Amish Livestock Auctions
Amish Livestock Auctions
A high point of any farm is taking the farm bounty to market. Whether the harvest is grain, vegetable, fruit or livestock auction day attracts a crowd and the Amish enjoy the day just as much as an “English” farm family.
Most auctions start early in the day, as sales can run into the evening depending on the number of livestock or goods brought for sale. Cattle markets are a fairly interesting affair. The auctioneer will pump up the crowd, especially if a unique or an especially fancy group of cattle come through the ring. The ring men will chase the select group into the show ring, slamming the metal gates to secure the group of cattle in the pen.
The confused cattle huddle together, so the ring men will have to entice the cattle to move about to give the perspective buyers a good view of the bovines. Occasionally, a steer or heifer will take exception to being on show and will charge one of the men who will have to quickly scramble the walls to avoid a good head butting.
The auctioneer begins his noisy bantering, running up the attributes and price of the cattle. The bids will start coming, and within a few minutes the group will be sold to the highest bidder. The cattle then leave ring and the process starts over again.
A special to the Amish auction will be the inclusion of horses and buggies. The horses are handled a bit more lavishly than the cattle and the buyers usually have an opportunity to physically check the horses over before the auction. Both buggy horses and draft horses (big plow horses) are sold at these auctions, and the Amish are not the only buyers. Horse fanciers will drive hundreds of miles to attend these special auctions as Amish horses are well known to be extremely well trained.
As with any large gathering attracting the Amish, there is always great food served for immediate consumption or to take back home. Here are a few Amish recipes sure to make a long day at an auction well worth the time.
Amish Vegetable Beef Soup
1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cubed
1 soup bone
1 large can tomatoes
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup rice
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 large onion, sliced
8 carrots, cubed
5 potatoes, cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed
Place the meat and soup bone in a large stock pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover pan then simmer for two hours. Remove bone and discard. Add tomatoes, celery, rice, onion, carrots and potatoes. Bring soup to boil, then drop heat to simmer until vegetables are done. Add spices and stir. Soup is now finished and can be served. Leftover portions can be placed in plastic containers, covered and frozen for future use.
To accompany your soup why don’t you try this delicious bread?
Amish Dill Bread
1 package dry yeast (dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water)
1 cup warmed cottage cheese
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon dry onion flakes
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons dill seed
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
Preheat oven to 350 °F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except flour. Mix well, then gradually stir in flour until a soft dough forms. Cover with damp cloth and set in warm area to rise until doubled (approximately one hour).
Turn dough out onto well floured surface. Knead until smooth. Divide in half and place each half into greased pans. Cover with cloth and let rise until doubled. Bake for 40-50 minutes.
