The nice thing about living in the West Village is that ever since March, it seems like there's a street fair somewhere every weekend. Usually, they're filled with crepes, hot dogs, and the like. Three weeks ago, however, we experienced something different... Ye Olde Village Fair.
Now I'm all for blasts from the past, but I despise--despise!!!!--added e's or any other such absurdity that aims at throwing us back into the colonial era.
No more "centre", "shoppe", or "olde"!
That said, this "Olde" village fair was actually quite nice. It was sunny, the trees finally have leaves, and there was a jazz band, cute like the ones you would find at the Sweet Corn Festival in Urbana. We were walking around when all of a sudden, I spotted a white cap. Not a marine, and not a chef either. Mennonites! Growing up not too far from Illinois Amish country, I knew that the Amish are really good at woodworking, but also baking. If that's any hint as to what mennonites are renowned for, I was hoping to see some great furniture (just kidding, really) or some delicious bread. Good thing for me, the latter was in attendance. Apple bread, cranberry loaves, but above all...whoopie pies!
See, I had never tried a whoopie pie before; I just accumulated recipes thinking that someday I would try them out. Faced with pumpkin, chocolate, and oatmeal whoopies pies, I finally realized that I had to give "real" whoopie pies a try before attempting to make my own.
We bought all three, and tried oatmeal first. It was a clear favorite: the oatmeal cookies were dense and chewy, not overly sweet, which provided a good balance to the super-sweet filling. Pumpkin was alright, although I don't think I'm such a fan of the cakey exteriors. By then, I was full and honestly a little over whoopie pies so I never got around to trying the chocoalte one.
My mennonite whoopie pies were fresh, which is important with any kind of dessert having such high proportions of marshmallow fluff, and good. But they won't top my list of favorite desserts anytime soon--I'd much rather settle on an ice cream sandwich (only a month left to eat them, get ready to see me turn into one) or just a simple, delicious cookie anyday. Or several times a day.
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2 comments:
It's time to impose an "e" tax. And a double consonant tax. The name of the Dickens novel was The Old Curiosity Shop, without any letter garnish.
WHOOPIE PIES ARE 'DA BOMB! :) glad you were finally able to give them a try! my husband's family is from mid-pennsylvania and i was introduced to them through him. the red velvet and oatmeal cookie ones are my favorite. i remember running across them in NYC for the first time and flippig out - with happiness!
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