Friday, March 22, 2013
The "The Real Truth About Whoopie" Story
It was an ordinary day. Just got back from Roots Market where I learned the honest-to-goodness truth about those great sugary delights, the Whoopie Pie. Stopped at one of the Amish stands where I saw a sign declaring the items behind it to be Whoopie Pies. Only a novice would need the sign of course to know what the chocolate cakes with creamed icing in them are called. Only a buck and that happened to be what was left in my pocket, so ....... yum! The elder Amish woman I bought it from had to give me the true tale about where the first Whoopie Pies were made, and her story was very interesting. She said that a bunch of her friends and her were snowed in during the big snow in February of '58. They were visiting with one another and working on a quilt for one of their friends to give for a wedding gift. The snow never let up and they were forced to stay overnight at the farmhouse. Matter-of-fact they were snowed in for five days. Didn't deter them from finishing their quilt as well as baking cookies. Some got tired of dabbing iced cookie dough on a sheet and decided to put the icing between two pieces of dough. When the oven was opened one of the friends yelled "Whoopie!" and the Whoopie pie was born. This all happened in Bart Township in the middle of Amish country according to the woman who had just told me the story as I stood there eating my Whoopie pie. There have been other tales much the same as the woman had given to me and even one published in the Old Order Amish newspaper of the Amish community which featured a poem written by one of the friends titled "The Blizzard of 1958" and told the tale about the making of a new treat called a Whoopie Pie. And, this all happened in Bart Township, Lancaster County, PENNSYLVANIA. You hear that Maine!! Your claim to the discovery of the Whoopie Pie just went the way of the blizzard of "58. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - sorry for no photo of the Amish woman, but ...... And the one I have of the Whoppie pies is rather poor. I was in too much of a hurry to eat the one I bought.
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