"lancaster county" news and stories

Last weekend, I engaged in a very risky activity. I browsed the used book section of a junk store in Lancaster County, PA. The reason this was such a dangerous thing for me to do is that I am totally out of bookshelf space and this store had an entire room devoted to used cookbooks. As you may have noticed, I have something of a weakness for cookbooks, especially those that are bargain priced. There were all $2 for paperback and $3 for hardbacks, so I was doomed before I started. Despite the mighty temptation, I demonstrated some restraint, leaving the store an hour later with only three books (and a few jars).

One of the books I picked up was a copy of the New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook. I've come to really enjoy these NYT cookbooks, not just for the recipes, but also for the ways in which they serve as documentation of the collective progression of this country's eating habits and practices. Published in 1971, this volume is a snapshot of the health and natural food trends that swept through the nation's consciousness in the late sixties and earlier seventies. I believe that my mom had a copy of this one, because when I spotted it on the shelf, the binding felt familiar and homey to me.

The other thing that prompted me to buy this book was the fact that as I flipped through, I kept landing on pages that the previous owner had annotated. Shirley (she wrote her name on the inside front cover) neatly indicated in blue ballpoint pen whether the recipe was worthy of repetition with a Good! or a No! She seems to have been particularly fond of the Corn Bread recipe on page 230 and so I think I'll try it out this weekend. If it's as good as Shirley thought, I'll post the recipe next week.

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Last weekend (at this wedding I keep mentioning) I had, for the first time in my life, the opportunity to chow down on some ham balls (and having written that sentence, I now feel dirty). I've been something of a slow convert to ham, mostly owing to the fact that I didn't grow up eating pork products (I have a Jewish mother who isn't observant, but she still avoids the pig). So I didn't really start exploring the world of ham (and bacon. Oh, bacon!) until a few years ago.

But being the eater that I am, when someone is walks around with a tray of appetizers and offers me a ham ball, I am unable to say no. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the first bite was good and the second was even better. Sweet and savory, tender and totally addictive, I must have eaten eight or nine ham balls before they served dinner that night.

When I got home, I started searching and discovered that there's a whole world of ham ball recipes out there that I had never known about before. However now, stymied by such selection, I don't know where to start. Help me, Slashfood readers. Point me in the best ham ball direction!

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I'm spending this holiday weekend with some friends and my boyfriend in a little cabin in the woods of Lancaster County. We'll be in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country and so I though it was fitting to feature the Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book. This is another volume from the batch of books I acquired through my friend Fran a month or so ago.

It was printed in 1959 and announces on the second page that the recipes were, "compiled from tried and tested recipes made famous and handed down by the early Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania." For a little paperback book, it has stood the test of time well, much like the recipes it contains (well, at least most of them - most home cooks these days don't make Stuffed Beef Heart).

Other, more appealing, recipes include Roast Pork, Dutch Sausage with Gravy, Shartlesville Corn Pudding and Lancaster County Lima Beans (I don't know about you, but I love lima beans). On the sweet side, you'll find Thanksgiving Butterscotch Pie, Country Molasses Pie and Eggless Corn Muffins. If you want to give one of your Memorial Day Weekend meals a special flare, why not try this creamy Dandelion Salad (the recipe is after the jump).

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