Now, I’ve been told I’m walking into a whole mess of trouble here. What I’m about to bring up is probably the most contentious issue in the entire state. Marriages have broken up over this. Children have been disowned. Beverages were spilled. No, this isn’t politics. This isn’t religion. It’s not even Eagles vs. Steelers. [...]
Entries from August 2008
August 28, 2008
PA food month day 28: east meets west part II
Need something to unwind a bit after one of those days at work? Try a glass of wine from one of Pennsylvania’s many interesting vineyards along with a few bits of chocolate from one of our many family-owned candy manufacturers.
I’m sampling Clover Hill’s apple wine – a sweet summer treat – and a selection of [...]
August 28, 2008
Golden State? Well, Thanks To PA, At Least The Pretzels Are
With a family background of PA Dutchmen and Lithuanians, I was steeped in our amazing cuisine from the time I dropped my bottle. Yeah, I was that kid at lunch with hamloaf sandwiches, stuffed cabbage, pierogies, and around Thanksgiving, the crowd pleasing pig stomach. So, as you might expect, the gastronomic prospect of spending a [...]
August 25, 2008
fishing Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania expat-in-California and our newest contributor Brian Gish recommends angling for wild fish in the picturesque streams of PA:
As the muggy days of summer give way to the crisp air of autumn, there’s hardly a better way to enjoy a lazy afternoon than on the bank of a stream with a fishing pole in [...]
August 24, 2008
a Berks County hike: Pulpit Rock & Pinnacle Rock
Pennsylvania is full of scenic opportunities for hiking, and today we visited one such spot in Berks County in east-central GSE. Situated along the east slope of the Blue Mountain (atop which rambles the Appalachian Trail) near Hamburg are a number of hiking trails that lead up the mountain to Pulpit Rock and Pinnacle Rock, [...]
August 22, 2008
PA food month day 22: east meets west
Tonight I brought the opposite sides of the GSE together with some gnocchi made by Scaramuzzo’s in Clifton Heights, near Philadelphia, and Nana’s Heirloom Tomato Sauce, which is brought to us by Walnut Ridge Farm in Avella.
I liked that Nana’s sauce is very richly tomato-tasting without being terribly lumpy. This whole chunky homestyle thing is [...]
August 17, 2008
PA Food Month Harrisburg Style
In an effort to supplement Jen’s coverage of PA Food Month, I am blogging about the variety of options for obtaining local produce here in the mid-state. When I set off on my quest to become a member of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group, I did not know that so many would be available [...]
August 17, 2008
PA food month day 16
We had my aunt Marilyn and Uncle Tim over for dinner with my parents visiting, and all seemed pleased with the feast of PA organic grass fed sirloin steak, fresh corn from one of the Amish stands in the Reading Terminal Market, and a cucumber salad made from farmers market cucumbers. We topped that off [...]
August 15, 2008
PA food month day 15: it’s ham barbecue time!
My parents rolled over to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh for the weekend, and brought along a load of goodies from western PA, some of which I’ll get to in the next entry. But for now it’s a celebration of the Pittsburgh classic ham barbecue sandwiches we had tonight.
Chipped ham (sometimes called chip-chopped ham, though the correctness [...]
August 13, 2008
PA food month: day 13
I’m really starting to notice now that it’s not exactly easy to keep the kitchen stocked with Pennsylvania products. Well, not like this was any surprise or anything. It’s not that there’s a lack of them – quite the opposite! There are countless PA foods I haven’t yet reported on here.
The thing is, we’re aiming [...]
