We went to the Charm Family Kitchen this week in Charm, Ohio. I had the chicken and biscuits. It was so good, I thought I’d share a chicken and biscuit recipe here. Now you can enjoy this filling meal, too.
Amish Buggies at the Charm Family Restaurant
INGREDIENTS
For the Chicken:
2 large chicken breast halves (bone-in)
3 cups chicken broth
1 small onion (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
For the Biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Directions:
Put chicken, chicken broth, onion, thyme, and pepper in a large saucepan . Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and continue cooking at a low simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.
Remove the chicken from the broth; reserve the broth and set aside.
Remove chicken from bone and chop.
Grease an 8 or 9-inch baking dish or spray it with nonstick cooking spray.
Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
Place chicken in the baking dish.
Sprinkle the cooked peas or peas and carrots over the chicken in the baking dish.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
Stir in the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
Gradually add the 2 cups of chicken broth and continue cooking until thickened, stirring frequently.
Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream to the sauce.
Add salt and pepper, as desired.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables in the baking dish.
Prepare the Biscuits
In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and sugar.
With a fork, stir in the heavy cream until moistened. Turn the dough mixture out onto a floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times, just until the dough holds together.
Pat into a circle about 1/2 inch thick and cut out with 1 3/4 to 2-inch biscuit cutters.
Arrange the biscuits over the hot chicken and sauce mixture in the baking dish.
Gather the dough scraps together and cut out more biscuits, placing on the chicken mixture or on a greased baking sheet or pan. Repeat until all of the dough is used.
Bake the chicken and biscuits and the plain biscuits until browned, about 20 to 24 minutes.
Half the church might say, “Well, I don’t have a problem with this,” and the other half may say, “Oh, no we’re staying with our traditional beliefs and we’re not going to ever go outside them.”
Some Amish use cell phones.
We have this image of the Amish as being frozen in time, stuck somewhere around 1850. Completely abstaining from technology and anything else that belongs to the modern world.
But that’s not quite right because new economic pressures are leading to new debates within Amish churches about just how much to let the outside world in.
Here’s something that may surprise you. By some estimates, the Amish are the fastest growing faith community in America. The Amish number over 300,000, and that number is predicted to hit 1 million by 2050.
At the same time, Amish families are picking up and moving across state lines. Every now and then, you’re going to get what some people would call “seekers.”
A lot of people come in with a romantic notion of how much fun it’s gonna be to dress in more old-fashioned clothes. “Let’s dress like they do on the prairie.” “We’re just gonna live like they did, you know, 100 years ago.”
Well, that wears off awful quick.
The Amish live what’s called a plain life. But the boundaries of plain can be blurry.
So, like, within 10 to 15 miles, you could have electricity, and an automatic washing machine. You could go 10 to 50 miles away, and you’re gonna have solar kerosene lamps and batteries, and then you could go over the hill and there’s not even gonna be so much as a refrigerator.
As Amish communities grow, and American farmland becomes expensive and scarce, more Amish people have to find work off the farm, in the big, technological world.
Does the church always kind of set a standard for what’s allowed? Yes, the bishops mainly do that. They have a meeting, like, once a year, and then they decide, “Well, hey, are we gonna let this in?” They really don’t like any technology.
But, there is much more in here than they realize. Some Amish have electricity at home, but it’s powered by solar because their community is not OK with public power grids.
Similarly, some won’t own cars, but they might hire non-Amish drivers to get them around. There’s this one professor who calls this maneuvering around the rules “Amish hacking.”
Some Amish churches let people use technology for business.
But, once you have a taste of it, it’s hard to put away after work hours. Do you think it’s hard to know where a community should draw the line, or do you think it’s kind of clear?
Increasingly, some Amish people are seeking out more relaxed standards. In short, they’re going on winter vacation… to Florida. Pinecraft is a kind of destination hot-spot for Amish and Mennonite tourists.
Buses bring Amish tourists to Sarasota
In Pinecraft, you can get away with things you couldn’t do elsewhere. Like riding bikes. What happens in Pinecraft, stays in Pinecraft, that’s fact.
There’s actually some communities where I could even go so far as to use the word “forbidden” from coming down here. They would view this as more a playground, and it’s not something that they want to participate in, because their lifestyle is so different.
The thing is, the Amish have been here before. Back in the 1860s, Amish leaders held a series of conferences to decide how much Amish culture should bend to modernity. Hardliners thought the technology would weigh people down, prevent them from ascending to heaven.
In response, the church split. Different communities took different paths. In our lives, it can feel like technological change is inexorable. There’s always more, and more, and more is always better.
But here’s this community that says, “Well, no, we’re going to take this, and not that,” and I wonder if we don’t all crave that kind of control sometimes.
I guess from the outside it can be a bit confusing, and it can feel a little arbitrary like, why embrace an iPad, but not mass-produced clothing, or why embrace a washing machine, but not a tractor?
They might have to do a little research and, you know, just do a little little searching. Is that something that I want to introduce in my life? Where is it going to take me?
I guess when you get to a place where, you know, you have Amish communities like where you can ride cars, and you can ride bikes, and have iPads, and electricity, and then I wonder, you know, is the boundary between Amish and not Amish kind of blurring?
This dessert is warm, gooey, and full of chocolate and marshmallow flavor. When company comes, food is always shared in the Amish – Mennonite home.
This recipe gives you enough servings for large families to share.Served with hot coffee and ice cream, this treat will become one of your favorites, even when the neighbors don’t come calling.
Since it serves so many, this treat is also perfect for potlucks and parties.
Drizzle hot chocolate fudge sauce over your bake when you’re done to complete this toasty, comforting dessert. Be warned, however, that this treat is so good, it’s addicting. Receive The Amish Newsletter Jokes, Recipes, Stories, More
RECIPE
Serves: 12 Preparation
Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 25 min
Ingredients
1 (10.5-ounce) box fudge brownie mix
1 (1-pound) bag large marshmallows
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons hot fudge sauce, warmed
8 graham crackers
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Spray a 9×13 cake pan with cooking spray.
Prepare brownie batter by following the package directions and pour into prepared cake pan. (so yes… you will need oil, eggs, and water and whatever else it asks for)
Bake 20 to 22 minutes, or until cooked through
Turn oven to broil.
Place marshmallows over brownies.
Leaving oven door ajar and place marshmallow-topped brownies under broiler 1½ to 2 minutes. Cook until marshmallows are golden brown.
Watch closely so they don’t burn!
Drizzle hot fudge sauce over top of toasted marshmallows.
Take half of the graham crackers and break them into planks; crush other half of graham crackers into crumbs and pieces.
Sprinkle crushed graham crackers over top of toasted marshmallows, and place graham cracker planks randomly into toasted marshmallows.
We all love Amish food. We love Amish restaurants and we love the baked goods. What’s great is that you don’t have to travel to Lancaster, PA or Berlin, Oh to get these goodies.
There are Amish markets all over the country, but you need to know where to find them. This list is for your convenience.
If you know other stores to be added to the list, or know of one of these that is no longer available, please let me know so I can keep the list current. Thank you.
What to Expect at an Amish Market
Amish markets typically buy dry goods in bulk, then repackage them for sale. You can buy small amounts or large amounts of most items, and the prices are usually quite a bit cheaper than you’d find at the grocery store.
Amish markets also sell a lot of homemade canned goods, baked goods, candies, cheeses and meats. Some of these are from the local community, but you’ll often also find goods that have been brought in from other Amish communities.
I’ve done my best to list locations that are run by the Amish, but some of these may be run by third parties.
The most unlikely of Amish buggy colors, the striking lemon-topped vehicles of the Byler churches, mainly in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania’s Big Valley settlement, are hard to miss.
This is the rarest of carriage hues, with only five church districts in this affiliation as of 2012 (see The Amish, p 139).
The theory is that early tops were made from unbleached oilcloth–the same kind once used for raincoats–which had a pale yellow tone (Plain Buggies, p. 56).
To be sure, this is an unforgettable color, and in a culture that values plainness, a little surprising to see. But it’s a custom that’s been around a long time.
Are Amish truly Christians? Sometimes people wonder that about the Amish.
Now you may or may not be familiar with the Amish depending on where you live in the United States and in the world. They live in about half of the States of the United States and there’s about 250,000 Amish people total in North America.
They also live in Canada and some, even in central America. And they are growing, but they’re not growing because people are joining them. They’re growing them because they have generally large families and there’s probably going to be a half a million Amish people in North America within about 20 or so years.
And so they’re hard to miss. They live mostly in more rural areas. They are characterized by their very plain dress, a somewhat plain living, and that they do not own a lot of modern technologies, including cars.
So you always see them driving their buggies along the roads and highways in the settlements and the communities where they live. It’s always for the most part in rural areas because that fits their lifestyle the best.
Now I know something about the Amish, not only because I’ve studied them but I also know many of them. I have Amish neighbbors and my family attends an Amish-Mennonite church.
The Amish are part of a larger group of Anabaptists that trace their beginnings back about 400 years ago in Europe.
The Amish that I know are very sincere and they have a genuine faith.
What is a Christian?
First of all, and in my humble opinion as I’m reading the Bible, a Christian is anybody who believes that Jesus Christ is the divine son of God. That he died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later. That Christ’s death paid for the sins of those who believe on him as their Saviour.
Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.“
You got to have that. Bare bones minimum.
That faith has got to be evidenced by some degree at least of obedience to the commandments of Christ. So that’s the Biblical definition of what a true Christian really is.
And as I have looked at the lives of the Amish, and of course, if you look at anybody close enough, you’re going to see flaws. And those of us who have logs in our eyes ought to be careful and looking at the specs and other people’s eyes. Right? Right.
That’s what we have to be very careful of when we’re looking at the Amish. A lot of their practices are rooted in biblical beliefs.
Now, I don’t believe that all of them are because of course you can’t find anywhere in the Bible says it’s wrong to use modern technology. And the Amish stayed right with technology, for the first few hundred years of their existence.
It’s only in about the last hundred years or so where they’ve parked and just said, we will go no further.
I might also add, all the the rules and regulations and, and those things which regulate Amish lifestyle and behavior varies from Amish community to Amish community.
There are several different groups of Amish. They’ve split many times, but they’ve split over mostly lifestyle debates and disputes. Things like is it okay to have buttons or should we be using straight pins to put our clothes together because some groups have felt that it’s wrong to use buttons.
Some groups will have allowed cell phone usage, others do not. It varies from group to group.Something that is not often known about the Amish amongst those who are outsiders is that they’re moving around quite a bit. They’re often moving to other communities.
Although they never say it’s because they like another group’s rules better, one cannot help but wonder if that isn’t a driving motivation. At least behind some of them in their restless wanderings from community to Amish community.
So are the Amish Christians?
Well, you know, just because you’re Amish doesn’t mean it doesn’t guarantee you’re a genuine Christian. Any more than being an evangelical Protestant guarantees that you’re a genuine Christian. You have to believe in Jesus and there’s gotta be some evidence.
It’s got to show up in your daily life. And that is certainly true amongst all the Amish that I know personally.
But I have to confess that there’s some that I’ve met where the question has entered my mind. Do they really believe in Jesus or are they just in the Amish culture?
Are they merely conforming to the Amish culture, but not out of a heart love for Christ. I know some former Amish people who left their Amish group and got some persecution because of it.
The Amish practice shunning.That’s a means of discipline in order to win people back into the fold. So if somebody strays all of their family members and all their friends will shun them to some degree, and it brings social pressure on them to think about what they’re doing and to hopefully reel them back into the fold and into conformity.
Oftentimes when Amish leave the Amish movement, they stick with the Anabaptist and they’ll wind up being Mennonites. Of course, the Mennonites have split and a lot of different ways over the years. And they’re just like the Amish.
There are more conservative, there are ultra-conservative, there are medium kind of brand Mennonites. And then there’s the liberal Mennonites.
And amongst the Amish there’s the spectrum of conservativism and liberalism you see in other Christian groups.There is a little bit of flux going on even within the various orders.
There are Old Order Amsih, Schwartzentruber Amish, Nebraska Amsih, Beacy Amish-Mennonites, and many, many other groups. Each group has its own standards.
But even every Old Order Amish community is not the same because they have different rules and regulations that they follow.
Despite the various rules, some of which seem odd to the non-Amish, they do hold to the basic tenants of the Christian faith that was once delivered to the saints.
Yes – the Amish are Christian.
In many areas, their faith and practice are far more Biblical than the mainline denominations. They take Jesus’ words very seriously.
They do not participate in the military, since Jesus has commanded us to love our enemies. They feel it is far better that they die and go to heaven than kill and send someone to hell.
Throughout history, the Amish, Mennonites and other Anabaptists groups have died violent deaths because of their refusal to defend themselves.
The Amish practice footwashing as part of their communion services, since jesus not only washed his disciples’ feet at the last supper, but commanded that they do likewise.
Contrary to an idea that circulates around the internet, the Amish DO PAY TAXES. Most do not pay into or collect Social Security, but they do pay income tax, property tax and all the other taxes other citizens pay.
Most do not vote, feeling there is to be a separation of church and state.
Again, not all Amish are Christians, but their religion is a Christian faith with a strong historic foundation. It is not a cult or heretical group, but is an orthodox faith grounded in the scriptures and lived out the way they believe the Bible teaches.
If you know any Amish people, chances are you know some good folks that are honest, hardworking family-oriented people who love God and are doing their best to serve him with a clear conscience.
