I was sad to learn yesterday that my friend Mose Smucker is shutting down his sandwich and meats business at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia after 12 years. A new city vaccine mandate on food establishments (taking effect January 3rd) means The Grill @ Smucker’s will shut down for good on New Year’s Eve. Mose, […]

Continue Reading Popular Philadelphia Amish Sandwich Stand Closing Due To New Mandate

I always enjoy Lovina’s column but this was nice to see – her daughter Susan took over writing duties last week. If you recall, Susan lost her husband Mose over a year ago, leaving behind two small children. In this column, Susan writes about her niece’s school Christmas program and dealing with her loss, among […]

Continue Reading Amish Kitchen: Lovina’s Daughter Susan Guest Writes

Here’s a three-minute montage of some favorite Holmes County Amish community scenes, set to music. The photos are all by Don Burke. I hope you enjoy this look at one of my favorite communities. Runtime: 3:23.  

Continue Reading Amish Life: Holmes County (Video)

St. Lawrence County, NY hosts a half-dozen separate Amish communities, and this week’s Amish home comes from one of them. This is in the vicinity of the town of Norfolk. Several things about this home caught my eye, including the catchy price tag. One thing a bit unusual about this listing is that you can […]

Continue Reading A $99,999 Amish Home For Sale (23 Photos)

In this new video I share 5 ways Amish celebrate Christmas (based on Rebecca Miller’s guest post of several years ago), plus additional Amish Christmas-related observations and info, including from my recent trip to Amish in Kentucky and Ohio. I also discuss an additional holiday related to Christmas which you may or may not have […]

Continue Reading How Do Amish Celebrate Christmas?

Here are some of the things I saw yesterday visiting Amish communities in Kentucky. I made it to four different settlements, stopped in a couple of stores, and met some nice people. Kentucky is increasingly loaded with Amish settlements (around 50 of them) and it seems like wherever you are, you’re a stone’s throw from […]

Continue Reading 10 Views From Kentucky Amish Communities

I’ve been out visiting Amish communities for the past couple of weeks. Last week I was in Colorado, visiting four of the state’s six settlements. The views were spectacular and it was nice to see how Amish live in the West. Distances are greater and several Amish people I spoke with noted the dry climate […]

Continue Reading Visiting Amish Communities (CO, VA, KY, OH, WV)

In this video I take a look at some Amish women’s hair customs, including the difference between a bonnet and a kapp, differences in prayer covering styles, and whether Amish women cut their hair. Runtime: 4:36.  

Continue Reading Bonnet or Kapp? (Video)

Good news from Haiti: all remaining missionary hostages – 12 of them – have now been released. From the Associated Press: PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The remaining members of a U.S. missionary group who were kidnapped two months ago in Haiti have been freed, Haitian police and the church group said Thursday. The spokesman for […]

Continue Reading All Remaining Haiti Missionaries Freed

We go to Michigan for this week’s Amish home and you can immediately see that this one has had a previous life as an English home. That’s evident by the light switches, bare electrical connections where light fixtures would be, and overall design of the place. You can even tell just by looking at the […]

Continue Reading Inside A Former English Amish Home (25 Photos)