Lunch at Lily's

Not your mother’s meatloaf…
Mary Lynn has proven to be an indispensable friend during the ‘getting to know the area’ period of our lives. She has become the go-to girl whenever we need to find the best of something. So when she invited us to lunch at Lily’s on Main (also known as Lily's American Cafe) in Ephrata, we knew it would be fabulous. The restaurant is decorated in the art deco style of the 1930s. Be sure to check out all the little art deco style lamps on the tables-I absolutely love them! The menu has some very creative selections, which made it difficult to decide. We chose to have the grilled Kobe meatloaf, and as the title says, it’s not your mother’s meatloaf. It’s a very sophisticated version (ketchup not needed-my mom used to put an inch layer of the stuff over the top!)-the meal of meatloaf with mashed gold potatoes and asparagus was beautifully presented in a tower fashion. Now this is comfort food! After savoring our food, we decided to just look at the desert tray-after all, this is research- we have to be able to tell our guests the lowdown on this place-Big mistake! Again, very tough decision. The one that got our vote was the ‘turtlemisu’-a very clever rendition of tiramisu with caramel and nuts. Absolute heaven!

Another cool note to point out is that the restaurant is adjacent to a very retro looking movie theater, showing first run movies. BE sure to check that out. Lily's American Cafe is definitely a wonderful place to send guests.

Our new Amish friend...

Coming to this area, you can’t help but notice that there is another world living and breathing right beside the world ‘we’ live in. We're sorry to say that we don’t really know very much about the stoic people we now live amongst-the Amish. We’ve been a little uneasy about offering the ‘Amish dinners’ that is so popular among tourists for fear of exploiting the Amish. Before Jim and Pat left the area, Pat arrange for us to experience one such dinner and to meet one of the women she sends guests to. Her name is Amanda and was sweet as can be. It was a delightful time. Amanda was just as inquisitive about us as we were about her. We left her home with a greater understanding-she explained to us why she offers this experience. It provides her a little income to help take care of her family. Many of the Amish women do these dinners as a way to help the family with farm expenses. Sadly, many of the Amish are unable to keep their land.

Rachael is the other Amish woman that Pat spoke so highly about. She’s been taking a break (until March) from the dinners, as she recovers and adjusts after the birth of her sixth child. I really wanted to meet her and to see where I would be sending our guests. So Lauren, our little baker, made some big chocolate chip cookies for us to take on our visit. We had a nice time, getting to know each other, watching her interact with her older children when they came home from school, really not so different from us “English”. The children were very polite, as was Rachael’s husband Samuel. I knew right away that Rachael and I would become fast friends. This past weekend, we had several guests who requested dinner at Rachael’s, if she was up to it. Rachael said it would be great to do sort of a practice run to see how things went with the baby-I decided to join along. As we drove towards Rachael’s (it’s only 3 miles or so) the sun was starting to set low over the farmland-this perhaps is my favorite time to drive the country side. The land is so beautiful…

Rachael and her family welcomed us with great hospitality, letting us share a wonderful meal and fellowship, followed by a tour of the farm. Our evening ended on a sweet note-Shoo Fly Pie! Our guests couldn’t get enough of it and suggested that we should sell them at the inn for guests to take home… guests could order them when they make their reservations. Rachael and I exchanged a look of inspired partnership and agreed to meet soon to work out the details…
To learn more about the Amish way of life:
http://www.800padutch.com/amish.shtml