The Essential Amish Cookbook

I have always told my family one of my bucket lists was to stay at an Amish farm just to taste the mouth-watering foods that they make and often grow themselves. No artificial anything in them. I've certainly read about most of them but wondered how hard it would be to try and master them in my own kitchen since flights to anywhere the Amish live right now isn't on my budget. Then I was invited to review The Essential Amish Cookbook by Lovina Eicher and I feel as if I had hit the jackpot.

Not only do you get some mouth-watering recipes, but beautifully illustrated photos to definitely bring out the cook and baker in all of us. They are divided first of all by types, of course the first being my first weakness, freshly baked breads and muffins, then you'll find breakfast foods, soups and salads, vegetables and sides, meats and main dishes, cakes and frostings, pies, cookies and bars, dessert and candies, snacks and beverages, relishes, pickles, jams and jellies along with some bigger meals like Amish Church meals and Amish Wedding meals.

The author opens the cookbook with a little about her family and what their individual interests are and what they do each day on their farms. What started out as a simple column under the name The Amish Cook, suddenly expanded into Lovina's Amish Kitchen as it remains in newspapers today. She had co-authors cookbooks before like the Amish Cook at Home, The Amish Cook's Baking Book and the Amish Cook's Anniversary Book and Amish Cooks across America. There is a wholesomeness that comes across not only through Lovina's recipes but in her tips and ideas she posts along with them. Just some of the dishes I have tried and are now our own family favorites are, Refrigerator Rolls, think of those ones in the can that I hate trying to open. You can keep these in the refrigerator for 5-6 days and make only what you need. I love the French Toast (Overnight) Casserole and this will be a must have on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, just to make things delicious and so much easier to enjoy during the Christmas festivities.

One of my favorites and so simple I hadn't considered it before is the BLT salad. I mean for those of you skipping your bread, why not simply incorporate a few of the ingredients and have it as a salad with a few extra surprises to make it so tasty. This has been perfect for us during our California heatwave since it is cold, crisp and delicious, plus there is bacon. Hello? Bacon!!! No further explanation is required. There are so many I can't wait to try out but let me say this if you LOVE to cook, this is a must have. What a great Mother's Day gift as well!

I received The Essential Amish Cookbook by Lovina Eicher compliments of the Herald Press. In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book reviewed here at Reviews From The Heart was provided to the reviewer by the publisher, media group or the author for free and were received, unless specified otherwise. If you think those recipes sounded delicious wait til you try their desserts like Pumpkin Cookies with icing, Banana Whoopie Pies, Apple Pie and even some great canning recipes that I have always wanted to try to keep those seasonal favorites going all year long like cucumber salad, pickles, jams and jellies! Just think of the great gifts these would make to a family member or friend who is need of comfort food when they're not feeling well. I easily give this cook book a 5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about The Essential Amish Cookbook, Lovina Eicher or where you can pick up a copy of this cookbook today, please click on the links below:

The Essential Amish Cookbook by Lovina Eicher

You can find Lovina's Amish Kitchen on Facebook and learn more about Amish cooking and living.

To read more review on The Essential Amish Cookbook, please visit Herald Press' website. 

Gather Around The Amish Table

One of the things I most admire about the Amish and Mennonite communities besides their amazing sense of community and faith, but their love of cooking. I would love to sample some of their down home, all natural meals one day but for now, like most of us, I will take to trying my own hand based on recipes handed down from generation to generation from the Plain communities.

In Gather Around The Amish Table by Lucy Leid, she has compiled a host of recipes ranging from breakfast food to main dishes, appetizers, home made bread, to desserts and those famous Amish whoopie and shoefly pies! Using information she has gleaned through reading Die Botschaft for the last thirty years which is a plain newspaper that is sent out weekly that contains everything you wanted to know about what goes on in a plain community as well as those time honored recipes we've come to love but which we could make ourselves. These recipes are wonderfully collected and displayed in various chapters including some whimsical stories that often accompanied those recipes and how they came to be in the newspaper. There is even some household tips, and great ideas such a making your own baby wipes, bird treats and all purpose cleaner in addition to those wonderful recipes I have begun to make for my family.

Some of my favorites are Four Hour Root Beer, that's right you can make your own gallon of rootbeer from this wonderful recipe, Peanut Butter Fudge, Southern Buckeyes, Peppermint Twirl Ice Cream, Lillian's Lemon Bars, Pumpkin Cookies, Blueberry Pie, Hawaiian Cake, Creamy Chicken and Rice, and all kinds of breakfast treats and casseroles. A word to the wise here however, before you attempt to make any of these, note the serving size. They range from a small family of 4 to groups of 20 or more, so be wary. There is even a recipe for Apple Butter that yields 24 pints. This is just what you would expect to see in an Amish Cookbook and I can't wait to try most of them.

I received Gather Around the Amish Table by Lucy Leid compliments of Herald Press and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review outside of a free copy of this book to read, and the opinions expressed here are my own honest ones. My only complaint would be that this isn't much bigger but I may have to find a way to subscribe to Die Botschaft myself and try and capture and sample all the wonderful goodness you would come to expect from an Amish or Mennonite home. For that reason I would rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars in this reader's opinion as I am off to make another delicious treat for my family.

For more information about Gather Around The Amish Table, Lucy Leid or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Gather Around The Amish Table by Lucy Leid

You can find Lucy Leid on Facebook at MennoMedia for more delicious ideas, tips and recipes. 

For more reviews on Gather Around The Amish Table, please visit Litfuse Publicity's Book Tour Page.