Date

November 03 2017

Written By

Adam Gerard

Talking to Scrapple Lovers at the Apple Scrapple Festival

Written By Adam Gerard - November 03 2017

Apple Scrapple Yard DecorationsAnother amazing year of the Apple Scrapple Festival has come and gone. The 26th year, in fact! People came for the amusement park rides, the vendors, and sure, they came for apples. But really, if you were at the 2017 Apple Scrapple Festival, then you were in Bridgeville because you wanted some RAPA scrapple. Luckily, the festival did not disappoint for that. To start, there were four scrapple sandwich vendors, grilling up scrapple and serving them to long lines of hungry attendees.

Here's the lineup at just one of the scrapple sandwich vendors:

scrapple line up

And my mouth is watering imagining this scrapple assembly line in my own kitchen! 🍳 🤤 

scrapple cooking assembly line

Talking to Scrapple Lovers

But cooking and eating scrapple weren't the only things one could do with this breakfast meat at the festival. There was the annual Mayoral Scrapple Sling, delicious scrapple sausages, and there was even scrapple "chunkin'." I promise to to write more more about all this later, but even with so many delicious scrapple activities going on, the highlight for me was talking to other scrapple lovers and hearing their scrapple history.

And luckily, people were nice enough to chat with me on video, sharing some of their earliest scrapple memories and special scrapple moments in their life.

"I'm Delaware Made!"

Almost everyone I talked with made a point to show their Delaware pride, so clearly while you're at the Apple Scrapple Festival, the home of scrapple is Delaware. 

State Senator Talks Growing Up With Scrapple

Brian Pettyjohn, a member of the Delaware Senate, grew up in the state, and talks about how he grew up with his family making scrapple on the farm! 

Fundraising with Scrapple

All of the scrapple vendors are cooking and selling sandwiches as a fundraiser, and I had the pleasure to talk with someone who was part of her local church's scrapple cooking tent.

A Marylander Talks Scrapple Love

I stopped by one of the many vendors and picked up a package of his peanut brittle, but I took a few minutes to talk about scrapple with him as well, hoping I might find a secret sweet and savory scrapple concoction: 

There is so much going on at the Apple Scrapple Festival, but having a reason to bring together some of the world's most diehard scrapple lovers and hearing their stories is a unique opportunity that I relish every year. 2017 certainly did not disappoint.

Date

October 10 2017

Written By

Adam Gerard

Ideas for the Apple Scrapple Festival Recipe Contest

Written By Adam Gerard - October 10 2017

It doesn’t get much better than a slice of scrapple, cooked so it’s crispy on the outside but soft and warm inside. Personally, I love it on the side of some over easy eggs so I can run the scrapple through the yolks. Mmm, that’s delicious!

But just because a side of scrapple with breakfast is perfect, doesn’t mean you can’t experiment a bit and develop your own delicious scrapple recipes. Over the years, the folks on the What is Scrapple? Facebook page have introduced me to some pretty creative, and delicious-sounding, ways to eat scrapple that go well beyond the standard slice. I’ll go over a couple of my favorites below, but I bring this up because there is a scrapple recipe contest at this year’s Apple Scrapple Festival in Bridgeville, with some good prizes. If you have a unique recipe for scrapple, it might be time to share it with the judges there and claim your crown.

But first, some amazing scrapple creations I’ve been dreaming about.

The Scraffle

Eating a piece of scrapple with waffle and some maple syrup is nothing new. Even putting scrapple into the waffle maker has been done before (at some high end places, even). But The Scraffle, created by scrapple lover Israel Engle, takes the scrapple-waffle to another level by putting the scrapple right into the waffle! Place the scrapple onto the waffle iron, pour the batter around the scrapple, and cook. Boom, you’ve made a Scraffle, and possibly revolutionized your family’s breakfast forever.

Scrapple Apple Pie

While Bridgeville has amazing apple orchards, and savory scrapple, it’s not often that one actually thinks about putting the two foods together. And yet, when I stumbled on this scrapple apple pie recipe at Cookbook Archaeology, my mind was blown and I was drooling. Picture this: two layers of scrapple bits with a layer of sliced apples in between. On top, add a few more apples, as well as brown sugar. Then bake all that inside an English lard crust. See, now you’re the one who’s drooling! Celia has very detailed instructions on her website, along with some great pictures. If you give this one a shot, invite me over please!

These are just two amazing and mouthwatering scrapple recipes. With the Apple Scrapple Festival and recipe contest coming up this October, it’s time to see folks raise the bar even further. And there is cash money on the line!

  • 1st place $300 Visa Gift Card
  • 2nd place $150 Visa Gift Card
  • 3rd place $75 Visa Gift Card

Just keep in mind, entries must be pre-registered and entry forms must be received by October 6, 2017.

Looking forward to seeing what scrapple creations you have in store!

Date

October 10 2017

Written By

Adam Gerard

What to Expect at the Apple Scrapple Festival

Written By Adam Gerard - October 10 2017

I grew up in Maryland eating RAPA scrapple. I’d go to the local grocery store and the breakfast meat section would be stocked full of all kinds of RAPA flavors. As an adult, I moved north to Boston and eventually even further north to Toronto. Scrapple was almost non-existent in both.

So when I was finally able to attend the Apple Scrapple Festival for the first time last year, its 25th Anniversary, there was something really special about visiting Delaware. Seeing the Bridgeville water tower and “Ralph & Paul Adams” in gold lettering outside the RAPA building. I’m only slightly embarrassed to say I got shivers.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect as a first-time attendee. In case you’re in the same boat, or you just want to reminisce about fun scrapple times, I thought I’d share a little of what’s going on at the Apple Scrapple Festival as you prepare yourself for this October 13 & 14!


Do you Have a Scrapple Recipe?

Before the event even officially gets started, RAPA is on the lookout for the best Scrapple Recipe and holds a yearly contest. You’ll need to register ahead of time, and show up at RAPA with your entry and a written recipe on Thursday, October 12. Besides bragging rights, there’s actual money on the line, so if you have that scrapple dish that everyone loves each year, this is your moment to show it off!


The Main Festivities

Things really get started on Friday night. The heart of the festival is right around the corner of Delaware Avenue and S. Cannon Street. The opening ceremonies will happen at the main event stage there, along with other various events throughout the weekend (Little Miss Apple Scrapple! The Mayoral Scrapple Sling!). This is also where you’ll find most of the main food vendors. Speaking of which:


Come Prepared to Eat

I mean, it’s a festival with apple and scrapple right in the name, so of course there is food. Last year, I saw at least two booths serving scrapple sandwiches. There was pizza with plenty of delicious options, including scrapple pizza. The fried oyster sandwich was gigantic. There were wings, fries, pies, funnel cakes, crab cakes, BBQ, cheesesteaks and probably even more. And this occasion also marked my first time I ate an apple dumpling. I can assure you it won’t be the last.


Be Ready to Toss Things

Out behind Woodbridge Middle School were the highly competitive “tossin’” activities that you can sign up for that day. There’s the Ladies Skillet Toss—actual cast iron skillets getting tossed in the air. Children can join in through the Kids Apple Toss. And, of course, there is the Scrapple Chunkin’ Contest where grown adults lineup to throw a brick of scrapple as far as they can. While I was joking about the “highly competitive” part, the judges take it quite seriously with measuring tape and official judging t-shirts. This is, without a doubt, a lot of fun.


The Trade Show

As you wander from the main event stage out to the middle school, you will pass by loads of local vendors, offering up just about anything you can imagine. Apple butter, beautiful wood carvings, antiques, scrapple shirts (of course), and so so much more. It’s a great opportunity to support local individuals and businesses.


Kiwanis Home Decorating Contest

Perhaps most delightful were the home decorations. Think of great Christmas decorations, but instead of angels, Santa and reindeer, there are lots of pigs, apples and scrapple. It’s wonderful to see how the local neighborhood appreciates and enjoys the festival as well, and it’s certainly worth walking around to see some of the more elaborate decorations.

This is just a small sample of what to expect at the Apple Scrapple Festival this year. I didn’t even mention the carnival rides, or other delights I stumbled upon just wandering around Saturday and Sunday. If you love scrapple, then get yourself to Bridgeville on October 13 and 14th this year. And if you want to say hi to me, you’ll possibly find me behind the middle school tossing bricks of scrapple trying to improve my distance over last year.

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