Edible Destinations
An Amish Country Meander
DINING IN THE SLOW LANE STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANE SIMON AMMESON
I
n the fall, as jewel-colored leaves drift slowly across the back byways in the area of Northwest Indiana called Amish Country, it is possible to catch glimpses of life as it was lived over a century ago. Young boys navigate horse-drawn wagons filled with a cornucopia of fresh vegetables down dirt roads; girls dressed in homemade dresses and matching bonnets in the palest of pastels drive buggies past farms set on squares of green. I have my favorite places to stop when I’m traveling through this 19th-century rural landscape and the first is always Country Lane Bakery, just seven miles south of Shipshewana on County Road 43. Like most Amish homes and businesses, it is a plain white building. Inside, even without electricity, it buzzes with visitors who all know to get here early for the freshly baked rolls, breads, cakes and unbelievable pies. On my first visit, I arrived at 2pm and, alas, found only one peach cream pie left but oh, it was so good. I’ve never been able to find a recipe similar to the one I ate and so now I’m among the first arrivals on my pilgrimage through some of the best country eating in the state. Just a few miles north on the same country road, I visit Green Meadow Farms, an Amish farm selling Lady-Finger Popcorn, a tender, very small, hull-less heritage popcorn, as well as fresh eggs, cheeses and meats (depending upon the day) from their self-serve back porch. For house-prepared Amish-style meals, both Blue Gate in Shipshewana and Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury know how to cook classic country such as homemade noodles topped with beef or chicken and served with real made-on-site mashed potatoes, biscuits, fried chicken and, of course, more pies. Both places have a bakery, inn, offer carriage rides and shopping. On County Road 16, which covers the short distance between Middlebury and Shipshewana, watch cheese being made every morning at Guggisberg Deutsch Kase Haus. Then head west to the Dutch Country Market, owned by the Lehmans, an Amish family of eight. Here you can see noodle making using a hand-cranked noodle machine (and buy some too), fresh-from-the-hive honey products as well as nut butters. The noodles, made of only 30
edible INDY Fall 2014
Next page, clockwise from top left: Country Lane Bakery just north of Goshen. An Amish bakery known for pies and breads, which are baked in propane-fueled ovens because of this self-sustaining religious group’s belief that reliance on public power ties them too closely to the outside world. Quilt Garden at Das Essenhaus: Amish Country is known for its beautiful quilt gardens, blankets of blooms planted to replicate classic and new quilt squares. Das Essenhaus is a delightful restaurant and bakery complex with carriage rides, a hotel and boutique shops. Photo provided by Amish Country/Elkhart County CVB. One of the many joys of driving the back roads in Northwestern Indiana’s Amish Country is coming across bake sales like this one, raising money for local Amish schools. The oldest continuously operating grist mill in the state, the Bonneyville Mill, between Bristol and Middlebury, continues to turn out flours and meals with the heavy turns of the mill wheel—just as it did over 150 years ago.
