Peel the eggs and mash them with a potato masher in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, salad dressing or Miracle Whip, mustard, vinegar, onion, sugar, salt, celery, and milk. Mix well. The salad will be moist.
Recipe from Elizabeth Coblentz with Kevin Williams, The Amish Cook
Mashed Potato Rolls
2¼ tsp. (1 package) active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (about 110º)
1¾ cups warm milk (about 110º)
¼ cup oil
6 T. sugar
1 egg
½ cup mashed potatoes (see note at end of recipe)
1½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
6 cups all-purpose flour
Melted butter (optional)
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add the milk, oil, sugar, egg, and mashed potatoes and mix well. Stir in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and half of the flour. Mix either by hand using a large wooden spoon or with a mixer, gradually adding more flour until a soft dough is formed.
Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes. Place dough in a large greased bowl and turn so all surfaces of the dough are greased. Cover and let rise until double, about 1½ hours.
Punch down the dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and shape small amounts of dough into approximately 32 round balls. Place the balls 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until double, about 30 to 45 minutes.
Bake in a preheated 375º oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until done and the tops are golden. Remove from the oven and, if desired, immediately brush tops with melted butter. Set on racks to cool.
Note: If you don’t have any leftover mashed potatoes and you’re in a hurry, you can use dehydrated mashed potatoes. Just mix according to the package directions and use in place of fresh mashed potatoes.
Recipe from Georgia Varozza, 99 Favorite Amish Breads, Rolls, & Muffins
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup rolled oats
1 egg
1 cup milk
¼ cup butter, melted
¾ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
Sugar or cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the sugar and rolled oats and mix well.
In a large bowl, beat together the egg, milk, and melted butter. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Do not overmix. Fold in the blueberries.
Fill muffin cups ⅔ full and sprinkle some sugar or cinnamon sugar on top of each muffin. Bake in a preheated 375º oven for 20 minutes or until done.
Recipe from Georgia Varozza, 99 Favorite Amish Breads, Rolls, & Muffins
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup oil
1¾ cups sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 cups zucchini, grated
3 cups all-purpose flour (or use half whole wheat and half all-purpose)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Add the zucchini and stir.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa. Add flour mixture to the zucchini mixture and blend well. Add nuts if using and stir again.
Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. Pour in the batter. Bake in a preheated 350º oven for 45 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 to 15 minutes before removing bread to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Recipe from Georgia Varozza, 99 Favorite Amish Breads, Rolls, & Muffins
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1953 and is in the San Luis Valley. Composed of 14,800 acres, it may be viewed by a four-mile auto tour. Each year 20,000 cranes pass through in both the spring and the fall to rest and refuel before continuing their migration. The refuge is also home to endangered whooping cranes as well as several hundred elk.
The first Amish families settled in Colorado in the early 1900s. As of 2010, the state was home to four Amish communities, with a combined population of under 100 families. In the San Luis Valley, farming has proven to be a challenge for the Amish, as the area receives an average of only seven inches of rain annually. The growing season is approximately 90 days. Many families in the area have opened small businesses to provide an additional source of income.
Accidental/acquired savant syndrome is a condition where dormant savant skills emerge after a brain injury or disease. Although it is quite rare, researchers in 2010 identified 32 individuals who displayed unusual skills in one or more of five major areas: art, musical abilities, calendar calculation, arithmetic, and spatial skills. Males with savant syndrome outnumber females by roughly six to one.
Cell phones can be tracked via their access to local service towers or software downloaded to the phone. According to Digital Trends, simply putting your phone into airplane mode or removing the SIM card will not keep it from being tracked. Removing the battery is effective. However, most newer models of cell phones no longer allow this.
Crops for Cranes is a joint project between the Colorado Parks & Wildlife, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, and other organizations, which began in the fall of 2014. Their goal is to ensure an adequate food supply for cranes. One way they do so is by entering into agreements with local farmers to purchase a certain number of acres of their crops. The grain is left unharvested to provide forage for the cranes.
Cranes have been coming to the San Luis Valley and other parts of Colorado since 1940, but the area has changed in recent years, putting in jeopardy the abundance of habitat the cranes require. In particular, in the Yampa Valley, agricultural trends have undergone a significant change because of economic factors. The production of local grain crops such as wheat and oats has decreased from approximately 85,000 acres in the 1940s to only 10,000 acres currently. This decrease in grain crop production has the potential to adversely impact the cranes.
I did much research on, and had the pleasure of visiting, both the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. I took the liberty of rearranging sections of the park to facilitate the actions of and cause trouble for my characters. Any discrepancies in the description of the park were the result of intentional dramatic license.
About the Author
VANNETTA CHAPMAN writes inspirational fiction full of grace. She is the author of several novels, including the Plain and Simple Miracles series and the Pebble Creek Amish series. Vannetta is a Carol Award winner and has also received more than two dozen awards from Romance Writers of America chapter groups. She was a teacher for fifteen years and currently resides in the Texas hill country. For more information, visit her at www.VannettaChapman.com.
Somewhere in the Embers Lies the Truth
A fire blazes out of control in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, leaving an elderly Amish bachelor dead. Bishop Henry Lapp rushes to the scene, and he learns the fire was no accident. Someone intended to kill Vernon Frey. But who would want to kill him? Well, practically everyone—Amish and Englisch alike.
When the police point the finger at a suspect Henry knows is innocent, the bishop must decide whether or not to use his mysterious, God-given gift—one he’s tried desperately to ignore all these years—to try and set the record straight. His close friend and neighbor, Emma Fisher, encourages Henry to follow God’s leading.
Could the clue to solving the case be locked somewhere deep in Henry’s memory? Will he find the courage to move forward in faith and put the right person behind bars? Is his friendship with Emma becoming something more?
What the Bishop Saw is a stor
y of extraordinary talent, the bonds of love and friendship, and the unfailing grace of God.
Find New Friends
in the Women of Pebble Creek
A Promise for Miriam
Amish schoolteacher Miriam King loves her students. At 26, she hasn’t yet met anyone who can convince her to give up the Plain school at Pebble Creek. Then newcomer Gabriel Miller steps into her life, bringing his daughter, an air of mystery, and challenges Miriam has never faced before.
A Home for Lydia
Lovely Lydia Fisher may be an outspoken Amish woman, but she also desperately needs her job at the Plain Cabins at Pebble Creek. Though sparks fly at first between her and her new boss, when the cabins are robbed, nothing is more important to Aaron than making sure Lydia is safe.
A Wedding for Julia
Julia Beechy’s dream of opening a café is shattered when her mother says she must choose a husband or move to live with distant family upon her mother’s imminent death. Caleb Zook thought he would never marry, but can he help this beautiful, sad woman? Is this God’s plan for his future?
Discover Stories of God’s Unexpected
Grace and Provision
Anna’s Healing
When a tornado strikes, Anna Schwartz’s life is changed forever. She suffers a spinal cord injury and finds herself learning to live as a paraplegic. But then a miracle happens, and the world’s attention is drawn to this young Amish girl who has experienced the unexplainable.
Joshua’s Mission
Amish farmer Joshua Kline travels to Texas to offer aid to an Englisch town after a category 4 hurricane has ravaged the area. What will he find when he arrives there? A budding romance? A call from God? A possible healing of his relationship with his brother? Certainly, God’s grace.
Sarah’s Orphans
Through a series of tragic events, Sarah Yoder becomes the sole provider for her five younger siblings. Then two more orphans steal her heart—along with Paul Byler, the Amish man who moves in next door hoping for calm but finding God’s calling instead.
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About the Publisher
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To learn more about Harvest House books and to read sample chapters, visit our website:
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
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When the Bishop Needs an Alibi Page 32