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.
Who Are The Amish And Where Do They Live? At the beginning of the 20th century, the country had an Amish population of 5,000 . Today, there are roughly 250,000 Amish in North America. Most people think of Pennsylvania when they think of the Amish, but there are now Amish communities in 28 states plus Ontario, Canada. Ohio has the largest Amish population, and Holmes County has the largest Amish population of any county in the country. Pennsylvania comes in second, and the Lancaster area is probably the most famous Amish area. Indiana is third and about two thirds of the Amish live in these three states.
There are two Amish communities outside of the United States and Canada. One is in Colonia Naranjita, Bolivia and the other is in Argentina.
Who Are The Amish? The Amish are a Christian community, or I should say, communities. The Amish broke off from the Anabaptist group, the Mennonites, in 1693. Their leader was Jakob Ammon, hence the name “Amish.” There are also Amish-Mennonite groups. Where groups have left the Amish, taken the Mennonite name and maintained many of the Amish distinctives.
There are several different branches of the Amish. The most conservative are the Schwartzentruber Amish although the best known would be the Old Order Amish. The four main groups of Amish are: the Old Order the New Order the Beachy Amish the Amish Mennonites
Among these groups, there are many other divisions. The Beachy Amish and Amish Mennonites drive cars and have electricity, while the Old and New Order groups still use horse and buggy.
Among the Old Order Amish groups, you will find: Old Order Amish Nebraska Amish Swartzentruber Amish Buchanan Amish Swiss Amish Andy Weaver Amish Troyer Amish Byler Amish Renno Amish Holmes Old Order Elkhart-LaGrange Lancaster Amish Tobe Amish Michigan Churches Each group will have their own set of rules, or ordnung, and each community in these groups also have varying rules.
Their Religious Beliefs The Amish faith is a Christian faith. They believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Unlike most churches, the Amish only meet every other Sunday. They meet in members’ homes or barns. After services there is always a community meal. Some of the new Order groups have started having Sunday school on the off weeks, and the Beachy Amish Mennonites do meet every Sunday and on Wednesday evenings. The Beachy also have meeting buildings. Baptism is for adults only. Baptism not only symbolizes the new birth in Jesus Christ, but also brings the newly Baptized into the church as a member. At this time, the new member not only affirms his/her faith, but also commits to following the community rules.
Amish Church Services
As mentioned, church services are held at the homes of members. Often in the barn, if the house doesn’t have a large enough room.
Before the service, ladies of the church will help the host family clean and prepare for the meeting. Benches and hymnals are transported in a special wagon from home to home.
During the service, the ministers sit up front and the congregation, including children, sit on hard, wooden benches without backs or cushions. Hymns are sung in High German. Although the congregation speaks Pennsylvania Dutch, a German dialect, not everyone understands everything they are singing.
Every minister is allowed to preach, and most churches have three or more minister, including the bishop. If there are visiting ministers from other congregations, they are also allowed to preach. The church service can last four hours or more, without a break.
After the service, there is a meal. Usually sandwiches, soup and desserts. I have visited two New order Amish services, with friends. At both, the meal was peanut butter (whipped with honey) and jelly sandwiches with ham, Swiss cheese and soup.
The Amish church wagon. These are the benches the Amish use for Sunday church services.
The Amish Belief In Nonresistance
The Amish are not pacifists, as commonly believed. They are nonresistant. Pacifism is a philosophy of bringing about change in nonviolent ways. Nonresistance is the Christian practice of not only living peacefully with all men, but of not becoming involved in the affairs of the government.
The Amish, and Mennonites, will not join the military. The Bible plainly teaches that we are to “love our enemies” and we are not to “return evil for evil.” They Amish and Mennonites have served in non-combat areas during times of war.
The Amish also do not vote. Again, to avoid becoming entangled in the affairs of this world, although this is starting to change. More and more Amish are voting, at least on local issues.
Why Do The Amish Women Wear Those Bonnets?
Simply put, it is a Bible command. 1 Corinthians 11:10 says, ” For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.” In 1 Corinthians 11:5 it says, “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with [her] head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.”
My question is why don’t all Christian women obey the Bible in this.
Are All Amish Farmers?
No. More and more the Amish are working in construction, in factories and as business owners. Farm land is getting harder and harder to find and the profits from a small farm cannot sustain a family. Almost all Amish will have gardens and even some livestock, but this is usually for family use.
In tourist areas like Lancaster, PA and Holmes County, Ohio, many Amish are capitalizing on the tourism with shops that cater to the visitors.
I have some Old Order friends that own a popcorn and fudge business in Berlin, Ohio. It is a modern store and they even have a web page and a Facebook page for their business.
In Peoli, Ohio, there is a Schwartzentruber Amish gentleman that has a business selling aluminum roofing and siding. He became so successful, the Bishop of the church made him split the business. Now he is only allowed to sell certain colors and another church member has a business selling the other colors. The Amish value hard work, but the Bishop felt that if the man made too much money, he might become prideful or get involved in things he’d be better off avoiding.
Why Do They Live In Such An Old Fashion Way? The Bible calls for Christians to be separate from the world. Although we are “in the world,” we are not to over involve ourselves in the affairs and activities of the world. The Amish seem to take these commands very seriousl. They abstain from popular fashion, jewelry, sporting and entertainment events, television and other activities they feel may pull a believer into the world. Many of the groups still use horse and buggy for transportation. The biggest reason for this is that it keeps the Amish close to home, family and friends. It causes the Amish to work in their communities and know their neighbors.
For long trips the Amish will use public transportation or hire a driver. The Amish also do not have telephones in their homes. You will see little phone booths they have built in their fields or away from the house, in the yard. They believe that time spent on the telephone is not time well spent. They also believe that by limiting the phone, it encourages members to visit with other members, keeping the community close.
Most Amish will have telephones in their place of business, and even those without electricity in the home will have them in their business. We are also seeing more and more Amish with cell phones.
Do They Use Modern Technology At All? As already mentioned, the Amish will use public transportation and hired drivers. They tend to have telephones, electricity and flush toilets in their places of business, though not in the homes. More and more, Amish are using cell phones and the internet. Many Amish businesses now have web pages and even Facebook pages. Builders will use power tools on the job, and many generate their own electricity for home and farm use.
Some do all farming with horses, other groups allow tractors. Some groups require the tractors to have steel wheels. This is to keep them from being use for street transportation. I even heard of one community that allowed rubber tires, but the tires had to be filled with rice and not air.
Are All Amish The Same? No. As mentioned, there are several sub-groups of Amish, and among them, the different communities also have their own rules. Some use horse and buggy, some own cars and trucks. Some have no electricity, some have electricity. Some dress in only black or dark blue others dress in pretty colors or even allow patterns in their clothing. Rules can be as strange as allowing smoking, if the cigarette has a brown paper, but not white papers. For those that drive vehicles, solid black cars with no chrome and four doors may be the only ones allowed or the group may allow almost any vehicle in any color. Even the color of buggies, or whether or not a cover is allowed on the buggy varies from group to group for the horse and buggy Amish.
Do The Amish Pay Taxes? Many people think the Amish do not pay taxes, but this is not true. Although some Amish do not pay into, or collect, Social Security, the Amish pay all the other taxes that we all pay. As more Amish are going to work in factories and in non-Amish shops, more and more are also starting to pay and collect Social Security. Although they pay property taxes and other taxes, the Amish do not take all the benefits from their taxes that non-Amish do. They have their own private schools, yet in communities with a large Amish population, they are a source of significant funds for the public (government) schools.
Conclusion Anyone who has ever visited Amish Country, or read books about the Amish, or seen a movie about the Amish will tell you everything they know about the Amish. You, the reader, probably thought you knew a lot about the Amish even before reading the article. But the more I live among the Amish and get to know them, the more I discover that everything I know about the Amish is right, yet everything I know about the Amish is also wrong. They do not fit into neatly defined boxes any more than anyone else. I mentioned to a Beachy-Amish minister once that I had seen an Old Order Amishman at a theater, watching a play. This is not normally accepted by their group, but my minister friend said, “Some Amish will do anything.” That has become how I best understand the Amish. They have rules, values and seem quite different from us at times, but before you say, “The Amish don’t FILL IN THE BLANK_,” remember, some Amish will do anything.
Please feel free to comment and post your questions in the comments section.
The Amish raise their children to be honest, humble and obedient. A strong community of like-minded adults and children provide the foundation for Amish life and culture.
Do Amish boys know that non-Amish boys go to baseball practice and get up on Saturday morning to watch cartoons? Do Amish girls ever dream of driving cars when they grow up? Do they ever want to stop being Amish?
What about you? Do you ever look at your family’s traditions and wish you could live your own life differently to Mark do you think when I grow up I won’t do this and instead I’ll do that? Eventually, when you leave home and become financially independent, you will be able to act on your answers to these questions. Amish teenagers get to make the same choices. Just like teenagers in mainstream Society, however, many factors influence that decision, even if the Amish teenagers do not realize it.
Amish Upbringing
Amish children start school at about the same age as other children in mainstream North American society, usually at five or six years of age. That is not to say that Amish children, or any children for that matter, don’t start learning until then in fact, much of the learning that occurs in our lives take place while we are still very young.
Think about it. By the time a child is ready to start school, she can walk, talk, Run, play games with other children, and even put on their own clothes. Many children can already count, and some can even read by the time they start going to school. The brain of a young child is constantly developing, allowing children to learn things incredibly quickly.
Without even realizing, children everywhere around their own language and culture, from the rules that their parents set for them to the example set by the people around them. Even from a young age, a child mother or father probably doesn’t need to tell him that he should be nice to other people, or that he must wait until after dinner to have ice cream. People learn these things naturally, simply by growing up. It is these very sort of Unwritten rules children love that form the basis for culture. Children learn the rules of their own culture from the age. This is as true of Amish children as it is of children in other communities throughout the world.
Upbringing, or the way we learn the rules of our parents and of our culture, happens naturally in all communities. How it happens, and how it influences people as they grow up, however, varies from one place to another, and from one culture to another. Differences exist between how Amish parents raise their children and how many not Amish parents raise their children
Generally, Amish families tend to be quite large. The motivation for this is quite simple, children provide extra hands to work around the house and on the farm. In fact, before the advent of machines like automatic hay balers and corn h, farm families, in general, tended to be quite large, whether honest or not. Since 1900 alone, the average household size in the United States has fallen from 4.6 people per household to roughly 2.5 people per household.
In addition, Amish communities tend to be quite small, usually between 25 to 40 families. In many Amish communities, families live in close proximity to the aunts, uncle’s, and cousins. Both figuratively and literally, Amish people often think of their name Amish neighbors as family. These two factors, large families and tight-knit communities, provide young Amish people a very closed network of friends and family with whom they interact on a regular basis.
Amish people generally know every person in their Community very well, providing a greater degree of Social Security than what is found in many non-Amish communities. This arrangement creates a much broader concept of family that practiced in most non-Amish communities. Amish parents feel free to trust the welfare and development of their children to any of your neighbors, knowing that all the members of the community were raised in the same traditions in mindset. That’s if a child misbehaves, any at all in the community may discipline him for it.
Amish children experience firm discipline from an early age. Humility and obedience are important character traits in Amish communities, so they are instilled at a very early age.
The Amish take discipline quite seriously. Children are expected to be quiet, obedient, cooperative, and humble through the examples set by their parents and by older children around them, children learn that respect and obedience to their elders are two of the most important virtues they must practice. Failure to obey can result in a spanking or other discipline.
In many ways, the ideal Amish child is very different from mainstream society’s image of the perfect child. In American society, parents reward toddlers with toys with flashing lights and happy songs promote discovery and exploration. Toys that mimic musical instruments or that allow children to make pictures promote self-expression. Even if such toys could be made without electrical components, many Amish parents would likely never permit the children to play with such things. To Amish parents, allowing the children have such toys would detract from the social contact between parent and child, and could foster characteristics in the children that would run contrary to the ideals of the Amish Community.
Amish Education
Once an Amish child reaches 5 years of age, he goes off each day to school, just like children in mainstream North American society. A few Amish children are sent to rural public schools, but most attend small, one or two room schools. The Amish community usually build these schools themselves, making school as far as expensive than the large Public Schools many non-Amish children now attend. Even though most Amish children do not attend public schools, Amish parents still must pay school taxes in communities.
Children attend school in the eighth grade, mingling throughout the school day with children in all of the other grade levels. Despite the wide range of ages and grade levels in the classroom, only one teacher and perhaps a teacher’s aide or two, move around the classroom, instructing small groups of students for several minutes, giving them, and then moving on to the next. Older students often help younger students with their work. With all this activity, the classroom is General busy place. Amish education stresses cooperation, everyone working together, rather than competition, or each individual tries to do better than the other.
Nevertheless, the teachers keep the school’s well ordered. The students, brought up to respect their elders and authority figures, usually behave for their future. Still, like many larger public schools, playful pranks are common in the classroom when the teacher isn’t looking.
Amish pupils learn arithmetic, English, High German as opposed to the Pennsylvania German they speak at home, history, and a little bit of geography and science. The Amish curriculum stresses cooperation not competition. Teachers reward hard work, kindness, and an interest in the subject talk. Independent thought and critical analysis, the sort of questioning that many public school teachers try to encourage in their students, are frowned on. Such questioning is not highly regarded among the Amish, who prefer tradition to change. Nevertheless, tests taken by Amish and non-Amish students alike show that the Amish students do just as well as their Public School counterparts in those subjects they have in common.
Each school day is broken by a recess break. If the weather is nice, the students go outside to play, just as students in the public schools do. Amish games, like the Amish school curriculum, usually focus on cooperation and teamwork. Amish children play softball or volleyball during their recess break. In the winter, they may play in the snow, go sledding, or even go skating and a nearby pond
After school, children returned home to do their chores. From an early age, Amish boys and girls are expected to work around the house and the farm. Children learn how to care for the farm animals, horses. They are also expected to clean and do other chores as necessary. This sort of informal education may be more important for the Amish that the subject they learn in school, because these are the chores that repair the Amish young for the life they will likely lead in the future.
Wisconsin vs Yoder
In the 19th century, Amish children sat beside their non-Amish classmates in one room Public Schools without incident. Starting in 1925, however, several Trends in education began to worry the Amish. Many states begin to close the one-room schools in favor of larger Public Schools, often requiring students to be bused to schools miles away. Lengthening school years and Rising ages for compulsory School attendance also where the Amish. They fear the children be exposed to corrupting influences in the mainstream society and would not want to remain Farmers. Finally, in 1972, the U.S.. Supreme Court ruled that the Amish and several other religious groups were exempt from these requirement and could continue to operate little one-room schools. They ruled that attendance at public high schools would threaten Amish freedom of religion, which is protected by the Constitution.
