Jerry and Tina Eicher's The Amish Family Cook Book ~ Reviewed

The Amish Family Cook Book

By Jerry and Tina Eicher

Published by Harvest House

ISBN#978-0-7369-4377-2

Pages 272

About Authors: Jerry Eicher's bestselling Amish fiction (more than 210,000 in combined sales) includes The Adams County Trilogy, the Hannah's Heart books, and the Little Valley Series. After a traditional Amish childhood, Jerry taught for two terms in Amish and Mennonite schools in Ohio and Illinois. Since then he's been involved in church renewal, preaching, and teaching Bible studies. Jerry lives with his wife, Tina, and their four children in Virginia. Tina Eicher was born and married in the Amish faith, surrounded by a mother and sisters who were great Amish cooks. At fellowship meals and family gatherings, Tina's dishes receive high praise and usually return empty. She and her husband, Jerry Eicher, author of several bestselling Amish fiction titles, are the parents of four children and live in Virginia.

Review: There are several things I really enjoyed about this cookbook even thought there were no color pictures of the recipes. The pages were sturdy and could easily lay flat so you can keep referring to it as you go down the instructions for the recipe.

First of all I think this would make a great book club companion. Why? There are several recipes that come directly from this couples fiction Amish book. Included in the book are the title and quote from the book that mentions a food item the character was making or loved. For example:

In the book Rebecca's Return she mentions Rebecca's Vanilla can rolls, In the book Ella's Wish - they mention Ella's Broccoli Soup, In A Hope for Hanna, Aunt Betty's Country Fried Venison, Missing Your Smile they talk about Susan's Christmas Buckeyes, in Rebecca's Promise there is Rebecca's Oatmeal, and in A Wedding Quilt for Ella there is Ella's Beef Casserole. There are a few more. This makes for great book club fun.

I made several of the recipes in this book. I found the recipes easy to follow and all were yummy. The only thing that I missed in this cook book was the fact that she didn't mention how many servings each recipe made. I didn't know how much I depended on that especially when I was making muffins, cookies or bread.

Scattered throughout the book were Amish words of wisdom that I really enjoyed for example: "Lying in bed dreaming never got the work done."

" We don't realize how wonderful today is until tomorrow"

"Great leaders take joy in the success of those under them"

"If you walk with God you will be out of step with the world"

"The cost of a thing is the amount of life which must be exchanged for it."

This book is broken down in to several categories. Appetizers and Beverages, Breakfast, Cakes, Candies, Cookies and Bars, Desserts, Grilling, Main Dishes, Pies, Quick Breads, Salads and Gelatin Salads, Soups and Sandwiches, Vegetables and Side Dishes and finally Yeast Breads.

This book is fun in more ways than one. I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by: Nora St.Laurent

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