Gloria is taking a much-deserved summer week off. She’ll return next week with more fun from Yoders.

So, this week we’ll share some special recipes. But, first, some background. Long before Holmes County captured the crown as Ohio’s largest Amish settlement, another was taking root on the other end of the state. Starting in 1819, Butler County, just north of Cincinnati, was home an Amish community. The settlement thrived for decades until ideological rifts splintered the settlement, with many moving to Iowa and Illinois. The ones that stayed behind eventually formed a Mennonite church in nearby Trenton, Ohio which endures to this day.

Butler County, Ohio’s Amish heritage is preserved in Chrisholm Farm MetroPark with a restored original farmhouse and gardens and many artifacts of the era on display.

Recently, the community gathered to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Amish arrival in Butler County. Festivities included speakers and an Amish recipe bake-off that I got to participate in judging. I wanted to share a couple of the winning recipes with you, the first created by Rachel Hacker.

RASPBERRY KEY LIME PIE

Crust:

1 ¾ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

¼ cup sweetened coconut

7 Tablespoons salted melted butter

Filling:

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

4 egg yolks

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons lime zest

2 dashes salt

1 pint fresh raspberries

Topping:

¼ cup raspberry preserves

2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1 pint raspberries

2 tablespoons white sugar

dash salt

2 oz roughly grated white chocolate

Preheat oven to 375 degree.

Crush Graham Crackers to medium crumb size, combine in a bowl with all of the melted butter and coconut. Press into a 9 inch pie pan(glass preferred) and bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until a gentle golden color. Cool.

Thoroughly combine sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks, then add all of the lime juice. Stir, then add lime zest and salt. Pourfilling into cooled pie shell. Evenly disperse the pint of fresh raspberries on top of the pie then press into filling.

Cook for 20 to 25 minutes at 375, until filling is somewhat firm. Cool in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

For raspberry sauce, combine everything but the white chocolate into a small sauce pan, then cook on medium for 5 to 10 minutes,until raspberries are broken up into the liquid. Strain out the sauce from seeds, through a sieve. Cool. Top cooled pie with a modestlayer of the raspberry sauce and the white chocolate.

The first-place winner in the bar category was this delicious chocolate-pecan blondie recipe from Jill Hertenstein.

CHOCOLATE PECAN BLONDIES

One stick of melted butter

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup pecans

Cream first three ingredients with hand-mixer for 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well and slowly add flour and salt. Stir in the chipsand pecans.

Line an 8 X 8 pan with parchment paper leaving a 2-inch “handle” on two sides. Spread in pan, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let cool ona wire rack. Remove from pan by lifting handles and cut into 16 squares.