by Sioux Dallas
Anita Fleming came to the store one day with Lisa Kennedy. “Charity, Lisa wanted to come but didn’t know how you would feel about her. She is hurt because of her husband’s participation in the death of your husband. Not that he did it, but he knew who did and would not tell the sheriff.”
Charity said nothing but came from behind the counter, walked to Lisa and hugged her. “You are a good, loving lady and I feel blessed to call you friend.” Lisa was overcome with relief and tender feelings.
“Oh, Charity, I’m truly sorry about the loss of your husband and the cover up and I’m so ashamed for the breakdown when I interrupted your church service. In my poor sick mind, I guess I knew the right people to come to.”
“It is already forgotten. Adam would be ashamed of me if I held it in my mind and in my heart. If he were here we would pray together and then forget it.”
“I know and I’m striving hard to be more like that.” Lisa sniffed.
They visited for a short time and Lisa told Charity to call her if she needed a baby sitter or a help in any way. Anita bought some honey, eggs, butter and a loaf of Charity’s bread. They left promising to return.
As they walked out of the door of the store Anita gasped and doubled over. Lisa grabbed her before she could fall and Charity ran to help. Lisa called for an ambulance and Anita was rushed to the hospital. Maeve ran to the sheriff’s office to tell Micah. He arrived at the hospital just in time to welcome Adam and Annalese to the world. The proud parents introduced them to the world the next day. The doctor explained that they had been carried long enough in the womb to be strong and healthy.
Micah and Anita were so well liked that gifts of all kinds poured in.
That night Deborah and Matthew took care of Jeremiah so that Charity could take a walk. They were staying with her for awhile. As she left the house she turned around to say, “Outen the lights. I’ll get to bed. Danki.”
Charity walked out across the pasture enjoying the fresh air and looking up at the sky full of beautiful stars. She stopped to try to locate constellations that Adam had taught her about. It was something he enjoyed. He read books about astronomy and remembered all that he learned.
While she was looking up she began to talk to Adam as she would when they walked together. She noticed one star seemed to be winking and imagined that it might be Adam telling her of his love for her.
“Adam, I’ll always love you and I will tell our child about you so that he will love you as much as I do. Life is all right, but it was always better with you.”
She told him all about the neighbors, what was going on at church and things she knew he would be interested in. She purposely did not talk about the trial and the men who had been involved in his death.
Turning to walk back to the house, she looked up again and saw the star winking. She smiled and blew it a kiss. “Gut nacht mine lieb.”
Some Tasty Treats to Enjoy
from Sioux Dallas
When baking, NEVER mix all ingredients together at once; add one at a time and mix well.
Springerle Cookies
4 eggs
2 tablespoons margarine (butter if you choose)
2 cups white sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
One fourth teaspoon salt
One fourth cup of anise seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs, add margarine and sugar - cream together. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add slowly to the egg mixture and combine. Knead dough until smooth. Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least two hours. Place on floured board press to one half inch thick. If you don’t have a board, use a large sheet of aluminum foil. It’s lovely if you have a roller with designs cut into it to transfer to the rolled dough. Sprinkle the anise seed on a clean tea towel. Place cut cookies on the anise seed. Allow it to stand overnight uncovered. Carefully pick up cookies with anise seed. Bake for about fifteen minutes at 325 degrees. Remove from oven and cool. Store in airtight container.
Rinderrouladen
Serves 4
4 flank steaks not more than 6 oz. each
One and one half cups beef broth
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
One half teaspoon salt
One fourth teaspoon ground black pepper
2 sweet pickles sliced in strips
2 slices bacon
2 sweet onion chopped
One fourth cup vegetable oil
4 peppercorns
One half bay leaf
2 tablespoon cornstarch
Spread the mustard on each steak; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the bacon, pickles and onion across the top of the steaks. Heat beef broth and set it aside. Roll each steak like a burrito and secure with toothpick. Heat oil in heavy pan; add steak rolls and brown on both sides. Pour in hot beef broth, peppercorns and bay leaf. Cover and SIMMER for about one hour and twenty minutes. Remove steak and drain.
In bowl blend cornstarch with about three fourths cup cold water and mix well. (I use a fork) Stir into pan and bring to a boil until thick and bubbling. Pour over steaks and serve immediately.
Amish Whoopie Pie Cookies
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 cup very hot water with 2 teaspoons baking soda
Four and one half cups flour
4 eggs
Three fourths cup cocoa
1 cup sour milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Pinch of salt
FILLING
1 cup milk
1 cup shortening
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
Mix cookie ingredients together. Batter is slightly thick so it can be dropped from a teaspoon. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet into small rounds as much alike as possible. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.
For the filling, cook together the milk and flour until thick. Place in a bowl and add sugar, shortening and vanilla. Beat until spread able. Choose two cookies the same size and place the filling between them.
Friendship Bread Starter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup sweet milk
1 cup unbleached white flour
Combine the three ingredients in a large, non metal bowl. Stir with a non metal spoon. Cover with saran wrap but DO NOT refrigerate. Keep at room temperature. Stir the mixture carefully every day for 17 days. On the 18th day let it stand untouched. On days 19, 20 and 21 stir every day again. On day 22 stir and carefully add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk and 1 cup unbleached white flour. On days 23, 24, 25 and 26 stir each day again. On day 27 add a cup of white sugar, 1 cup milk and 1 cup unbleached white flour. Stir well. Keep a starter cup for yourself and give 2 friends each a starter cup.
TO KEEP THE STARTER GOING:
Do not refrigerate and do not use metal bowls or metal stirrer. Start on the 27th day again by adding twice as described above. On the 28th day keep another cup for yourself.
TO MAKE THE FRIENDSHIP BREAD:
Preheat over to 350 degrees
1 cup starter
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
One and one half teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
One half teaspoon vanilla
One half teaspoon salt
One half teaspoon baking soda
1 full cup of raisins, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dates and finely chopped apples.
Mix well in non metal bowl. Place in two greased baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool before slicing. I like to eat a hot slice with a thin layer of butter.
MAKE SURE YOU KEPT A
STARTER CUP TO DO AGAIN.
Amish Walnut Kisses
1 pound shelled walnuts
2 cups granulated sugar
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until blended. Sift flour lightly over egg white mixture and fold in with a wire whisk. Blend in vanilla extract and nuts. Drop from teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes. Yields 6 dozen small cookies.
Amish Yumazitti
8 oz. wide noodles cooked and drained
One and one half lbs. of ground beef (good grade)
One half cup diced celery
2 tablespoons butter
One fourth teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste
Ten and one half oz. can cream of chicken soup
Ten oz. can tomato paste
One half pound grated Cheddar cheese
Brown meat in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place a layer of noodles in a 2 quart casserole, then one layer of meat. Mix soup, celery, and cheese. Place one layer of this. Repeat until all ingredients are used. Layer of cheese on top. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for one hour.
Amish Homemade Bologna
3 lbs. good grade hamburger
3 tablespoons Morton’s Tender Quick
1 cup water
One eighth teaspoon garlic powder
One half teaspoon onion powder
One and one half teaspoon Liquid Smoke
Mix well. Roll into two rolls. Wrap in saran wrap and place in refrigerator 24 hours. Place on greased pan. Bake at 300 degrees for one hour turning meat once halfway through baking time. Slice and eat.
Shoofly Pie
MIX FOR CRUMBS (reserve ½ cup for topping):
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon solid shortening
1 cup flour
FILLING:
1 cup good, thick molasses
Three fourths cup boiling water
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
Combine hot water and baking soda, add egg and molasses. Add crumb mixture (minus ½ cup). This will be lumpy. Pour into unbaked pie crust and top with reserved crumbs Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes. When cut the bottom may be wet.
Amish Bread Pudding
2 cups scalded milk
One fourth cup butter
2 eggs
One half cup granulated sugar
One fourth teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups soft bread small pieces
One half cup raisins
Combine milk and butter over low heat until butter is melted. Combine eggs, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat at medium speed for one minute. Slowly add milk mixture. Place bread in lightly greased casserole. Sprinkle with raisins. Pour batter over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until set. Can be served with lemon sauce.
Amish Cornbread
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
4 tablespoons sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted shortening
Grease a baking pan. Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Make a well in the center and add egg, milk and melted shortening. Beat until ingredients are thoroughly mixed and not lumpy. Pour batter into pan and bake until risen and golden brown.
May add grated cheese on top if desired.
May use can of drained corn if desired.
Amish Buttermilk Pie
1 unbaked pie shell
One and one half cups sugar
One fourth cup flour
1 stick of butter (or margarine)
3 eggs
One half cup thick buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix sugar and flour and then add melted butter. Cream together. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix well and pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Amish Friendship Salad
1 cup small diced ham
2 cups cooked macaroni
One and one half tablespoon barbecue sauce
One fourth cup of grated pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
One fourth cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
Three fourth cup grated celery
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
One half cup finely chopped carrots
In one bowl combine ham, macaroni, celery, carrots, pepper and onion. In another bowl mix mayonnaise, barbecue sauce and mustard. Mix thoroughly and combine the two.
Author’s Note
Hello Dear Readers,
I have chosen the Amish for this book because I have learned to admire them and respect them for their strong love of God and family. (I hope you saw the TV movie “Amish Grace”) I visited them many times in Pennsylvania and was warmly welcomed each time.
Amish is pronounced ah - mish. While I was teaching public school I often took my students from Virginia to Pennsylvania to visit the Amish. Twice we were served authentic Amish meals.
Shickshinny was chosen for the setting because I was intrigued by the name. I found it means fine stream in the Native American language. There are many delightful names in the state that are interesting. I also found that Pennsylvania has more covered bridges than any other state.
Although people came to this area from the early 1600s the first permanent settler in Shickshinny was Ralph Austin in 1782.
Historians consider the Amish to be conservative Protestants. The majority of Amish consider themselves to be Anabaptist Protestants.
A large group was interested in the Protestant Reformation and during the late 1400s started forming their own groups. In 1525 in Zurich Switzerland a group outraged religious authorities by baptizing adults who professed to believe in Jesus and the Bible and promised to live by it. The baptism of adults was considered a crime and was punishable by death. This group felt that baptism was only meaningful for adults who understood what was happening. Because they had been baptized as infants in the Catholic Church they were angrily called Anabaptists.
Anabaptist hunters soon stalked these people to kill them. The first martyr of this group was drowned in 1527. Thousands were burned at the stake starved in prisons, beaten to death or lost their heads to the executioner’s sword, all by the order of the Catholic Church. The MARTYRS MIRROR was published in 1660 in Dutch and today the German edition is found in many homes in Germany. This newspaper reports on the treatment of the Amish. The Swiss Anabaptists bravely tried to follow the teachings of Jesus in their daily lives by loving their enemies forgiving insults, turning the other cheek, being nonviolent and living peacefully. Although some became frightened for their families and asked for forgiveness and went back to their old ways their faith was tested daily.
The sting of persecution became too much to bear so some decided to make a life in another country. Some fled to northern France. Others went to Germany and the Netherlands. Along with the Amish are the Mennonites Brethren and Quakers.
The beliefs and practices of the Amish were based on the ideas of the founder of the Mennonite faith a Dutch priest Menno Simons 1496 - 1561.
When the Mennonites diversified due to differences of worship the group known as Amish led by Jack Amman in 1693 lived in Switzerland and around the Rhine River. They felt there was a lack of discipline among the Mennonites. The Amman followers were from Switzerland, France Netherlands and some parts of Germany. In the late 1600s and early 1700s a group of the people came to Pennsylvania from the Netherlands and were called Amish Dutch even though most of them spoke a form of German.
Amman proposed holding communion twice a year (at the beginning of planting crops in the (fruhling) Spring and after the harvest in the (herbst) Fall. He taught that they should follow the practices of Christ and wash each others’ feet. (The washing of feet was done in Je
sus’ time because everyone walked on dusty ground and wore sandals. It was a common courtesy to wash a visitor’s feet when they entered your home.) Amman saw it as humbling oneself. Amman developed a form of clothing that was plain and would not cause a person to be vain or worldly. He began the shunning of members being strict in rules and orders they were to follow.
Their education only goes through the eighth grade. Recently a Bishop has given permission for higher education if a youth wants to become a doctor, nurse, lawyer or veterinarian. They must prove they can make good grades and promise to work in their home area upon graduation.
These people did and to this day follow the practices of being slow to anger, passive about quarrels or fighting, faithfully following the Ten Commandments and working hard until they are too old or infirm to work.
A member of the family then builds an addition to their house so the older people can be independent yet close to be cared for. The Amish grow or make the majority of items or food they use and shun the world. They follow the same saying that we are supposed to go by: Be in the world but not of the world. They do not use anything that would place them in contact with the world such as telephones, electricity, cars, electrical appliances etc.
The Bishop gives those in business permission to have a phone either only for business or one in a shed outside the place of business for anyone to use only in an emergency. Air compressors are used in businesses that might require electricity such as a big sewing machine for cutting and making leather goods. Diesel engines are used in barns for the milking machines.
Propane or kerosene stoves are permitted in the house. Horse and buggy are used with no paint or gilt or anything that would draw attention or make a person feel proud or worldly. A member can ride in the car of an Englisch (English - those not of the Amish faith) in emergencies such as doctors appointments at a distance away or to and from the hospital. They can also pay an English neighbor to take them to and from the bus or train or visiting in another city.