Last weekend we had a family dinner with my husband's Masonic group (I know, please don't harass me about my husband being the youngest Mason in the world-it's kinda fun hanging out with the older generation!!!!) The dinner was being held at an Amish Farm called Miller's Farm in a little town outside of the Big City. There is a large population of Amish people in a few towns in Northeastern Oklahoma and people drive from all around to eat at the Miller's place. I wasn't that excited to go because the weather was dreary and foggy, not to mention I'm on a diet.
When we arrived at the farm, I was instantly excited by the milk cows that were right across from the house in a huge field with a grain silo and barns. I never had the chance to really see that stuff growing up so I love when I'm anywhere near a farm. I love Holstein cows and their adorable black-and-white coloring.
(***Total sidenote........I remember in 1987 when Poison came in concert with Brittny Fox and the lead singer of Brittny Fox wore holstein cowboy books. I've wanted a pair since the first day I saw him wearing those. I also caught CC Deville's t-shirt that night-It's probably still in the garage packed away with my other headbanger momentos!)
I took pics of the cows and when everyone in our group finally arrived, we went in to be seated. It was a simple farmhouse and the eating area was in the basement.
My boys getting ready to eat some good food!
Such a quaint, simple and beautiful house. It reminded me of paintings of the perfect farmhouse
They require a reservation of at least 10 people so that you fill up the long tables. The food is served family style and there was tons of it. I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that, next to my Momma's cooking, of course, this Amish food was........the......best......ever!!!!
We started out with coleslaw, then green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade chicken and noodles, rolls with apple butter (to die for!), turkey and dressing, roast beef, baked chicken, 4 kinds of pie; butterscoth (soooo good), coconut, chocolate and peach. One of the other tables had left a whole cherry pie and the sweet Amish lady serving us asked us if we wanted it. Of course we did!!! After all, we did have a crowd of around forty people. It was amazing that the food kept coming out. They gave us more than enough to eat.
The really fun part of the night was explaining to my kids that the egg noodles for the chicken and noodles didn't come in a bag that said Reame's Egg Noodles. The noodles were made by hand and cut by hand. The pie crusts didn't come from the Wal-marts, they were handmade. My poor kids didn't know what to think about that. It actually made me feel a little guilty for not cooking home-cookin' type food all the time. The honest truth is....I work and I don't have that kind of time, nor do I have that kind of metabolism! HA!
Mr. Hautemama and I have been on a diet for a couple of months now and we actually weighed ourselves before we went to dinner and then the next morning. I gained 1.4 pounds that night and hubs only gained .4 - go figure! Men-they kill me!!!
The biggest surprise of the night was the lighting in the family's house. And we ate in the basement of their house. Upstairs where you walk in has a little desk and some shelves for selling their food stuff.
The lights throughout the house were gas lights, and they were super bright. Towards the end of the night, it got a little warm in the basement because the house had no central heat and air. Also, it was slightly dark upstairs when we left because of the no-electricity thing going on. I am not a dark room type of person and I'm quite sure I would be completely depressed with no electricity. Also, how would I use my Chi hair straightener??? That's a serious dilemma!
I have to admit, I bought some of almost everything they had for sale. I bought a huge jar of sweet garlic dill pickles, a package of homemade noodles and chicken base in a little plastic container. We also bought a big jar of the apple butter. We've had toast every morning for breakfast and eaten it with the apple butter. During the dinner, Small Fry liked the Apple Butter so much, he put it on his plate and started just eating it with a spoon. Now that's some good Apple Butter - kid tested and approved!
They were selling the family cookbook with all their recipes and I bought that too!
If I could learn to cook like that, I would have a happy family! A fatter figure, but a happy family. You win some, you lose some!
After reading through the cookbook, I realized that the Amish way of cooking is fairly simple. Just really fresh ingredients....that's what makes the difference. Our family could stand to leave the preservatives alone for a while! We're probably pickled from all that stuff that's in our fast food and junk food.
The boys getting ready to ring the dinnerbell. Oh how I adore weathered barns!
The cows were mooing at my cute Tater Tot
Notice the sleeping child with his hand still on the Ipod....kids these days!
The absolute sweetest moment of the night happened when we were leaving. Upstairs when I was buying the cookbook and food, Small Fry was talking to the teenage Amish boy sitting at a small desk taking the money. The Amish boy had a teddy bear and Small Fry was looking at it. The Amish boy was joking around with Small Fry and said he could hold it. When I noticed Small Fry hadn't put it down, I told him he needed to put the teddy bear back on the desk. Small Fry was a little disappointed that he had to leave it there. We went outside and started getting in the car, I saw the Amish boy come running out towards us.
He handed the teddy bear to Tater Tot and said, "Hey, give this to your brother."
By the time I noticed what he had done, he was running back into the house. I did tell him thank you and that he was so sweet. That was such an example of the Amish spirit. Simple ways but with kind hearts.
Small Fry was so happy when he got the bear. He yelled, "Thank you!!!", hugging the bear really tightly.
On the way home, I looked back to check on the boys and I saw Small Fry asleep hugging that teddy bear. It was one of the most precious memories for me. Sometimes, it's the little things that can really touch a child. Small Fry now sleeps with that bear. I sent a thank you to that sweet, sweet boy.
He didn't have to do that, but did out of the kindness of his heart.
If we would all act like that, this world would be a much better place.
