The Importance of Dining Together

I recently had the chance to attend the Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland with my good friend Paula.  It was a feast for not only the taste buds, but the eyes as well.

Beautifully decorated cakes….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incredible wines, and terrific chefs. 

We saw Michael Symon, Jeff Mauro, Jason Roberts, Ann Burrell and, my hero from a long-ago cooking show called “Cooking Live”, SaraMoulton.  What I liked most about Sara’s show is that she invited people from around the country to cook with her.  And something always went wrong.  Always.  THAT is when you learned how to fix mistakes, adapt to the changes, and still create a good dish.  As far as I know, it’s the only show of its kind ever.  I am forever grateful to her and learned so much from her show – most importantly, not to panic.  (And yes, she really IS that tiny!)

The chefs talked about their recipes, their careers, gave tips on cooking and fielded all kinds of questions from the audience.

There seemed to be chefs everywhere – even in the restrooms!

I won’t say we were the very last to leave, but we really did enjoy the show.

As I thought about it, I realized that all the chefs offered up the same bit of advice:  sit down at the table and have dinner with your family!  They urged us to take one or two nights a week, drop the cell phones, I-pads and tablets into a basket, turn off the TV, and share a meal and talk. 

As our lives become increasingly chaotic, Americans tend to eat more and more on the run.  It’s a rare night when the phone isn’t ringing, the kids don’t have soccer practice and there’s not some kind of meeting.  But if we lose this most-important component, I fear the fabric of the family will start to unravel.  It’s a custom that crosses all cultures, geographies and income levels and will pay big dividends in the future because setting the lines of communication early creates a path for future relationships. 

Maybe that’s why guests at the inn like breakfast time so much.  I often hear that the interaction with the other guests is one of the reasons they find bed and breakfasts so appealing, so relaxing and civilized – their words, not mine!  You don't often find that in a hotel.

As we prepare to sit down tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving, I wish you, your family and friends a wonderful mealtime together – a time for sharing, being grateful and just enjoying the art of conversation - at least until half the table runs out to shop and the other leaves to watch the football games!

That's a Whole Lot of Bananas!

Just three miles from the inn lies a food lover’s dream. 

Shady Maple. 

It’s the largest smorgasbord in Lancaster County.  In a county that has quite a few PA Dutch restaurants, that’s saying something!  Here are the numbers:  40 items on the salad bar, 7 meats, 14 vegetables and over 25 desserts.

Each day of the week features a different highlight.  Tuesday is seafood night – a favorite of our guests. 

Our advice is to go hungry and get the roast beef, broasted chicken and dried corn.  We can’t get enough of these!  A smorgasbord is also an opportunity to try some Pennsylvania Dutch foods that you might be curious about – like chow-chow, chicken-corn chowder, pepper cabbage, and shoofly pie.

Though it’s big – I recently learned that it’s the largest one on the east coast, (last year they fed 1,345,000 people), they do a great job of keeping it very clean.  And you’ll never feel rushed.

Shady recently earned a plaque from Sight and Sound Theaters announcing that they are the dining choice of their customers.  Speaking of numbers, that’s a lot of folks as well!

Our guests not only enjoy the enormous buffet, but the gift shop and farm market too. 

And what a farm market it is.  Shady makes its own sausages - we serve the sundried tomato and basil chicken sausage at breakfast.  It has a large bakery section (try the gourmet peach bread) and even carry gluten-free whoopie pies.  Shady buys fresh local produce from our local farmers auction (just outside of Terre Hill).   

And, best of all, Shady Maple is very good to the community, supporting a lot of local charities.  So the money stays locally rather than benefiting some huge company out in Arkansas. 

I was at a luncheon recently and learned that Shady’s two biggest sellers are donuts (they sold one million last year) and bananas -  over 600,000 lbs. - that’s more than the 30,000 in Harry Chapin’s song!

So the next time you find yourself in Lancaster County and craving either a banana or donut, you now know where to go!

Napa Meets Lancaster and the World Rejoices

Those of us who have been mourning the loss of Effie Ophelia can now raise our wine glasses and cheer. The intimate space at 230 North Prince Street has been brought back to life by Taylor and Leeann Mason.

Ma(i)son, An Urban Cookery, features a marriage of Italian cuisine with a French flair, and there are enough changes to make the space seem new while maintaining that wonderful “Cheers” like familiarity.

Unlike Effie’s, Ma(i)son takes reservations – a welcome change. We couldn’t get in on a Wednesday, but on the second try we were able to reserve the Chef’s table for a Thursday night. The small restaurant echoed with laughter and two large groups were clearly enjoying their evening.

We could watch the care and attention to detail that every dish received before being sent out of the kitchen.

Taylor’s smile lit up the small kitchen and Leeann was warm and welcoming.  She was born in Lancaster and moved away when she was four, so it is a bit of a homecoming to move back from Napa Valley.

We shared some of our wine, Cherry Tree Merlot from local Waltz Vineyard and urged them to visit Kim and Jan Waltz when they got a chance.

Dishes feature local produce and cheese from Lancaster County farms – in fact, we recognized the cheese from one of our favorite local Amish cheese makers.

The menu is small and seasonal and will change often – Taylor was already talking about dishes featuring the anticipated tomato crop. We liked both the Ricotta Fritta (so light and delicate) and the Squash and Zucchini Salad. The squash salad had a light dressing and the herbs on the tomato salad oozed the freshness of summer. Crusty bread and the house-made butter with herbs were a nice touch. Yum.

I had the burrata – mozzarella with braised artichokes and country bread, (yes, now that I think of it both dishes show my love of cheese) and Bruce had the slow roasted pork with swiss chard over cannelini beans. The pork melted in your mouth.

Desserts danced on our tongues - a blueberry tart with a hint of lemon and honey in the crust and a lemon verbena crème brulee served, of course, in a small mason jar.

If you go, tell them The Artist's Inn sent you.  Better yet, give us a call and we'll meet you there!