Only in York County

Eat too much this Thanksgiving? I did… and then I went away for the weekend for my birthday. To tour a cheese factory (pictured above: Joan in her heaven). And then I came home to my mom’s homemade pie crust, a birthday tradition.

So, hoping that talking about food will make me want to eat it less – because that has ever worked, right? – I figured today would be a good day to share a smorgasbord of comments I’ve received about some York County foods this year!

This spring, reader Jennie Saylor Storms found a 2011 post about butcher bologna, a true York-only treat.

Jennie wrote, “I LOVE butcher bologna! And it is definitely only in York, PA. I grew up in York and when I married we moved to Lake Mills, WI, then Hagerstown, MD, then back to WI further north and now in western PA. None of them had it but when went to visit I got some and took home with me. I can get sweet Lebanon Bologna at a Giant Eagle, but not all of them have it. But no butcher Bologna in western PA. When I go to York I get it, freeze it and come home and then eat.” Jennie noted that she also loves some York County sugar cakes!

And reader Cindy Hiddeman wrote to me in October that she mail-ordered butcher bologna from Sechrist Brothers in Dallastown, to be sent to her home in Alexandria, Virginia. “I haven’t seen Butcher Bologna outside of the York area,” she wrote.

Also in “revisiting earlier topics,” I heard about former local restaurant Pappy’s Pizza when reader Cesca commented, “What memories! I went to the one in Seaford, Delaware. I remember the player piano so well; it fascinated me as a little girl, and I still have the hat! My parents have kept it all these years. My dad was stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and my grandmother would always mail me children’s games and things from Pappy’s. Whenever we visited my cousins and grandparents in Delaware, we went to Pappy’s. I loved finding this post.”

More in a cooking sense than a restaurant sense, reader Bill Lezzer is wondering how to cook puddin’ to get it to spread over pancakes or waffles. I’ve not ever seen it cooked that way personally, but my guess is that if you went a little lighter on the cornmeal and a little heavier on the broth/drippings, that might work? If you are cooking an already-mixed-up one, I might suggest mashing it and adding a bit of milk as you’re heating it, but go easy on that – I’m not really sure how that would affect the taste, but essentially it’d be like a combo of biscuits and gravy and puddin’! Does anyone else have an actual recipe or idea for Bill?

And, finally, as a quick note about food, I still have readers searching for recipes for the following, so if anyone has any leads, please let me know!

• Nancy Knaub is looking for a Knaub’s cake recipe from the market in York downtown.
• Readers Bruce and John are both looking for the Peoples Drug Store beefburger.
• Pat Burgmeyer is seeking the White Swan’s pork barbecue recipe.