Except for the Yuengling, which is an ok cheap beer, except that the 'family' that owns it are super right-wing, anti-worker, anti-union, anti-Democrat assholes.

If you can find real Birch Beer it is yummy!

But yeah, craft beer is the best thing about this area. PA, NJ, and DE is the trifecta of great beer.

Yuengling is the table wine of beer. Drinkable, only.

60 is everyday beer. But if I can get 120 - yummy yummy!!

But then again I like the really really bitter beer!

I think it's because I'm bitter at heart!

Is it root-beer-like? Ginger ale-ish? I sell it in my store but I've never tried it because the name tells me absolutely nothing.

but it's made from the Birch Tree

And I LOVE birch beer. It reminds me of that.

I actually enjoy that taste for some reason.

Last edited Sat Nov 15, 2014, 12:48 PM - Edit history (1)

in the mountains of New Hampshire. We could drink from the streams, which were cold, but on a hot day when were nearing a road we'd start talking about getting something cold as soon as we got to a store. She chose a soft serve ice cream cone, I chose a icy cold Birch Beer- so refreshing! My son found some out here in NoCal and bought me a bottle, but it had red 40 coloring which was disappointing.

It was just a good-ish cheap beer. Plenty others in that category to choose from.

for breakfast. I loved it. But now that I am a vegetarian I would never touch it since I know what is in it.

Ketchup, Maple Syrup, Nuclear Waste - not sure what could save that crap!

In the Pittsburgh area, we put Heinz ketchup on just about everything! LOL

It would be epic!

Speaking of scrapple, saw some Jones brand in the frozen case at my local store in Chicagoland. Maybe I'll pick some up...

Bette's a Philly transplant, you see, so she makes it herself.

They are really good. I think gobs have a different icing.

They've basically the same thing, other than the shape. I had never heard of a Whoopie Pie until I moved to South Carolina. A former co-worker, originally from Maine made them for us. I love 'em!

Lamb Fries!!!!

and except for 14 years in Houston, I lived here all my life, and except for Yuengling beer, I have never heard of any of those foods. And the Yuengling is a very recent thing for me to have heard of.

I have a feeling that the people who put this "PA foods" list together were from the east side of the state, but then again, everyone in other parts of the country think that PA means Philadelphia even though there is a lot more here than that.

I grew up in Central PA then lived outside of the Philly metro area and I heard of everything but that Ham Pot Pie (but I've heard of Pot Pie so does that count?). I do know in the Philly area these things are more of a novelty but you can find most of them sold at any of the local farmers Markets and even the Reading Terminal. The Amish seem to have a setup at all the big Farmer's Markets including the one near me in New Castle, Delaware.

Most of those foods are huge in the Pennsylvania Dutch cooking especially the Scrapple, Birch Beer and Whoopie Pie. So I would probably call these foods more Central PA than Eastern. But I'm guessing if you're from the Pittsburgh region then everything is 'Eastern' to you.

I love Birch Beer, if you can find it home made it is something amazing. I found it interesting that the video had it as white Birch Beer, I'm use to caramelized birch beer color.

I live northwest of Pittsburgh, so, although I am in PA, it is on the border of OH. We do have Amish in this area, but what I notice they do a lot of is chicken and dumplings or chicken pot pies, and tons of homemade bread and baked goods.

My assumption is Ham Pot Pie is same thing but with Chicken.

You need to ask for a fricken Whoopie Pie - those things are yummy! I wish they had Shoo-Fly Pie in that video. That's a slice of Pennsylvania Goodness! At least they had Yuengling Beer and not Iron City. Those people would probably scorn Pennsylvania for life if they had Iron City Beer!

Actually, I eat very little sweets, so it doesn't even look tempting to me. If it wasn't for the salty treats and bread, I would be skinny.

As to beers, Iron City was horrible, but all my life, I drank Rolling Rock---made right in Latrobe PA. I only stopped drinking it when they sold the brewery to Coors (or some large company) and closed the Latrobe plant. I have still not found a mainstream beer that I am committed to. We have a lot of local breweries in this area, and if I can, I drink those. But at a restaurant, they often don't have the locals and I am at a loss as to what to order.

But if you aren't into sweets then you'd probably not like them. I mean it's not sweety sweet but Whoopie Pies are tasty.

Wow they closed the Latrobe PA plant for Rolling Rock? That is HARSH!

I frequent them all summer. But I still have not seen these Whoopie Pies that you speak of there.

It was harsh to close the Rolling Rock brewery. Latrobe depended on that brewery for most of the jobs in that town. I was wrong about who bought them though. Nevertheless, I have not drank it since.

That was insultive for AB to do that to a Pennsylvania tradition.

We live near York, Pa, south central PA. Where it is still 1851.

my parents drank it.

They have a heavy brownie like cookie for the top and bottom and a cooked white icing in the center. You can also make them with peanut butter icing or pumpkin gobs with cream cheese icing (which are delicious!).

I have even seen them in the supermarket bakeries in SW PA. They are common in this area.

There was a snack cake called "Whoopie Pies" years ago that had chocolate icing, two graham-type cookies and marshmallow fluff center. They are called "moon pies" in the south... I think?

I will have to take a look in the bakeries and grocery stores to see if they have these, and what they are calling them here.

But I do remember Isaly's skyscraper ice cream cones! But that is in the past.

although I heard "moon pies" used before, maybe in the deeper reaches of the South.

I recall from my childhood something that was marshmallow in the middle, some kind of thinner
softish cookie on the outside that was then dunked in chocolate all over... that sorta plasticy kind of
factory chocolate gunk.

Oh wait, maybe those were just marshmallow pies.

It is more of a thick soup or stew than a pie. The noodles are called "pot pie squares" or noodles. I suppose the PA Dutch would make their own noodles from scratch though, more like a dumpling.

It is probably good though. I always make my own noodles, but I cut them into strips instead of squares. My all-time favorite meal is homemade noodles, also known as chicken and dumplings in some parts. My mother's family had Amish roots, so that was one of the basic meals that came with it.

The kind the rest of us are used to, with the pastry and gravy, came lagter.

I still make it occasionally, perfect on a cold day.

We always called Whoopie Pies, Gobs.

My father loved Scrapple, pickled pigs' feet, ring bologna, and tripe, for example.

I really like Shoo-fly pie.

And Berks County is Amish Central.

yummy!

and I quite like it. I spent nine months in Philly working on a project in 2000-01 and came to really like the city and some of its trademark eats and drinks. Though all the locals I worked with told me that true Philadelphians got their cheesesteaks at Tony Luke Jr's and I took their advice.

then the CEO had to open his big mouth, and now I can't support them.

and screws the little people apparently chases businesses out of Pa. We just get worse all the time.

Funny but pro-consumer Maryland doesn't have that problem.

Maybe because if you screw over your customer base thoroughly, top to bottom, left to right, inside to out,
there isn't anyone left with money to utilize the services or products of your business.

Idiots.

Heavily GOP-controlled House and Senate, as well as the governorship (until January, woohoo!) And they keep running business out of the state, they have had our state's credit rating downgraded four times, and there are still no jobs.

So can anyone tell me what GOP policies will work for the people???? I'm at a loss.

That place was mobbed with all the folks who were drinking all night in Philly. I remember going there in January standing in line for a Cheese steak at Gino's and it was like 20 degrees out but we had a blast.

Those were the days.

I'll take a Yuengling over Bud, Coors or Miller any day.

I loved to drink birch beer when I was a kid, scrapple was a Sunday breakfast treat, and I wish I could buy Yeungling in Texas!

I was in Houston for 14 years. Ended up coming back here to PA when my parents got too old to deal with things themselves. That is the guilt trip I lived with while I was so far away. But I met more people from this part of the country down there than I can count.

My entire family - parents, brother, aunts, uncles etc. are still up there; I graduated from PSU and then moved here shortly after. So I've been in Texas a long time. I may end up back there if my parents need me.

except the mixed drink, and the fact the Birch Beer in it was clear as someone else mentioned, and haven't seen Ham Pot Pie.

However, I made the huge mistake of ordering Chicken Pot Pie at a local diner, and Pa's pot pies are nothing like other places,
and it was gross. Nasty. NOT the pot pies I grew up with, nothing at all similar. Icky.

Also, my Dad drank and made his own birch beer all the time. He's originally from New Orleans, but in his teenaged years traveled
across the Midwest, the Carolinas, and lived in Jersey for a while (his Dad was a carpenter who traveled about building churches for
his religious sect.)

Dad learned how to make Birch Beer in New Orleans, I believe. Maybe his Cajun Blue Bayou branch of the family, who lived pretty
deep in the swamps, I dunno...

that you ordered and found nasty. I have been surprised only by the difference here between chicken pie and chicken pot pie---who knew there was a difference???? Growing up, the only chicken pot pie I ever knew about was the frozen kind---a little pie in a tin. And the pot pies I have ordered have been like that. Now the chicken pie is a different story, one that I was unfamiliar with. It had no vegetables in it, just chicken. I guess that they can vegetables "pot".

remember much else because after ordering it 8 years ago, never again!

I have never seen or heard of that kind of pot pie. That sounds like chicken and dumplings to me. But then again, chicken and dumplings is my favorite meal.

those noodles are what the Amish call "dumplings". They are not what I consider a dumpling, which is a big puffed up gob of dough, but I have learned that when some people say "dumplings", they mean those noodles. I have always called mine "homemade noodles" because that is what we called them when I was growing up.

Just beware when anyone says dumplings, and find out what they are referring to.

We used to have it all the time when I was a kid. I think the key is that I loved it before I knew what was in it

Then I saw exactly what went into it and I refused to touch it ever again.

Then again some of the junk they sell as real food probably isn't much better than Scrapple..

But I am surprised at how popular Scrapple is. I volunteer each year for this Food and Wine Festival here in Delaware and it's a pretty big event. One of the most popular event is Scrapplegasm which sells out pretty quickly and many of the out-of-town Chefs want to come cook for the event. And the Scrapple served is no longer just the garbage left over from butchering the pig. I did have Crab Scrapple 2 years ago and that was actually pretty good. There is also Vegan Scrapple which to be honest kinda baffles my mind - I mean what is that the bark, stems and roots not used from the vegetables cooked? But it does exist.

Other PA German specialties: Funnel cake, Boova shenkle (giant German pierogie) , Schnitz un knepp (apple pastry).

I cannot stand the stuff but every year we have it for Christmas. Luckily my mom cooks a Ham so I have that instead. Or I just come in for the weekends for Christmas if Christmas is on the weekdays - that way the rest of the family has their Hogmaw and I can just have normal food.

and apple kuchen. Then there's the traditional pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day. My dad makes his own sauerkraut.

I have told Dick Yuengling in person that his premium beer sucked. The Lager is OK as well as black and tan or chesterfield ale.
Add Summer Sausage cold cuts and pickled (red beet) eggs, Mrs. T's pierogies and City Chicken to the PA list.

And yes, this is a great thread.

City chicken is a mixture of pork and beef cubes, seasoned on wooden skewers about 6-8" long, breaded. Another version (I think is better) is the beef and pork is ground and formed on the skewers, also breaded. It is then deep fried and baked.

Shelly Gerber. Wonder what became of her?

And welcome to DU!