Farms, feasts and Chocolate

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is quite the place to be.  In the heart of Amish country, it’s an area of contradictions that somehow blend harmoniously together. Rural and urban, old and new, it was all there.

Our route from Maryland took us on many of the local roads, and kept us off of the major highways. It wasn't intentional, and at times was a bit stressful. I think it mainly had to do with the direction the main roads seem to run in (heading in a NE or SW direction, whereas we were coming from the south, heading west). It let us see the beautiful farmland, (mixed liberally with suburbia) but also routed us along the older local highways. I’m pretty sure that these used to be the cart paths that got people from town to town, once upon a time. Up and down some rather steep grades, many with a hairpin turn at the bottom just to make it interesting. Sometimes a narrow or one lane bridge was there too, and no shoulders – at all. Yeesh!

It was a beautiful spring day as we entered PA Dutch country, and we saw several horse teams out plowing and/or fertilizing their fields. We had to slow a few times along these roads until we could find an open space in traffic to maneuver our behemoth unit around the buggies & carts (very cool). 

Later on in the week we got a closer look at those buggies, with a ride & tour of an Amish dairy farm. It was a bit surreal sitting in the buggy listening to the clip clop of the horse’s feet while the vehicles zipped by right beside us at highway speeds. The farm looked, in many ways, like any of the small dairy farm I have been on, except for the lack of power lines (the Amish heat and light their homes with propane). It was here I realized that my kids really haven’t been exposed to farm animals much. (I shall have to fix that!) Morgan thought watching the cows pee into the alley behind their stalls was fascinating (and gross) while Lily made a new friend of the young calf in one of the hutches.

The Amish may have forsaken electricity, but they seem perfectly content with commercialism, and the business we chose to ride with also had a hotel, restaurant, and a variety of other tours. After finishing our ride, we decided to partake in the Amish Farm Feast at the restaurant since it sounded so yummy. We sat at a group table, and were served in courses, taking our food from the communal dishes. Multiple starters, entrées and desserts loaded the table. It was all divine, but what I remember the most was the pickled vegetables (several types of beans) at the beginning of the meal. They were exactly like ones I remember eating as a child, I think maybe at my grandma’s house (or possibly one of my other relatives on my dad’s side). Vinegary, with a touch of sweetness to take the bite out, they were just perfect and made me happy in a deep down way that had nothing to do with the (very yummy) food. Isn't it funny how a food can transport you back in time…

Once we were sufficiently saffonsified (full, full, full!) we headed back to the campground to roll ourselves into bed. The next day, we would continue our culinary journey with a trip into Hershey and a visit to Hershey’s Chocolate World.

Now, anyone who knows me knows I am a chocoholic. Mmmm, chocolate… (and Reese’s peanut butter cups have always been a favorite of mine). So I was quietly filled with glee when we made the trip in the pouring rain. I’m pretty sure the rest of the family was pretty excited too.  

We watched the 4-D mystery movie (kinda silly, but hey, I got free chocolate at the end), took the tour ride through a (staged) factory which gave a pretty good overview of what happens in the real factory (with more chocolate at the end), and wandered (drooling) through the store where all of their chocolaty (and candylicious) goods were available to purchase (Morgan was rather enamored of the world's biggest Kiss). But the highlight of our afternoon was making our very own chocolate bars. 

After donning aprons & hairnets we entered the selection room – a room with several touchscreens where we each chose what we wanted in our bars from the limited list of options. We could choose between white, milk or dark chocolate base, up to three fillers from a list of six, and decide whether we wanted sprinkles on top or not. Hmm, wouldn't it be an interesting experiment to analyse people’s (and family’s) choices. But I digress… 

We then entered the production room and actually got to watch our bars being created. That was just too cool for words. Once the bars were in the cooling tunnel we all entered the design room where we designed our own wrappers. We could choose from predesigned ones, or create our own. Our artistic juices were flowing and we each came up with something unique. I personally think Lily’s was the best (haha I bet you thought I would say my own!).

If creating the chocolate bar wasn't enough, it was packaged in a fancy looking tin, with the wrapper over top. Now, even after the bar is long gone, we’ll have the tins to remind us of the fun afternoon at Hershey’s Chocolate World. 

Now, if anyone’s curious (and wants to do that psychoanalysis):

I chose a milk chocolate bar with pretzels & toffee bits, and no sprinkles

Bob chose a dark chocolate bar with pretzels, toffee bits & chocolate chips, with sprinkles

Morgan chose a white chocolate bar with chocolate chips, cookie bits, and sprinkles

Lily chose a milk chocolate bar with chocolate chips, cookie bits, and sprinkles