Review of Amy Clipston’s The Jam and Jelly Nook

These past two weeks, I was able to read a couple books in the evenings which felt great. There were some late nights involved too, because I just didn’t want to put them down – I wanted to know what was going to happen.

One of the books I read was Amy Clipston’s final book in her Amish Marketplace Series, “The Jam and Jelly Nook”. I’ve really enjoyed this entire series.

A little about this novel…

“In the final installment of Amy Clipston’s bestselling Amish Marketplace series, a young widow struggling to raise her son dreams of one more chance at love.

Since her husband died seven years ago, Leanna Wengerd has done her best—tending to her son, Chester, and running her Jam and Jelly Nook at the Amish market. Though she enjoys seeing her cousins and customers at the marketplace, she wishes she could find more time for her rebellious teenage boy.

When Chester gets into trouble for trespassing, he winds up at the police station with his friend Maggie, who was riding with him to a youth group gathering. Leanna comes to the police station to fetch Chester and happens to meet Emory, Maggie’s father. Emory is also a widower, raising Maggie alone—and both he and Leanna have similar burdens and problems.

Over time Emory and Leanna become closer friends, discovering how much they have in common. As single parents, they struggle with the limits of what they can provide for their children and feel somewhat responsible for what happened to their respective spouses. The two eventually realize they have feelings for each other—but when they try to date, their children resist. Will God pave a way for them to build a family together, or will hurdles block the path to a second chance at happiness?”

And here’s my review:

What an awesome series Amy Clipston has written – her Amish Marketplace series is one of the best.  In this last book in her series, you will learn more about Leanna and her son Chester as well as her Jam and Jelly Nook business.  You’ll meet new characters as well as read about Leanna’s cousins and their families from the first three books.  You won’t be disappointed in Leanna’s story in the least.  If you haven’t read this series, start with book one, The Bake Shop, and read them in order to feel more connected to Amy’s characters.  And if you have read the other books in this series, then grab a copy of The Jam and Jelly Nook now to find out how this series wraps up.

So there you have my two cents on this novel and series. It would be a great book to read this summer while you are on vacation, relaxing around the pool, or enjoying your own peaceful oasis of your backyard.

Let me know what you think if you have a chance to read this.

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Rice Pizza

Happy Tasty Tuesday! Today’s recipe comes from Wanda E. Brunstetter’s new cookbook, Amish Friends Healthy Options Cookbook. I wasn’t too sure about the title of this dish, but I read through the ingredients and decided to give it a try. I tweaked a few things to our likes which I’ll list after I share the recipe. It’s always fun to try something new, but you never know what the outcome will be. Will we enjoy lunch or have to go to Plan B?

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give this a try. I don’t have this cookbook yet, but being a member of Wanda’s Clippity Clop Club has its benefits, and one is that we got a few recipes ahead of time to try out.

Rice Pizza, Josephine Schmidt, Carlisle Kentucky, “Wanda E. Brunstetter’s Amish Friends Healthy Options Cookbook”

1 1/2 pounds sausage

Onion, chopped

3 cups cooked rice

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

1 quart pizza sauce

Sliced mushrooms

Pepperoni

Mozzarella cheese

Fry sausage with onion. In bowl, mix rice, cream cheese, and sour cream. Put rice mixture in greased 9×13-inch pan. Top with sausage and pizza sauce. Layer on mushrooms and pepperoni. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with mozzarella and bake until cheese melts.

I have to say that we both enjoyed this dish. I used ground turkey instead of the sausage and ham instead of the pepperoni. We don’t like pepperoni that much, and since I had the ham on hand, I figured I’d use that. I also used brown rice, since that was what I had as well. It was really good, and hubby had two helpings and has enjoyed it as leftovers too for lunch.

It’s a very filling pizza, and you really don’t need anything as a side like when you eat regular pizza. And the dish is pretty healthy too just like the cookbook title reads. It is egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, and sugar-free if fixed as stated above.

I’m looking forward to getting a copy of this cookbook to try out more recipes.

Hope you have a great week and enjoy spring weather.

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Pineapple Bread Casserole

Happy Tasty Tuesday! If you celebrate Easter, I hope you had a nice holiday on Sunday. It was nice to have dinner with my parents this Easter. Last year, we weren’t able to be together due to Covid, so it was nice to be together on Sunday with quite the spread of food.

One of our side dishes for dinner was this Pineapple Bread Casserole from the “Sharing Our Best – A Collection of Recipes from Ridgeview Mennonite Church” cookbook. It complemented the ham wonderfully.

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to fix it with that leftover ham you have in your frig…

Pineapple Bread Casserole, Lois High, page 44, “Sharing Our Best – A Collection of Recipes from Ridgeview Mennonite Church”

1 stick margarine, softened

1 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 (No. 2) can crushed pineapple, undrained

6 slices stale bread, cubed

Beat margarine and sugar and add eggs. Mix in pineapple and fold in the bread cubes. Put in well buttered baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

We all enjoyed this on our plate of food for Easter and didn’t have much of it left. I usually fix this whenever we have ham for dinner, since pineapple and ham go together in my book. We had quite the table full of food on Sunday. So nice to finally have a family dinner again.

I’ll share with you next week the recipe of the delicious cake we had for dessert. It definitely was moist and yummy.

Have a great first week of April and enjoy spring!

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Lazy Lasagne

Happy Tasty Tuesday! It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of March already. I have no idea where the month went, but I am glad spring has sprung here in Maryland, and the crocuses and daffodils are blooming in our gardens. I love seeing all the color.

For this week’s recipe, I tried the Lazy Lasagne recipe from the “Sharing Our Best – A Collection of Recipes from Ridgeview Mennonite Church” cookbook. Yes, the recipe author has lasagne with an “e” at the end. I always spell with it with an “a” at the end. I made a few changes to the recipe which I’ll mention after I share the original recipe with you. I fixed this back at the beginning of the month when our weather was cooler and this just hit the spot.

Lazy Lasagne, Ruth Martin, page 36, Sharing Our Best – A Collection of Recipes from Ridgeview Mennonite Church

1 (8 oz.) pkg. broad noodles

1 c. cottage cheese

2/3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese

2 1/2 c. spaghetti sauce

1 lb. ground beef

Brown beef and drain fat. Add to spaghetti sauce. Cook noodles and drain water. In large bowl, toss noodles with three cheeses. In a baking dish, spoon sauce to cover bottom. Layer 1/2 noodle mixture, then 1/2 sauce. Repeat layers. Bake 25-30 minutes.

A few things I did differently when I made this – I used ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese. I used the no-cook lasagna noodles since I had them on hand. I used one pound ground beef and one pound Italian sausage, so I added more cheeses and sauce since I doubled the meat. And I used Prego spaghetti sauce as well. And since the recipe was doubled, I baked it for almost an hour. Since there wasn’t a baking time, I baked it at 375 degrees.

This was really good and easy to make. The longest part of making it was browning the ground beef and sausage. Putting it together was a breeze.

And one of my favorite parts was that we had plenty for leftovers, so I froze part of it for a dinner later on.

Hope you have a great day and are enjoying spring in your neck of the woods. Off to plan our Easter dinner menu…

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Snow Ice Cream & Blog Prize Winner

Happy Tasty Tuesday! We finally had snow this past winter. Little bits here and there, but the storm a few weeks ago brought just enough to whip up a small batch of Snow Ice Cream. Usually, hubby uses the snow as the ice around the ice cream maker bucket to keep the ingredients cold, but I decided to give this a try, since I’ve seen so many people posting about it on Facebook, and we really didn’t have enough snow to use as the insulator for the ice cream bucket. And I just happened to find a recipe in one of my Amish cookbooks, “Sharing Our Best – A Collection of Recipes from Ridgeview Mennonite Church”, for it. It’s really easy to mix up and takes items you probably already have on hand except the snow of course. Ha!

If you are still experiencing winter weather, here’s the recipe to try…

Snow Ice Cream, Travis Horst, page 92, “Sharing Our Best – A Collection of Recipes from Ridgeview Mennonite Church”

1 egg

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Fresh snow

Beat together all ingredients except snow. Add fresh snow until thick. Freeze until firm. Eat and enjoy.

Depending on how much snow you use depends on the amount of ice cream you’ll get. We enjoyed eating this for dessert one evening. It would be something fun to do with children too. Easy for them to help make it as well. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I snapped one after I had made it, but completely forgot to get one while we enjoyed it.

I hope our winter weather is all done for the season. I have crocuses blooming in the yard and other bulbs pushing through the dirt. I am so ready for spring.

And now for the important stuff – using random number generator with #1-35 since we had 35 comments on last week’s blog of your delicious comfort food options, the winning number chosen was #5….so congratulations are in order for

Suzanne Hawkins!

Congratulations Suzanne! I will get your blog prizes sent out soon.

Have a great day!

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Contest Time!

Happy Tasty Tuesday! It’s been a long while since I offered a blog prize, so I decided today was the day. Up for grabs are a copy of Wanda E. Brunstetter’s Amish Friends Farmhouse Favorites Cookbook, Amy Clipston’s A Place at Our Table, and a potholder signed by Amy too.

To get an entry into my blog prize drawing, all you need to do is comment with your favorite comfort food. Some say soups are their comfort food, some say stews, others say casseroles. What is yours?

I’d have to say mine is my Nan-Nan’s macaroni and cheese. It’s filling, comforting, and brings back lots of sweet memories. So share your favorite comfort food in the comments, and I’ll enter your name into the drawing. I’ll post the winner next week.

Good luck!

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Cheddar Chicken Pot Pie

Happy Tasty Tuesday! Hope you are surviving these winter storms dumping all over the US. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for spring. We’ve been itching to go to Amish Country the past few weekends, but Mother Nature keeps tossing us a curveball. This week’s blog post contains a recipe for a yummy Cheddar Chicken Pot Pie. I got this recipe from the “Harmony Hollow Recipes” cookbook. Definitely a perfect dish for a cold winter’s night!

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it…

Cheddar Chicken Pot Pie, Sadie Stoltzfoos, page 89, “Harmony Hollow Recipes”

Pot Pie:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. chopped onions (optional)

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. chopped celery

1/4 c. shredded carrots

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

3 c. cooked & cubed chicken

Peas

In a large bowl, combine soup, milk, and the next 6 ingredients. Cook and stir until mixture is hot and cream cheese is melted. Stir in chicken and peas, heat through. Pour into an ungreased 2-quart casserole dish.

Topping:

1 egg

1 Tbsp. Wesson oil

1/2 c. milk

1 c. buttermilk or pancake mix (I use Bisquick)

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Mix egg, oil and milk. Add the pancake mix and cheddar cheese and blend well. Spoon over hot chicken mixture. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serves: 6 people

I used Bisquick for our topping as Sadie suggested, but next time will try the pancake mix, because the Bisquick made the topping very thick and took away from the chicken mixture underneath.

This was a really good and hearty casserole and one I will fix again. We both enjoyed it, and there was plenty left for lunch leftovers too.

\I’d love to hear if you give this recipe a try. It’s pretty much just a different take on a regular pot pie. So if you like a chicken pot pie with the pie crust topping, you’ll probably enjoy this.

Have a great day and stay safe and warm.

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Waffles

Welcome to our first Tasty Tuesday of February and Happy Groundhog Day! Today’s recipe is a continuation of last week’s breakfast share. Last week’s breakfast casserole was paired with waffles, and the waffles’ recipe came from “Wanda E. Brunstetter’s Amish Friends From Scratch Cookbook”. Waffles are perfect for the snowy weather we are having too.

Check out the recipe here if you have a craving for waffles this morning…

Waffles, Mrs. David J. Kurtz, page 12, “Wanda E. Brunstetter’s Amish Friends From Scratch Cookbook”

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs, separated

1 cup milk

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Beat egg yolks into milk. Add to first mixture. Add butter. Beat egg whites until stiff and add to mixture. Spray preheated waffle grids with nonstick spray. Ladle 1 cup batter onto grids. Bake according to manufacturer’s directions. When done, lift out with fork and serve warm.

This recipe made quite a bit of batter, so I actually used it all and froze some of the waffles. There was no way that the two of us were going to eat all of those especially served with the breakfast casserole and fruit. The waffles were yummy. Next time, I might add in a few chocolate chips to change them up.

I hope if you are getting this snowstorm that you are safe and warm. And be careful if you are shoveling snow – don’t overdue it. Maybe when you come in from shoveling, you can fix these yummy waffles to refuel your body.

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Breakfast Casserole

Happy Tasty Tuesday! This week, I am going to share a recipe that I make quite a bit for us either at breakfast or dinner time. I’ve shared this before on my blog a few years ago and since I just made this recently, I figured I’d share it again, since it’s easy to fix and can also be fixed the night before.

This week’s recipe for Breakfast Casserole comes from one of my favorite Amish cookbooks, “The Esh Family Cookbook”.  It’s a great cookbook full of recipes, poems, and snippets throughout the pages written by a very sweet family.

Breakfast Casserole, Mrs. Sally Ann Esh (Mel), page 42, “The Esh Family Cookbook”

1 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. bisquick

3 eggs

1/4 c. melted butter

1 c. shredded cheese

8 strips bacon, crumbled

Mix milk, bisquick, eggs, and butter.  Put bacon and cheese on top.  Press below surface with a fork.  Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let stand for 10 minutes.

From Sally Ann:  “This is a casserole I like to mix Saturdays when we have church the next day, for a simple breakfast.”

One thing I learned after fixing this many years ago was to eliminate the melted butter.  I think they use that sort of like we use a baking spray (like Pam, etc.).  I no longer put the butter into the mixture, and the casserole still comes out nice and fluffy.  Just remember, if you also eliminate the butter, to spray your baking dish to help it not stick.

I fixed this one with turkey bacon, but in the past, I have also used ham or sausage. One time I’ll have to give scrapple a try.

If you like breakfast foods, I’m sure you’d like this casserole. Let me know if you give it a try.

Have a great last week of January!

Blessings…

Tasty Tuesday – Chicken Broccoli Casserole

It’s Tasty Tuesday time! Since I had some cooked chicken already cut up, I decided to find a new recipe to incorporate that into, and I found this Chicken Broccoli Casserole recipe in the “Harmony Hollow Recipes Cookbook”. Casseroles are one of my favorite things to fix, since everything goes into one dish usually including a vegetable, so I don’t have to fix anything else to go with it.

This is definitely a comfort food meal and very filling. And it’s easy to put together, so that’s always a plus too.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole, Linda Esh, page 94, “Harmony Hollow Recipes Cookbook”

4-6 c. chicken, cooked & cubed

Broccoli

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 tsp. lemon juice

Salt & pepper to taste

1 c. shredded cheese

1/2 c. butter, melted

1 pkg. Ritz crackers

In a greased 9×13 casserole dish, put chicken on bottom and then layer a good amount of broccoli on top. Mix together the mayonnaise, cream of chicken soup, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Spread on top of chicken and broccoli. Add the shredded cheese on top. Melt the butter and mix with cracker crumbs and sprinkle on top of cheese. Bake at ______________________________.

Also really good with asparagus per Linda!

Now if you’ve read the recipe directions, you see that line after “bake at”. That is exactly what is in the cookbook. Looks like the proofreader meant to go back and get the baking instructions from the recipe provider, but never did. So, I just picked 350 degrees and started at 30 minutes. Wasn’t done yet, so added 10 more minutes, still wasn’t done yet, so another 10, and then five more. So the baking instructions from me are 350 degrees for 55 minutes. Now if you’d try 375 degrees, it would be a quicker bake.

So needless to say, I wrote in this information, since this was so yummy, I know I’ll make it again. It got two thumbs up and compliments from hubby, so it’s a definite keeper recipe. And it will be good for our girls’ weekend too whenever that might be. Easy to put together and put in oven!

I’m sure it would be good with a bag of mixed veggies or the California medley mixture as well.

I wanted to share a little bit about Harmony Hollow Retreat with you too. Harmony Hollow Retreat is a therapeutic riding facility for special needs children of all ages. A non-profit organization committed to serve the conservative Anabaptist community, therapeutic horseback riding is recognized as one of the most beneficial forms of therapy for people with disabilities and low self esteem. Horseback riding gives people a sense of control and accomplishment, increasing self-esteem, development of patience, and the ability to control a horse as well as one’s own body. From the beginning, riders learn balance, coordination, and self-assurance – all the while receiving therapeutic muscle stimulations. Therapeutic riding is so much more than just sitting on a horse’s back and going for a ride. Harmony Hollow Retreat is located in Quarryville, Pennsylvania.

Hope you have a great week.

Blessings…