Simple Pleasures: Stories from my life as an Amish mother, by Marianne Jantzi. Young Amish homemaker and author, Marianne Jantzi, invites readers into her family’s life and Amish community. The mother of four young children, Jantzi writes about her daily routines and heartfelt faith with equal measures of wit and warmth. Sewing, cleaning, cooking, gardening, and helping to manage the family store take up most hours in her day, but Jantzi finds time to pen columns for the Connection, a magazine beloved by Amish and Mennonite readers.