October 16th, 2011

Where’s the Scrapple?, Apple-Scrapple Festival…and Where was Rapa’s Tent?, Hopkins Creamery, Sweet Ending

I was looking forward to this festival that is now in its 20th year.  Our first stop was at T.S. Smith & Sons where we had some fresh apple cider.  But, my party was getting restless.  They wanted to get to the actual festival.

Bridgeville was crowded; streets were blocked.  We were lucky to find a parking space in the high school.  And, to the streets we took off.  My party? John, Michael, and Matt. If you know me personally, you know who these are.

They were hungry.  No time to see craft vendors or the car show, you know.  They were wondering if they had beer; not really, it is a family festival. 

It was packed.  Shoulder to shoulder with people.   There was no way I was going to be able to get a scrapple sandwich.  The lines were too long; I was not waiting. 

The music was playing.  We found a stand with roast beef that was gorgeous.  My companions had each one of those.  They were like hoagies.  Huge.  The roast beef was delicious.

I decided to get a crabcake.  Actually, it was very good.  Not a lot of filler, but some.

Still no scrapple.  We kept on going towards the ferris wheel.  Lines on both sides of the street.  Then, we saw the sign for ribs.  Matt thought we should get half a rack; John decided that a full rack for all of us would be best.  Then we heard: “A full rack for Mel Gibson”.  We started laughing with them and they could not believe John looked like Mel and started kidding him about him being at the festival in slower lower.  This is not the first time this has happened, though.  Funny it happened here. 

The ribs were probably one of the best we had all had.  Perfectly cooked; crispy and with just the right amount of sauce.

We tried to get John to do the “skillet toss” competition using reversed psychology but he did not take the bait.

On the way out we picked up an oyster sandwich.  I will admit that I did not like it.  Too much dough; not enough oysters.

There was so much food…a lot of fried food too.  Fried chicken, fries, funnel cakes.  Pastries and pies and cotton candy.

We were ready to go.  We were glad we had gone.  It had a carnival atmosphere; probably not the way it had originally started.

On our way home we stopped at Hopkins Creamery…we had not had enough to eat.  Homemade ice cream right there on the farm on Rt. 9.  Pumpkin pie ice cream and rum raisin and chocolate too. 

 Hopkins Creamery is located at 16186 Dairy Farm Rd., 3 miles west on the Lewes-Georgetown Highway.  The Website?  http://www.hopkinsfarmcreamery.com.

Ending the evening with Nicola Pizza was too much to take in one day.

That’s okay; I did not get the scrapple at the festival, but I do have it in my refrigerator.

In retrospect, I thought it was too commercialized.  Too bad; I would have loved to have seen more of the scrapple and apple representation; that’s why the festival started.

Talk to you later…

May 18th, 2010

Hopkins Creamery, Ice Cream, Lewes, Delaware, On-Farm Creamery, Review, Peanut Butter Ripple, Chocolate Banana Walnut, Coconut, Apple Pie, Have I died and Gone to Heaven?

“My advice to you is not inquire why or whither, but just enjoy the ice cream while it’s on your plate.”  by Thorton Wilder

Tyler has been telling me to visit Hopkins Creamery; I should have gone sooner.  What a treat!!

Many years ago I visited this farm, way before they probably even thought of having an on-farm creamery.  I visited with my youngest son’s class for a field trip.  I have driven on this road many times and always thought of that day so long ago.  Now there is another reason to visit.  You will become a fan, as well.

Hopkins Creamery is in the Green Acres Farm, located at 16186 Dairy Farm Rd., Lewes, Delaware, 19958.  From Lewes, DE 5-Point Intersection on Rt. 1 drive 3 miles straight West on Lewes Georgetown Highway, to traffic light intersection at Dairy Farm Rd….far left corner at cow crossing.

Today was not a day that ice cream would come to your mind.  Cold and rainy; but for the ice cream lover that I am there is always a yearning for ice cream.

So there I was, talking to the 2 lovely ladies that were selling ice cream at Hopkins Creamery.  I had to ask them if their ice cream was gluten free; but sadly, it is not.  They were not sure if their Italian ice was.

This farm has been owned and operated by the same family for four generations.  Hopkins Farm Creamery opened in 2007.

All the ice creams are made less that 48 hours before you actually purchase them.   They have 20 unique flavors.  Need a special order?  Just give them a couple of days notice and your custom-order batches will be ready for pick-up.

How about those Classics that you remember as a child?  Yes, they have them; milkshakes, banana splits, sundaes and root beer floats.

Hopkins Creamery also has seasonal flavors available like Pumpkin Pie, Delaware Fruit or Christmas Cake.

I decided to get about 4 of their ice creams and asked the ladies to choose them, having in mind that I had never been there.  I wanted an ice-cream tasting in the privacy of my own home.

I was like a kid.  I could not wait to finish my dinner so that I could taste them.

The Ice Cream Tasting:

Peanut Butter Ripple – Creamy, just enough chunks of peanut butter and not overly sweet.

Chocolate Banana Walnut – I like bananas just as a fruit only so I was a little hesitant about trying this one.  The banana is incorporated into the chocolate ice cream and the hints of walnuts give it just a slight crunch.  Very good.

Coconut – I had heard about this one.  Definitely coconut.  Delicious, creamy and again just the right sweetness.

Apple Pie – It tasted just like one with tiny pieces of crust incorporated into the creamy ice cream.  I loved that it was not overly sweet also.

Hopkins Farm is open every day from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.  Telephone is 302-645-7163.  Their website is great; check it out http://www.hopkinsfarmcreamery.com.

I got some of the info. for this post from their website.  On the website, it said:   Recommend Us!!  That won’t be a problem, I just did!!!

Talk to you later….