Summertime...and the Eating is Easy in Lancaster County

You just can’t beat the fresh taste of summer foods...tomatoes that are still warm from the sun, corn that crunches on the cob and vegetables that look like they are posing for the latest gourmet magazine.

Lancaster County is all about food – after all, we provide it for over six million people a year and grow countless acres of feed for animals too.

There’s a procession of different fruits that parade through the season, each one sweeter than the last...

I thought about all that tonight as I ran out for some tomatoes at the farm stand around the corner - how lucky we are to live in a climate with ample rainfall, and the richest non-irrigated soil in the country.

One time I stopped at this stand and the farmer had run out of lettuce...when I inquired if he had any, he produced a knife and went out to the field to cut a small head of lettuce, for which he charged me only half price. Now THAT is fresh!

We really delight in showcasing these local foods at The Artist’s Inn. The breakfast tomorrow will feature zucchini bread, cantaloupe with lavender syrup, roasted potatoes, asparagus and swiss frittata, dutch apple sausage and double chocolate brownies. Everything is from Lancaster County: the flour, eggs, milk, cheese (from a certified organic old-order Mennonite cheese farmer not a mile from our inn), cocoa and chocolate from Wilbur (in Lititz) and the sausage is made at Shady Maple Farm Market – just three miles up the road. Even the lavender and the herbs are from the inn garden.

The best part is that when you visit, you can take home much of the home-grown goodness of Lancaster County. Just ask us where our favorite farm stands are located.

Here’s a very simple side dish that we live on in the summer: Fresh tomatoes, sprinkled with baby basil leaves, balsamic vinegar and sea salt. Add a little Lancaster County goat cheese and I’m in heaven....or maybe just in Lancaster County.

Feasting on Figs in Lancaster County

I have long dreamed of going to France and Italy – taking cooking classes in some wonderful classic school, shopping in small villages with orange roofs, tasting the local wines while watching the sunset and biking through the countryside so that I can continue to eat and drink without suffering the usual consequences of such behavior. My long-time friend, Paula, and I have dreamt of this trip forever.

Life has a way of altering plans, and, though we often talk of it, we have yet to take our journey. So I bike though beautiful Lancaster County, attend cooking classes here and there when I can, enjoy some wine at sunset on our porch and, this year, planted a fig tree. It’s my little bit of Italy and France in our inn’s backyard.

When I bought it this spring at Deer Creek Farm,

my friend and owner, Kathy, warned me that not all fig trees will bear fruit. “It should be near a brick or stone building so that it can stay protected in the winter,” she told me. “It also needs the hot afternoon sun”.

So I paid my money and took my chances.

The tree seemed to thrive in our hot and dry summer – I wish I could say the same for my flowers.

As if the beautiful leaves weren’t enough reward themselves, soon my little fig tree was growing and branching off. I cut off four branches, encouraging it to grow up straight. And, although tall wouldn’t be quite the word I’d pick to describe it, the tree did produce three figs. The first got a little brown spot on the bottom – maybe I didn’t pick it fast enough. This made me pay even closer attention. Soon the other two green figs were a nice lime color and “gave: a little when squeezed.

I decided to harvest my crop early one morning and serve the bounty for breakfast. There was just enough for my guests. Though the portions were small, the warm, sweet fruit exploded with flavor. It was certainly a feast!

I was very proud.

The next challenge will be trying to get the tree to make it through the winter. Maybe someday I’ll even get to taste figs in France or Italy – perhaps topped with a little crème fraiche and toasted hazlenuts!