Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Amazing Amish Dinner

(Elkhart, IN) – It was a quiet night.   There were no trains and no train whistles waking us up.  I slept so sound, it’s great to have a couple quiet nights while we're here.

We had low temps in the 50’s when we got up and it never got past mid 60’s all day.  It was also windy, but not as windy as yesterday.  I sat out with the women and Jim talked with the men.  This is what we’re here for, spending time with friends.

It was really chilly, and by early afternoon we all went inside our rigs to get warm and get a small bite to eat.   We didn’t want to eat too much because some of us had reservations to go to an Amish home for dinner.  The place was called Miller's Country Kitchen, and it was way out in the country.  Levi and Esther Miller welcome groups into their home and do all the cooking and cleaning up themselves.  They have a beautiful home on three acres of land, and all of the grounds are immaculate, with gorgeous flower gardens all around.  There’s a barn for their horses and a garage for their buggies.  Levi also has a small boat and motor, which he says he pulls behind his buggy.

We were allowed to take photos, as long as we didn't photograph our  hosts.  Amish people don't like to be photographed.

This is our group of 16.
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The house, gardens, and garage
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We had a fabulous meal served family style.  It included roast beef, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, home made noodles, stuffing, green beans, home made bread, cole slaw (made with cauliflower and broccoli),  and cantaloupe.  Also home made raspberry rhubarb jelly and apple butter. For the dessert there was a selection of four home made pies: chocolate creme, coconut creme, apple, or raspberry rhubarb, with ice cream.
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After dinner Levi showed us his garage where he keeps his buggies.


Jim "horsing" around, pulling Donna and Molly
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The food was fabulous!  We all ate entirely too much.  Levi and Esther were wonderful hosts.  They were very open and friendly, and were glad to answer our questions about their lifestyle.  They have no electricity in their home, so no radio, TV, or electric appliances.  They use gas lights and gas for cooking.  They do have a generator to provide power for things like their freezer and to air condition their dining room for guests.

We all finally wobbled out to our cars and drove back home.  There were a lot of buggies out on the roads, and we passed one Amish home that had all the children out in the yard playing baseball.  It was very interesting to see the girls playing in their long dresses and bonnets.  It looked like a scene from Little House On the Prairie.  In some ways I envy the Amish for the way they live their simple lifestyle, and how they are very happy with their slower way of life.  We can all learn from them as we cope with our busy lives and the fast pace of society.  One of the joys we're getting from our RV'ing lifestyle is the ability to take life a little bit slower.  Things are more enjoyable if you savor them, and that takes time.

When we got home, we basically crashed for the evening and complained to each other how full we are!  :)

6 comments:

Gypsy said...

What a treat to get a close-up glimpse of that lifestyle. The food sounds more than superb!

mikeD said...

What did this dinner cost?

Thanks,
Mike

owensontheroad said...

Dee:
We just love the Amish lifestyle as well. There is a big community down south of us here in Lancaster, PA.
One of our favorite places to eat!

Tumbleweed Dee said...

MikeD The cost is $20, very much worth it.

Chuck and Anneke's RV travels said...

Looks like a great dinner. I see your are heading to the Mayport naval Base campground. We really enjoy it there and hope to get there in Nov.

Prettypics123 said...

That Amish Dinner sounds wonderful. I love it! Wish we had something happening of that nature in our campground!

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