The Pennsylvania Farm Show food court is the place where New Year’s resolutions go to die. The food court is filled with fried goodies that for decades have drawn thousands of people to brave the lines.
Visitors fill up on milkshakes, doughnuts, fried cheese, honey ice cream and piles of barbecue in the name of celebrating all that is delicious in the commonwealth. Don’t worry. It can all be burned off while walking through the animals exhibits.
While it might be tempting to travel the perimeter of the food court and sample something from every vendor, waistlines and wallets might beg for mercy. To prioritize, here are some of the farm show’s most famous and delicious ways to push your resolutions off until February.
Fried Mozzarella – $4.75 Most good meals start with an appetizer. Head on over to the fried cheese stand in the far left corner of the food court for an order of fried mozzarella on a stick.
Four puffy cubes are served on each skewer that gets handed across the counter. Kellie Kunz with the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association helps oversee the assembly line as people cube huge blocks of cheese into two-bite pieces. The cubes are then dropped in a batter and deep fried to a crispy, golden brown.
“We don’t usually start getting busy until after the food court has been open for an hour or more,” Kunz said. “I guess people don’t want it for breakfast, but they certainly line up for lunch.”
The cheese line is expected to stay long for most of the week. At $4.75 for four cheese cubes and a cup of marinara sauce, you could even share this order with a friend.
Shroomies – $4 Portabella mushrooms are stuffed with jalapenos and cheese before being breaded and deep fried to create the American Mushroom Institute’s “shroomies.” As a fairly new product at the stand, they’ve proven to be popular, said Gale Ferranto, stand manager.
The stand started 36 years ago with the breaded, whole white mushrooms, and those continue to be sold today, Ferranto said.
“It’s nice to be able to show people the different things that can be made with a single product,” she said, noting the mushroom salad and soup. “I think people like to come try something different while they’re here.”
Milkshakes – $4 A Farm Show staple, the PA Dairymen’s Association milkshakes are a must-taste item. Joyce Snyder with Valley Grange, which helps provide the 400 people who work to keep the stand running throughout the week, has been working there herself for 35 years.
Snyder remembers when they used to make the milkshakes with blocks of ice and hand-held, individual cups, but the process would never be able to meet the demands they face today, she said.
“It’s been a favorite for 60 years for a reason,” Snyder said. “It’s refreshing and creamy. It’s not hard to love it.”
Debbi Chronister of Carlisle and Tammy Brehm of Harrisburg didn’t let the line stretching across the room keep them from getting milkshakes. While it seemed daunting, the wait was only 10 minutes, Chronister said.
“They run a well-oiled machine,” Chronister said of the assembly line. “I can’t go to the Farm Show without one.”
Sandra McArthur of Dillsburg bought a tray full of milkshakes to take to her co-workers waiting outside. “I skipped breakfast so I wouldn’t feel guilty about it,” she said. “I’ll eat a salad for dinner.”
Potato doughnuts – $.75 each or $7/dozen
Rahn Troutman is the second generation stand manager for the Pennsylvania Co-Operative Potato Growers, where patron can find baked white and sweet potatoes, potato doughnuts and fresh cut French fries.
In his 42nd year at the Farm Show, Troutman is used to the long days that start at 4 a.m. and end about 10 p.m.
He and his crew of about 60 make everything on site, from producing the dough to baking the soft potatoes that get loaded with butter. They’ll go through about 12 to 14 tons of the baking potato alone this week and another 16 to 18 tons for the French fries.
“It’s nice to be able to showcase Pennsylvania products in the kitchen,” Troutman said. “You don’t often get to do something like that and we find the items are pretty popular. While people want the French fries or baked potatoes for lunch or dinner, they want the doughnuts all day long. Some even take a few dozen home or back to the office.”
Roger Martin of Camp Hill had a similar idea, loading his arms with a few boxes of potato donuts to deliver to his in-laws.
“I’ll be back two or three times this week to get more,” Martin said. “You can’t let the Farm Show come to town without filling your belly at least once.”