Recipe Weekend / Cookbook Review: Gather Around the Amish Table by Lucy Leid

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge,from Litfuse Media, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it


Gather Around the Amish Table cover

Synopsis:

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!”

Review:

The author placed an ad in a regional newspaper and put out the word she was looking to compile recipes, and she was surprised with how many she received, and how each came with a memory- a tradition, a time the recipe was shared, etc. And the book's idea was born! You get the these bon mots along with a cherished recipe that will have you rushing to the kitchen, with an overwhelming urge to bake and cook!

Many of the recipes will be familiar to those who know Amish cooking, but many have been 'tweaked' for family preferences and tastes, giving them a fresh spin. But one thing holds them together- they are all excellent! These are the recipes that scream HOME, goodness and healthy ingredients. Your family will love all the recipes in this book! And so will your friends, when you cook some of the recipes made for large crowds! No more trying to quadruple recipes- they're laid out for you! 

The book would be a lovely addition to any cookbook addicts bookshelf, make a great cookbook for a child getting their first apartment, or even with a day of memories for your best friend! Don't pass this one up , if you love good down home cooking!

lGather Around the Amish Table  cake 1

Recipe:

  Coffee Snack Bars

This is a quick and super easy snack cake to make that's great for making on Friday for the kids to have after school, and then have all through the weekend. If you have any leftovers Sunday night, you can freeze them for snacking during the week (just defrost and reheat- the cake is amazing when warm). You can also add your favorite ingredients and make it an all around snack cake.

Note: the original recipe calls for using a 11 x 15 jelly roll pan, but we like it better in the 8 x 11, as gets a little more 'cakey'!

Gather Around the Amish Table  cake 2

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cps brown sugar
3 cps flour
1 cp oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cp warm coffee
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp Madagascar vanilla

Topping
1 cp chopped nuts
1 cp chocolate chips
handful of cacao nips- I like to add these for a healthy punch and extra flavor

Icing Ingredients:
Confectioners Sugar
 Warm coffee

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or flour a 8x11 pan.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, oil, baking soda, salt and egg. Add vanilla. 
3. Add coffee. (You can add the cacoa nips here, or with the chocolate chips and nuts, on the next step._
4. Pour batter into pan, top with chocolate chips, nuts and nibs.
5. Bake cake for 25-30 minutes.
6. While cake is cooling, make icing drizzle of confectioners sugar whisked in with coffee. Make as much as you need, to drizzle bars with. 
7. Drizzle cake with icing and serve!

This is also an excellent cake to take for a pot luck dinner or meeting!

Gather Around the Amish Table  cake 3


About the Author: 

Lucy Leid is an Old Order Mennonite wife, mother, and cook in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.


Win the Book:

Head on over to Goodreads and you can enter to win a copy of this book! Contest ends Sept 30th!

Comments

  1. I love Amish cookbooks! Thanks for sharing the recipe, my coffee loving daughter would love it! :)

    ReplyDelete

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