Though they may sometimes attend two or three weddings in a single day, local Amish couples who prepare traditional wedding feasts still depend on well-worn recipes to crank out heaping plates of chicken and bread stuffing, fluffy mashed potatoes and creamed celery.

Despite customs that keep recipes largely the same, the community keeps growing — and it can be difficult to keep track of just how much poultry and produce you'll need to feed a crowd of up to 500. For many years, Amish cooks kept their special-occasion recipes to themselves. When they did share them, the humongous quantities could be hard to adapt for the average home cook.

But today, opportunities to sample Amish wedding dishes or to try making them at home are increasingly common. Tourist attractions, restaurants and even local fire companies are getting in on the "roast," as it is known among the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Earlier this month, four Amish couples oversaw a benefit dinner at Durlach-Mt. Airy Fire Company in Stevens. Plain and "English" volunteers began arriving by buggy, bike and car at 8 a.m. two days in a row to put together 800 meals, complete with popular sides such as vinegar-based coleslaw and harder-to-find items like peanut butter spread.

Day One efforts included roasting 60 whole chickens, peeling 600 pounds of potatoes (50 pounds at a time in an automated peeler run by fire company volunteers), and slicing and dicing 250 pounds of celery. Then there was the pre-mixing of cubed bread, butter and celery for the stuffing — all of it tumbling in a giant stainless steel drum so that the ingredients could be incorporated without hours of backbreaking labor. The following day, shredded chicken was added, re-tumbled and the entire mix cooked again.

"They don't all have the tumbler," said Dee Lynch, an auxiliary volunteer who helped coordinate the second-annual wedding feast. "They have to invent their own way to tumble."

This 4-foot-wide contraption came on loan from Honey Brook Fire Company in Chester County, where Amish are a core part of the volunteer force. At Durlach-Mt. Airy Fire Company, two Amish women who volunteer through the auxiliary gathered fellow community members as well as Mennonite neighbors to help host the Feb. 18 dinner. Many of the women spent hours coring potatoes and slicing produce for the slaw, strawberry-topped angel food cake and celery dishes.

It's unclear just when or why celery became a mainstay at Amish weddings in Lancaster County, except for the fact that the root is harvested in late fall, a time local Plain communities once set aside for weddings. It stars in creamed or sweet and sour celery, helps moisten the stuffing and gives its leafy stalks to brighten diners' tables as a stand-in for floral arrangements.

Members of the Amish community used to be able to guess impending engagements before an official church announcement by watching which families planted extra celery in late summer. One Amish volunteer at the Durlach-Mt. Airy Fire Company Feast said her own engagement didn't take place until August, making the cut-off for celery planting rough for a traditional November wedding.

She said the planting tradition "has changed a little bit because you can get it any time now." But celery remains a part of both the wedding celebration and the lore surrounding it. The Amish Experience at Plain & Fancy Farm hosts a wedding celebration tour that highlights Amish engagements, their religious beliefs and the exchanging of vows during a meal and tour.

"If it's the right time of year, we might even come across the celery still in the yard, wrapped in cloth to keep it from freezing," said Brad Igou, president of Plain & Fancy.

Other Amish wedding traditions are also evolving. While most community weddings could once be squeezed into a one- or two-month period following fall harvest, the season now extends into early March. Last year, Lancaster County Amish celebrated 214 weddings, according to an Amish volunteer. This year, a chest of dishes used to serve wedding guests is already rented out for most November weekends.

Weddings, however, are still usually reserved for Tuesdays and Thursdays and almost exclusively hosted at home. The bridal couple, joined by their attendants, exchange vows in a brief ceremony and sit together at a corner table, or "eck," where they can talk and enjoy their meal together.

As described in Stephen Scott's "The Amish Wedding," other married couples from the church district, aunts, uncles and teenage girls usually serve the food. The traditional noontime meal is followed late in the day by a second, lighter meal that might include stewed chicken, macaroni and cheese or cold cuts. That one, according to Scott, can require the help of another 12 cooks.

Like many American weddings, Amish celebrations increasingly feature a decorative wedding cake. Sometimes purchased from a bakery or decorated by a family friend, the cake accompanies traditional cream-filled doughnuts (or the more recent addition of blueberry doughnut holes), Danish pastries or angel food cakes. Some families still favor fruit pies.

Many of the traditional recipes, particularly those for baked goods, are now widely available in Amish cookbooks sold online, at stores and even farm stands. The "Wooden Spoon Wedding Sampler," available at Kauffman's Fruit Farm and Market in Bird-in-Hand, includes wedding dishes and everyday family staples passed down for generations.

The peanut butter spread served at Durlach-Mt. Airy Fire Company, as well as with a wedding special at Katie's Kitchen in Ronks, isn't usually found at weddings. Instead, it is a staple at post-service meals on Sunday. Because it's marshmallow-peanut butter combo is so popular among the non-Amish, it is sometimes incorporated into mock weddings. Cookbooks may refer to it as church spread.

While most guests won't leave an Amish wedding hungry, food isn't the only focus. There's also a "singing" for other young community members and even the occasional prank — like a buggy plastered with the traditional "Just Married" label — Igou said.

"In the Amish community, this is the happiest thing that could happen: You have two young, baptized Amish people getting married and planning to start their own family," said Igou, who has attended several Amish weddings. "It is an incredibly happy time and there's a lot of fun."

Traditional Amish wedding dishes are featured locally at:

• The Paradise-Leaman Place Fire Company, which will host an Amish wedding dinner on Saturday, March 17, from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• Katie's Kitchen, 200 Hartman Bridge Road, Ronks, serving an Amish wedding dinner special with chicken and filling, potatoes, creamed celery, pepper cabbage and peanut butter spread every Tuesday night. A full serving is $10.50, a half $7.50 and children eat for $4.99.

• The Amish Experience at Plain & Fancy Farm, which offers a wedding celebration package including a tour, a re-enactment and a meal. Large groups tours are available by previous arrangement during Plain & Fancy Farm Restaurant hours. To make reservations, call 768-8400, extension 218 or 217.

RECIPES
Sweet and Sour Celery
Peanut Butter Spread