Simply Delicious Amish Cooking
Recipes and stories from the Amish of Sarasota, Florida
By Sherry Gore
Published by Zondervan
Book Description:
Unbeknownst to many folks outside the Amish Mennonite population in America, Pinecraft, Florida – a village tucked away in the heart of Sarasota – is the vacation paradise of the Plain People. Unlike any other Plain community in the world, this village is a virtual melting pot of Amish and Mennonites from around the world, intermingled with people, like author Sherry Gore’s family, who live there year-round.
Gore has put together a cookbook that represents the people who make Pinecraft unique. With hundreds of easy-to-prepare recipes, 16 full-color photographs and black-and-white photographs throughout, this cookbook includes traditional favorites such as Sweet Potato Sweet Mash and Mrs. Byler’s Glazed Donuts, as well as Florida favorites including Fried Alligator Nuggets, Grilled Lime Fish Fillets, and Strawberry Mango Smoothies. Interspersed with the recipes are true-life stories about births, engagements, weddings, deaths, funerals, celebrations, wildlife encounters, and accidents told through years of Sherry’s Letters from Home column published in The Budget, the Amish newspaper. This delightful cookbook offers readers a faith-based, family-focused perspective of the simple way of life of the Plain People. It is truly a breath of fresh air from Sarasota, Florida!
My Thoughts:
I enjoyed the story of how and why this book was created. Community closeness always makes life easier. I also had not thought of “Amish cooking as traditional American cooking”, but see how the simple ingredients are crafted into wonderful dishes.
I also found the history of the Amish and Mennonites very interesting. Oh, and the recipes were just too good. A couple of my favorites were the Monkey Bread and the Pizza Crust. Even the doughnut recipes looked easy enough to try.
This book is packed with recipes that are simple enough for even the beginner to use and tasty enough for the advanced to want to make…pages and pages of breads, muffins, waffles and other can’t wait to try recipes.
I would recommend this book if you are curious about the Amish or would like to have some of their recipes. It would be an awesome book for a newly married couple.
Thank you BookSneeze for the opportunity to review this book.
I love when cookbooks incorporate the cultural aspects of the cuisine. I have a
collection of over 400 cookbooks. This sounds like one that I would love to add to my collection. Thanks!
I have just recently gotten into reading books about the Amish and their way of life. I found that I really enjoy them and would love to have a cookbook with Amish recipes. This book sounds pretty good. Thanks for the review!
I love Amish food. I had no idea there was an Amish community of any size in Florida – I’ve been through Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and stopped by many Amish restaurants and really filled up. Thanks for the info – if I ever hit Sarasota, I’n checking out the food!