Lancaster County Summer Pies – Savory and Sweet

Summer’s Bounty

If you have ever been to Lancaster County, PA, most likely you immediately think of Amish and the acres and acres of farmland. In the summer, the majority of fields are filled with countless rows of corn on the cob. “Knee-high by the fourth of July” goes the saying. This summer the corn seemed to be especially plentiful, and there were many fields of corn that were knee-high well before the fourth of July. Maybe with all the sun and heat it was an extra good summer for growing corn. We’re still picking up delicious fresh ears from nearby Amishman Daniel’s farm.

Along with the corn, every summer there is an abundance of tomatoes, and peaches, too. Those are the three biggies here – corn, tomatoes, and peaches – in my opinion. Oh how I missed them the years that I lived away, 32 years to be exact. Nine in Boston and 23 in Seattle. The watermelon and cantaloupe here are fabulous too.

Corn Pie

A good friend of mine since age five, Roxanne, who now lives in Florida, texted me the other week saying that every August she thinks of my mother’s delicious home-made corn pie cooling on our counter top. Corn pie is a Pennsylvania Dutch dish that mother grew up with and made every summer -August, in particular. The essence of it is fresh cut corn, potatoes, butter, and a little milk with corn starch as thickener. There are a lot of varieties to it such as adding hard-boiled eggs. This summer was the first time I used red potatoes and left the skins on. And we always served it with warm milk poured over it. Roxanne and I each made it last week and swapped tips for perfecting it. Here are two pictures:

Renie’s Peach Crumb Pie

Then there is Renie’s peach crumb pie. Fred and Renie were our neighbors who I became close to and each August she’d make her over-the-top delectable peach crumb pie. Fred and I had the same birthdays in August and we’d ask her to make this pie for us instead of a birthday cake. That’s how good it was. I made crust yesterday and cut up the peaches adding a little flour, sugar, salt, and a few drops of fresh lemon to it for the filling. This morning I assembled it and baked it and had a slice with coffee for breakfast. As an old roommate of mine in Boston used to say every time I made something delicious, “this rules my life.” And this pie did just that this morning. Here are some pictures of it:

Tomatoes

Then there are tomatoes… There are so many possibilities of what to do with fresh tomatoes. Although I’ve never made it, tomato pie is an option. There’s a restaurant named “Tomato Pie” in Lititz, a nearby town, and their slices of tomato pie are really good. I’m not sure why I’ve never made it, maybe because there are so many other things I like to do with tomatoes like put them in salads and make fresh tomato sauce. Probably my favorite thing to make in the summer when I have fresh high-quality tomatoes is panzanella, a Tuscan-style tomato and bread salad. There are a variety of ways to make this salad but the key ingredients are great tomatoes, quality bread, basil, garlic, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.

We have a lot of tomatoes right now. Some we bought from Daniel and others were given to us by family and neighbors. I hope to make tomato salad in the the next day or two. I just need to get some good bread.

Note: I make most things by sight although I do have some recipes written down. Let me know if you want more details to make any of the things I’ve talked about in this post. May the corn, peaches, and tomatoes be plentiful where you are. Happy eating!