Sunday, October 5, 2008

A Caramel Apple from Huber's and Pumpkins from a Roadside Stand...

This pretty much sums up our Saturday. Jason and I made plans to have a "date day" on Saturday and thought what better thing to do than make the trek up to Joe Huber's Farm in Starlight, Indiana. We had only been there once (back last Jan/Feb) and remembered how great the food was, "country cookin", and how there was hardly anyone there. Well....

Since it was the first weekend in October, it was peak season at Huber's. Little did we know that it would be so crowded!! And I am talking....CROWDED!! There were so many families there that they opened both fields for parking. We, fortunately, got a parking spot in the actual parking lot of the restaurant. We hopped out of the car and made our way into the restaurant, knowing just what we wanted to order (the last time we were here we got the Huber's Country Platter special for $15.99 and split it).

Now we had anticipated a wait...but not a 2 1/2 hour wait! We arrived at a little after 12:00 pm and were told that the next available time would not be until 2:30 p.m.!! Quite a long time to wait for some chicken and ham! Luckily she told us about the Buffet Style dinner in the Country Picnic building and said there was no wait at all down there. So off we went to the big white barn, and did have to wait for about 10 minutes outside.

So here we are about to go into the barn when I noticed the white posterboard with black magic marker wording that listed the menu....and the price: $15.99......PER PERSON!!! Now I don't know about you, but I am one of those people they call a "penny pincher", "cheap-skate", "el cheap-o"....whatever you want to call me....I try to save money whenever I can. This----was----ridiculous.

A) It was a buffet. B) It was the same exact meal we got last time for $15.99 and split it. C) The food was not that hot, not that great, and the "fried biscuits" were balls of cold dough. Needless to say we were VERY disappointed. And, to make matters worse, (not really worse, but just to add drama), the tables were long tables with about 8-10 chairs each so there were no "couple tables" or single tables available. Not that this was a huge matter since we found a table to ourselves. But....halfway into our meal a family came and sat at our table. Have you ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Well, this was the family that "invaded us" as my husband puts it.

So anyway, to make a long story short, we did not have a good experience at the Country Picnic building.

"But what about the caramel apple?" you ask. Well, that caramel apple was the highlight of our trip. After dinner we took some pictures around the farm, and some pics of the mums and pumpkins. Then we made our way into the Farm Market to see if we could find a caramel apple at a reasonable price. We found a line for caramel apples and, to my surprise, they were only $1.99 each, or 3 for $4.99! What a steal! Thank you, Lord, for providing something delicious and inexpensive to make our trip worthwhile. The lady behind the counter was hand dipping the huge granny smith apples in a huge coffee-can looking container full of hot caramel. They smelled wonderful! I got one with nuts to go, and happily left the market satisfied with my "inexpensive" purchase.

By this time we had had enough of Huber's and the jam-packed crowds that were lurking around. So we decided it was time to head home. We had remembered a little roadside pumpkin stand in the parking lot of a Christian church on our way to the farm. The pumpkins were beautiful, and very reasonable. (The reason we did not get pumpkins at Huber's? You have to pay by weight)

We stopped at the little stand and were warmly greeted by the "pumpkin people" there. They had every size of pumpkin you could think of. The huge ones were only $5, followed by step-down sizes and prices. We ended up purchasing a medium-sized one for $2, two small ones (a little smaller than a volleyball) for $1 each, and three "baby pumpkins" or gourds for $1. Thank you again, Lord, for providing inexpensive pumpkins for us to enjoy. These pumpkins are beautiful!! I put the big one outside, the two smaller ones inside for decoration, and the three baby ones on the kitchen table.

Despite our bitterness about paying $34 for a not-so-great lunch, the caramel apple and pumpkins made up for it. However, I do think it will be a while before we go back. Until then, please enjoy these pictures my wonderful husband took! :)







2 comments:

Leah's Kitchen said...

Sounds like a great day together! Sorry about the spendy meal though. Glad you were able to enjoy a yummy caramel apple!

Thanks for joining LRE. I'll be watching for some yummy recipes from you.

And now I'm off to browse through some of your archived posts...

Melissa said...

Note to self...make a reservation for Hubers. Delicious food but I can see how the buffet wouldn't be that great. Also- the BEST caramel apple I ever had- caramel with colored sprinkles!! DELICIOUS!! Miss ya!