Bulk Cheese Purchase

When we were in Indiana this past Monday we went to an Amish Bulk Food Store.   This was the biggest bulk food store we have ever been to.  It would take a good half day or more to go up and down every isle and look at everything.  We were there for a couple special items and CHEESE.  Buying cheese in bulk saves so much money.  We cut it in chunks, vacuum seal it and then freeze it until we are ready for some.  Amish areas always have huge varieties of cheese and most have samples.  Of course there were samples of almost every cheese they sold and I tasted almost all of them.
We picked up small chunks of the following cheese:
Yogurt Cheese, Horseradish Cheese, Salsa Cheese, Cheese and Salami and Pepperoni Cheese.
We got 2 lbs of Amish Creamery Cheese, 6 lbs of the following: Baby Swiss, Smoked Baby Swiss, Smoked Mozzarella, Mild Cheddar and 12 lbs of Colby.
Prices for bulk cheese is a lot cheaper than small packages.  The cheddar was $1.99 #, Colby $3.15 #, smoked mozzarella and baby swiss was $4,49 # and the most expensive was the smoked baby swiss at $4.89 #.  If you would get any of the above cheese at a deli you would pay $2+ more a pound.
We also picked up 5 lbs of deli sliced smoked ham at $1.99 # and 6 lbs of smoked turkey at $1.99 #.  We packaged the ham and turkey in one pound packages and also that is how we packed the cheese.

Side parking lot and side of the bulk food store.

More of the side parking lot and side of the bulk food store.

1st basket of cheese going in the freezer.

The ham and turkey packed and in the freezer.

The Colby and Mild Cheddar before cutting.

2nd basket waiting to go in the freezer.

3rd basket ready to go in the freezer.

Unpacking the Amish Clothes

I started unpacking the items we purchased in Indiana yesterday. I had 13 bags and have 5 bags of items on hangers. Tomorrow I will take pictures of the items for men and hopefully get them posted. Then on Friday I will start working on the dresses. It will take me several weeks to get things posted as I only have so much room to hang things. As items sell I will post more. So watch the store for some really nice items.

Indiana Clothes Buying Trip

We left for our day to the Middlebury Shipshewana area Sunday morning and had a nice 5 hour drive there.  The weather was beautiful and the roads were clean.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Middlebury and would stay there again, very nice, clean and friendly place.  For supper that night we ate at a Italian Restaurant that the staff at the hotel recommended.  It was very nice and the food was excellent.
Up early on Monday morning and packed everything up and ate breakfast at the hotel.  They had a huge spread of food which is always so nice and convenient.  We left there and straight to do my clothes shopping.  The shop opened at 8:30 and we got there at 8:29.  Norma opened the shop and explain where the items I wanted to look at were and then went back into the house to straighten up from her kids getting ready for the morning.  I picked out the clothes, Ron took them off of the hangers and when Norma came back she clipped off the tags.  Had a wonderful time visiting with her while I shopped.  I have about 12 garbage bags full of clothes sitting in the middle of my living room right now and it will take me a day to get them on hangers and then the fun begins.  Everything needs to be written down with the color and measurements of each item.  Then I need to take the pictures and get the items listed.  Watch for more on my trip in another post.

We saw about a dozen wild turkeys in a field outside Middlebury.

Check out the beard on this fellow.

No mater the weather the Amish still hang clothes out.

A couple of horses with covers on to keep a little warmer.

My Trip to the New Amish Bulk Food Store in Cuba Illinois

There used to be a Bulk Food Store outside Cuba Illinois but the people who owned the store moved back to their home town of Arthur Ill and the store closed.  There was a couple interested in opening a store but wanted to build one closer to the main road to bring in more traffic, the other store was down a gravel road 2 1/2 miles.   Six months after the other store closed the new one opened.  My husband and I took a trip down to check out the new store today and to pick up some needed items.  A Bulk Food Store is the perfect place to shop if you are looking to buy in bulk and one ran by the Amish is perfect because they carry a huge variety of spices that you can't find at your local grocery store.  They also carry a huge variety of item for cooking from scratch that are hard or impossible to find anywhere except on line.  I also find their prices are lower than most chain stores and I LOVE to support my local community whenever I can.
The store was less than 1/4 mile off the main road (paved) and very easy to find.  It sits right next door to the Amish hand crafted furniture store where we had custom made tables made for our living room a couple years ago.  On the other side of the store is where the people live who own the Bulk Food Store.  He has a very nice well kept piece of farm property where he raises over 150 hens and sells the eggs in his store.  He was telling us that most days he can't keep up with the demand for fresh eggs.
In the spring he hopes to offer fresh baked goods like the other store did.  He said there was an Amish lady nearby who was interested in baking items for the store.  He also sells homemade candy just like the other store and it is made by his sister who also made the candy for the old store.   At the other store the owners baked the items and that store was ran by wife.  This store is ran by the son of the man where we used to get our fresh milk.  He is young so I'm guessing that his wife is home with the young children.
If you have an Amish community nearby I highly recommend checking out the Bulk Food Store and the other stores owned by the Amish.  We have to drive about 45 minutes to this one but try and go every couple of months and stock up.  The Cuba Amish community is very small and have about 6 different types of businesses open to the public and we enjoy checking them all out and purchasing items from them when we can.  All Amish owned places are closed on Sunday.
The Amish community in Cuba are very friendly and talkative.  There are some communities that are not but almost every Amish community we have visited are very friendly and some more talkative than others.
Address for this store is 20177 N Depler Spring Road, Cuba, Il (off Illinois Rt 95).  They are open M-F 8-5 and Sat. 8-3.   Store owner is Andy Kaufman.

I had the owners permission to take the pictures as long as I did not take any of him.

Bulk Food Store in Cuba Illinois.

The new store.

Candy and snacks.

Spices and misc cooking items.

Flour, sugar, flavorings.

Beans, rice, pasta.

Oatmeal, cereal, canning items.

Left side; paper items and cleaning items.  Right side, dog food, veggies and fruit.

Refrigeration unit.

The Truck After Our Amish Weekend



All the totes and garbage bags are full of Amish clothes, 6 large tubs in the bed of the truck and 2 small totes inside the truck.  We had 8 garbage bags and 2 paper sacks full of clothes.  All the garbage bags of stuff and paper sacks have been hung up and only about 1/3 of that stuff has been posted to sell.  The totes have not been touched yet and probably won't get touched for a month or so.  I should have enough stuff to sell for several months.

Back of truck before we added stuff from the cab.

Back seat of the truck before we moved stuff to the bed of the truck.

After moving stuff.

Truck ready for the trip home.

Pictures of Our Amish Trip to Northern Indiana

Pa-Ma Treasure Trove, the second hand store we shopped at and the parents of the couple we ate with.  The store is on the right and side and their house is on the left side.

Inside the store.

Inside the store.



Buffalo at an Amish buffalo farm.



Deer stand on an Amish farm.



Amish farmer harvesting his corn.



Some buggies at one of the stores.

Trying to hang laundry on a windy day.



Corn cut and stacked to dry.



One row corn picker.



Some odd looking ducks we saw.



More ducks.

Facts not Fiction I Learned While Visiting with the Amish

Here are a few facts we learned while visiting and eating with the Amish, remember each Amish area is different and this is how it is in Northern Indiana.

Shunning: if a child is not baptized into the Amish church and leaves the Amish they are not shunned but if they were baptized and leave they are shunned until they join any church and bring a letter from the pastor that they are active in the church then they are not shunned any longer.  They just want them to still seek the Lords guidance even if it is not in an Amish church.
If shunned they can still see their family but if they sat down to a meal they would be the last one to take food from the serving bowls and after that no Amish would be able to take food from that bowl.

English attending Amish churches:  If I wanted to attended an Amish church service I could do that.  They would have someone sit with me and write notes to help me understand what they were talking about.  Most of the service is in German with some English.  Children learn German and then when they go to school they learn English.  So to introduce them to some English the service has some English in it so they can get used to it.

Getting married:  The bride chooses the color of her dress and the color of the mothers dresses.  Jane's dress was a dark blue with the mothers dresses a lighter shade of blue.  The servers colors were also chosen by the bride.  There are 3 to 4 meals served on the wedding day.  The noon meal is for the family and those that were the witnesses for the bride and groom.  A meal at 5 pm is for the cooks, servers, friends, family who were unable to attend the service and any English friends.  Then at 7 pm another meal is served for the brides and grooms young friends and there is a lot of singing that goes on at this point.  Then if there are some that were not able to attend any of the other 3 meals a meal is served about 9 pm.  Darrell and Jane had 3 meals with a little over 1000 people who were served.  Between the noon meal and the 5 pm meal they open gifts and visit with family.  No rings are exchanged, for the man his symbol of marriage is that he grows a beard and for the lady she must now wear an apron with her dress every day.  The apron can be the same color of the dress or it can be white.

Funerals:  This is the only time where everyone must wear black clothing.  The widow usually wears black for an entire year but the amount of time is not dictated but suggested.

Divorce:  They do not believe in divorce but if it happens the person who initiates the divorce must leave the Amish church and the other person may not remarry unless the one who initiated the divorce dies.  In the Amish church unless death occurs you are always married to that person so that is why you cannot remarry.

There were other things talked about but these are some that stand out with me.

My Evening With the Amish

I don't where to begin.  We arrived at the Amish house a little before 5 and was ready for our buggy ride.  We were the first ones there and got the first ride.  The inside of the buggy was so much nicer than I thought it would be.  The seats, the walls and ceiling were deep blue velvet, the floor was covered with vinyl flooring.  It was also much smaller inside, it had a front seat that held 2 people and a back seat that held 2 people very snuggly.  The driver of the wagon sits on the right side of the buggy.  The ride lasted about 20 minutes and we talked the entire time which made it seem like 5 minutes.  Mr. Gingrich pointed out different things along the route and told us different things about his neighbors, Amish and also English neighbors.  He was saying that the English will help the Amish and the Amish will help the English whenever help was needed.  He said that everyone gets along like one huge family and the only difference between everyone was they way they dressed and lived.

Me in front of one of the two wagons they used.

Ron in front of the wagon.

Me in the wagon and ready for the ride.



After we return we went in the house and visited with Jane Gingrich while she finished cooking the meal.  She was extremely friendly and allowed me to take pictures of the inside of her house as long as I did not take any of her.

This is an added part of the house where they serve the meal and is a general purpose room at other times.  In the corner you can see where she does her wash.

The other side of the area where we ate.

This is their living area in the huge room.  The stove is used to heat the whole house.



I did not take any pictures of the main part of the house.  They are planning to tear down the original part of the house because of several structural problems and rebuild and run a bed and breakfast.  They would like to get started next year but need to put in a new septic system and a new well so it might have to wait another year.  I for sure will be one of their first customers when they get it opened. 
One of the questions someone asked at supper was why they do these meals besides a way to bring in a little extra income.  They said they cannot have children and they were lonely and decided to try this and love doing it.  They work with several bed and breakfasts in the area and serve meals at least 3 nights a week.
For supper we started out with a salad and bread with apple butter and zucchini apricot butter for the bread.  Then we ate family style with Mr. Gingrich passing the bowls of food around the table and he would not take anything until last.  We had mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, chicken and noodles, baked fried chicken and meatloaf.  Everything was simply delicious.  Then for dessert we had pumpkin pie, apple pie and vanilla ice cream.  This also was passed around the table and you served yourself.  During the whole meal they answered any questions that were asked and encouraged everyone to ask anything they wanted to know, we were one of four couples as their guests.
After everyone was done Mr. Gingrich gave everyone a tour of the house.  The house had very few furniture items but what they did have was all Amish made furniture and was lovely.  He even asked if anyone wanted to see the basement where Jane has stored all the items she cans.  She cans a variety of vegetables, jams, jelly, fruit, and lots of meat.  She uses the items she cans in the meals she serves.  I was the only one who was interested in seeing the basement.  She has everything arranged so nice and neat. 
It was time to say our goodbyes and I asked Mrs. Gingrich who runs the store who came over to help clean up and do the dishes if I could give her a hug for telling us about this.  I cried and told her that this was like a dream and was something I will never forget and would be back next year to shop at her store and for sure will be eating here again.  Also told her I will keep in touch and I want to know when they open their bed and breakfast so I can come and stay with them.  She said next time we come up we can make arrangements to stay with her until her son and daughter-in-law get their bed and breakfast opened.  I just might take her up on it.

Me in my new hat I bought today.

Northern Indiana Amish

Visiting the Northern Indiana Amish has been very fun and exciting.  The Amish in this area are very talkative and outgoing.  Way different from the Amish in Arthur, Illinois where we visit a couple times a year.
The second hand store we went to today was wonderful.  A young lady waited on us.  Her mother came out and explained that she was cooking for the crew of workers who were helping out at an Amish house and business that burnt to the ground last Friday.  The Amish are a wonderful group of people who are there to help out their family and neighbors in any type of emergency.  The work crew has already started to rebuild the home and business and will not stop until they are completed. 
I picked up a huge amount of ladies dresses and a few children's items. 
We also stopped at a couple cheese shops and I think I had one of every sample they had out at both stores and LOVED them all.  We have purchased a little over $100 on cheese and beef sticks so far.  Tomorrow we are going to the bulk food store, a general store and fabric store and of course tomorrow night is supper with an Amish couple and a ride in their buggy.

Out working in the field.

The hay wagon is full and ready to be moved out of the field.

If I Had a Bucket List..............

I am on cloud nine, I feel like a child on Christmas, I feel like I won the lottery.  We left home today for our 4 day Northern Indiana Amish community trip.  We had one Amish thrift store we were stopping at today and we went there right away.  Pa-Ma Treasure Trove in Milford Indiana is now my favorite store.  This is an Amish run second hand store that had a little bit of everything.  The people who own the store are probably in their 50's and are the friendliest Amish people we've ever met.  Right away when we walked into the store Mr. Gingerich offered us coffee and fresh baked pumpkin whoppie pies to eat while we shopped.  Ron had one right away and I had one after I finished shopping, it was delicious. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Gingerich talked about anything and everything in the Amish life.  They had 5 children and 4 chose not to remain Amish.  They see all the kids all the time and they are not shunned.  Mrs. Gingerich even took me into her house to show it to me.  Very simple, very spacious.  It was open concept, one huge room with the living room dining room and kitchen all in one huge room.  The bedrooms and bath were off the main area.  They heat their home by a wood burning stove that is in their shop that is attached to the house and also have a wood burner in the living room side that they only use if it gets below zero out.
Their only child (son) who remained Amish lives next door and every Saturday night they have a Threshers Dinner at their house for a $15 donation.  It has to be a donation as they don't have a license to do it.   You can arrive at 5 pm and they will take you for a ride in their horse and buggy and then the family style dinner is served at 6 pm.  The dinner consists of 2 meats, potatoes, vegetable, rolls and pie.  Might serve more than that but I was so excited about getting to go Saturday that I'm sure I missed out on what was being served.  I would pay just for the ride and a chance to sit and talk to them.  They will answer any question you ask and are just as friendly or friendlier than their parents. 
So go ahead and envy me about 5 pm Eastern time as I ride in the buggy and then at 6 pm when we sit down to eat.  I will see what I can take pictures of and share them on the blog.  Sure hope I can sleep tonight as I am so excited for this chance of a lifetime and it is 2 days away. 

Amish Auction in Arthur Illinois in Pictures