Ohio Amish culture.....
#11
  Re: (...)
for anyone who is interested. We have a large Amish community south of Cleveland. They make some very beautiful furniture that is sold in some furniture stores. They also farm, raise livestock, etc. and most do pretty well for themselves.

The younger women even work in some of the wonderful restaurants and shops that are in that area. Some of the younger men come into our county, usually on buses or vans, and work in construction here in the summer. Most communities still don't use electricity in their homes or drive cars, but they are allowed to pay someone to drive them where they need to go.

Like everyone else, they have their medical emergencies from time to time, as the result of accidents or illness, and I see them regularly at the city hospital where I work. From what I've been told, they do not have hospitalization insurance, but their community does pay their hospital bills. With today's hospital costs, I can't imagine how they do that.

When Alyssa had her heart surgery last year, there was a whole family of Amish people "camped out" in the waiting rooms. They had a child in the same unit that Alyssa was in. Their family members would bring in food for them sometimes, but they ate in the cafeteria a lot as well. I was amused at the amount of candy and snacks they bought. I guess it's something they don't normally buy, so they were sure enjoying it there. I would have gladly given them chips and candy bars in exchange for some of their fried chicken and homemade pie.

The Amish here in Holmes county still make their own clothing by hand and mostly in dark colors of blue and black. They don't use zippers and the men wear suspenders. All of the women wear long dresses and bonnets. They also make beautiful quilts that are for sale in the many shops in the little towns near their homes. You can also purchase fresh meats and poultry, eggs, about 200 varieties of cheese, and wonderful bakery.

Only a few open their homes to the public for dinner, but I have found most of the people to be very friendly, and don't seem to object to photographs especially if you ask permission to take them. Each community has their own rules that they live buy. They are very hard working and fascinating people.
Maryann

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently..."
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#12
  Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by Mare749 (for anyone who is in...)
I lived in the Valley Forge area of Pa. early in my working life. They are very kind people there (Lancaster area)--it's scary to top a hill at 55mph and suddenly a horse and buggy is in your lane!!! Their cuisine is good but to me quite bland, even the shoo fly pie, or is it the black bottom pie? I don't remember, but they are quite self sufficient.
"He who sups with the devil should have a. long spoon".
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#13
  Re: Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by Old Bay (I lived in the Valle...)
They really are a kind and gentle group of folks.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#14
  Re: Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by cjs (They really are a ki...)
The Central Illinois Amish are migrants from Pennsylvania. They are shrewd business people and really take good care of their own. If you have a chance to participate in an Amish dinner, I highly recommend it. Here they make a shoefly (sp?) pie - which would put you on a sugar buzz for a week!
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#15
  Re: Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by HomeCulinarian (The Central Illinois...)
We have an "Amish" restaurant not too far from us down in Story City, Iowa. It gets mixed reviews but where I am in the Swede Valley (one of the local schools calls its sports teams the Swedes) we do have a few families of Amish in one area not too far away. It is not uncommon to see them working their fields or working around their homes along US Highway 169 in between my house and Adel, Iowa and even every once and awhile along US Highway 30 traveling between Ogden, Iowa and Boone, Iowa...must agree it is a shock and a half to come up on them at 65 or so.

Hey HC are there any Amish near the Galena, IL area? We are still in hopes of a trip over there one of these falls to see the leaves and drink the wine.
"Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected, by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table."-Charles Pierre Monselet, French author(1825-1888)
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#16
  Re: Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by firechef (We have an "Amish" r...)
Our barn burned when I was 7 months pregnant with Kendra. It was late June and we were faced with doing something pretty quick for hay storage and animal protection before the fall set in. Somebody recommended an Amish builder. Here in NW PA we also have several large communities of Amish.

We met with the older gentleman, showed him a sketch of what we wanted and we agreed on flat rate of $10/hr for labor. That crew showed up every morning by 7 am, tool belts on, and scattered to their various jobs - no standing around discussing what they were going to do today. The crew varied from the youngest of 14 to the oldest (and in charge) who turned 21 while he was working on our barn.

We got to be friends, they would come in the house for lunch (unheard of, I learned later) and would bring treats for Chelsea who was 18 months at the time. She kept offering them her broccoli that she was having for lunch and they weren't having ANY of that!

They ended up inviting us to two of their weddings. I didn't think much about it until we arrived and realized that we were the ONLY ones there that were not Amish. It was very different.

But Mare is right, they would break out the chips and pop at their breaks, they must have stopped on the way to the job to get this stuff. They loved the junk food!

The barn turned out beautiful. Once they realized that we were open to suggestions, they offered many ideas to improve on our basic concept - it became as much their barn as ours. We made life-long friends, and it was a truly educational experience for us.
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#17
  Re: Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by iBcookin (Our barn burned when...)
LJ, I remember Galena being a place we used to go when we lived there, so this is probably in the area also. We used to go to Bishop Hill - great Amish folks there. And the pottery was to die for!!
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#18
  Re: Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by cjs (LJ, I remember Galen...)
Jean - I've been to Bishop Hill, also. I didn't remember it as Amish, but rather a commune. I checked and found the Bishop Hill website. It was a Swedish commune that existed between 1846 and 1861. Still a cool place to visit. I bought their recipe collection cookbook when I visited there.
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#19
  Re: Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by HomeCulinarian (Jean - I've been to ...)
oh, CRS kicks in again, eh?
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#20
  Re: Re: Ohio Amish culture..... by iBcookin (Our barn burned when...)
Love your story iBcookin! So nice to hear. And I'll bet your barn is extremely well built. I love learning about other people and their cultures.
Maryann

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently..."
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