Whoopie!

Pretty much all of us know what a Whoopie Pie is--a yummy, cream-filled chocolate cake sandwich.  Anyone who has traveled a little bit West to Amish country has at least seen them being sold--if not tasted them. 

Years ago, when we first started going to Maine each year, we were very surprised to see Whoopie Pies being sold in Maine.  And they were everywhere--just like they are in Amish country.  We couldn't figure out the connection.

Now, apparently, there are battle lines being drawn between those PA Whoopie supporters and those in Maine.  It seems to have started when the ME legislature decided to pass a bill naming the Whoopie Pie the official state "treat".  (Blueberry pie seems to me to be a better pick, but hey, I'm no politician!)

A "Save Our Whoopie" rally was held in Lancaster County to show all those Mainers that the Whoopie started here in PA.  Most articles you read say that it's a light-hearted conflict, but you have to wonder if people aren't taking it a little bit too seriously on both ends. 

The "battle" has even caught the eye of The Wall Street Journal--in an article called "Bakin' Whoopie".  You can read the Mainer's point of view in an article from the Bangor Daily News.

Sad as this sounds, Mary Beth and I have actually discussed this issue.  Personally, I think that there must be some connection between the two places that lay claim to these treats.  Despite some very slight differences in recipes, they're basically the same in both places and are called the same thing in both places.  Sounds to me that somewhere along the line, someone moved from PA to ME (or maybe the other way around, but I doubt it) and took her Whoopie Pie recipe with her.  The rest is history. 

I guess it doesn't really matter.  Living near Amish country and traveling to Maine each year, I can get my fill of Whoopie Pies throughout the year.

Amish Country

On Saturday, we made our yearly pilgrimage to the Amish Country to pick up things for our veggie and flower gardens.  Every year we go out with my parents and make a day of it.  The weather even cooperated for most of the day.

As we usually do, we started with a trip to Sadie's Bakery.  Sadie's is one of those places where, if you're giving directions to get there,  you say something like: "Go into Churchtown; turn right after that one church.  At that one big farm, turn right.  Then after the field with the big work horses in it, go up the hill.  It's on the left.  You can't miss it."  Once inside, though, you just want sit down and start tasting each donut, pie, whoopie pie, cake, apple fritter....So good.  And fresh.  The creme-filled Long Johns are awesome.

We went to our usual greenhouses and stocked up on a bunch of tomato varieties, peppers, eggplant, herbs, melons, etc.  We don't have a very big veg garden, but it's big enough to supply us with goodies for much of the summer.  Luckily, we didn't have time to put them in the ground yet--with the freezing temps at night lately, they would have been in trouble.  So they sit on our porch with sheets over them until the weather gets better.  Just can't wait to be able to go out and pull off a delicious, fresh tomato.  Could very well be my favorite thing about summer--next to baseball, I guess.  Jake has asked for part of our veg garden as a "Jacob Garden"--we'll put green beans and other things he likes in there.  He's very excited about that.

It always amazes me how much earlier the growing season is out there than it is here.  And it sure is a beautiful area--the rolling hills and fields are something out of a postcard.  Not to mention the great produce and meats.  Next time we go out, we're planning on filling our pie holes with the Shady Maple Smorgasbord breakfast.  Now, where are those stretchy pants?