October 13th, 2011
Finally, I am making it to this annual festival in the town of Bridgeville, Delaware. Bridgeville is about 45 minutes away from Rehoboth Beach. The town was settled in 1684 and was incorporated in 1871. It is an agricultural-oriented community.
Rapa Scrapple and T.S. Smith & Sons are two companies that are from Bridgeville. Rapa represents the scrapple and T.S. Smith & Sons represents the apples.
T.S. Smith & Sons is 104 years old. I wrote a post on this farm and apple orchard on 9/23/11. If you would like to see it just click on the month of September and scroll down to the 23rd.
Rapa is the largest producer of scrapple in the world. It was created by Ralph and Paul Adams. Their recipe has been used since the early 1920s. For more info. on Rapa, please visit www.rapascrapple.com.
Every time I talk about scrapple noses wrinkle or there is an exclamation here or there. I truly love it and I like it well done; thin and crispy.
Scrapple is made out of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour and spices.
So, the two companies will be celebrating and about 30,000 visitors will be joining them.
Friday will be the start of the Festival at 4 p.m.
At 4:30 p.m. they will be announcing on the Main Stage who the winners of the Apple Dessert Baking Contest.
At 6 p.m. there will be an Opening Ceremony.
The night’s entertainment will feature a street dance and the Little Miss Apple Scrapple Contest.
For more info. and a complete schedule, please visit http://www.applescrapple.com.
Saturday will start with an All You Can Eat Scrapple Breakfast at 7 a.m. I usually eat a couple of pieces; cannot imagine “all you can eat scrapple”.
I am going to go first to T.S. Smith & Sons because they will be offering a full day of apple activities on the farm.
They will have available, farm tours, hay rides, you-pick apples and pumpkins, informative talks and demonstrations.
Some of these activities will require the purchase of a ticket.
The farm market is located in the historic apple packing house where apples are still graded and packed for market. You can find it easily at the intersection of Redden Rd. (DE 40) and US 13A (N. Main St.).
Farm tours will be held every hour on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. These tours double as hay rides pulled by a tractor, allowing participants the chance to enjoy a longer ride and see the farm and its historic attributes.
Two presentations: At 11 a.m. Big Apples from Little Trees. It explores the change in apple propagation and cultivation. At 1 p.m. Roots, Shoots, & Fruits: These are not your Grandfather’s Trees. Shedding light on different apple varieties, newer methods of grafting and propagation. And, why it is necessary.
More info. and details? Please call 302-337-8271. You can also find them on Facebook as www.facebook.com/tssmithandsons.
Please enjoy the Festival, its food and its music. Hey, The Greaseband will be playing on Saturday evening, beginning at 7 p.m. They are a lot of fun.
See you….maybe there…
January 31st, 2011
If you are on Facebook, you know that there is a “wall” where you state your status. Well, I can tell you loud and clear that my status is “I love Scrapple”. No, they did not have it in Puerto Rico when I was growing up. They still don’t have it but that would be the perfect place to introduce it. It might go well with their “morcillas” which are blood sausages.
I ate scrapple for the first time here, in the States, and fell in love with it immediately. Today someone told me that she needed to acquire a taste; not me. Another one, Colleen, told me that she did not like to eat something with that much fat. Well, it has less fat than bacon.
I like it in different ways. One being as a side dish; crispy and thin. The other one is a scrapple sandwich. I like thin, white bread and I again, will have the scrapple very thin, crispy and a dollop of ketchup. Hey, that’s my taste.
Scrapple just starting to cook
Scrapple, thin and crispy
I few of my good friends get together from time to time for breakfast at Crystal in Rehoboth Beach. They don’t mind me mentioning their names, Roberta, Debbie, Missy and at times Alice will join the group. I always say I am not having scrapple. I need to be on a diet; but the moment Missy asks for a side order of scrapple I can’t help it. I immediately order it myself, as well. No willpower, really.
When I heard that Dirty Jobs was doing the show on scrapple I could not believe that my favorite Rapa Scrapple was not the one. Then I read than the nephew submitted Hughes Delaware Maid Scrapple, located in Felton. That is where the show will take place tomorrow on the Discovery Channel at 9 p.m.
A good friend, Tyler, sent me the promo link http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110128/entertainment/101280304.
Giant is the market where I buy pretty much my groceries and they sell Rapa Scrapple, Milton, and Kirby & Holloway.
Rapa is my favorite but that is my personal opinion. Rapa Scrapple has been in business since 1926; Ralph & Paul were the two brothers that started this pork product. The location is Bridgeville, Delaware and it is the largest producer of scrapple in the world. Please visit www.rapascrapple.com. The website is full of information including a recipe for Scrapple Breakfast Burrito.
Every year the town of Bridgeville hosts the Apple Scrapple Festival. Every year I say I am going but never go. It celebrates the town’s heritage of apple orchards and scrapple manufacturing. It is usually held in October. Maybe this year Missy and I will make it.
The Delaware News Journal mentioned some of the restaurants in Delaware that take scrapple seriously. But, one of those mentioned, Helen’s Famous Sausage House in Smyrna, takes it to a different level; a Scrapple Sub for $7.20 that has 4 slabs of scrapple, accompanied with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, hot peppers, sweet pepper, mayo or oil.
I am writing Rapa Scrapple. Because of one ingredient, wheat flour; anyone with a gluten allergy cannot eat this delicacy. I hope they can make one substituting the wheat flour for rice flour or any flour that is gluten free for that matter.
Cannot wait for the show tomorrow. Should be interesting.
Talk to you later….you know I will…..
April 3rd, 2010
A Brunch is the perfect start for any day, but Sunday is the day we usually pick for this type of eating. Here, in Rehoboth Beach, a lot of the restaurants will be serving brunch on Easter Sunday just like everywhere else.
But why is it that we have this obsession with brunch? Is it because we are too lazy to cook on a Sunday; kill two birds with one stone? Breakfast and lunch? To tell you the truth on Sunday, I want to keep it simple. You can call it anything you want but to me having a good, full bodied, cup of coffee, seasonal fruits, baked goods and Rapa Scrapple, is what I would call the perfect brunch.
Rapa Scrapple? What is it? Well, it is one of my favorite breakfast meats. Rapa is the brand name and to me there is no other like it. Scrapple is a pork product and the company is in Bridgeville, Delaware. Two brothers started this company in 1926; Ralph and Paul Adams. The plant is still in Bridgeville and it is the largest producer of scrapple in the world.
I had the first taste of Rapa Scrapple in the island of Exuma, Bahamas, in 1974. We were visiting friends and they had brought scrapple from Baltimore, MD. I have loved it ever since and my family is a big fan, as well.
My favorites are the original and the hot and spicy. I like it thin and crispy; definitely, not mushy. I hope Missy is reading this blog, because I know she likes scrapple as much as I do. She might even comment on the blog.
I also like scrapple sandwiches. Thin bread, not toasted and a little bit of ketchup, would make it the perfect scrapple sandwich.
Mark your calendar because this year’s Apple Scrapple Festival in Bridgeville will be Friday, October 8th and Saturday, October 9th. For more info. please visit their website www.rapascrapple.com.
Living at the beach, usually means that you have a couple of guests at your house from time to time. I know that I go the extra mile when I have guests. I really do want them to feel welcomed. So how do I make them feel special? Read on…
Mimosa
Chilled champagne and orange Juice. If you do not have time to squeeze your orange juice, the market has great choices. Just get a good one. Put 1/2 and 1/2 in champagne glasses and serve.
Kir Royale
A bottle of chilled champagne or sparkling wine. This is such a simple and timeless drink.
1 part creme de cassis
5 parts Champagne
Pour creme de cassis into a champagne glass and gentley pour champagne on top.
Easy Caramel Rolls
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.
2 loaves frozen bread dough, thaw out and cut in pieces and placed in a well greased 9 x 13 inch pan.
Melt:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsps. milk
1 small package vanilla pudding (not instant)
Pour over dough. Let it rise for about 3 hours.
Bake for about 30 minutes.
Let it stand a few minutes and then turn out on a board, cut and serve.
Ground Ham on Pineapple Slices
Combine:
2 cups cooked ground ham
2 tsps. prepared mustard
4 tsps. mayonnaise
8 drained pineapple slices
Spread mixture on the pineapple slices. You want to put enough on each one to make a mound but cover the whole pineapple slice.
Bake slices in a greased pan in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or so.
The combination of the ham and pineapple is delicious. It is a quick meal, as well. Very versatile; not just for breakfast.
Enjoy it with friends; it tastes better that way….Happy Easter!!
2 Comments