Gather Around the Amish Table Cook Book Review

I was excited to find a cookbook that had lots of Amish recipes with Gather Around the Amish Table: Treasured Recipes and Stories from Plain Communities by Lucy Leid.  Who doesn't love the Amish recipes?  I was super excited to start reading the recipes and even more happy when I realized that there were cute stories in front of each recipe that the person sharing the recipe shared.

Straight from Amish kitchens to yours, this cookbook offers favorite family recipes and charming stories from Amish and Mennonite cooks. Bake the pecan rolls that taste best after an ice-skating party, or try the hoagies that a community sold to help an Amish family with hospital bills. Discover the cocoa cupcakes with instructions to stir by hand that one young cook took literally, or whip up the whoopie pies that one Amish woman took to market in her horse and buggy.  These cherished recipes speak of comforting traditions, lively communities, and strong Christian faith. Gather your family around the table to sample the nourishing fare and trademark charm of the plain people. In the words of one cookbook contributor: Bake someone happy!

I love the recipes and stories so much!!  My favorite chapter was the bread because I want to try all of the recipes.  The sad part is that some of the recipes are done on Amish quantities instead of smaller American families but I am sure that I can cut them in half and try it for a smaller scale.  In the breakfast section, I liked the cinnamon baked oatmeal, Linda's Pancakes and Mom's Waffles.  In the bread section, I wanted to make almost everything including some yummy choices like Mother's Oatmeal Bread, Honey Oatmeal Bread, Sesame Onion Braid, and English Muffin Loaves with the bonus of Mama's Cinnamon Buns.  I can't wait to try the breadsticks and Favorite Soft Pretzels.  I am so excited for the Delicious Doughnuts, Potato Doughnuts, Overnight Doughnuts, and the Sisters' Day Doughnuts and Glaze. Do you think that I have a carb problem??  The soups include an Easy Hamburger Soup  and Cream of Potato Soup that sound very tasty for the cold winter.  Easy Sloppy Joes and Chicken Hoagies are interesting sandwiches featured.  There is a chapter on salads and pickles that didn't really get me interested.  The side dishes had a recipe for noodles which I think are kind of like egg noodles and I am very interested in trying those.  The meats and main dishes includes stuffed shell casserole and beef noodle casserole that my family might like and other recipes a little too far out for us like Roasted Pig Stomach.  There is a Moist Chocolate Cake that sounds good and that is one of the ones without eggs which that I very interested to try.  I am going to have a ton of fun trying some of these out including some cookie recipes that make 6-10 dozen cookies.  I might need a bigger blender or stronger muscles to do it by hand.  I hope that you enjoy these recipes and stories as much as I have.  I know that I will be using many of these for years to come!!

I already made two of the recipes if you want to check out the results and pictures for Aunt Fannie's Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cherry Coffee Cake.  I am hoping to make the Moist Chocolate Cake soon too!!!  Stay turned for more recipes made from this cookbook!

**Please note that I got a copy of this book for my honest opinion and review.  All opinions shared here are my own.