by Angie Braddock from Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries by Isabella Alan
This is my first Christmas since leaving my family, ex-fiancé, and high-paying advertising job in Dallas for a quilt shop in the middle of Ohio’s Amish Country. Yes, you heard that right. I left that all behind to live and quilt with the Amish. Dead bodies not withstanding, it’s the best decision I have ever made. Trust me the ex-fiancé wasn’t that hard to leave behind. The health insurance and 401k were more of a challenge. Nevertheless, I took the leap with my trusty French bulldog, Oliver, at my side—what else does a girl need?
I do miss my family, but I can’t leave the quilt shop and go back to Texas for Christmas. If I did, I would miss the big before Christmas sales and promotions the shops of Rolling Brook, including mine, Running Stitch, are doing. I have to be there. This is my last big chance before the quiet winter to make some income for the shop.
Thankfully, Anna Graber, who was my Amish Aunt Eleanor’s dearest friend, has invited me to spend holiday season with her and her son Jonah and his family. I’m so looking forward to it. Anna has been talking about the menu for weeks and my mouth has been watering to taste it for just as long… Oliver’s too. He will be ready for those table scraps.
This is what we are having, which is an Amish Christmas menu.
-Dutch noodles
-Ham and cheese casserole
-Green beans
-Friendship bread
-Meatloaf
-Bread pudding
-Pie, pie, pie, so much pie!
My beauty pageant coordinator mother was not to happy when I told her I would be spending Christmas in Ohio, so my parents will be here for Christmas Day to experience a real country Christmas. My society mom will hate it.
Mom and Dad said that they were bringing me a surprise for Christmas. Typically, I love surprises but never from my mother. Her surprises usually require sequins or a tiara. I wonder what it is...
SURPRISE REVEALED AT THE END OF BOOK TWO: MURDER, SIMPLY STITCHED – JUNE 2014
Celebrate Killer Characters' Season's Readings GIVEAWAY:
In a comment, tell Angie Braddock your favorite Christmas food for a chance to win a copy of MURDER, PLAIN AND SIMPLE, book one in Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Series. One winner will be selected from the comments.
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Posts
My favorite Christmas food is something we bake every year..... Peanut Butter Balls. Oh my goodness! They are sinfully delicious :) I can't eat just one! :)
ReplyDeleteMy favourite Christmas food(s) are: Nuts & Bolts, fudge, cheese moons and buckeyes. (Can't pick just one.)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to book 2 and the surprise.
ReplyDeleteI have read the first Amish Quilt mystery and enjoyed it very much. I like the blend of Amish culture with story line. Looking forward to reading more of this series.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to spend a holiday away from your family. I spent one Christmas away and hated it. They didn't do things the way my family did. fortunately, I got divorced before I had to do that again. Still it was my first taste of chicken and dumplings so it was almost worth it. We don't have a traditional menu like we do for Thanksgiving. We experiment, but we always have a decadent dessert. That is always my favorite.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas food is peppermint bark since that's the only time of year I get it.
ReplyDeleteFor years my favorite Christmas dish was my Granny's chocolate meringue pie. It's still my favorite, but I never learned to make it like she did, so it's just not the same. So I created my own new favorite: Peppermint Fudge Cake Balls.
ReplyDeleteSpritz cookies have to be there, with or without frosting and/or sprinkles. A piece or two of buttered lefse, which I never really cared for as a kid but now I like it. Only a little bit though. Oh, and Chex mix, the homemade kind with the pretzel sticks being skinny enough that you can spear the Cheerios. Mmm, I am going to miss having all those things this year as we are living in a motel until Christmas and no place to cook or bake. Oh, well...
ReplyDeleteI love a great fruitcake like my grandmother made back in the 40s/50s. Even fruitcake haters loved it after they had a taste!
ReplyDeleteMy grandma's molasses cookies.
ReplyDeletePeanut butter blossoms
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas dessert is a Brown Sugar Pound cake.
ReplyDeleteI make lots of cookies and it's hard to choose a favorite. I do love fruit cake!
ReplyDeleteJoAnn
ReplyDeleteI love my Buttermilk pies that I make during the holidays.
Baklava is something I love, but only have at the holidays.
ReplyDelete[email protected]
I can't pick just one! I love all my mom's cookies including spritz, linzer, and kolache.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas food is my mom's Kris Kringle cookies. They're a simple cut out cookie, but oh so good and a sure sign that Christmas is almost here!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite christmas food is cream cheese fudge.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite food is any shared with others in our very small family [and sadly, getting smaller family :-( ] .
ReplyDeleteHomemade fudge
ReplyDeleteHomemade brownies. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteMy favorite foods are Sand Tarts and Pumpkin Cookies.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas food is Swedish cookies. This was my favorite treat since childhood. My mother always made me a special tin which I kept hidden because those cookies were so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHomemade peanut butter fudge! Thanks for the chance to win your book!
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else I try to get Spritz cookies made, my mom made them, then my oldest sister and now I do.
ReplyDeleteWhile in Pa. Dutch country, (long ago) I got a recipe for peanut butter pie . Every time I make it , it reminds me of the great times I had there.
ReplyDelete[email protected]
I live in Ohio. Christmas food for me is just like Thanksgiving food; I love turkey and pumpkin pie. I also like food gifts like cheese and summer sausage.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas foods are the ones made by my nana and I had to learn without her. Zeppole and struffoli. Both are Deep fried and yummy.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas cookie is Spritz, they just melt in your mouth! I miss all the big dinners from when I was a kid now that there are only two of us. My family had food on the table all day and you could sample and nibble the whole day...it was awesome!
ReplyDeleteI quite like Christmas Ham, and also pavlova
ReplyDeleteLeftover turkey and (uncooked) cranberry sauce in a sandwich!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason it's become tradition for us to have a smoked brisket as the main course for Christmas dinner. It's now my favorite and I fix traditional sides to accompany it. And lots of baked treats to top it off.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't a thing that is not a favorite when it comes to all the goodies that are part of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteIt really depends on the year. I love Pfeffernusse cookies a lot, maybe too much, lol. I also enjoy Butterscotch Gingerbread cookies. For dinner I like Brown Sugar Ham.
ReplyDeleteI hope the recipe for the Bread Pudding is in the book! We love to bake sugar cookies and decorate them for Christmas along with a ton of other goodies for the holidays. Thank you for a wonderful Holiday Giveaway! The story, city versus country and the wonderful characters will make me have to buy book 2, especially for the surprise reveal!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Sharon! You won! Sharon please email me at [email protected] with your mail address and I will send out your book!
DeleteAmanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan)
Can't wait for the new book! My favorite Christmas food is my mom's rugala(sp) & peanut butter fudge.
ReplyDeletemy favorite foods are all the sweets that we make that i don't normally [email protected]
ReplyDeleteI'm originally (born and raised) from Indiana. I have lived in Louisiana for the past 17 years, but I my favorites are still Homemade Noodles and Pie. All kinds of pie. Pumkin, Coconut Creme, Sweet Potato, Chocolate, Cherry, Apple.......... :) Yummy. Looking forward to reading this book. :)
ReplyDeleteMy friend's Watergate Salad. I have the recipe & I make but it never tastes as good as hers. So now she brings the Watergate Salad & bring the cheeseball that she loves. It works! They're both traditions at our Holiday gatherings for our Family & Friends.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas food is my sweet potato rum pound cake. It's a sweet potato cake with a rum/sugar glaze. What isn't to like?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas food is the homemade peanut brittle. I make is from scratch every year and it is delicious. Sometimes I will substitute cashews for the peanuts (just as good). Thank you for a chance to win and Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas food is Rum Balls! Yum!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas food is fudge. Lots of varieties of fudge. YUM and Pie and fruitcake that is mostly nuts.
ReplyDeleteWhile not normally what one would think of, my favorite Christmas food is nachos. I know, I know, it's weird...but it's tradition. On Christmas Eve, we make a big plate of nachos, turn off the lights, turn on the tree, and snuggle down to watch the Polar Express. Ahh... So, Christmas to me is a big plate of cheese, meat and olive covered tortilla chips!
ReplyDeleteWe just returned last night from our week long trip to PA and a few days of that time in Lancaster as well as Bethlehem and Hershey. We truly enjoyed the food in Lancaster, one of which was Shoo Fly Pie. One of my favorite desserts is pecan pie which I try not to make too often as I tend to be make many pies and not as many people eat the pecan so I get most of it, and I surely do not need all those calories. I also make a rich butter cookie of German origin which I dip in colored sugar for Christmas and my family just loves to have an endless supply of those for the month of December and into January. Would love to win a copy of Murder Plain and Simple as I have not purchased that book yet. Thank you. Cynthia B.
ReplyDeleteGingerbread men!!! a.f.washburn (at) aol (dot) com
ReplyDeleteBuckeye candy made from scratch.
ReplyDeleteMymother's fruitcake. She made it without candied fruit. It was filled with prumes, riaisons and loads of different dried fruit and was so moist. After it was baked, She poured brandy on it every evening. We gave it to relatives and it was all eaten, not given away!
ReplyDeletepeanut butter candy my mother made.
ReplyDeleteHomemade Sweet Potato Casserole and Apple Walnut Cake
ReplyDeleteWhat great selection! Thanks to everyone who shared their favorite Christmas dishes. The winner of Murder, Plain and Simple is... Sharon Braswell. Sharon please email me at [email protected] with your mail address and I will send out your book!
ReplyDeleteAmanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan)
My Mom's rum balls or her dressing
ReplyDelete