The Amish Way: Poems, Quotes and Words of Wisdom
While shopping at my favorite Amish Grocery I happened across this little book. My curiosity got the best of me and I had to buy it. Much to my delight I found way more than canning recipes and home remedies.
Tucked away in the pages of this little book I found poems, quotes and words of wisdom from some very smart and wise Amish Ladies!
My favorite saying from the Amish Sayings and Quotes collection would be the first one listed because it is soooooo true! It’s kinda of like the old saying, “If I knew then what I know now!”
My favorite poem would be Bless this Mess because it gives me insight on how Amish ladies face the same challenges as me on a daily basis! I guess I just somehow figured the Amish ladies had it all together and figured out that they don’t stress over laundry, dishes, dirty windows, etc!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these as much as I did and please let me know which ones are your favorite and why they are your favorite. I will be interesting see how differently we all see things.
AMISH SAYINGS AND QUOTES– It is less painful to learn in our youth, than it is to be ignorant in our old age! – You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but who wants a bunch of flies? An Amish friend Lobelville, TN – If a rooster crows before goin’ to bed, he’s sure to wake up with a wed head! (rain) Mrs. Robert Gingerich East Rochester, OH – Love is patient, Love is kind. Love bears all things, hopes all things and endures all things! – A whistlin’ woman and a crowin’ hen are sure to come to some bad end! Always forgive your enemies. It sure aggravates them! – Any housewife, no matter how large her family, can always get some time alone by doing the dishes! – A peck of common sense is worth a bushel of learning. – God is great, God is good By His had, we are fed. Give us Lord, our daily bread! – Sometimes you get discouraged, because I am so small. I always leave my fingerprints on the furniture and walls. But everyday I’m growing, I’ll be all grown up someday, and all these tiny fingerprints will surely fade away! AMISH POEMS AND WORDS OF WISDOM
The Farmer’s Love Letter
My sweet potato, do you carrot all for me? You are the apple of my eye. With radish hair and your turnip nose, My heart beets for you My love for you is strong as onions. If we cantaloupe, lettuce marry, and we will be a happy pear! Mrs. Robert Gingerich East Rochester, OH A LITTLE AMISH POEM Come, let’s clean our the garden, carry in everything that we find. Stuff everything in jars, with shapes of every kind. When winter comes a howling, along the shelves we’ll snoop, and serve our hungry family, with vegetables and soup. AN AMISH POEM Weary mother mixing dough, don’t you wish the food would grow? Your lips would smile, I know, to see, a cookie bush or donut tree! BLESS THIS MESS I look in the kitchen, and what do I see? But a great pile of dishes, just waiting for me. I glance through the window, my view is all bleary. The prints of small children, make it look very smeary. My glance falls on laundry, hanging over chairs, some of it folded, and some at me stares. With a basket of ironing, and another of mending, I find that my tasks, are almost unending. But the toys of the floor, and the rugs disarranged, show healthy children in this house have played. And the dishes and laundry, are proof that we’re blessed, with food and with rainment, so why get distressed? I’ve health and I’m privileged, to work with my best. So up and at, Thank God for this mess! An Amish friend, Sugarcreek, OH AN AMISH POEM I would rather have a little rose, from the garden of a friend, than flowers strewn around my casket, when my days on earth are ended. I would rather have a loving smile, from one I know is true, than tears shed ’round my casket, when the world I bid adieu. Bring me all my flowers today, and the true smile as I said, now! I’d rather have a smile or rose, than a truckload when I’m dead! TABLE RULESIn silence I must take my seat, and give God thanks before I eat. Must for my food, in patience wait, till I am asked to hand my plate. I must not scold, nor whine, nor pout, nor move my chair or plate about. With knife or fork or napkin ring, I must not play nor must I sing. I must not speak a useless word, For children must be seen, not heard! I must not talk about my food, nor fret if I don’t think it’s good. I must not say, “The bread is cold,” “The tea is hot,” “The coffee cold.” I must not cry for this or that, nor murmur if my meat is fat. My mouth with food, I must not crowd, nor while I’m eating, speak aloud. Must turn my head to cough or sneeze, and when I ask, say “If you please.” The tablecloth, I must not spoil, nor with my food, my fingers soil. Must keep my seat till I am done, nor round the table, sport and run. When told to rise, then I must put my chair away with noiseless foot. And lift my heart to God above, in praise for all His wondrous love. An Amish friend HOW TO PRESERVE A HUSBAND Some insist on keeping them in a pickle, while others are constantly them in hot water. Even the poor varieties can be made sweet and tender by garnishing with patience; well sweetened with smiles and flavored with kisses. Wrap well in a mantle of charity and keep warm with steady fire of devotion. Thus prepared, they’ll keep for years! RECIPE FOR LIFE One cup full of good thoughts 1 cup of kind deeds 1 cup consideration for others 2 cups well beaten faults 3 cups forgiveness Mix thoroughly and add tears of joy, sorrow and sympathy for others. Fold in 4 cups of prayer and faith to lighten other ingredients, and let rise to great heights of Christian living. After pouring all of this into your family life, bake well with warmth and human kindness. Serve with a smile. Lydia Ann Schwartz Berne, IN A COMMUNITY GARDEN Three rows squash 1. Squash grudges 2. Squash criticism 3. Squash gossip Four rows of turnips 1. Turn up for visits 2. Turn up with a smile 3. Turn up with a helping hand 4. Turn up on time Five rows of lettuce 1. Let us love one another 2. Let us welcome strangers 3. Let us be faithful to God’s duty 4. Let us worship God together 5. Let us pray often for one another Mrs. Robert Gingerich
Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did!
Dana
Help, we need somebody! Help, not just anybody! Help, you know we need someone, help!
Do the altered lyrics in our title for this post sound familiar?
Yep, you guessed it!
The Beatles, HELP, released July 1965!
Okay, enough trivia!
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Thanks and God Bless,
SGC
READY, SET, GO …………
Take Our Survey!Why We Cook From Scratch {Most of the Time}
Genesis 3
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
We believe in Intelligent Design. We believe that our Heavenly Father created the world and everything in it in six literal days.
In those 6 days, God created everything that Man would need to survive: food, medicine, shelter, water, and He created them in a way that we would receive optimal benefits.
After the 1950s, we have seen an unnatural alteration in our food culture. Consumers wanted food to be easier, faster, cheaper, and more of it– so, the food industry ramped up their scientific approach for production to keep up with the demand.
Food has been broken down, dehydrated and ground up, fillers added to make it go farther, not-your-grandmas-preservatives were added to make it last longer, colors were added to make it prettier, pesticides are sprayed on it so corporations would have bigger harvests so they would make more money…more, more, more, MORE… Should I even start on what’s happened with our meat and dairy?! …UGH!
Now look at us. We are a generation of disease ridden, obese, malnourished people. {Myself included– but I’m working on that}
Coincidence? I think not.
Over the last few years, my idea of food has evolved. I see the need for Back-to-Basics-Living and am slowly working my household over to that. Not ‘hardcore’ back-to-basics. I’m not a purist’s purist, but I do try to limit the amount of processed foods that come into my home.
The Wheetshire Garden 2013
The first steps that I have taken are to cook from scratch and grow some of my family’s food {check out my 2014 garden here}.
Cooking from scratch it isn’t really a huge change, it just requires more meal prep and planning.
Now, before you start thinking that I am one of these haughty, granola crunching {mmm..granola}, tree hugging {not that there’s anything wrong with that}, out-of-touch-with-the-real-world people, I want you to know that I DO live in the real world and I know that sometimes the budget doesn’t allow for gray sea salt, gluten-free this, free range that, organic everything… and blah, blah, blah. I don’t get them all time. I can’t. That’s why I say ‘when possible’. Cut yourself {and me} some slack. We do the best we can, when we can. Most of the time, the best I can do is buy whole foods and staple items for “from scratch” cooking. I can’t always get organic, either. It’s Oh. Kay. I don’t always have time to make my own cream ‘o soup, so I get it from the store.
Wheetshire Tomatoes 2013
Did I mention that I am also a working mom? Yeah. I have a work schedule and a $50 to $60 a week grocery budget. How’s that for “in touch”? 😉 Cooking from scratch is possible in a working mom’s schedule– we just have to plan a little better.
For funzies, let’s look and compare sandwich bread– Factory made vs. Homemade.
Homemade bread has: flour, yeast, honey, water, extra virgin olive oil and salt. That’s a total of 6 ingredients.
Homemade Sandwich Bread
Sunbeam Bread Ingredients:
Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Folic Acid), Water, Wheat Gluten, Cellulose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Yeast. Contains 2% Or Less of Each of The Following: Whole WheatFlour, Salt, Wheat Bran, Yeast Nutrients (Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate), Dough Conditioners (May Contain One Or More of The Following: Mono- & Diglycerides, Ethoxylated Mono- & Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Ascorbic Acid, Azodicarbonamide, Enzymes), Corn Starch, Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Distilled Vinegar, Caramel Color, Soy Lecithin, Soy Flour. Contains Wheat and Soy.
**Um, dough conditioners? Caramel color? What the what?!
Now, let’s get real. Right now, there is a half eaten loaf of store-bought bread in my pantry. There is also a mostly eaten loaf of homemade sourdough bread on my counter.
I have homegrown organic vegetables in my freezer, as well as non-organic, non-free range chicken.
I have a box of raisin bran next to a jar of homemade granola.
You see where I am going with this? This is a gradual, do-the-best-you-can-with-what-you’ve-got process.
If we want to live a more natural, wholesome lifestyle, let’s take it one step at a time. Do the best you can with what you’ve got. Some improvement is better than none. I’ve heard this called “imperfect progress” and I feel good about it.
DRUM ROLL PLEASE………… AND THE WINNER OF THE KENTUCKY DERBY HAT CONTEST IS ………………..
2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
2 Corinthians 1:11 Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.
WE HAVE A WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!!
CONGRATULATIONS CHERYL CASTEEL YOU ARE OUR WINNER! You will receive a 1-years subscription to TASTE OF HOME magazine
Thanks to Cheryl and all those who subscribe to our blog, like us on Facebook, follows us on Twitter and pins us on Pinterest, we are forever grateful. Without our peeps we could not do this!
Cheryl, please e-mail your address to southerngalscook@yahoo.com to receive your subscription. Don’t worry, we will NOT share your information with anyone else.
This was fun!!!!! Can’t wait to do it again, and we will.
SGC
Southern Sausage Gravy
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13
I’ve noticed that foods that I consider “comfort foods” are those that take me back to my childhood. My Mom’s pineapple upside-down cake, my Pop’s manicotti, and my Grandmother Bryson’s sausage gravy and biscuits.
Taking a bite of this gravy is like stepping into a time machine, dialing the time of arrival to 1983 when I was 3 years old, and stepping into her kitchen. I remember standing on a stool next to her while she let me pat out the biscuits and put them in her baking pan.
Even though I was a pretty good cook when I got married, I did my best to recreate the foods that my loved ones served, to my new husband.
Gravy was one thing that I had to attempt several times before I got the consistency just right. There were times that I served my husband gravy so thick and pasty we could have spackled dry wall with it. There were other times that the gravy looked more like a creamy soup. But now, lucky for him, I’ve got it just right.
To make this Southern Sausage Gravy, you will need:
1 lb bulk sausage
3 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk {I’ve used 2% and it’s fine, I just prefer whole milk}
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Step 1: Heat your skillet over medium high heat. Crumble your sausage into your skillet and cook to a golden brown. DO NOT DRAIN YOUR GREASE! This is the fat you need to make this dish.
Step 2: Thoroughly incorporate your flour, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about a minute being sure scrap the bottom of your skillet. The flour can stick and burn if you aren’t careful. {I find using a whisk and a cast iron skillet are the best tools for this job.}
Step 3: Vigorously stirring with your whisk, pour in your milk. Stirring continually will work out any lumps giving you a smooth, creamy texture. Continue to stir and cook for a couple of minutes or until your gravy is the perfect, velvety consistency.
Step 5: Serve over Dana’s amazing biscuits to some of your favorite people.
Enjoy!
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