An Amish Kitchen by Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipston and Kelly Long ~ Book Review

 

Title: An Amish Kitchen

Authors: Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipston and Kelly Long

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publish Date:December 18, 2012

Book Description:

The Amish Kitchen is the Heart of the Home – and the Ideal Setting for Stories of Love and Hope.

Fall in Paradise, Pennsylvania, always brings a brisk change in the weather. This season also ushers in unexpected visitors, new love, and renewed hope for three women.

Fern has a green thumb for growing healing herbs, but longs for love to bloom in her life. Then the next-door neighbor’s oldest son, Abram, comes running into Fern’s kitchen seeking help for his little sister. The crisis soon leads to a promise of romance—until mistrust threatens to end the growing attraction.

Nearby, Hannah runs her parents’ bed and breakfast, Paradise Inn—but her life feels nothing like Paradise. She longs for a man of integrity to enter her life, but never expected him to knock on the front door looking for a room. Will she be able trust Stephen with her future once she discovers his mysterious past?

When a storm blows a tree onto Eve’s farmhouse, she has little choice but to temporarily move her family into her parents’ home. Outside of cooking together in the kitchen, Eve and her mother can’t agree on anything. But this may be just the recipe for hope in healing old wounds.

Three Amish stories—each celebrating love, family, and faith—all taking place in a tight-knit community where the kitchen truly is the heart of the home.

Also Includes Reading Group Guide and 45 Old Order Amish Recipes

My Thoughts:

First off, I love books about the Amish and the simple lives that they lead, so this book was right up my alley. This book is actually three short stories all combined into one book.

In the first story, called "A Taste of Faith" written by Kelly Long, Fern who raises herbs with her grandmother and uses them for healing purposes is visited by their neighbor Abram who is left in charge of all his brothers and sisters while his parents are away visiting a sick relative. Fern has once decided that she was too old for marriage but has Abram came into her life and changed her mind? You will have to pick this book up for yourself and see. I really enjoyed this story and felt sorry for Abram having to tend to all his siblings. I don't think he had ever been left in charge nor did he know what to do with them all. I think the men folk were all left to the farming and the women took care of the children. He sure had his hands full with them all.

In the second story written by Amy Clipston called, "A Spoonful of Love", Hannah took over her parents Bed & Breakfast after her father had a stroke and also tried even though that kept her busy, she also tried to do what she could for them because they just lived in the house behind the B&B. There was so much that needed done around the B&B that some things were getting missed until one day an Amish man from Ohio named Stephen stopped by and decided that this was the town for him and he checked into the B&B until he could get a job and find him a place to live. Unfortunately for Hannah she was falling for Stephen and her family and the Amish community could see it and that became a problem for the church. You see, it is not respectable for a single Amish woman and a man to be staying under the same roof if they are not family or married. I enjoyed this story also and I felt for Hannah but what was she to do? I understand her wanting Stephen around to help with the farm and the Bed & Breakfast and with her father also.

Beth Wiseman wrote the last story called, "A Recipe for Hope". In this story there is a lot going on. Eve's family home is hit by a storm and reluctantly they move into her parents home while their home is getting repaired. This is hard for Eve because her and her mother do not see eye to eye on a lot of things, including the raising of her children and the use of a few modern things that is allowed by the Church. Eve and her husband also have twin boys that cause a bit of ruckus while while their parents are away and it causes some real problems between the two brothers. This story was probably my favorite of the three stories in the book. I loved how Eve and her mother worked on the issues that they had with each other while they were living together. At times I can really understand how Eve feels and I really felt sorry for the way her mother was treating her. I also think that all families should sit down and do all their recipes the way that Eve did for her mother except that they should be done more as a family.

The one downfall about the book is that I wish that stories had a little more of a connection except for just a mention of Fern Zook. I was a bit disappointed in that. I thought that maybe they would be more connected but oh well. All I can say it that this was three stories in one that left me wanting more.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from BOOKsneeze for my Kindle for the sole purpose of reading in order to do a review. My opinions are mine and mine alone. Image and Book Description are from BOOKsneeze.