The fields stretch out in Midwestern checkerboard patterns, but the automated sprinkling circles, tractors or combines are missing. In their place are horse-drawn plows, tillers or wagons.
Without as much as blinking an eye, you imagine you've joined Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown in a "Back to the Future" adventure, a journey through a century.My journey began at a picturesque location called the Patchwork Quilt Country Inn. Located near the Michigan border, just off the Indiana toll road, this respite functioned as a working farm for many years but is now a bed and breakfast.
The inn's name appropriately describes the decor. This was my introduction to Amish traditions.
Though removed from contemporary lifestyles, the Amish have developed a keen marketing sense. Brightly colored, meticulously pieced quilts adorn the beds, as well as the sofas and walls at the inn. A cherry basket pattern, a combination of piecing and applique techniques, was selected as the logo for the inn and is replicated in linens, wall hangings and stationery. (The northern Indiana Amish colony is recognized for its quilt shows and auctions.)
The extensive and hearty menu at the inn is anything but patchwork.
Longtime employee Elsie Chupp explained, "One thing about this farm country is that we keep you fed, and if we even think you might be hungry, we feed you again."
I could have eaten again and again; all moderate eating resolves quickly disappeared as I sampled the Amish fare.
"Where these people limit their existence in many ways, they never skimp on food," Chupp explained, describing her religious neighbors.
Two characteristics of Amish life have shaped their eating: Traditionally they have worked hard , and they have chosen a disciplined life. Because of their intense labor, they have eaten heartily and heavily. And, although restrained in their choice of clothing, home decor, and use of money and entertainment, they celebrate extravagantly with food.
Many Amish mothers display their affection easily with a cherry crumb pie or a ham loaf rather than a hug or a kiss.
An Amish wedding is the typical display of the hearty fare.
Friends of the bride and groom assume the responsibility to wait tables; serving multiple courses but always including seven sweet and seven sour selections with the ham, beef and chicken. Wedding cakes are multi-tiered creations of pound, carrot or applesauce flavor.
Food is not a part of the religion of this people but a part of the fabric in their everyday lives.
Recipes are passed from generation to generation, while sharing cooking techniques is a hands-on, mother-to-daughter experience.
Gardens produce abundant supplies for canning; livestock yields meat as well as milk and eggs.
Cooking is done, in strict Amish homes, without the benefit of electricity, though some ovens are equipped with propane. Refrigerators, too, where they exist, are operated by gas lines.
A visit to Joe Yoder's country store illustrated the diversity of the Amish neighborhood. His variety store contained a typical five and dime inventory, yet Yoder shelved a hand-crank cider press, a sausage grinder and a pea huller next to an automatic pasta machine.
Diversity is an integral part of community survival. Heads of families perfect products that contribute to the overall support of Amish traditions.
For example, Joni Hoschettler makes furniture. In addition to everyday necessities likes beds, cupboards and tables, Hoschettler builds coffins.
The horse-drawn, rubber-tired buggies that allow the Amish to navigate in the state-designated "buggy lanes" are fashioned by Monroe Yoder. (One of our local carriages, operated by Carriage Connections at Temple Square, was built by Yoder.)
Another Yoder, Polly, makes candies of all sorts, and Deutsch Kasehouse, and runs the dairy and cheese-making operation for the community.
The Amish, in their cooperative survival tactics and religious discipline, are reminiscent of pioneer colonies in Utah.
I could imagine my great-grandmother in the stark, dimly lit parlor of the Hochsteller, cooking with a wood stove after she chopped the wood. But never could I imagine my great-grandmother eating with the fervor of the Amish or, for that matter, having the resources available to cook like the Amish folks do.
Note: For further information, Phyllis Pellman Good and Rachel Thomas Pellman have contemporized a collection of Amish and Mennonite recipes in a book titled "From Amish and Mennonite Kitchens," published in 1984 and priced at $19.95.
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Recipes listed:
Buttermilk Pecan Chicken
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Six-Layer Sausage Casserole
Fudge Nut Cookies
Sunbeam Tapioca
Bread Pudding
Potato Rivel Soup
Old Fashioned Walnut Bread
Ham Loaf