The State of the County

The state of the county. Wow! that sounds official. Sounds like the president is coming through again. Well maybe not the president, but a new wave of culinary excellence has made it's way all the way here to our little home town of New Holland. In our neck of the woods, where shoofly pie and corn pudding is on everyones dinner table, the best of the best is starting to get some play.

I decided after packing up the knives a few years back, (pie and pudding are not the answers) that I would do some research. Well I knew what that meant, exhausting hours riding on horseback through the back country roads on bitter cold days. Beautiful landscape, but OMG do the horses stink or what. ( You like that OMG? Got it from my daughter). Well after giving up the horse and hitchhiking across the county and through the city, I discovered that Lancaster is changing. What? Could this be? A renaissance of sorts? Well in the beginning the changes were small, you know, such as Dirt Pudding and maybe some wild greens for salad. But the winds of change were taking place and brought with them the aroma of Lancaster's culinary future, (as well as the horses !#$% ) here in Lancaster County.

Now here for over six years, I can honestly say that my knives have been found. After several glasses of wine, lost neighbors, disgruntled family members, a few more glasses of wine and some soul searching, I have them in hand. Now with my apron on, I am ready to conquer the world with them, one Turducken at a time.

So this is in part a welcome letter to all, join in on the conversations. Have some fun and enjoy the culinary side of Lancaster. Really it is not just about the dumplings and soft bread, you can find the good stuff. I have. Over the course of this blog I will put out there what I have discovered. Have some comments on things? know something I don't? (doubt it); jot it down. Just have some fun; a good friend of mine says a little wine always helps. I am beginning to understand.

The state of the county is by far in better shape than a few years ago. Or should I say I just had to go and find the state of the county. Well, whatever it is, the state is.. in good shape. Let's discover it all together.