eicher (Book 2 in the Hannah’s Heart series)
A Baby for Hannah by Jerry Eicher (Book 3 in the Hannah’s Heart series)

Living in Harmony by Mary Ellis (Book 1 in the New Beginnings series)

To Love and to Cherish by Kelly Irvin (Book 1 in the Bliss Creek Amish series)

Other Terrific Inspirational Fiction

Westward Hearts by Melody Carlson (Book 1 in the Homeward on the Oregon Trail series)

Cassidy by Lori Wick (Book 1 in the Big Sky Dreams series)
Sabrina by Lori Wick (Book 2 in the Big Sky Dreams series)
Jessie by Lori Wick (Book 3 in the Big Sky Dreams series)

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Readers and writers of Amish fiction usually think about new settlements forming and growing larger each year. During my research of Love Comes to Paradise, I discovered that’s not always the case. In Missouri, the oldest settlement was founded in 1953, but several communties were founded before the Civil War and went extinct. During the Civil War, the Amish were often at the mercy of both Union and Confederate troops since both sides stole their crops, cattle and pigs. The Hickory County settlement disbanded in 1882 due to crop failures, financial losses during the Civil War, and lack of congregational growth. A settlement near Centralia in Audrain County, (location of my fictional story) failed to thrive due to erratic weather, periods of drought alternating with heavy, persistent flooding. The last two Amish families moved away in 1917. Other extinct settlements existed in the Missouri “bootheel” during the 1920’s and 1930’s. They last around a decade before members moved away. I wish to thank Amish historian, David Luthy, for his wonderful accounts, Settlements that Failed, and Amish Settlements Across America: 2008. History certainly provides a plethora of plot twists for an author of Amish fiction! 

Filed under: Amish Fiction, Authors, Mary Ellis by Mary
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We have a great deal right now on some fantastic reads! You’ll find all the titles listed below for $2.99/each — available wherever ebooks are sold!

This offer won’t last forever…it ends on Monday, January 21, 2013. So, check out your favorite ebook store today. And Happy Reading!

–Your Friends at AmishReader.com

Amish Novels

The Face of Heaven by Murray Pura

Lyndel Keim and Nathaniel King are at odds with their Amish colony when they join the Civil War effort.  A wound threatens Nathaniel’s life and Lyndel must call upon God. A dramatic and moving story set during America’s darkest hours.

The Wings of Morning by Murray Pura

Jude Whetstone and Lyyndaya Kurtz, whose families are converts to the Amish faith, are slowly falling in love. Jude has also fallen in love with flying that new-fangled invention, the aeroplane. An exciting historical romance set in 1917 during America’s participation in World War I.

Other Inspirational Fiction

Love Blooms in Winter by Lori Copeland

In a little town in North Dakota in 1892, an engagement, a runaway train, and a town of quirky, loveable people make for more of an adventure than a visiting railroad executive is expecting. But it is amazing what can bloom in winter when God is in charge of things.

Every book in the beloved “A Place Called Home” series by Lori Wick

A Place Called Home

After escaping to Baxter because of her grandfather’s deathbed warning, Christine begins to piece together a new life. The love she finds there, along with newfound faith, sustains her as she faces the threat of danger.

 A Song for Silas

Amy thought love would never pass her way again. She didn’t know how close it was…until she met Silas. A tender story of the flowering of hidden love and the nurturing of faith in the farmlands of Wisconsin.

The Long Road Home

Broken now in body as well as spirit, Paul must face his own heart as he encounters the love of God in the patient care of his nurse. This turn–of the century romance touches the shattered dreams of a young, widowed pastor with God’s faithfulness and the possibility of new love.

 A Gathering of Memories

Her heart was fragile from too much pain—would her defenses push Ross away? A poignant tale about love fulfilled, A Gathering of Memories will capture the hearts and minds of romantics everywhere.

Filed under: Amish Fiction, Lori Copeland, Murray Pura by AmishReader.com
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Each year we Englischers love to make resolutions, no? And so I’ve come up with three that I’ve learned from the Amish. After interviewing, researching, and then writing about the Amish in my novels I’ve found my life has changed under their influence. Although I must add, I must reconfirm these three every January.

First of all: Slow down. Whether driving, talking or eating dinner, a person enjoys the event much more if they take it easy. I once thought if I didn’t rush, I would never finish everything I needed to in a given day. That’s not true. Whoever said “haste makes waste” knew what she was talking about. Secondly, make do with less. An Amish woman’s entire wardrobe hangs on hooks in her bedroom or can be folded neatly into one or two dresser drawers. Do I really need another pair of black heels or another summer dress? Women often buy because it’s “too good a bargain to pass up.” What a waste. I now shop with a list such as “new jeans” and won’t buy anything else, no matter how great the sale price. Thirdly, don’t compare yourself to others. There is little competition in the Amish world. We will always find someone smarter/prettier/richer/more talented than us.

And here’s a bonus resolution: Don’t over-plan life. The best opportunities come up spur-of-the-moment. If we map out our entire future (or at least try to) we’ll miss the valuable chances God drops in our path. Trust Him in all matters. As a Christian, I have witnessed His awesome power to change lives.  I hope your 2013 is filled with love and blessings from above.

Filed under: Amish Fiction, Mary Ellis, News by Mary
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