The Search for the Perfect Piece of Pie

Gene loves baked goods. The farm foods of Lancaster County have a reputation for being outstanding. So what better place to find that perfect piece of pie. Let me say at the onset that my mother can bake an excellent pie. These folks will have a tough standard to meet.

Gene at Good 'N Plenty

Shoofly Pie is pretty popular around here and been baked by the Amish for generations. In the early days before a refrigerator was a standard appliance in most kitchens, fresh foods had to be eaten quickly or spoil. Shoofly pie, which is made with molasses and brown sugar, would keep several days without refrigeration. The pie got its name because the flies had to be continually “shooed” away as the pie cooled in the window sill. We hadn’t had this pie before so it was Gene’s first choice. In my limited experience with pie, I think it is most like a Southern Pecan Pie but without the pecans and not as sweet. The pecan pie has a layer of pecans over the butter, corn syrup and egg filling. The Shoofly pie has what seems like a crumb topping, but without enough butter to make it crumbly. Our opinion: It is good, but would not be our first choice.

Shoofly Pie at Bird-In-Hand

We got our first piece of shoofly pie from the Bird-In-Hand Bakery booth at the Bird-In-Hand Farmer’s Market. Another day we ate lunch at Good ‘n Plenty Restaurant proclaimed to have the “best Pennsylvania Dutch food” according to the Lancaster County Magazine. We thought Good ‘n Plenty’s shoofly pie was better than Bird-In-Hand because the filling had a creamier texture. We also had a slice of Apple Crumb Pie. It was very good, but not outstanding.

Apply pie from Hershey Farm

Time is running out and since we hadn’t found perfect yet we decided to give it one last shot at the bakery on the corner in Strasburg. The sign in the window thanks folks for voting them the “best ice cream in Lancaster County” (we may have been on the wrong quest) but pie they did not have. Their baked goods consisted of apple dumplings and a few cookies. However, the lady behind the counter suggested we try Hershey Farm just down the street. They had a couple shoofly pies on the shelf, but we had been there and done that. We wanted something else, apple maybe. Just because they didn’t have one on the shelf didn’t mean that didn’t have one in the kitchen. No pie by the slice; we had to buy the whole thing still warm from the oven. This pie was very good. The apples were still just a little crisp. It was a double crust pie, not a crumb pie and the crust was very good. I think the crumb topping on the pie at Good ‘n Plenty was just too much. It overpowered the apples. The pie from Hershey Farm was much better.

Pumpkin Whoopie

We have been seeing Whoopie Pies everywhere. While we were waiting for our pie to come from the kitchen, I thumbed through an Amish cookbook. Apparently, Whoopie Pies are traditional Amish fare. We’ve had them in Maine, so Gene did a Google search this afternoon. They’ve been around since about the 1930s and they are very popular among the Amish and in New England, but no one seems to know where they originated. They are really like a large cupcake split in half with frosting in the middle. We got 2 in the interest of being complete in our pie quest. Gene got the traditional chocolate. It had a very intense chocolate flavor and the consistency of devil’s food cake. I chose pumpkin and it also had an intense flavor and consistency much like a pumpkin muffin. The filling is very similar to a cream cheese frosting. These were much better than the one we had in Maine. Which was better—chocolate or pumpkin? I’m gonna have to go with the chocolate, but it was a close call.

Gene and his Whoopie

Shopping in Lancaster County

We always enjoy visiting new towns and we especially like to see the historical downtown areas. So naturally, we wanted to see historic downtown Lancaster and had read that they had a self-guided walking tour. Just our thing. So off we went on Friday afternoon in our big Ford F-250 diesel long bed. We were equipped with a free map that was stapled inside one of those free brochures we got at the Welcome Center on the interstate. It looked like we could just zip right into the downtown area on the main road from Strasburg and be right were we wanted to be. The Visitor Center would have plenty of parking where we could leave the truck while we did the walking tour. Our plan began to unravel when the main road we were so confident about suddenly became a one-way in the wrong direction. We went with the flow of traffic turning first right and then left. Well, okay, we’ll just parallel the main road until we get to Prince Street then hang a left. The closer into downtown we got the narrower the road became. And the traffic was unreal. Lancaster has a population of only 56,000. There must have been twice that many cars on the road. The free map we had failed to list all the streets resulting in a real struggle to keep up with where we were. Finally, we saw a sign for Visitor Center Parking. We, of course, were on the wrong side of the road and had to beat our way over only to see that the Visitor Center Parking was a garage with a 6’5” clearance. We wouldn’t fit! We were still hopeful that the Visitor Center would have a parking lot, so around the block we go. After two circuits we saw the Visitor Center. Not only was there no parking lot, there was road construction forcing us to turn yet again where we didn’t want to go. This time we took it as a sign from above that we were not meant to be there.

We decided to head east to the tiny village of Bird-In-Hand. The drawing feature for us was the Farmer’s Market. It was easy enough to find and there was a huge parking lot. Yea! Gene hadn’t even gotten a cart before he spotted the Bird-In-Hand Bakery counter. The lady who sold him the Shoofly Pie pointed us to the snack counter where we could get a cup of coffee. She gave us napkins and plastic forks and we were on our way. In the market we also found some dried spices and a harvest soup mix we are anxious to try.

I purchased a star as a remembrance of our visit here. There are several “legends” of the star, but generally they are used either as a sign of love and respect for God and family, a symbol of our American heritage, or as a sign of good luck.

Gene spotted hats at one end of the market. He found one he liked in his size, but the brim was bent. The cashier sent us to their main store in the Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse—just 4 miles east. We found the place easily enough but so did all the rest of the people in the county. It is obviously the place to shop. There were so many cars, they had a gentleman directing traffic in the parking lot. He sent us to park in the grass under a tree. Sometimes we miss having a small car.

Gene found a hat he liked and I got a souvenir for myself and a start on my Christmas shopping. I think we’re done with shopping for now. Well, we’re still looking for that perfect piece of pie.

Mennonites and Amish

In our quest to determine the difference between the Mennonites and Amish we went over to the Mennonite Information Center in Lancaster. They were very helpful in trying to explain to us, but there was also a small museum which outlined the origin of both groups as well as two short films which we watched. I’ll try to explain what I think I learned.

During the time of Martin Luther and the Reformation in Northern Europe, a small group felt that church membership could not be forced upon a person, but rather a person’s faith should be voluntary. This group was known as the Anabaptist because they “re-baptized” adults wishing to commit their lives to Christ who had been baptized as infants. This struggling group of believers soon came under the leadership of Menno Simons, thus the name Mennonites. In the late 1600s, a division occurred in the Mennonite church because some felt the Mennonites were drifting away from their original strict teachings. This group was led by Jakob Ammann, thus the name Amish. Both groups suffered persecution in Europe for their religious beliefs. William Penn invited them to come to what became Pennsylvania where they would be free to worship as they wished.

Today, the Mennonites have embraced modern technology and blend in with the communities in which they live. They drive cars, wear modest, but modern dress, and are educated in community schools, even colleges. The Amish still live a life close to the earth, working large farms, using propane instead of electricity, using horses and mules for transportation as well as pulling farm equipment, and dressing in their traditional clothing. Both groups lead lives of faith in Christ and service to others.

Laundry Day

As we drive about this community this simple life of the Amish is evident everywhere. We see laundry which seems to stretch for a mile drying in the sun. We see the women out there in the yards mowing or raking. They are even in the fields driving the mule team. I think the thing that is the most awesome to me is how a family can work a farm as large as these are without the aid of a tractor. I admire them for their dedication to their faith which requires them to be so different from the world about them.

Hitching post at the Post Office

Two horse garage

I am impressed by these people, but I haven’t the words to express adequately what I am experiencing. Look at the photos. I think you will be a little awestruck as well.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Dutch, Amish Country, Lancaster, PA are all names that describe this area of Pennsylvania. I have never been here before, but I have developed an image in my mind of what I expected to see. As we got off the interstate in Lancaster County I was mightily disappointed. Highway 30 took us through the town of Lancaster and I was reminded of hundreds of tourist towns across America. Along both sides of the 4-lane highway were fast food and big chain restaurants, T-shirt shops, an outlet mall, even a place that offered buggy rides. This was not the image in my mind. I’m sure, if we had gotten off Hwy 30, we would have found more of what I expected, but this first impression saddened my soul.

Our campground is in the small community of Strasburg about 5 miles from Lancaster. Strasburg is the place of my Amish dreams. There are large beautiful farms side by side, in every direction, for as far as you can see. Main Street through town is littered with horse dung and the country road that passes by our campground has almost as much buggy traffic as motorized vehicles. I took this picture of the buggy from inside the Montana.

Strasburg is a small community of about 3000. The town is old, but very well maintained. We found a gravel parking lot where we left the truck and struck out on foot. A couple of the larger homes are B and Bs, but for the most part the houses looked like single family dwellings. There are a few shops selling items you would expect to see in this area. There was a small sandwich/ice cream shop, but no chain eateries of any kind. This is so refreshing. I haven’t seen any fresh produce stands. However, it is too late for strawberries and too early for everything else.

This is a great location for all kinds of sightseeing. Strasburg is only 50 miles from Philadelphia and 50 miles from Baltimore. Hershey, PA and all the chocolate you can stand is just around the corner. We are not going to be here long, but there are a few things we want to do. Valley Forge is probably on the top of our list. We also want to educate ourselves on the difference between Amish and Mennonites. Gene has his heart set on home baked pie so the search is on. This should be fun.