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Letter to the editor

Largo Explorer

By Times Staff Writer
Published January 6, 2008

The apple butter, pear butter and pumpkin butter were enticing, but it was the peach butter that really got me. Cute, charming, quaint ...That's what I expected when I visited the Amish Country Store in Largo. But I certainly didn't expect a personal connection. I'm a Virginia girl from south of the Mason-Dixon line. My Irish-English heritage predicts that I love a cup of hot tea, but Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch don't mean a thing to me - or so I thought. Then I saw the peach butter and nostalgia hit. It is nostalgia that leads people to Pam and Stuart Opp's country store and it is honest, friendly service that keeps them coming back.  "People move here from the Pennsylvania/Ohio area and can't find items they're used to finding in grocery stores," Pam Opp said. "Sometimes it's a brand they prefer or sometimes they can't find the item at all."  As a Pennsylvania transplant, Pam understands that frustration.

The Amish Country Store has grown from a tiny space to an expanded store with a nationwide customer base, thanks to its online operation. From Amish-made gift items to Shoo Fly pie, it is easy to spend an hour just browsing.

As I stroll past Kutztown birch beer,Turkey Hill lemonade, Tastykakes, Gibbles potato chips and Utz crab chips, nostalgia hits me again. These are items I know from my Virginia roots. I try not to notice I am pulled in by the least healthful items in the store.

The pickled items stocked on another wall are surely healthier but more foreign. Should I consider pickled sweet watermelon rind, cauliflower, green tomatoes, okra or baby corn? Do I dare try pickled Brussels sprouts? If I do, would I choose dill or sweet?

There is a lot to absorb for a novice like me.

Customer AnitaMarie Murano has the experience I lack. Raised in Allentown, Pa., she now lives in Denver but was in town visiting relatives.

"This is like a slice of home. I told my grandmother we had to go to the Amish store before I leave. I come here every time I visit. You can't get sarsaparilla soda in Denver," she said.

Her grandmother, Bettylee Lightcap, nodded. The Largo resident is a frequent customer and explains that the Amish goods are a necessity for family traditions.

"We buy the dried corn packets for the holiday casserole and I can't get real horseradish in the grocery stores," Lightcap said. "I don't want the horseradish cream."

I move to the deli counter and contemplate different varieties of bologna: Lebanon, sweet, German and garlic ring. I consider Heini's yogurt cheese, Amish Farm swiss and Amish butter. Homemade cucumber, potato and macaroni salads would make easy dinner accompaniments.

The pull on my sweet tooth and my sense of nostalgia was overwhelming. The peach orchards of Virginia are becoming housing developments but now I know where to buy a taste of my memories.

I can hardly wait to have peach butter on warm rolls.

Where: 206 13th Street SW - Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Sunday-Monday.

[Last modified January 5, 2008, 21:41:32]