I Heart the Amish Country Store in Branson

The Amish Country Store

Aunt Miranda and I took a day a few weeks ago as sort of a pre-birthday celebration and spent the day in Branson foodie shopping. Isn't it fun to go shopping with someone else who enjoys cooking and talking about cook as much as you do?  There's a special connection among foodies, I think.  It's the sharing of the hobby and passion that's like a secret that not everyone shares. I don't know about you but even as popular and high profile as cooking has become I still have very few people in my life who share it as a passion. I know a lot of very good home cooks who only do it because it has to be done and what they cook is the way they were taught by mom and that's it. They aren't really interested in learning more. Not that that's a bad thing. My point is it's fun to spend time, sometimes, with our foodie friends who share our love of learning new things about the food world and experimenting with ingredients and techniques we've never used before. That was my day with Auntie Mranda. Not only do I love her for being my surrogate mom and my friend, I love that we share so many interests and hobbies, cooking being one of our most passionate subjects. Also, who else but a true friend can talk with you for an hour about diets and nutrition and then not laugh in your face when you say "Where are we going for lunch? I'm starving!" and doesn't smack you when your choice of restaurant hasn't put anything healthy on their menu since inception?

One of my favorite places to go a-foodie-ing is The Amish Country Store on Gretna road.  I go there every chance I get but for those of you in southwest Missouri, let me give you a hint.  In the summer and fall you can't walk in the door without tripping over a busload of tourists but in January?  You practically have the place to yourself. It's WONDERFUL!

Half the fun of that place is just going aisle by aisle and looking at everything there is to see. So many wonderful things there that can't be found anywhere else. There were a few things we didn't buy (yet) but we promised ourselves we would remember for Christmas:  the Leggo's shaped pez candies that would be perfect for kids to build and then eat, the rainbow of cookied crystal sugars in colors I've never seen before, the mini dehydrated marshmallows that would be fun to use for home-made hot chocolate mixes, and the non-alcoholic wines for family dinners.

What I dipped from were shelves and shelves filled with canned vegetables, fruits, and jams.  Racks of home-made egg noodles, aisles of spices that are brought in weekly by the bulk and packaged individually on site which makes for really cheap prices for very fresh spices.  There are also tons of odds and ends stuff like colored popcorns, soup kits, and even fresh butter and cheeses from local Amish farms.

Here's my haul.

Lots of new yummy food toys to play with! So far I've drank tons of pomagranate juice with club soda, iced sassafras tea, and made chicken noodle soup, and taken dried fruit with my to work in my lunch.  Lots more experimentation to come.

Comments

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Dill Brussels Sprouts! Gorn would absolutely go raving mad for those!!!
You are so right about foodie friends Glenna!
Why else would we be here.

[sher]

Yowza!! Did you leave anything for the other customers?? :):) I would do the same thing there. I've never seen dilled brussel sprouts--and Bob would love those babies!

[Rachel]

I have to say...there are many things in your loot that I would have NEVER EVER thought about eating. So, maybe its time to expand horizons.

However, I don't know that I could eat a pickled brussles sprout. Is it crunchy? I'm perplexed about that.

Everything else looks great. You're pantry is stocked!

[Deborah Dowd]

I have gone to a Mennonite market near where we camp in Stuarts Draft and it is like being a kid in a candy store(did you buy any scrapple?)! I envy you your Aunt Miranda, since, except for my blogging friends, most of the people I work with and am around do not share my passion for cooking- they see it as a chore, a mystery (what am I complaining about? That is why I started my blog!) Great haul!!

[Glenna]

Tanna--Great! Glad to know someone else would liek them. Truth be told, I haven't even opened the jar yet.

Sher--I know. Amazingly, yes. LOL!

Rachel--A lot of it was new to me too, Rachel, but that's part of the fun. Trying new things.

Deborah--yes, exactly! No scrapple but I'd love to try it. Totally agree about Auntie Miranda. It's so nice to have someone who not only supports the hobby but enjoys it as much as I do.

[DaviMack]

http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/PrintablePages/herbMonograph/0,11475,552413,00.html talks about the harmful effects of sassafras, particularly products made using the root bark. http://www.sassafrastea.com/ - the product website - claims that Pappy's has no safrole in the tea, but also states that the tea is made from the root bark. I'm wondering how they achieve that. I guess that they have to be telling the truth, though, as they're actually licensed to sell the stuff.

[Sherry]

What fun...! I'd love to hear how the Dill Brussels Sprouts are. You sure did find a wonderful variety of products. Have fun with them :-)

[Emiline]

I've never been there, but I know the place. Who knew the Amish made pomegranate concentrate?

The restaurant you ate at sounds like the one I work at. Unlikely that it was the same one, but...

[Glenna]

David--I've heard both sides of that but I've forgotten the whole thing. Pappy's did change something though at one time...

Sherry--Thanks! That's what I love--so many different things.

Emiline--They don't. Granted not every single thing in the store is specifically Amish but it is cool that they have so many interesting things. You can also get Tree of Life concentrates at health food stores like Mama Jean's on Campbell and Akins on National.