Ohio Trip Part 2

It sure took me long enough to get back to this blog! Needless to say, we've had a busy few months. Thankfully some of the memories and testimony (and deepened friendships) that came from this trip gave me hope and happiness to see me through some stressful times.

Enough about me though. Let's get on with the trip!

Last post was mostly pictures of scenery. This post is going to be about one of the most glorious and largest parts of our trip... FOOD!

Our days started out with a hearty breakfast at the hotel. Yes, there was a pancake machine!... along with a rotation of biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon and eggs, cereal, yogurt, muffins, and DONUTS. We usually took a few of those back to the room just in case we got hungry later in the day.

We would then head out for an adventurous day of shopping and sight-seeing. Amish country is famous for its bulk food stores. Most of you are probably thinking, "I've been to bulk food stores before. They're great for food storage but not much else." Well, here's where Amish bulk food stores are different. They have bulk EVERYTHING. And it's sooooo cheap.

Bulk spices.

Bulk pastry fillings.

Bulk SPRINKLES (Mikayla's souvenir of course).

 Bulk chocolate.

 Bulk honey (my dad's sticky nightmare).

Bulk fresh-made peanut, almond, or pecan butter.

I will also note here "fry pies" (seen in my hand above) aka "empanadas" to those of us from the southwest. In Amish country they are EVERYWHERE and are made fresh daily, filled with fruit and/or cream cheese. We didn't try many on the trip, but we took some  home for our boys and they loved them! We also bought a pastry pan to try making them at home.... I haven't done so yet!

Yep, they even had bulk Polish Sausages.

The best thing about the bulk food stores was the SAMPLES. Almost every homemade jam, dip, or even snack had FREE and LIMITLESS SAMPLES. Needless to say, our "lunches" usually consisted of endless samples and maybe a donut to top it all off. Unfortunately, we didn't get many pictures of the samples. But we all LOVED Mrs. Miller's homemade jam and brought home some to share with the family.

In addition to bulk food stores, there were actual real live restaurants. We tried a couple of the more famous places, but our favorite ended up being a new place that recently opened in a small town called Charm. Every meal at an Amish restaurant comes with homemade bread and Amish peanut butter as an appetizer. The meals are hearty and homemade and very good. Lots of butter, salt, and everything else good in this savory world!

We didn't get a picture of the inside of the restaurant in Charm, but above is the view outside the restaurant. Of all the places we visited, Charm was the most "purely" Amish. Most everyone in the restaurant was Amish, and 80-90% of the traffic on the road was horse/buggy. It was pleasant to sit and "people watch" during dinner.

We also tried the Famous "Boyd and Wurthman's" where I ordered traditional Amish noodles - an entire meal of just buttery noodles! I ordered a side of green beans to be "healthy" but I'm pretty sure they had just as much butter as the noodles!

While we were enjoying our Amish delicacies, we received pictures here and there of the boys and kids back at home, relishing their own "special treats." Somehow, we weren't too jealous!

Back in Ohio, we also made stops at several bakeries. 

My primary interest was finding the world's best tart, which I enjoyed from Hershberger's Farm - a pecan tart! The black raspberry and lemon tarts at a small bakery down the road were a close second. 

Meagan found her greatest love in Leah's kitchen at Yoder's Family Farm. We were able to tour the farm (more pics in coming blog entries), which ended in this fabulous kitchen, where Leah and other Amish young women were busily baking all day. When we were there, they were making Amish peanut butter, cookies, and cinnamon rolls. They also make homemade jams and jellies in the summer. 

 The kitchen.

 The goods for sale.

Meagan surprised (and spoiled) us by buying cinnamon rolls! Half with traditional white frosting, half with Amish maple frosting (there's a lot of maple in Amish country, too)!

Meagan and I bought a copy each of Leah's cookbook and we have tried a couple of recipes from it. I'm not sure why, but it came as a surprise when I went to cook my first recipe and there was neither a temperature nor a cook time for the recipe. Just "cook until done." Ha!

Mom was into the bakeries for their donuts...

It turned out Kauffman's best donuts were the creme-filled beauties that our hotel had for us every morning! But it was still fun to try out some unique kinds like "elephant ears."

One of the last "food" stops we made was to the Guggisberg Cheese Factory. Now, I'm not a big cheese person, but I tried a few different kinds (of course, SAMPLES) to honor Jake, Dad, and the Carter family name. Thank goodness at the end there was fudge made with CREME CHEESE, so my trip ended happily. They also had some Troyer's sausage, which I picked up for my meat and cheese-loving in-laws :)

After a long day of EATING, we would go back to the hotel, where we would enjoy a cup of hot chocolate (with flavored creamers, of course) and talk about our favorite foods from the day. Luckily, Meagan inspired us to work out a couple times as well :)

Thanks again, Mom, for the FABULOUS TRIP! More to come (hopefully it won't take me another three months to post again!).

Ohio Trip Part 1

My mom took Meagan and me for a trip to Amish country (Ohio) in April. I never expected the trip to be so life-changing, but it was!

Thanks to this great trip, I found a new perspective in life. I'm more relaxed. My love for my mom and sister have reached a new level. I also have come away with a deeper love for the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

But it's hard to "capture" that on a blog. So instead, I'm sharing pictures! Hopefully they will portray the joy that came from this "getaway." And maybe they'll make you laugh at our goofy selves too :)

Selfies were kinda a struggle. Thank heavens for Meagan.

We started the trip off right.... with food, food, and more food!

 Hombre the cactus survived the plane trip, and even the snow, thanks to Meagan's great care!

We packed only the most necessary items for a 5-day trip. And then left with twice as much as we brought! (see below)

The Ashery, one of our favorite stores, added about 50 lb of delicious weight! Jams, noodles, pie/pastry fillings, bulk spices.... mmmmmmm!

I wish I could load the movie of Meagan moving about .5 mph down the hallway with this load!

We were in Holmes County, Ohio, which is the most densely Amish-populated place I've ever visited. Several towns lay within a few miles of each other, and we spent most of our days driving back and forth between the towns to visit different shops. I "called" the back seat so that I could spend the drives watching the beautiful scenery and taking pictures. Be warned, I've included quite a few.

The Amish people stay on their land for generations. Multiple homes are on each farm as a new home is built for the parents as they get older and the first son and his family take over the "main" house. At any given time, three or four generations of a single family will live on the same property.

We had the privilege of spending time with the Yoders, an Amish family my mom befriended the last time she visited Holmes County a few years ago. They were humble, good people who welcomed us openly into their home. We shared religious views (which are actually quite similar) and talked about what life is like for them/us. Let me tell you, they had a hard time believing in rattlesnakes, scorpions, and irrigation!

Their son, Elmer, is a water color painter and an auctioneer. We got to go to one of his auctions, which was a benefit event to help a family with medical expenses. During the auction, the community members came together to support each other financially and with their faith. It reminded me of a ward party, but better because there was so much selflessness there! We couldn't get a picture of the auction, but I snuck this picture of the coats and hats outside as a reminder of the goodness of these God-fearing charitable people!

More to come!