went to Sarasota for the Easter weekend.  Along with the requisite trip to El Toro Bravo for Santa Fe style cooking, we also made a couple of new stops – just to scope out the territory.  My parents visited us for Christmas and brought giant cinnamon rolls thickly buried in frosting from Troyer’s Dutch Heritage Bakery.  I hadn’t been there before and we made a brief stop to check out the bakery and gift shop.  It is an Amish style restaurant, one of five or six in the Sarasota area-apparently the winter hotbed of Amish-Mennonite warmth seekers from Lancaster County PA and beyond.  They gave us samples of orange cream pie and provided our Easter dessert of raspberry pie.
We also made a stop at Yoder’s Amish Village to browse their farm stand.  I was impressed by the variety and price points.  They had everything from Florida sweet onions to fresh chick peas still in their shells alongside Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer. jellies and local honey.
We didn’t see any horses and buggies but there are a lot of ladies in plain clothes with the white small bonnets associated with the sect shopping in local stores.