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Food-Love-Lancaster
Food-Love-Lancaster
My name is Kathlene Sullivan and I believe that I was born to tell stories. As a fairly recent transplant to Lancaster I was favorably impressed with the rich variety in the local Food and Dining scene and the passion of the professionals involved in it. So this blog is about food and dining and the importance of defining who we are, where we come from and what is important to us now. I hope you enjoy my stories.
One of the best-kept culinary secrets in Downtown Lancaster is Antonia Hinnenkamp and her East King Culinary. This creative producer of delicious ready-to-serve foods describes her little cottage industry as “Happy, local and seasonal food made with love.” Antonia styles herself a “cook” who favors regional recipes with a Mediterranean bent. East King Culinary serves up fresh; homemade dishes two days a week. Menus are posted via e-mail and Facebook page on Monday. Tuesday is for early morning shopping at regular, local suppliers such as Expressly Local and favored stands at Central Market, such as Green Circle Organic. Then it is home to cook. On wintry weeks it might be a classic Creamy Crimini Mushroom Bisque served with an Herbed Butter Baguette. The criminis are an echo of the previous weeks main dish of Spinach and Cheese Ravioli with Béchamel & Mushrooms. Her seasonal ingredients serve as ‘guest stars’ that often make a repeat appearance when seasonal availability allows. The Wednesday entrée could feature a dish inspired by her Southern Italian heritage such as Pasta with Homemade Meatballs, including organic ground chuck from Country Meadows Butchers at Central Market, imported Pecorina Romano and homemade breadcrumbs. The entrees often come in creative sizes from “No Neighbors-Intimate Dinner for Two” right up to “Family” and “Neighbor Party “ portions. Antonia often references her local suppliers, adds anecdotes about the family origins of a recipe and a sparkling enthusiasm for her ingredients. There was a point last autumn when I came to view her eggplants as old friends and knew that I would miss them dreadfully once the local beauties left Market for the winter. During the recent Holiday season her version of Sugo di Pesce con Linguine made my mouth water and my heart yearn for memories of a Nonna just like hers!
If there were a guiding philosophy behind Antonia’s cooking it would be her belief that “Breaking bread together is the best way to connect with the ones you love.” The flavorful, homemade and healthy meals from East King Culinary help her wide array of customers do just that. In brief, Antonia is nothing less than a local treasure. She connects the food she prepares so carefully with the people and the places that produce it and brings it all full circle to the busy lives and the families who will enjoy it. To learn more about the weekly menus and to follow East King Culinary as it chases the seasons through food prepared with love; visit Facebook or contact Antonia directly via antonia.hinnenkamp@verizon.net or by phone at 717-725-4184.
16 Comments
Donna Szczygiel added this opinion on
What a wonderful story! Yes, indeed, Kathlene, you were born to tell stories.
joann digeorgio added this opinion on
Hey there…. Love, love, love your blog here and your passion for Epicurean in Lancaster. I Riffed your blog this morning and put two links into my blog over to yours. Here you can see the posting http://blog.harvestmoonbandb.com Looking forward to hearing much more from you in the future. Thank you!
Carl Kosko added this opinion on
What a great idea! I am definitely going to check this out. Thanks for sharing Kathlene
Martha added this opinion on
Excellent first entry! I love seasonal local food and I can’t wait to try East King Culinary. I am looking forward to reading more FOOD LOVE.
[-] e i d i added this opinion on
Kathlene, I love you and your blog. Never knew about Antonia and I can’t wait to try her food. I’m sure all of my boys will love it!
Kathy added this opinion on
You had me at Mushroom Bisque! Thank you for this delectable blog. I’m looking forward to reading more about the tasty passion the area has to offer.
michelle added this opinion on
Wonderful…wish I lived in Lancaster – you made me want to visit just to try the food!
Donna added this opinion on
What a wonderful, enjoyable, and insightful piece to read! Your passion and excitement of Lancaster and what it has to offer
Rachel added this opinion on
(Rachel continued) …definitely shows!! You are a very talented and wonderful writer with a “delicious” use of words! I’m sooooo looking forward to seeing more of that passion and excitement in future blogs. You’ve also enlightened me on new places to try in Lancaster city, which is great, and I can not wait to experience. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for us all next!!
Rachel added this opinion on
Kathlene, you have story telling in your bones. Please keep writing!
Trudy added this opinion on
Wow Kathlene! You are giving us the beginning of what will surely be such a valuable resource collection of fantastic culinary jewels to visit that we otherwise might never know about. What a valuable public service you are delivering! Thank you SO much.
Anthony Resch added this opinion on
Kathlene, you can tell through your writing that you have a passion for Lancaster and all it has to offer! Looking forward to reading more Food-Love-Lancaster blogs in the future. 
Abby added this opinion on
Kathlene, I knew from your very first FB entry that you could coax out the interesting and facinating from some seemingly ordinary person, place or thing that the rest of us might carelessly overlook. You’ve certainly made Lancaster come to life for me, though I had only vistited the surrounding countryside once. I love that you will be blogging about the Food and Dining scene in Lancaster, and I eagerly look forward to my first substantial visit. But where oh where will I begin? I wonder if you could make my town more interesting.
Joanne added this opinion on
People are hungry for stories. It’s part of our very being. Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too. It goes from one generation to another.
-Studs Terkel
What better compliment to our growing local food community than our very own historian! Thank you Kathleen, for introducing us to Antonia and East King Culinary, and for feeding our appetite for good stories well told.
Carmen and David
Carmen Garcia Hommel added this opinion on
Kathlene, You make your readers feel like they are right there experiencing it all with you. This is going to be a terrific blog!
Jena McClure added this opinion on
Enjoyed immensely this blog post about Antonia and East King Culinary! What a wonderful concept providing local and seasonal foods ready-to-serve!
Looking forward to hearing many more of your stories about Food and Dining around town, Kathlene! Your passion for food, Lancaster and its people shines through.