Lately, all I can think about is food. It started with the fried alligator at Knoebel’s Grove, and ended with a massive Pennsylvania Dutch meal at the Kutztown Folk Festival. In between was a Pickle-on-a-stick from the Pickle Hut (or is it Pickle Haus) at Kutztown. What would Freud say about my love for pickles-on-a-stick? I actually had two, because they don’t make pickles like these back home. Garlicky, piquant, and best of all, on a stick! Then we got a really tasty Naked Chardonnay from Pinnacle Ridge vineyards–it’s naked because they don’t age it in oak barrels, making it fruity and light. Finally, some people were barbecuing out on the hotel deck, and I snagged some chicken when they weren’t looking. It was a full day of eating, but somehow I’m still not full. Oh well, check out the pics below.
This is how meals were served to inmates in the old Mauch Chunk jail; not big enough for everything I ate today
Alligator meat--the taste was a little swampy. Think, um, swamp chicken.
It was only a dollar for this pickle!
So many choices! This was one of about a dozen booths full of PA Dutch specialities. MMMMMM.
You won’t get the full Kutztown Folk Festival experience unless you are prepared to EAT. Yeah, there are square dancing demonstrations and homemade dolls that you can buy, but if you, like me, are not the square-dance-watching doll-buying kind, you must be willing to enjoy BOUNTIFUL FOOD. The meal below, which is not complete–more food came later–was prepared by the best cooks in the whole world: god-fearing, apron-wearing members of a Zionist church. Their small children served it all, panting and sweating as they ran back and forth with serving dishes. I felt a bit bad asking the little babies to fill up the mashed potato bowl. But not too bad, considering those potatoes were whipped with fresh parsley, cream, and tons of butter.
I ate this three times over, plus a wonderful but indescribable milk tart for dessert.
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