AMISH COMMUNITY

We heard from one of the camp hosts that there was an Amish community close by.  It is actually between Del Norte and Alamosa.  Then, we started hearing about the "Amish bakery" and how wonderful their fried pies are.  Well, show this girl a good bakery and you have my total, undivided attention!

One of the things on my bucket list is to go to Pennsylvania or Indiana and see a big Amish community.  I am really fascinated with their way of life and love to see their craftsmanship.  Some of their furniture is gorgeous and the detail they put into building it, is amazing. So, anytime someone says "Amish community", I am ready to check it out.

When we had arrived here, we were handed a flyer about a fund-raising dinner for the Amish school. However, we didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it. We were too busy trying to figure out what there was to do in the area and what we were going to do out of all that information.  The date of the dinner snuck up on us and we forgot all about it. I had forgotten about the bakery too.

Our camp host came by that evening to let us know that he and his wife had attended and that we had missed something special. They served grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, some other side, and dessert.  They said it was one of the best meals they have ever had. They talked to one of the ladies there and learned that all of the food is prepared by the families living there.  There is a ladies' committee that organizes this.  They tell each family what to bring and what time to bring it. Our camp host said that the dinner was from 5:30 to 7:30. While they were there, they continually saw buggies driving up and ladies getting out with really large pots of food. They stagger the food so that it is still hot for whatever time you show up. We aren't talking about a 9x13 dish from each family. We are talking gallons of mashed potatoes or green beans or gravy or whatever. I really hate I missed it!

They have 2 of these fund-raisers each summer, one in July and one in August. We won't be here for the one in August or I would definitely go. The money made here is to totally support their school.  We were told that they served over 1,000 people that night.

While we were talking to the camp host about the dinner, his wife reminded me about the bakery.  OK, I'm not forgetting about it this time. So, we planned to make a visit to the bakery named Worth The Drive Bakery.  Believe me, it was worth the drive!

There are Mennonite families that live in the Amish community too. They do a lot of things as a joint effort and some things they do differently. The bakery is owned and run by a Mennonite family.  When I walked in, there were several ladies standing in the back kneading dough, icing cinnamon rolls, and putting things in packages.  Everyone that comes in the bakery can have a free do-nut and free cup of coffee.  OMG! I am very picky about my do-nuts, but these were delish!

Once I tasted those, I started looking at all they had to offer and my mouth was salivating the entire time. Since it is all freshly made, you know in your head that you can't buy as much as you would like because it won't stay fresh past a couple of days.  However, it sure hard to convince your stomach of that point. I ended up buying apple/cinnamon bread, carrot cake, 2 fried pies, a jar of apple butter, and 4 home grown tomatoes. They were all melt in your mouth good!

The man running the bakery

The man running the bakery was very friendly and helpful. They even accepted credit cards. He had to go unplug something from their generator in order to plug up the credit card machine. Interesting.

We had also heard they have a grocery store in the area that you need to visit.  Not sure what we were going to find, we headed over there.  The store looks like they receive "extras" from big grocery stores.  Most of the things there were either close to their expiration dates or dented or things that just didn't sell. I'm thinking that these items might be donated to them because the prices are unbelievable. They had jars of Hellman's mayo for $1.50. There were gluten-free McCormick's seasoning packages for things like chili and beef stew, 4 for $1. Gluten-free stuff is usually a lot more expensive than normal grocery store fare.  There were cornbread packages for a dime each. Anyway, you get the picture.  Crazy prices! So, again, I stocked up on things I needed and tried to not buy things just because of their crazy good price! They also sold things in bulk like salt, sugar, flour, spices, etc.

Lady doing her shopping

We also visited the variety store and that too was interesting.  You really wouldn't happen upon any of these stores.  They are way out in the country on each family's farm.  The roads are gravel or dirt to get to them.  The only way you might happen on them is to spot one of the buggies going down one of the main roads.

I plan on going back before I leave.