Tuesday, February 07, 2006

some interesting foods

ok, well-- i have an announcement to make-- Andrew and i have struck a compromise, and i will only be blogging twice a week. so sorry!

So, andrew's mother visited last week and brought Fasnachts-- andrew was so happy!!!

and i'm sure you're thinking: WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!?!?!

they are doughnuts-- but made with potato, not flour. they're supposed to be eaten on fasnacht day (go figure) which is always the day before ash wednesday. though, people like to eat them ALL the time.

so, lets talk about some other foods--

pierogies-- ok, my mom informed me that they arent PA dutch. though, they are eaten a lot in PA, and people from other parts of the country dont know what they are. when i was in south carolina, i could never find any in the grocery store. They are mashed potatoes stuffed inside a noodle thing.

shoo-fly-pie-- Its a dessert that was named because the aroma was so good that flies would come to get it, and you'd have to shoo them away. right. so, its a pie that has molasses on the bottom and a coffee cake on top. andrew loves them. i'm not as keen on it.

woopie pies-- i never heard of these before meeting andrew. oh well. you mix up cake batter, but with not as much liquid so that its thicker. then, you plop circles of it (like you would with pancakes) onto a cookie sheet and bake them. Then, once cooked and cooled, you put a frosting type filling between two of them, making a little sandwhich.

chicken pot pie-- you can buy chicken pot pies frozen at your local grocery store-- but what you are buying is not really chicken pot pie; at least, not to the PA dutch. the real thing is actually a soup. its noodles, chicken, cubed potatoes, in a thickened chicken broth. andrew's mom adds hard boiled eggs. Its not a pie at all-- just called that because of the noodles. when my mom makes it, she makes her own noodles-- actually, its dough rolled out and cut into big pieces, then boiled in with the soup.

scrapple-- i dont even want to tell you what it is... lets just say, its gross! especially when you eat it with thick maple syrup.

apple butter-- YUM! though, it has no butter in it. Its applesauce but cooked for such a long time that the sugar starts to carmalize, making it really thick and really sweet. andrew likes putting it on fasnachts. my family would always eat it on bread whenever we had ham and beans. its a soup; we cook fresh green beans with ham chunks and cubed potatoes. really good.

Corn Pie, Meat pie, potatoe pie-- awe, some of my favorite pies that my mom makes. yum! during the summer months, when fresh corn is in season, we'll buy corn, husk it, cut it off the cob, and then bake it inside a pie crust. really good. Meat pie is hamburger, onion, cubed potatoes in a pie crust. and the ultimate in PA dutch-- potatoe pie. its just mashed potatoes inside a pie crust. See, we PA dutch LOVE meat and potatoes. especially potatoes. [as you've already seen, its in fasnachts, pierogies, chicken pot pie, ham and bean soup, meat pie, and potatoe pie.]

For more, you can check out an online list. i hope you feel completely enlightened.

OH, OH, OH! i promised to tell you what the green dragon is.

its a farmers' market, where local farmers and people sell their produce. there are lots of amish and mennonite stands. also baked goods. andrew likes to buy his shoofly pie there. of course, there's also tons of "junk" sold. and lots of food: sausage sandwhiches, meatball sandwhiches, steak sandwhiches, french fries, and of course-- pierogies.

9 comments:

Tom said...

mmmm all that sounds sooooo good, except for the scrapple. Do people actually eat that? Ewe!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapple

Abigail S. said...

I like scrapple... But onlu if it is sliced really thin and fried to be really crispy.

Yes, we PA Dutch LOVE our starches. Potato pie is the BEST! Mmmm!

'liya said...

This has nothing to do with your post but I love that diva you got on the sidebar :D

Crazy Me said...

I'm gonna hit my kitchen now. I'm suddenly very hungry!

Becky L said...

tickneen-- yes, people actually eat that crap. (almost literally, when you look at what's in it!) people such as abby. i dont know how she can stand it!!!

'liya-- thanks! i love the diva too! i added her a few days ago. i've been trying to find new and fun things to add to my sidebar, and just happened upon it by chance.

crazy me-- yeah, i want to hit the kitchen too. however, i just brushed my teeth. alas...

Raj said...

I have never eaten any of the things mentioned here.

sad :(

Tom said...

By the way, I love that Diva on your sidebar too. Soooo cute!

mistyblue3 said...

perogies are a popular polish food here in MI. MMMMMMMMM I like them too. But I only get them during the pulaski festival. We can buy them in the freezer section at the grocery store, but it isn't the same.

Anonymous said...

They say Scrapple is every part of the pig except the oink.

Becky you forgot "Bovaschenkle". Well you probably never had it but my grandmother used to make it. "Bovaschenkle" means little boys legs. It is potato filling inside a noodle dough. Sort of like a pierogie except about 15 times larger. The whole thing is boiled in water - like a pierogie, then topped with browned butter. Wish my grandmother was here to make it for me. Mmmm good!