Umbrellas block the scorching sun as the vendors prepare to sell their goods.

I’d like to introduce myself.  My name is Emily, and I am Ian and Yvonne’s assistant.  I am their “do whatever needs to be done” person.  I’ve been at The White Oak Inn for 3 1/2 years and have loved every minute of it. I thoroughly enjoy my job, whether it’s helping out in the kitchen, walking the Inn mascot, Dougal, conversing with the guests, or working on the computer in the Bat Cave (H.Q. in the basement).

During the summer time in and around Amish county, it seems as though a person is never far away from a farmers market. There are farm markets, which are essentially roadside produce stands, and then there are farmers markets, which are on public property and feature a variety of vendors and products. In a nearby village called Fredericktown, the farmers market is held every Thursday from 3-6, starting at the end of May and running until the middle of October.

The Fredericktown village square, with it’s community-built gazebo, antique cannon, and surrounding historic downtown, is the perfect stage for the weekly performance that is as American as apple pie, baseball, and hot dogs. On average in Fredericktown, there are 6-10 vendors who set up and proceed to sell their best goods.  This weeks’ offerings were tantalizing to any palate. There were fresh red skinned potatoes, naturally grown blueberries, baby beets, fresh baked breads, fruit pies, cakes, and cookies.

Kate and Christopher try to beat the heat at the Farmers Market

I have to boast a tad. Our daughter is the baker behind Katy’s Kakes. She’s an 11 year old girl with her eye on the prize. She has been baking with me (Emily) since she was 6. When she turned 8, she asked if she could make something on her own. We found a recipe for an Oatmeal Cake that has become her trademark cake. It’s a very moist cake that is the right blend of spice and sweet. When she tops it with her coconut pecan topping, it’s out of this world. Yes, it’s all from scratch. And yes, she’s got the recipe memorized!

She’s not the only entrepreneur in our family. Our son, Christopher, is a 10 year old boy who is slightly more cautious, but driven to do things his way, just the same. He created a stand out recipe for lemonade that is earning him rave reviews from his customers. With a little more confidence, he’ll be hard to beat!

The heartland of America is a wonderful place to get reconnected with the old-fashioned values and traditions of the past. A farmers market brings it all full circle from past to present.  Fresh produce, fresh fruit, homemade baked goods, neighborly conversation, and a knowledge that your food didn’t travel more than 15 miles to get into your hands is a great way to spend an afternoon. When you visit The White Oak Inn, check out our local farmers markets and farm stands. The difference in taste and quality will have you coming back for more!

The sign says it all!

No matter what day of the week you stay at The White Oak Inn, chances are there is a Farmers Market being held.  We’d love to point you in the right direction to help you get back in touch with a time-honored tradition.

The holiday season is on its way.     And for us at the inn, that means a lot of extra baking.    So last week Ian and I took a short drive to pick up supplies from our favorite bulk food store in Holmes County, Ohio’s Amish area.   Along the way we also popped in to the Holmes County Flea Market just outside of Berlin.

To sum up the experience in one sentence:    It certainly lives up to the adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

We did come out of there with a pair of work gloves for Ian and some fudge for me, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.      And from there we enjoyed the scenic drive up country road 77 throught Mount Hope and on to the Ashery.

Bulk food stores abound throughout the Amish area.    They are the equivalent of convenience stores for the Amish people themselves.    Keep in mind that the Amish a) don’t generally have refrigerators and freezers, b) Have large families to feed and c)are thrifty and don’t use many convenience foods.     So these stores sell all the basics needed for cooking from scratch, including flour, sugar, nuts and dried fruit, herbs and spices and much more.     And the prices are considerably more reasonable than the same products from a supermarket.

We like the Ashery because it has a large selection, is clean and well organized, and is always very busy, meaning the inventory turns over quickly.    Obviously other people agree with us – the store recently expanded and they had to build a larger parking lot across the road.

So with our treasure of fruits, nuts, baking chips and other goodies put away it’s time to start planning the menus for our holiday events.

Here’s a sneak preview of one of the recipes we’ll be making for our Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol event in December:

Raspberry Coconut Squares

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup raspberry preserves

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups shredded coconut

Combine 1 1/4 cups flour with 1/4 cup of sugar.   Cut in the butter and press into the bottom of a 9 inch square pan.   Spread the preserves over this base.  Beat the eggs with the sugar, 1 tablespoon of butter and the vanilla.  Mix in the coconut.   Spread this over the preserves.    Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until light gold.   Cool and cut into 36 squares.

We recently dropped by the Amish Country Furniture store, just outside Danville.  It’s only about a 15 minute drive from the inn, and we ordered all the furniture for our cottages from there.    Well, all we can say is that we always thought the furniture was great quality and value before, but now it’s over the top.   The store is now under new owner Raymond Weaver.   Raymond is justifiably proud of the workmanship and design that goes into all of his pieces.  From his nearby workshop his Amish workers make heirloom-quality furniture that is sold and shipped all over the country.   We were particularly impressed with one bedroom suite,   made out of solid white oak, (no particle board or veneer in any of Raymond’s work)  and with a design that is so special there’s a patent pending.     The smaller of the two dressers in the set weighs 350 lbs!   This is furniture that will last for generations.

I was kicking myself for not remembering to bring my camera along so I could take some pictures to show everyone on here.    Next time, I promise.

In addition to furniture, the store also sells beautiful Polish Pottery pieces like the one pictured below.

Typical Polish Pottery design

In the same location as the furniture store is the Gateway To Amish Country travel and tourism information center.     Visitors to the area will be able to pick up maps and brochures of many local points of interest.

The store is located right on highway 62, between Danville and Brinkhaven.   And before we end up in a “who’s on first?” type routine, and you start asking, “But Yvonne, what’s the name of the Amish Country Furniture store?”, the name really is Amish Country Furniture.

Gosh we had so much fun this morning.   We went off to the Owl Creek Produce Auction.   You know you’ve been buying too much when the auctioneer has your bidder’s number memorized within the first 30 minutes.  Which makes my husband very grateful that the auction barn is a 45 minute drive from the inn and the auctions take place in the mornings, so usually I’m too busy at the inn to get there very often.

This auction is a way for local farmers and producers to get their fresh produce and plants into the hands of restaurants, stores and the public.    It’s located just a few miles off I-71, mid-way between Columbus and Cleveland, so it’s convenient for buyers to pull up, buy what they want and get back on the highway quickly.

The goods on consignment are whatever is in season, and range from large lots grown by bigger farms, right down to one cabbage grown by an Amish family.

The auctioneer usually starts off selling the bigger lots first.   There were plenty of yellow squash and zucchinis today.     One seller had something called “eight ball zucchini”   Perfectly round softball size zucchinis.   I thought they’d be interesting for dinners at the inn, perhaps halved and stuffed, but they were being sold in 4 peck lots and I just couldn’t use that many.      I was disappointed that local strawberries were more expensive than usual.   Flats of 8 quarts were selling for $32.    At that price we won’t be making strawberry jam this year.   I guess the weather has been too dry to get a good crop.

I did manage to get some bargains though.   5 huge tomato plants for $1 each.   I really only wanted 2 but they came in a lot of 5, so I guess I’ll share with a friend or two.    8 herb plants in a flat for 50 cents.    Huge bags of broccoli for a quarter.   Big bags of looseleaf lettuce for $1 each.   The best buy of all was two beautiful 5 foot tall Purple Sand Cherry bushes to plant by the inn gazebo.   Just $6 each.    I bet I’d have paid at least $40 at the nursery for a plant this size.

The auction takes place May to October, Mondays at 11 a.m., Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and Fridays at 9 a.m..    It’s on Waterford Road, near Fredericktown.       Great free entertainment if you can resist bidding!

plants from Owl Creek auction

Lettuce and beets bought at the Owl Creek Auction

A peaceful fall day at White Oak Inn

The title of this first post for our website blog was already created in the blog program.   How appropriate.     We’re ready to say hello and welcome the whole world to our inn.     If you’re a former guest, thanks for keeping in touch.   If you’ve never visited we hope you’ll find this part of the inn website entertains you and gives some ideas of things you could enjoy during a stay with us.

Buster and Butterfly are our two resident pet sheep.     They live in what innkeeper Ian refers to as “the lamb Hilton” in our barn across the road from the inn.    They love to eat crackers and be scratched on the cheeks or behind the ears.    If you visit them you’ll find they’re quite amenable to posing for photographs so be sure to bring your camera.   They also share their home with four barn cats, Eenie, Meenie, Miney and Mo.

The barn itself is an interesting structure.   We’ve been told it’s one of the county’s oldest pole barns, although we can’t verify its age.    The upright supports are whole tree trunks.     Two years ago we had an Amish barn builder straighten the supports and replace the metal roof, so it should be good to go for another 100 years!

If you’re ever in the area, stop in and meet our menagerie and check out the barn.    The cookie jar is always full!