My Visit to Amish County Gets Me Two Awesome Things!!

This past Saturday, my sister in law and I ventured up to Berlin, Ohio to meet Wanda Brunstetter at one of her many book signings. Wanda has got to be my all time favorite Author and it was wonderful getting to meet her and having her sign one of her books for me.

The books she writes usually get me into a bit of a mess because I can never seem to put them down and chores seem to get a bit behind but the books are well worth it. She writes mainly about the Amish but she does have books about other things also. I highly recommend her work to everyone. She even writes chapter books for kids. As a matter of fact, one of my daycare kids loves to read her books also, so I have going to have to make sure that I start buying all of her kids books for her to read.

If you would like to check out some of the reviews that I have done of some of her books, you can do that here.

Along with Wanda Brunstetter being there for a book signing, a lady named Dawn Stoltzfus was there doing a signing for her cookbook, A Farmer's Daughter: Recipes from a Mennonite Kitchen. I had never heard of her before and while were standing in line waiting for Wanda, Dawn's husband was asking if we would like to look at Dawn's book and also told us that we could go around the line and sample a couple of things that were in her cookbook, one was a Summer Bounty Salad and the other thing was a Pumpkin Maple Cheesecake. I hoped around and grabbed one of each for my sister in law and myself, giving her the cheesecake because I am not a fan.

 
Well, let me just say that after I tasted the Summer Bounty Salad, I purchased a cookbook and had it signed by Dawn. I could not wait to get home and make myself some of that salad because it was delicious. Now, because I am such a nice person I am going to share it with you all. No, really I am sharing it with you all because it is just too darn delicious to keep to my self! Just as a note, when I was talking with Dawn as she was signing my book, she said that this salad would be great with some roasted chicken. I think it is great to eat with anything. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

Summer Bounty Salad This recipe is from the book A Farmer’s Daughter: Recipes from a Mennonite Kitchen by Dawn Stoltzfus   Ingredients 1/3 c  Olive oil ¼ c    Balsamic Vinegar 1 TBS Chili Powder ½ tsp salt ½ tsp fresh cracked pepper 2 TBS fresh Basil, minced 1 cup cucumber, peeled and diced 2 cup tomatoes 1       green bell pepper, diced ½ cup red onion, diced 1-15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed 1-16 oz can of corn 1 cup  feta cheese Directions 1.     Mix together olive oil, vinegar, chili powder, salt and pepper and set aside. 2.     Place basil, cucumber, green peppers, onion, tomatoes, black beans, corn, feta cheese in a bowl. Pour dressing over top. Serves 6 – 8. TIP: Print recipe on cardstock for durability.