Feasting on Special Treats A typical Amish Christmas dinner includes ham or roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, noodles, vegetables, bread with butter, cranberry sauce and homemade desserts like apple dumplings or pumpkin custard pie. Delicious!
Amish recipes are all about classic, comforting, and old-fashioned tastes, so it's no surprise that an Amish Christmas dinner menu would feature favorites like meatloaf, potatoes, and fried chicken. If you've got a lot of folks coming over for the holidays, you might want to make a few of these delicious main dishes!
Handmade Furniture and Decor Items
These items also serve as housewarming gifts. Wooden toys and smaller items for the home are popular Christmas gifts for their families. Amish men may also make gifts for their wives on Valentine's Day or birthdays.
Traditional Amish food includes dishes like tasty roasted chicken, creamy mashed potatoes & gravy, seasoned vegetables, fresh bread, and homemade jam. The Amish are also known for excellent baked goods, especially pies, cookies, breads, cakes, and fry pies.
Serve a traditional Christmas dinner menu filled with classic dishes, including smoked salmon starters, roast turkey with all the trimmings and Christmas pudding. We're all for breaking with convention and trying something new on special occasions, but sometimes only classic dishes will do on Christmas Day.
Here they are, the holiday classics! These are the top-rated main dish and side dish recipes you need for a perfect traditional Christmas dinner. They cover the savory side of Christmas dinner, from prime rib, baked ham, and roast turkey to scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce.
And just like every other American, I have my favorites. According to a 2020 survey, turkey's the star for 73% of Americans, with prime rib (69%), roast beef (66%), steak (65%), chicken (64%), roast pork (64%) and ham (62%) also being popular contenders.
Faith-based Amish traditions include wearing plain clothing, living in a simple manner and helping a neighbor in need. Church buildings with pews are traded for services in community homes, choirs for solemn hymns without music and professional pastors for community leaders.
Some Amish may decorate with candles, poinsettias, garland, or candle-lit centerpieces on the table, although some may not have any Christmas decorations at all, once again keeping with the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle.
However, the Amish celebrate what's called 'Epiphany' or 'Old Christmas' on January 6 — but why? According to Amish tradition, January 6 (twelve days after Christmas) was the date that the Three Wise Men came to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. And for a long time, centuries ago, Christmas was celebrated on January 6.
Second Christmas – the day after Christmas – is when the Amish observe what we might consider a more traditional Christmas. It is a time for visiting family, small gift exchanges, and enjoying good food and fellowship. Additionally, some Amish communities will celebrate “Old Christmas” on January 6th.
Amish Church Food Recipes
Amish groups do not all have the same customs. Some of them serve bean soup. But we always had bread, rolls, peanut butter spread, Lebanon bologna or lunch meat, sliced cheese or cheese spread, home-canned pickles, pickled beets, and either pie or cookies.
Do they have Christmas Eve & Christmas Day church services, and sing carols or traditional hymns? The Christmas church service may or may not be held on December 25, but both Christmas and the following day, sometimes called “second Christmas,” are holidays for the Amish.
Out of respect for their privacy, it is best to avoid approaching the Amish unless they appear open to company. They are just like you and don't really appreciate strangers knocking at their door. When you do have a need to approach a group of Amish, it is polite to speak to a male, if possible.
Amish life revolves around the home and much of their time is spent together working on their property. In the mornings, children immediately get to work on their morning chores, such as milking the cows, feeding their livestock, gathering eggs, and cleaning up the animal pens.
The Amish (/ˈɑːmɪʃ/; Pennsylvania German: Amisch; German: Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches, a separate Anabaptist denomination.
An Amish meal is usually served with water to drink. If you're from a different culture you may be used to having a variety of things to drink with your meal from ice tea to milk to coffee. Its water for the Amish. But don't forget to have a cup of coffee after dessert while you sit around to chat.
Those Amish who don't drink alcohol may abstain for religious or personal reasons. That said, even those communities that do allow it generally stick to wine or beer rather than hard liquor. When they do consume alcohol, they usually enjoy it in moderation rather than drink to get drunk.
As a general rule, Amish cuisine is plain and rich in carbohydrates and lipids (1,2). Most Amish tend to have home gardens that provide fresh fruits and vegetables for seasonal consumption, as well as for canning, pickling, and storage for use during the winter months (1,2).
The least popular Thanksgiving foods are candied yams and sweet potato pie. The least popular Christmas foods are persimmon pudding and fruitcake.
Of course, there are plenty of traditional dishes (like sweet potato casserole and Christmas hams) that are no-brainers when it comes to the holidays, but you'll also find a ton of creative new Christmas recipes, like bacon-wrapped turkey, pepper-jack mashed potatoes, a Christmas charcuterie board, and pomegranate ...
When planning Christmas dinner, opt for three or four side dishes that can appeal to a range of tastes. In general, one type of potato or starch, a bread, and one or two vegetables help complete the main meal.