lancaster county

Other than the freak snow storm that brought about 6 inches of slushy, wet snow to Lancaster County, our little road trip was awesome. We stayed in Lancaster, but visited Bird-in-Hand, Straburg, Intercourse, Paradise, Ephrata and Lititz. These charming small towns were all within a 20-minute drive. Check out the view from our hotel right before the snow really started falling.

The market in Lancaster was one of my favourite stops. So many locals seemed to actually come here to do their weekly groceries. The Amish butchers had some amazing looking meat and there were preserves, pickles and produce galore. 

At the Bird-in-Hand market, we ate at the lunch counter. The Amish who ran the place were very kind, and the fried chicken and chicken pot pie (more like chicken and dumplings) really hit the spot.

Pennsylvania Dutch cooking is pretty heavy. Lots of meat and potatoes, casseroles and sugary sweets for dessert. Most restaurants in the area were Smorgasbord style (another word for buffet). The results of a typical breakfast Smorgasbord:

Clockwise from top left: scrapple (a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty made from various porky bits); butter-fried sticky bun (yes, fried in butter); bacon and sausage; biscuits w/ whipped butter. Lets just say that one Smorgasbord experience was enough for us.

I didn't buy the Amish butter cheese pictured above even though I was very curious, but found out it's a creamy cheese similar to Havarti.

More pics tomorrow!