Review: The Authentic Amish Cookbook by Norman Miller

Title: The Authentic Amish Cookbook
Author: Norman Miller
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: March 1st 2015
Source: Harvest House Publishers


Book Description via Goodreads:

Now you can enjoy genuine Amish recipes from the Amish themselves. From the members of the Evart, Michigan, Amish community comes this collection of 450 family favorites, including... salads and dressings (24-Hour Potato Salad, Italian Macaroni Salad, Overnight Fruit Salad) meats and main dishes (Honey-Mustard Baked Chicken, No-Fuss Lasagna, Taco Quiche) desserts (Apple Cream Cheese Pie, Rhubarb Torte, Raspberry Swirl)

Several miscellaneous recipes (jerky, play dough, finger paint...) and large-quantity recipes (for wedding receptions and other large events) are followed by many healthy recipes for folks who are watching their diet. A generous collection of tips and hints provides extra help in making your duties in the kitchen and throughout your home flow smoothly.

With popular Amish hymns and inspirational thoughts sprinkled throughout, The Authentic Amish Cookbook provides everything you need to enjoy your meal preparation and to bless your family and friends with table times they'll never forget.

Review:

★★

I love cooking and eating, especially of those cultures that are outside of my own. I picked this book out because I have been to "Amish country" quite often, as I live not too far from Shipshewana, Indiana. I've eaten some truly amazing things made by the Amish, and I hoped that by having this book, I would be able to replicate some of these things.

I was left really, really disappointed. I was expecting a collection of made-from-scratch home cooking, but that's not what this book includes. On the first page alone, there are ingredients like Velveeta cheese, frozen juice from concentrate, Cool Whip, and canned soup. There are so many store bought, processed foods in this book, from candies to food colorings. I was definitely not expecting so much dependency on store-bought ingredients. I assume this is due to a large volume of recipes mixed with the Amish belief system which limits technology, but I was also disappointed that there were no pictures in this book.

It reminded me of one of the spiral bound cookbooks from a girl scout troop or PTA or mother's club that you can pick up at a garage sale. It's not a bad collection per se, but for me the title is definitely a misleading one.

That being said, there are definitely still recipes in this cookbook that I would totally make. I also really like the weaving of blessings, kind thoughts, and religious songs that are tied into the recipes. It helped to remind me that it is in fact an Amish collection. A few of the recipes that I would like to try are Sadie Glick's Shoo-Fly Pie, Feathery Light Dumplings, Little Girl Pies, Pizza Meat Loaf, and Venison Bologna.

I think this is an okay cookbook, but not what I was anticipating based on the title and description. There's a lot of recipes here that are good for big families or parties.

Harvest House Publishers provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.