Farmers Market

Saturday, May 25, Day 33

Uncle Bill picked us up at the Hellertown  from the Beiber Bus.  Our leaving New York was pretty uneventful, except that the line to get on the bus was huge!  We thought for sure we would miss it, but they have long dealt with the ebb and flow of passengers and there were several buses waiting.  We left on time, and arrived in Hellertown exactly on time. 

Bill took us to back to Allentown to the Farmers Market, and we got to experience his favorite place, The Ritz.  We all ordered this BBQ sandwich, with a mound of fries, and pickled cabbage.  Not cold slaw, mind you, which has mayonnaise, but picked cabbage, which is vinegar based. 

I'm sure the Allentown Farmers Market has been in operation for a very long time.  It is in permanent buildings and operates every day, as do a number of farmers markets in the area.  A lot of them are run or at least occupied in large part by Amish or Mennonites.

There is everything imaginable at this place.  I was amazed at this variety of candied fruits.

All the produce stands are pretty much what you see elsewhere, containing a wide variety of local and imported products.

Sausages are a big part of a Pennsylvania Farmers Market, particularly German and Polish.  Those displayed below are a little avant garde, but we also encountered  Kabanosy, Limanowska, Wolowa, Krajana, Weijski, Szykowa, and Gnieznierska, to name a few.

There were a lot of old fashioned dishes for sale that continue to be popular.  Baked lima beans, Ambrosia, Tapioca Pudding, Banana Pudding, Coconut Cream Custard Delight.  They had names like Uncle Pat's Tapioca Pudding, Big Daddys baked lima beans, Mama's banana custard, etc.

One dish that really caught my eye was called Ms. Rhonda's Pig Pickin' Cake.

The recipe:  a white cake mix, with mandarin oranges mixed in.  The icing was Cool Whip, vanilla pudding, and crushed pineapple.  The guy said they sold three big sheet cakes, cut into individual servings of Pig Pickin' Cake each weekend.  The reason for the name?  Once you bite into it, you throw away the fork , dive in and pig out!

Stoltzfus is an old Amish name.  There are only about 500 surnames for the Amish and Mennonites, so they are easily determined to be Amish.

Here's our funny cakes again.  And, I had to ask what made them Extra Wet.  It turns out it is the amount of molassses on the bottom.

After the Allentown Farmers Market, we went to the one in Gilbertsville.  It was fun seeing all of the things they had to offer.  And Bill said he could take us to several each day and still not run out by the end of the week.