Around Lancaster, PA

Washington DC

Hello,

We have returned to DC, but I still want to report some things from PA. So is that confusing? I never seem to have enough time and energy to write in the spot I am in. This is retrospective; I can hardly tell you about the present.

Last Saturday we visited the central market where we used to shop there 36 years ago. It looked much the same inside even though they were renovating. There is certainly an old world feel to it including no air conditioning, but spoilable foods are refrigerated. We used to walk the mile from our home to the market so we approached it from a different side, consequently the outside did not look so familiar. I now wonder how did we haul our purchases home? Maybe that was training for grocery shopping in Slovakia.

Cup cheese was one of the unique purchases here. It is soft enough that when we bought it in the past it was in big tubs and they would ladle it with a soup ladle. No more is that the case, modernization has come with all available soft spreadable cheese packaged in plastic margarine type containers. No sampling types now. We purchased the medium but believe that in the old days we got the sharp. This was quite bland even though compared to Brie.

Most of the sellers are Amish or Mennonite, with women wearing skirts and small caps while the men would have black pants and beards. Our hosts buy produce from a stand that has served them for about 40 years so they have become friends with new members of the family who come work at the family business.

A tourist market was farther out in the countryside. It featured many of the same vendors, but some additional options for things that might appeal more to the casual visitor to the area. It was more spacious and air conditioned. Better place? I don’t think so.

Paula