2 comments about Cookbook From Amish Kitchens: Candies (Cookbooks from Amish Kitchens).

1. Yum,Yum,Yum. A fantastic book filled with great Amish treats



2. I have all of these adorable little 'Cook Books from Amish Kitchens', and have really enjoyed them. The are very small and simple... the complete opposite of a coffee-table/display-style cookbooks we see most often today. This is a thin pamphlet with matte paper and does not include interior photos of any recipes (excluding the cover). The text is in a handwritten-style font and clearly explained. The recipes are very homey with basic ingredients and techniques; nothing fancy. Simple, delicious recipes in a simple, small booklet. RECOMMENDED.

1 comments about On the Way with Jesus: A Passion for Mission.

1. What drives people to spread the word of Christ? "On the Way with Jesus: A Passion for Mission" is Richard Showalter's push to spread the word of God throughout the world. He reflects on his time traveling the world and preaching Christianity from Africa to Asia. Also discussing missionary work as a whole with the moral and political implications that come with it, "On the Way with Jesus" is a deftly compiled body of writing, certain to inform and inspire anyone interested in the work of Christian missionaries here at home or abroad in the world.

No comments about Testing Faith And Tradition: Global Mennonite History Series, Europe (Global Mennonite History Series).

No comments about Plain Buggies (People's Place Book, No 3).

3 comments about Plain and Happy Living: Amish Recipes and Remedies.

1. Mr. Gail and Emma byler have done a fine job helping us remember all those skills that our grandparents grew up with. Today, with everything brought to us at a supermarket, we have lost much of the knowledge that was common sense years ago. This book lets us in on some of that knowledge that has been forgotten in this fast paced world of today!!



2. Five hundred years ago, it was illegal to own a Bible written in any language other than the dead language of Latin. But the invention of the printing press created a vibrant black market in vernacular Bibles in Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, - thus the Reformation was born. Out of this came a group of Bible readers called the Anabaptists (again baptized) from which the Amish emerged along with the Hutterites and Mennonites, who in time took their beliefs and philosophy of nonviolence to North America. The Native Americans found the Amish to be friendly and not warlike as the English were. Hence, the Amish learned of many native plants and herbs, and how to grow them.
   
   Emma Byler is Amish. Her father taught her the Native American foods and herbal medicines such as golden seal for a sore throat. He and the Amish community also taught her Amish Biblical wisdom. Her subsequent life experience taught her the rest: she raised ten kids on her own beginning at age 33 after her husband died. "We had to make do with what we had", she wrote. Through the years, she recollected the home remedies she had learned and wrote them down; she also wrote down recipes and even an occasional memo of a memorable event. As her writings grew, she found an empty shoe box to keep them in while she kept writing and adding to her library.
   
   One day an anthropologist, Peter Gail, met the now 70-some year old Amish woman and learned of her library. Seeing the treasure there in recipes, Native American home remedies, homemade household goods, food preservation, and decorative knot-tying, Dr. Gail helped her to compile this book. The food list for a 200 guest wedding dinner alone is worth the price of this book.
   
   In addition, Mrs. Byler shares her Amish wisdom brightened by a wonderful sense of humor honed by her faith in God and many life experiences. She offers much food for thought in addition to her recipes for many foods - a delightful chairside companion!



3. In chapter 7 under "Pregnancy" the author writes:
   
   "Strawberry or red raspberry leaf tea may be used until about three weeks before birth only." I don't know about strawberry leaf tea but I know that any herbalist will tell you that you can use red raspberry leaf tea before the last three weeks before the birth. Although, there is some controversy over whether or not it should be used in the first trimester. In the same paragraph, the author writes, "Black cohosh and blue cohosh teas are also good." But, the author doesn't specify a time-frame in pregnancy in which the cohoshes could be used which may lead one to believe that they are okay to use at any time in pregnancy, which they definitely are not.
   
   A couple of books I recommend for herbs in pregnancy are "The Complete Woman's Herbal" by Anne McIntyre and "The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy" by Shonda Parker. Both books are written by professional herbalists.

1 comments about The Fugitive: Menno Simons.

1. This book is an historical novel about the life of Menno Simons, founder of the Mennonite Church. The author, Myron Augsburger, is a well-known evangelist, preacher, and educator in the Mennonite Church. The book describes the life of Menno Simons from known historical data and adds background information as well as fictional dialog with persons from Menno's life. The various theological controversies of the 16th century are described along with the political and social disputes of the time. I found this book to be very helpful in understanding the circumstances of Menno's life and the development of his faith and thought.

5 comments about Upstairs the Peasants Are Revolting: More Family Life in a Farmhouse.

1. This is a great follow up to Ordinary Days, Smuckers 1st book. I read them both in a few weeks, I loved that the 'chapters' were short stories, easy to read alone, so that when I was interupted for a few days from my reading, I could get right back into it. A great gift for a loved one or yourself, the perfect pick-me-up, I laughed out loud!



2. As a busy Mom of all boys, I have (far too often) fallen into my bed at night, simply worn out from the days trials. I keep this book on my nightstand for just such evenings. Smuckers writing is humorous, honest, and warm. It isn't easy to be cheerful and
   encouraging without coming across saccharinly sweet but this author does it, with ease. I like to give this book (or her first, Ordinary Days) to mothers at baby showers, especially. When life is full and your time (or attention!) is short...this book is a little B12 shot of joy.



3. Dorcas Smucker has a refreshing voice, as she describes her gratitude for the crisp bite of an apple, the beauty of daffodils growing freely, the frustrations of a year in which mice seem to multiply out of nowhere, the care she took to choose Christmas gifts that would convey the feeling of being "special, loved, and included, like someone who really mattered."
   
   I especially enjoyed the essays relating to her marriage, her discussion of the give-and-take of the relationship and how the "feeling" of love sometimes comes and goes but the practice of love should remain solid. Or, as she quotes her husband: You'd think we'd have everything figured out after 18 years. God has blessed me with a wife who is committed to making our marriage work, but we are still discovering the mysteries of love and sacrifice and commitment and how they make a relationship work.
   
   Dorcas grew up in the Amish community, but she and her family are now Mennonites and she describes her struggles to make the right decisions. "Is it okay to buy a fast-food meal if it means more time with a friend? If having a garden means I don't have time to teach vacation Bible school, which do I choose? Is making my own food always better than buying it? Am I insisting on doing things the slow and old-fashioned way long after it becomes pointless?"
   
   Ultimately, the question seems to be, "Was it worth it?" and her answer comes through clearly, "Yes, yes, it was."
   
   Likewise, time spent reading this book was worth it. I highly recommend it.



4. Love this book & this author. I can SO relate to her experiences, and I'm jealous I'm not brillant enough to write this stuff myself!
   Especially enjoy the Chapter "Escapes for Mom". You go, girl!



5. I'm giving 5 stars! Dorcas Smucker is an excellent author, honest and optimistic. I appreciate how she has her book set up so that each chapter is different/not necessarily related to the last. This is great for people who aren't total bookworms and don't sit for hours reading at a time. You can just pick up where you left off without worrying about remembering a whole lot of missing pieces of the background of the story. All in all, a very good read! And congratulations, Dorcas!

1 comments about Take Our Moments and Our Days.

1. Take Our Moments and Our Days is an excellent prayer book for use in a group. The prayers are arranged for morning and evening prayer in a four week cycle focused on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ: Lord's Prayer, Beatitudes, Parables, Signs and Wonders. In addition to psalms and other scripture readings, there is opportunity for silence, song, and free prayers of thanksgiving and intercession in this format. The book has been helpful in sponsoring the life of discipleship in our community.

2 comments about The Mennonites.

1. This is a beautiful book, with wonderful reprodution of photography.
   A joy to have in my book collection!



2. Reviewing a photo book is extremely subjective. I first read this book 5 years ago when I started college and wasn't impressed by it. I picked it up again last year and see the pictures with new eyes. The pictures and writing create a piece of literature more about humanity, independence and will than Mennonites. It is my Bible.

1 comments about John Howard Yoder: Mennonite Patience, Evangelical Witness, Catholic Convictions.

1. John Howard Yoder, whom author Mark Thiessen Nation believes (correctly, in my estimation) to have offered "the most powerful articulation of a Christian theological rationale for pacifism that has ever been given," (p. 193), is sometimes dismissed by nonpacifist Christians as a theologian who speaks from a narrowly Mennonite perspective. Since he's not denominationally mainstream, these critics continue, neither is his defense of nonviolence. It's a Mennonite thing, if you will, the hobbyhorse of a traditional "peace church."
   
   Nation's book has the very real merit of responding to such critics. He effectively argues that although Yoder was a loyal Mennonite his entire life and highly influenced by the Anabaptist tradition, he always intended his message to be ecumenically and evangelically addressed to all Christians and considered it to be catholic--that is, cross-denominational. After providing a quick biographical overview, Nation explores this reading of Yoder in a series of chapters that explore Yoder's call for "ecumenical patience," an "evangelical and catholic peace theology," and a social responsibility inspired by and squarely focused on the offense of the Cross.
   
   This is a good, solid read of Yoder, who at least sometimes is a rather difficult, wordy (perhaps from all his years reading Barth!) author. But Nation's book, despite its exciting subject, is strangely lackluster. It relies a good deal on a staccato style that ticks off bullet points instead of offering sustained discussion, and often comes across as a rehashed but still dry doctoral dissertation (which I doubt it actually is). I found the ideas in the book interesting (although, in all honesty, somewhat obvious for readers with some familiarity with Yoder), but the book itself a bit of a chore to read. What's absolutely indisputable, though, is that Nation knows his Yoder. The documentation is impressive and really quite helpful.
   
   Better treatments of Yoder, I think, are Craig Carter's The Politics of the Cross: The Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder (2001) and the essays collected in Stanley Hauerwas' and Chris & Harry Huebner's excellent The Wisdom of the Cross: Essays in Honor of John Howard Yoder (2005). In the latter volume, Nation kicks off the festschrift with a biographical essay that basically summarizes his thesis that Yoder's thought is Mennonite, ecumenical, evangelical, and catholic.