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Amish

I live about twenty miles from Berne Indiana which is the heart of Amish country in my area.
It is very common to see lots of buggies every day.
The Amish around here are very traditional either Hook and Eye or Button…and that means how their clothes fasten. They do not look like the Amish in movies with the super clean bright colored shirts. They wear straw hats flat denim pants and jackets and white or light blue shirts, they look more like Charles Ingles from Little House on the Prairie with a beard.

It is common to see buggy’s in the parking lot at our Walmart, I think Amish crews frame about every house built in our county, they hire a driver to drive large white econo vans with no radio to take them around to job sites.

They put up my pole barn and framed my apartment, they do excellent work. These days they use mostly cordless tools…I’m not sure how that at all works out as far as ownership.

Lots of people in town hire Amish girls for half days to clean their houses.

Have heard some trespassing hunting complaints closer to the Indiana state line. I know the Amish love to hunt trap and fish.
They speak some kind of broken German to each other.
 
RGrizzzz said:
I'm about an hour from the Lancaster area. There are some Amish closer, but I don't see many buggies around. The "PA Dutch" still make great baked goods. Amos Miller and his raw milk seem to be giving the PA dept of AG a hard time and vice versa. They do a fair amount of construction work out my way.
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East or west of there? Morgantown west toward Blue Ball, Ephrata, Bird-in-Hand, etc. are our usual places to hit the roadside stands. I tried raw milk once years ago ......... they can keep it.
 
H20fwler said:
I think Amish crews frame about every house built in our county, they hire a driver to drive large white econo vans with no radio to take them around to job sites.
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I've been in a couple houses that Amish framed - while the frames were still wide open. Those houses won't fall down anytime soon!!! Solidly-built, and weren't skimpy on lumber. I was impressed. I imagine your buildings are rock-solid too.

The Amish that are left here in SE Pa. seem to wear solid black a lot. I don't know how they stand black in the summer sun - gotta feel like an electric blanket.
 
Bowsnbucks said:
East or west of there? Morgantown west toward Blue Ball, Ephrata, Bird-in-Hand, etc. are our usual places to hit the roadside stands. I tried raw milk once years ago ......... they can keep it.
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East. Outside of Valley Forge. There is a local "whole foods" store that sells raw milk. I tried a few gallons. I don't get what all the hype is about. Seems like snake oil. Your body probably "excretes" most of the extra goodness anyway.
 
I owe you guys. This was a very timely thread.

Saturday evening we went to my wife's college roommates Christmas party. She married a Mennonite. This year's menu was a bit different. PA Dutch tapas, aka finger foods, prepared by lots of fingers and eaten by lots of fingers. Scanning the room I could see light bonnets with skirts that allowed a covered ankle to show. But also heavyweight bonnets and skirts that covered the ankles standing next to men with beards and the hair style of a just removed a straw hat..

My germaphobia kicked in, mind racing as to how would I know which food was prepared by those with electric and running water and which was prepared the way our ancestors did it 150 years ago. A bead of sweat began to form on my brow...

Then I remembered this thread on H-T and how everyone baulked and told me they cook wonderful foods. A reassuring calm came over me because you guys are almost family and wouldn't steer me wrong. So off to the buffet line I went fearlessly. I tried many things on that table. When I came to a stale cracker with a strange spread on it, adorned with a small label reading "goat cheese and red pepper jelly", I knew that was made by someone with a name like Rebecca Stoltzfus. Certainly made from peppers out of her own garden. Most likely with goat cheese prepared in her neighbor Eli's barn.

Fear not, I said and put one on my plate. Now I'm not a goat cheese or sun dried tomato kind of guy. Never would have ordered that out. I've never even had goat cheese. But much to my surprise it was superb. I went back for many more and raved about it.

Sunday morning all was well. I skipped breakfast and went to church. Decided to hit the grocery store around noon for a couple things. Strangely on the way to the store I couldn't seem to get warm. Seat heater on in the truck, heat on full blast. Felt better when I got there and it was 100 degrees in the truck. But once in the store my knee kinda hurt, then my elbow. I thought that's odd. When my shoulder had a twinge I decided I'm going to cut this short and head home. But I needed coffee creamer so I pressed on. Rounding the corner to the refrigerated Isle an Arctic blast came over me colder than anything I've ever experienced. I knew I had to leave right then. Teeth chattering, shivering and walking like an epileptic with a load in his pants I used the self checkout and headed home.

Once home I handed my wife the single grocery bag I'd managed to leave with and went to bed shivering. So many covers on I was sweating on the outside and cold on the inside. I laid there thinking I'm over reacting, this must just be in my head, all I have is a chill. Went to the dresser and dug out some Merlino wool base layers and put them on then finished dressing. Sat on the bed for minute and sure enough I felt ok. When I reached the bottom of the stairs my wife said "are you ok?" Just then out of nowhere Eli's goat rammed me full speed in the stomach. Luckily I was only a few steps from the bathroom where I could hug the throne tightly as last nights culinary delights made an exodus. When that was over I thought ok, I feel better. This is going to be all right. Eli's goat had other plans. During my second episode I swear one of those chunks of pepper was sporting a bonnet and turning to give me the finger before coming to rest below the murky water. This ritual continued into the wee hours of this morning. The last of my food did not have the energy to come up so it ran down hill on an easier pathway just after dawn this morning.

It's 4:30 PM Monday all I've eaten since Saturday night is 3 crackers and 2 Gatorades.

But I'm feeling good enough to thank you guys, you're the best....🤮😃

I'm going back to bed now..
 
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roymunson said:
I'm a generation removed from it and hunt almost exclusively with Amish. In NO WAY are they tax exempt. That's a farce.

I speak the language fluently, and was raised in a Mennonite church.

I'll tell you that the guys I hunt with are better deer and land managers than I am. Passing on 150"+ deer becuase he's only 3. But there are some bad ones who give all of them a bad name.

It's confusing and nuanced in what they believe and why the believe it. There is a lot of works based things going on, a lot of parallels to Catholicism and their works based beliefs. But there are good ones, and bad ones. Just like methodists, Presbyterians, etc.

Their belief system revolves around what their leadership/bishop say is ok. And they generally blindly follow it, which is not how Christian faith is supposed to be.

Cars- wrong
Tractors with camping chairs and utility trailers- ok
E-Bikes- OK
flip phones- OK
Smart Phones- Not Ok unless its work related
Amazon boxes on the doorstep- ok


It's a series of rules. Has some cultish elements, yet their sense of family and community is something we could all learn something from.

They make darn good hunting blinds too.
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Your username makes sense now. Ha
 
homerj said:
The best peanut and cashew brittle I've ever eaten was from the Amish. Same with cinnamon rolls, incredible. They cook/bake like our "English" relatives did.

Running water in the house was a luxury when my folks grew up. The food my grandmothers made was far superior to most anything coming out of a 3 star Michelin restaurant today IMO
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Maybe 2 star. But 3? Ha
 
RGrizzzz said:
@Bill , just the baked goods!

Another tip. Avoid the "seafood" at the Chinese buffet. 😉
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Full confession here .......... I don't eat their baked goods either. Just the fresh produce they grow. Not saying the baked things are bad ...... just being cautious!!
 
Mortenson said:
Bill that was the best HT story since Maddog's elk hunt. I hope you feel better.
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agree

that one is up there with the best

bill
 
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