"Simply Delicious Amish Cooking: Recipes and Stories from the Amish of Sarasota, Florida"--by Sherry Gore--offers over 300 recipes, which range from traditional Amish favorites to seafood and other recipes with a Florida influence, and many cooking tips and helpful hints--also includes a history of the Amish and Mennonite orders from their origins in Switzerland to their beginnings in America (see my review)

Simply Delicious Amish Cooking: Recipes and stories from the Amish of Sarasota, Florida

Unbeknownst to many folks outside the Amish Mennonite population in America, Pinecraft, Florida---a village tucked away in the heart of Sarasota---is the vacation paradise of the Plain People. Unlike any other Plain community in the world, this village is a virtual melting pot of Amish and Mennonites from around the world, intermingled with people, like author Sherry Gore's family, who live there year-round. 

Gore has put together a cookbook that represents the people who make Pinecraft unique. With hundreds of easy-to-prepare recipes, 16 full-color photographs and black-and-white photographs throughout, this cookbook includes traditional favorites such as Sweet Potato Sweet Mash and Mrs. Byler's Glazed Donuts, as well as Florida favorites including Fried Alligator Nuggets, Grilled Lime Fish Fillets, and Strawberry Mango Smoothies. Interspersed with the recipes are true-life stories about births, engagements, weddings, deaths, funerals, celebrations, wildlife encounters, and accidents told through years of Sherry's Letters from Home column published in The Budget, the Amish newspaper. This delightful cookbook offers readers a faith-based, family-focused perspective of the simple way of life of the Plain People. It is truly a breath of fresh air from Sarasota, Florida!

MY REVIEW:  "Simply Delicious Amish Cooking: Recipes and Stories from the Amish of Sarasota, Florida" is a true delight from cover to cover. Author Sherry Gore offers over 300 recipes, which range from traditional Amish favorites to seafood and other recipes with a Florida influence, and many cooking tips and helpful hints. Mouth-watering vivid color photographs of many of the prepared recipes are also included. Compiled over a three-year period during which her daughter was often hospitalized, the recipes and stories were shared by Amish communities across the country. The book also includes a history of the Amish and Mennonite orders from their origins in Switzerland to their beginnings in America. The Pinecraft Community in Sarasota, Florida started in 1926, and is now a thriving community and popular Winter retreat for Amish and Mennonite families. According to Sherry Gore, Amish food is special because "it is traditional American cooking at its best", and it "makes visitors, whether old friends or strangers, feel welcome". Here is a sampling of some the delightful recipes which are shared: "Dutch Dinner Rolls"; "Morning Glory Muffins"; "Farmer's Skillet"; "Cheeseburger Soup"; "Hot Bacon Dressing for Dandelion Greens"; "Amish Church Dinner"; "Hand-Breaded Pork Chops and Creamy Country Gravy"; "Fabulous Grilled Fish and Shrimp Dinner"; "Sand Dollar Sugar Cookies"; "Three-Layer Strawberries and Cream Cake"; and "Zucchini Relish". I was quite delighted to see a recipe for my grandfather's favorite dessert: "Premium Gingerbread with Old-Fashioned Lemon Sauce"--topped with whipped cream, of course!

Book Copy Gratis Zondervan Books via Booksneeze  

Sherry Gore

 

Sherry Gore is editor-in-chief of Cooking & Such magazine, the author of "Simply Delicious Amish Cooking", "Me, Myself and Pie" and a weekly scribe for the national edition of the Amish newspaper, The Budget, established in 1890. The National Geographic Channel featured Sherry prominently their documentary series, Amish: Out of Order. Sherry's culinary adventures have been seen on NBC Daytime, the Today Show, Mr. Food Test Kitchen, and Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates across the country. Sherry is a year-round resident of beautiful, sun-kissed Sarasota, Florida, the vacation paradise of the Plain People. She has three children and is a member of a Beachy Amish Mennonite church. When not spending time with her family, writing, or eating, Sherry is a cooking show host, and an official pie contest judge.

Sherry is currently under contract with Harvest House Publishers for a 3-book novel series with best selling author Tricia Goyer.  

https://www.facebook.com/authorsherrygore/