Lunch: Our next stop was lunch. We went to an Amish farm. 70 of us sat at tables in the same room and were provided with a delicious family style lunch.
The menu consisted of corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, cauliflower salad, amish noodles, broasted chicken, meatloaf and pies. I have probably forgotten something. The food was served family style on big platters and bowls and passed down the table. They passed the food twice.
The deserts consisted of a peanut butter pie, a custard pie and a strawberry desert which was similar to our strawberry pretzel salads but instead of pretzel crust it had more of a shortbread crust.
I have to say that the meatloaf was delicious, and I wish I had the recipe. We had great conversation over lunch, and the food was great. As we left the building the Amish women handed out small loaves of homemade bread.
Upon return to the bus, I put my newly acquired loaf of bread in the Big Brown Bag!
As we drove along the roadways, Ovi spoke about Amish life.
He pointed out a school and said that the Amish children go to school until the eighth grade. Class sizes vary from 7 kids to maybe a dozen. The children are required to attend the same number of days each year as required by the state. If there is a funeral or wedding and they want the children to attend, then their board has to approve it and they have to make up that school day.
The only time they cancel school is when it is -10 degrees out. There was one other reason they could cancel school and I don’t remember what it was. Currently their kids are on summer break from school. As we drove around you could see them play in yards and on swing sets.
When they have weddings or funerals it is typical to have 1000 people attend. If the person getting married or the family of the person who passed away does not have enough space to host the event, then their neighbors will offer their home/property.
Our next stop was that leather maker.
This craftsman showed us how he creates a leather belt and showed various forms of hides that he uses to make purses, wallets keychains belts.
Some of the hides that he had were shark, stingray, alligator, snake, and many others.
His craftsmanship, certainly shined as we saw his final products in his little shop which consisted of purses, belts and various other leather items.
When we boarded the bus, we were given a big block of cheese to put into our Big Brown Bag.
Amish Wedding
On our last stop we were taken to the site of an Amish wedding that was to take place the following day.
Amish weddings usually take place on a Wednesday or Thursday because it takes several days for the woman to make all of the food.
Young people are not put into arranged marriages. They find their mates through various functions in the community. There are various youth groups that these young people attend and meet other stuff around their same age.
Typically, an engagement lasts about one year because it takes that long to reserve the tents and equipment and refrigeration, and everything that is needed to provide a wedding site for up to 1000 people.
The wedding will start at around 9 AM and will last three hours and this is held in a tent on the property is the people get married. If they do not have enough space at one of their families properties to hold this event, then a neighbor will open up their property for the wedding.
Three meals are provided during the wedding day. The first meal of the day is lunch for the wedding party. Later in the evening there is another meal provided for the men. Later at night, there is another meal that is for all the young people.
As we pulled up to this wedding site, there were two tractors parked a distance across from each other with a rope or some type of wire was connected to each of them. This is the hitching post for all the horses and buggies that would be in attendance.
Upon entering the room where the reception was taking place in the bride and groom, were there preparing the tables and putting out their menu, and also a blessing or home prayer on the table settings. This was written in German.
The bride and groom each have two people which are their witnesses for the wedding. They also have a lot of “attendents” that will be serving the food during the reception.
Below are some pictures of the wedding room the wedding reception. There is a whole separate tent which houses the preparation area for the food.
There were no treats for our Big Brown Bag after this stop.
The wedding was the last stop on our tour and on our way back to the fairgrounds we actually passed the Coachmen factory.
We dropped off our tour guide at his home and returned to the fairgrounds at around 3:45 PM
This was a fun day, and I really enjoyed visiting these craftsmen and learing about the Amish culture.
When I returned to the Van my Big Brown Bag was filled to the brim!
