We drove to Roots Market this morning at around 9:00. There are large marketplaces that are opened one or two days a week all over the country side in rural Pennsylvania.
There are five large covered buildings at Roots plus barns an open air flea Market and an adjoining auction house. It is huge and thousands of people attend. One group that stands out are the Amish, who both sell and buy goods. We bought shaved beef, jars of horseradish, and sweet Bologna for the trip tomorrow. We then went to the food stand we like the best and ordered three fried oyster sandwiches and a bottle of water for $15.00. You get two large fried oysters on a bun or without the bun, if you are Suzette. I put catsup and tartare sauce on mine.
I then walked across the road to the open air flea Market with Suzette. It was hot and I had to stop often but we made it through all the booths. Suzette found a three compartment bowl carved by Blair that she bought for $3.00 and a large round marble that we will used for bocce to replace our broken target ball.
We the went to the auction with Jean, but there was nothing of interest there, so we drove back to Jean’s house. I napped while Suzette and Jean swam in Jean’s pool.
At 3:30 we got dressed and drove to Johnny’s Restaurant. I was not expecting much and I was really impressed. Suzette, Jean, and I ordered the surf and turf special of a Maryland crab cake with a 4 oz. filet Mignon plus two sides for $31.00. I chose asparagus and a baked potato as my sides. Suzette ordered a Rhode Island crab chowder, which is made with a clear broth and steamed green beans for her other side. Suzette’s green beans were farm fresh and delicious, but her crab chowder was irretrievably black peppery for me. My asparagus were the thin tough ones I had seen at Roots Market, but tasted good after they were steamed and sautéed in butter. Bev ordered Chicken Oscar; a sautéed chicken breast garnished with asparagus, crab meat, and hollandaise sauce. Don ordered a rack of baby back ribs and Bob and Sara both ordered a crab cake.
I ordered two bottles of Sean Minor Sonoma Valley Four Bears Sauvignon Blanc because everyone liked it.
Everything I ate was wonderful. The steak was cooked to medium rare, the way I requested, the crab cake was ½ lb. and mostly crab meat. The potato and asparagus were both totally satisfactory. I loved dinner and count Johnny’s as one of the best restaurants I have eaten at In Lancaster County. Good quality food prepared adequately is about as good as it gets in this area.
After dinner we ordered desserts and I was served the largest creme brûlée I have ever seen. We shared a tiramisu, a chocolate and mousse layer cake dipped in chocolate to create a chocolate outer shell and the chocolate cream brûlée. Dinner lasted about two hours. We talked for a bit after dinner in the parking lot and then said goodnight around 7:30.
Jean drove us to the liquor store where we bought a bottle of Appleton Jamaica rum for $20.00. We took it home and drank a couple of shots each of it. I thought it was just okay, although Suzette liked it, perhaps because it does not have the harshness of V.S. cognac, which is comparable in price.
We must get up at 4:30 so we turned in early.
Bon Appetit
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