One True Path
Page 20
Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.) Place one portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin. Roll dough out to a scant ¼-inch thick. Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
Cut out cookies with gingerbread man cookie cutter. Space cookies 1 ½ inches apart.
Bake one sheet at a time for 7 to 10 minutes (the lesser time will give you softer cookies—very good!). Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until firm enough to move to a wire rack to cool.
After cookies are cool, decorate them any way you like. Rachel Ann likes to decorate them as gingerbread men, women, and children.
Roasht (Chicken Filling)
½ stick butter (4 tablespoons)
1 cup chopped celery
1 loaf bread, cubed
1 ½ cups cooked and diced chicken
3 eggs, beaten
½ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter in large skillet. Add celery and sauté until soft. Toss bread and chicken together in large bowl. Pour celery and eggs over bread mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix well.
Pour into greased roaster or a large baking dish. Bake uncovered for 1 ½ to 2 hours. During baking, stir occasionally, stirring bread away from sides of pan to prevent over-browning or burning.
Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup buttermilk
1 1-ounce bottle red food coloring (2 Tbsp.)
1 recipe Whoopie Pie Filling (recipe follows)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line baking sheets with parchment; set aside. In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Alternately, add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined. Stir in food coloring.
Spoon batter out in 1- or 2-inch diameter rounds, about 1/2-inch high on prepared baking sheets, allowing 1 inch between each round. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes for 1-inch cookies or 9 to 11 minutes for 2-inch cookies, or until tops are set.
Cool completely on baking sheets on wire rack. Remove cooled cookies from baking sheets. Dollop Whoopie Pie Filling on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. Makes 60 one-inch or 42 two-inch cookies.
Whoopie Pie Filling
¼ cup softened butter
½ 8-ounce package softened cream cheese
1 7-ounce jar marshmallow crème
Directions:
In medium mixing bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in marshmallow crème.
Snickerdoodles
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup shortening
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups all-purpose or unbleached flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix 1 ½ cups sugar, butter, shortening, and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Shape dough into 1 ¼-inch balls. Mix ¼ cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool. Makes approximately four dozen cookies.
Pumpkin Bread
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin purée* (see below)
½ cup olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup water
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
½ cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
* To make pumpkin purée, cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, and place face down on a foil or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake until soft, about 45 min to 1 hour. Cool and scoop out the flesh. Freeze leftover puree for future use. Or, if you are working with pumpkin pieces, roast or boil them until tender, then remove and discard the skin.
Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the pumpkin purée, oil, eggs, water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack. The recipe is easily doubled.
Glossary
ab im kop—off in the head. Crazy.
allrecht—alright
boppli—baby
bruder—brother
Daed—Dad
Danki—thank you
Dat—father
Der hochmut kummt vor dem fall.—Pride goeth before the fall.
dippy eggs—over-easy eggs
Englischer—what the Amish call us
grossdaadi—grandfather
grosseldere—grandparents
grosskinner—grandchildren
grossmudder—grandmother
guder mariye—good morning
gut-n-owed—good evening
haus—house
hochmut—pride
kaffe—coffee
kapp—prayer covering or cap worn by girls and women
kind, kinner—child, children
kumm—come
lieb—love
liebschen—dearest or dear one
maedels—young single women
mamm—mother
mann—husband
nee—no
newhockers—wedding attendants
Ordnung—The rules of the Amish, both written and unwritten. Certain behavior has been expected within the Amish community for many, many years. These rules vary from community to community, but the most common are to have no electricity in the home, to not own or drive an automobile, and to dress a certain way.
Pennsylvania Deitsch—Pennsylvania German
rumschpringe—time period when teenagers are allowed to experience the Englisch world while deciding if they should join the church.
schul—school
schur—sure
schwesder—sister
sohn—son
verdraue—trust
wilkumm—welcome
wunderbaar—wonderful
ya—yes
zwillingbopplin—twins
Group Discussion Guide
Spoiler alert! Please don’t read before completing the book as the questions contain spoilers!
1. Rachel Ann is excited that she’s traveling a new path for her—she has a new job and a new boyfriend. Has there ever been a time when you embarked on a new path? What was your predominant emotion? Excitement? Apprehension?
2. While Rachel Ann is watching her younger brother, he darts out into the road and gets hit by a car. She feels responsible. Do you think it was her fault? Was there anything she could have done to prevent the accident?
3. Sam, Rachel Ann’s brother, sustains serious injuries from the accident. Have you or any member of y
our family ever been hospitalized for a long time? What kind of stress did this place on you or your family? How did you deal with it?
4. Rachel Ann and Abram have been good friends for years, yet they never dated. Have you had a friend of the opposite sex for a long time? How was this friendship different from your friendships with women?
5. Abram feels more than friendship for Rachel Ann but doesn’t act on his feelings before she starts seeing another man. Have you ever experienced such feelings? What did you do about them?
6. The staff at the Stitches in Time shop is made up of a mixture of family members and unrelated women, but they have formed a bond and encourage each other. Do you work at a place where the staff has formed a bond? Is a working atmosphere like the one at the shop important to you?
7. Abram lets Rachel Ann know how he feels about her when she has a personal crisis. Have you ever had a male or female friend offer to help you with a big personal crisis and it changed the friendship?
8. Couples in the Amish community keep their dating private. Why do you think that is?
9. Amish parents often live in a dawdi haus—kind of like a mother-in-law apartment—at the rear of their adult children’s homes. Is this an arrangement you would ever consider?
10. Amish young people get to experience Englisch life during a period called rumschpringe. While some youth use it as a chance to break out of the strict rules of the Amish community, most do not. Do you think teens of either culture need a period of unrestricted time to mature?
11. Many Amish believe God has set aside a marriage partner for them. Do you believe this? Do you believe in love at first sight?
12. The Amish do not believe in divorce. They usually know their prospective spouse for many years before they marry since they grow up together in the community. Do you think this helps them to have happier and longer-lasting marriages?
13. Rachel Ann loves children, but her doctor tells her that she may not be able to have children of her own. She chooses not to tell Abram and breaks off their relationship. Do you think she should have done this? What did you think of his reaction when she finally tells him?
14. Do you feel God has a plan for you? Do you know what it is?
If you enjoyed One True Path, we hope you enjoy these samples from the first two books in the series, A Road Unknown and Crossroads.
A Road Unknown
1
Some people say if you look at a map of Goshen, Indiana, you’d see almost all Amish Country roads lead into the town.
But as Elizabeth stood waiting for her bus, all she could think about was the road leading out of the town.
The big bus lumbered into the station. Under her watchful eye, the driver put her suitcase in the storage area. She didn’t have much and wanted to make sure it made it to her next home.
She winced at the word. Home. She was leaving everything and everybody she knew to go to a place she’d never visited in her life. It was exciting. It was terrifying.
“You getting on?” the driver asked, studying her curiously as he waited for other passengers.
Elizabeth nodded and taking a deep breath, she climbed up the steps into the bus. She walked toward the back of the half-empty bus and found a seat. She hoped she’d get a chance to sit by herself and not make conversation with a stranger. Especially an Englisch stranger. So many of them were curious about the Amish. She didn’t want to talk about why she was walking—riding?—away from a community many of them thought was idyllic.
Oh, they liked the idea of a simpler life, but in the next breath they would shake their heads and say they couldn’t imagine living without electricity or television.
She settled into her seat and tucked her small shoulder purse to her left between the seat and the window of the bus. Most of her money was pinned in a little pouch inside her dress but there were so many important things in her purse: a little address book, the resumé the job coordinator at the women’s center had helped her with—everything she’d need for this new town where she’d be making her home.
Feeling a little self-conscious, she smoothed the skirt of her dark blue dress over her knees. Paula had said they could go clothes shopping at some thrift stores when she got there. Elizabeth had saved some money from her part-time job in Goshen, but things would be tight until she found a job. Paula hadn’t wanted to take any money from her for her share of the rent until she got a job, but she really didn’t have any choice. Things were tight for her as well since she was attending college.
Paula had sent her photos of the apartment she’d be sharing. Elizabeth drew them from her purse now and looked at them. So much space just for two people. Imagine. And imagine having a bedroom of her own. She hadn’t had one for . . . eight brothers and sisters. As the oldest of nine kinner in the family, she hadn’t had a room of her own or any peace and quiet in years and years.
A baby cried at the back of the bus. It was a familiar sound to Elizabeth. Too familiar. She loved babies, but she became exhausted taking care of someone else’s. She’d read once the average Amish family had seven children, but she guessed her parents hadn’t heard it. Stop, she told herself. Children were a gift from God. But, oh, had He blessed her family.
Exhausted, she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. She’d worked extra hours at the fabric shop this week to help the owner who hadn’t been happy she was leaving. Angela had said she thought she’d finally gotten someone dependable and now she was losing her. Someone else to make her feel guilty.
Lately, she’d begun to feel like everyone depended on her and it was all too much. She’d tried to talk about it with her best friend, but Lydia was getting engaged and didn’t understand. With working during the day and spending so much time helping her mamm when she got home, Elizabeth didn’t get to go to singings or other youth activities. She knew she was hardly an old maid at twenty but she was beginning to despair of ever being able to date and get married. And who would help her mother then? Fourteen-year-old Mary, the next oldest, didn’t seem interested in helping as she should.
Now, she would have to, thought Elizabeth. She opened her eyes as a woman in the next row of seats complained loudly about the bus being a few minutes late leaving the station. Elizabeth found herself biting her thumbnail as she pondered the selfishness of leaving home now.
The driver climbed on board, closed the door, and started up the bus, but he didn’t immediately pull out. The woman in the next row who had been complaining turned to Elizabeth and shook her head.
Elizabeth turned to stare out the window. Goshen was the only place she’d ever lived. She’d never left it. Never wanted to. Now she felt like the woman who complained. When were they going to leave?
A thought suddenly struck her. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to leave. Maybe it wasn’t a part of God’s plan for her. Hadn’t one of the ministers at church once cautioned his listeners about fighting God, swimming upstream against His plan?
Maybe He thought she was selfish, too. Maybe He thought she should stay here with her family.
The bus began moving. Relief washed over Elizabeth. Dilemma solved.
She turned away from the window. Everyone knew what had happened to Lot’s wife when she looked back . . .
Instead, she glanced around at fellow passengers, feeling a little curious about them. Were they making big life changes like her? Going on vacation?
She realized the woman who’d complained about the bus not leaving the station on time was watching her. Elizabeth pulled her gaze away and glanced out her window. She had always been shy. She didn’t want to talk about herself, answer questions about why she was on the bus. It might have been a good idea to change into Englisch clothes before she left home, but she didn’t have any, and she didn’t want to upset her parents more.
“So where are you going?”
Elizabeth blinked at the sudden intrusion into her thoughts and looked over. The woman across the aisle was regarding her curiously.
“Paradise.”
The woman laughed and looked incredulous. “Paradise?”
“Paradise, Pennsylvania.”
“Oh, right, there is a city named that there. You know people there?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“I was wondering if you were in your rum—rum—” the woman flapped one hand. “I can’t remember what it’s called.”
“Rumschpringe.”
“Yeah, that’s it. When you get to be like a girl gone wild.”
Elizabeth wondered where the Englisch got their ideas about rumschpringe. Like the mother of a friend had once said, “You think we suddenly let our kids run wild and don’t know where they are?”
In reality, rumschpringe was something rather tame in her community. Oh, sure, she’d heard stories occasionally about some of the boys she’d gone to school with buying beer and having wild parties. But those stories were few and far between. And most Amish youth ended up becoming baptized into the church and stayed in the community.
“I’m just going there to visit,” she said.
It wasn’t the total truth, because she knew she was going to stay there longer than a visit. But she wasn’t sure how long she’d be there and besides, she’d been cautioned not to talk to strangers.
A big yawn overcame her. She clapped her hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I was up late last night getting packed. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll take a nap.”
The woman nodded and didn’t seem offended. “We can talk later.”
Elizabeth smiled and nodded. What else was there to say? She leaned back against her seat and closed her eyes.