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Food Blogger vs. Fat: Week 23

Week 23 of my journey to better health included the biggest roadblock so far: the Taste of Hamburg-er Festival. Would my splurging on gourmet burgers derail my plan? Read on for this week’s update.

The Successes

Once again this week, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for outdoor activity but I found ways to get my exercise.

Julie and I snuck in a short walk on Monday evening. Afterward, I spent 45 minutes trimming shrubs.

Tuesday and Wednesday I went 0-2 on exercise, but I still managed to hit my calorie goal. Thursday, on the other hand, was more interesting.

Part of my real job, in addition to the digital marketing that I do on a day-to-day basis, has been to serve as the best friend of Monty the Fox, the official tourism ambassador of Montgomery County.

On Thursday, I spent the day with Monty for a photo shoot. We explored the towns of Narberth and Ambler, riding SEPTA’s regional rail system between the two towns. I estimated we walked for three hours, stopping to pose for pictures at various businesses along the way.

That was fine with me as it allowed me enough extra calories to enjoy a peach shortcake for dessert Thursday night.

I spent two hours on Friday cleaning up rooms of our house, then walked for an hour on Saturday (see more on that below) and 25 minutes more on Sunday.

The Challenges

Saturday marked our annual pilgrimage to the Taste of Hamburg-er Festival. It’s probably the least diet-friendly event that we attend every year.

burger topped with cheese and chorizo
Nothing like a chorizo burger to derail a diet.

But from a calorie standpoint, my estimate is about 1,500 calories eaten during lunch. I bookended that with cereal for breakfast and dinner (and walking around the festival has to count for something) so it ended up being an OK day.

Friday was actually the worse day for net calories, as I came in more than 200 over my limit.

burger, fries and drink sit on a picnic table at Boehringer's Drive-In
My first and only trip to Boehringer’s this season – I had to make it worthwhile.

It was a rare weekday off and Julie convinced me to go to Boehringer’s for lunch. OK, so it didn’t take much convincing as it was my only visit of the summer to the Adamstown restaurant.

I had a hamburger, fries and a milkshake, not exactly the healthiest choice at an estimated 1,300 calories.

wedge salad topped with bacon and tomato
I ordered a salad. Intentionally. That’s called progress.

We followed that up with dinner at Mangia where I actually made surprisingly restrained decisions, opting to share a 10-inch pizza with Julie with a wedge salad to go with. Lose It estimated the meal at 800 calories for a total of nearly 2,500 calroies going in.

The Results

Current Weight: 164.2
Weekly Weight Loss: 0.0
Total Weight Loss: -25.2

A good beginning to the week followed by a not-so-good close to the week turned into a wash. I honestly believe that if the week had played out in reverse, I would have seen some better results.

The Week Ahead

As I write this, Labor Day has already passed and those calories will be reflected in next week’s update. I think I did well, but the scale on Monday will tell the tale.

It’s also been a rainy start to the week, but the sun looks like it’s going to be here to stay for a while so I will be looking to get outside and burn some calories between now and weigh-in day.

See the full Food Blogger vs. Fat journey here

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Taste of Hamburg-er Festival 2017

On a rainy Labor Day weekend, the 14th Annual Taste of Hamburg-er Festival took over the streets of Hamburg, Pennsylvania.

Berks County Eats braved the weather and enjoyed some of the unique burger creations that you will only find at the festival. Here’s a look back at our afternoon in Hamburg.

Driven by Food

Black banner with white letters that read "Driven by food International Street Food"

I had not heard of Driven by Food until I saw the name on the festival website. But as soon as I saw that they were serving a chorizo burger, I knew the caterer would be my first spot.

The line wasn’t long, but the burgers were made to order so it was a good 10-minute wait until my name was called and my burger appeared in the window.

black erasable menu board with purple lights on the outside advertising a chorizo burger, PBJ burger and skirted taco burger

Chipotle mayo, cheddar jack cheese and a poblano pepper were piled atop a chorizo sausage patty.

The chorizo held its shape on the bun, but unlike a ground beef patty, this was melt-in-your-mouth. Chorizo itself has so much flavor that it made a perfect burger base.

burger topped with cheese and chorizo

While the poblano pepper served more as a garnish, the chipotle mayo added a zing to the dish. It wasn’t spicy, per se, but it was flavorful and tied all of the ingredients together.

Overall, it was an outstanding burger that I was glad I tried.

The Perk-Up Truck

Hand holding up a smoothie in front of a food truck with the name "The Perk Up Truck"

Sometimes, you just want dessert first. The Perk-Up truck is Julie’s favorite food truck. Anytime she sees it, she has to have a smoothie.

With the Perk-Up Truck parked just a few stands away from Driven by Food, she just had to stop.

A peaches and cream smoothie was her choice on the day. It was rich, sweet and creamy, everything that you could hope for from a smoothie.

It was also filling, and helped calm Julie’s hunger until we found the burger she was looking for.

Scott’s Gyro Box

white food truck with the name "Scott's Gyro Box"

I knew that I wanted to try one more burger before I left. It came down to two choices: a gyro burger from Scott’s Gyro Box or a shepherd’s pie burger from the Hamburg Diner.

Both were on the same block as Driven by Food. In the end, the long line for the diner was the deciding factor for me choosing Scott’s.

selfie of a man holding a gyro and a woman holding a smoothie

I was going to get a gyro burger, but the tropi-terranean burger piqued my interest. Similar to the gyro burger, it was served on a pita and featured feta cheese, tzatziki sauce and lettuce (the Mediterranean) with the addition of pineapple (the tropical).

To make it worthy of a burger festival, sliced hamburger patties replaced gyro meat as the dish’s protein. This change didn’t result in much change in flavor as it was still very clearly a gyro. The biggest difference was made by the pineapple which added a bright, sweet flavor that worked surprisingly well with the more traditional ingredients.

It was a good second act, but didn’t quite match up to the chorizo burger.

Salem E.C. Church

burger topped with onion straws, bacon and cheese

Proudly proclaiming that its burgers are the most heavenly at the event, Salem E.C. Church is a multi-time award winner – again this year it was judged best burger for a local organization.

After hearing about it every year, Julie decided that this was the year to try it.

woman taking first bite of a burger

The Heavenly Hog burger is topped with bacon, French fried onions, balsamic vinegar and Italian cheeses, but what makes it unique is the blend of beef and pork in the patty.

It gave the burger a different flavor, almost making it sausage-like, but not as flavorful as the chorizo. The toppings were overloaded and fell out of the bun, but what remained were good. After experiencing the other flavors, the balsamic hits. It’s a lingering taste that evokes a love or hate reaction.

It’s a good burger that aspires to be great, but for us, it didn’t quite live up to the hype.

Winners

While we tried three burgers on the day, judges chose winners in multiple categories and fans picked one winner for the People’s Choice award. Here is a full list of the day’s best burger winners:

People’s Choice
Deitsch Eck
Lenhartsville

Best Restaurant
Bull & Bear
Allentown

Best Organization
Salem E.C. Church
Lenhartsville

Best Mobile Food Truck
Uncle Paul’s Stuffed Pretzels
Hamburg

Best First Time Vendor
Video Burger
West Lawn

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Food Blogger vs. Fat: Week 22

It’s week 22 and I have already lost the weight of a small dog. No joke. Read on for the latest update in my journey to better health.

The Successes

It was a good week as far as exercise. I recorded an hour of walking on Tuesday during an event at work, then added lunch walks on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Then Sunday I finally had a chance to get my discs out and hit the course.

The plan was a stop at the Laurelain Park, my go-to for disc golfing, but there was an event happening so we had to turn around and go with plan b.

sign that reads "Angelica Park Disc Golf Course" with a map
Not a bad Plan B

Plan B was Angelica Park. Located on the campus of Alvernia University, the Angelica Park disc golf course is a nine-hole course that I hadn’t visited in two years. It was actually the first course that I ever played, and one that I have always enjoyed, but road closures during the construction of the new nature center made it more of a hassle to get to the course, and Laurelain was just easier.

man launching a yellow disc on a disc golf course
This looks like a wide open tee shot. It’s not. The basket is 374 feet away, down a hill guarded by a small forest.

It really is a beautiful course, a little more wooded than Laurelain with some challenging tee shots toward well-guarded baskets.

man swinging his arm back to throw a yellow disc on a tee of a disc golf course
The most difficult hole on the course, #6 is guarded by trees on both sides with a narrow fairway.

In other words, I wasn’t very good, and I hit a lot of trees. There were a few lucky shots thrown in, but for the most part, it was a struggle.

man swinging his arm forward to throw a yellow disc on a disc golf course
Look at that form!

Still, it was good to get out on the course again after weeks of wet weather kept me away.

The Challenges

Friday was a tough day as we joined Julie’s parents, aunt and uncle at Mangia. It’s a favorite spot for our family dinners, and I’m usually pretty good about portion control and taking food home with me.

Not this week.

plate of rigatoni topped with fried eggplant and red sauce
Eggplant is healthy, until it’s fried and served with two servings of pasta.

I had the rigatoni melanzane with eggplant in tomato sauce. I liked the texture and flavor that the eggplant brought to the dish. And eggplant is good for you. Unless it’s fried and accompanied by two portions of pasta. I had already eaten a slice of garlic bread and a salad that I overloaded with dressing.

It was an estimated 1,100 calories that left me over my limit for the day.

A strawberry-orange smoothie bowl with almond milk and sliced almonds.
Smoothies for breakfast? Why not?

Saturday was also tricky as Julie and I dined out for all three meals, plus dessert. We visited The Green Bean Cafe in the morning, then visited the Farmers Market of Wyomissing for their pig roast at lunchtime.

plate with a flatbread sandwich and a cup of bean and corn salad
That black bean salad – amazing.

Dinner included a trip to Isaac’s Deli. I had to restrain myself and only finish half of my flatbread sandwich because I had already promised Julie we would go to YoGo Crazy for an after dinner treat.

Thankfully, frozen yogurt is actually very reasonable in calories, and because it gets weighed, I know exactly how much is in it.

Amazingly, I managed to escape the day under my 1,930 calorie daily limit.

The Results

Current Weight: 164.2
Weekly Weight Loss: -1.0
Total Weight Loss: -25.2

I have now officially lost the weight of a corgi. At least that’s what my Lose It! app told me.

screenshot from the Lose It app depicting a Corgi with a sign around its neck that reads "25 pounds down"

I had no ideas that corgis were that heavy, but I’ll take it. Twenty-five pounds is a milestone that I am happy to have crossed, and I am getting closer to my goal weight of 160 pounds.

The Week Ahead

half of a hamburger topped with pesto, tomato and cheese
It’s creative items like the Taste of Italy Burger from Dawn’s Deli that keeps me coming back to the Taste of Hamburg-er Festival every year.

This highlight of the week ahead is Saturday’s Taste of Hamburg-er Festival, one of my absolute favorite events of the year. I am going to eat way too many calories, and I am ok with that.

See the full Food Blogger vs. Fat journey here

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Julie's blueberry-banana smoothie bowl with almond milk and granola.
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The Green Bean Cafe – CLOSED

The Green Bean Cafe Wyomissing

Editor’s Note: The Green Bean Cafe is closed. The space has had multiple tenants since, but is empty as of December 2025.

I always get excited when a new restaurant opens up, but the Green Bean Cafe was a different level of excitement for me.

It’s not just that Berks County would be getting an all-organic cafe, but that the all-organic cafe would be just blocks away from my house.

Having walked past the Park Road strip mall that now houses the cafe (the same one where you will find Mikura Asian Bistro and Nino’s Italian Restaurant), we had peeked in at the renovations and watched as the mural came to life behind the counter.

Inside the Green Bean Cafe in Wyomissing, PA.

So we decided to make the short walk to the cafe for Saturday morning breakfast during its opening week.

It was a little before 9 a.m. when we arrived, and there was only one other customer – a lone woman seated at one of four tables on the sidewalk in front of the building.

Animated vegetables adorn the walls of the bathrooms at the Green Bean Cafe

We walked in and picked up a menu, browsing the list of breakfast bruschetta power toast – five different choices including the “Stress Buster” (hazelnut spread with bananas and coconut flakes) and the “Tummy Tower” (avocado, black pepper, sea salt and housemade hummus).

The owner, who was behind the counter to take our order, told us that it had been a good first week, but that lunch was definitely more popular than breakfast.

Lunch options at the cafe include salads, paninis and vegetable noodle dishes – spiralized sweet potato, butternut squash or zucchini roasted with olive oil, sea salt and pepper (additional proteins optional).

The dining area of the Green Bean Cafe

The cafe also offers waffles, egg sandwiches, and a dish called the sweet potato nest: sweet potato noodles filled with an egg, accompanied by sliced tomato, avocado and toast.

But both Julie and I were looking for a sweeter morning so we decided to create our own smoothie bowls.

Green Bean’s smoothie bowls are completely customizable with your choice of base – vanilla yogurt, milk, coconut milk or almond milk), fruit, vegetables, sweeteners (almond butter, peanut butter, honey or sugar) and toppings (like chia seeds, granola or coconut flakes).

A strawberry-orange smoothie bowl with almond milk and sliced almonds.

My bowl consisted of an almond milk base with strawberries and oranges. It was sweetened with honey and topped with sliced almonds.

While it is essentially a smoothie, it is served in a bowl like a chilled soup. It took about 10 minutes for our bowls to be delivered to the table, and they certainly looked every bit as appetizing as they sounded.

The strawberries gave my smoothie its distinct red speckled coloring, but the oranges definitely shone through in the flavor. There was just enough honey to add another layer of sweetness.

While the almonds were listed as a topping, many of them had sank into the smoothie so every bite also had a nutty crunch. The almonds also helped make it more hearty, adding healthful fats that were also filling.

Julie's blueberry-banana smoothie bowl with almond milk and granola.

Julie’s bowl, like mine, started with almond milk. But that’s where the similarities ended. she added blueberries and bananas as her fruits, a little almond butter to thicken it, and topped it off with granola.

The blueberries were front and center, but you could taste all of the ingredients – the bananas and the almond butter both came through. Like the almonds in my dish, the granola added some needed crunch to the dish.

Looking at our two bowls next to each other, Julie felt like I had a little bit more. And she unfortunately was still a little hungry at the end so she grabbed a muffin to go.

Julie taking her gluten free muffin to go.

The gluten free muffins, ironically enough, were also blueberry and banana flavored. They weren’t very large, but it was a needed addition to fill her up until lunch.

With the muffin added on (plus a bottle of water to drink), we spent a total of $25. Organic is not cheap, and the smoothie bowls at $9.95 each were actually among the most expensive items on the menu, breakfast or lunch.

Being so close to the cafe, Julie and I both agreed that we would go back, but we would definitely order differently. If we ordered the smoothie bowls, we would also get one of the power toasts or waffles to split. It would be a little more expensive, but it would be more filling. Or we would each get our own toast and split the smoothie bowl.

Either way, we will be back. It’s too close not to give it another try.

The Green Bean Cafe
840 N. Park Rd
Wyomissing, PA 19610

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Food Blogger vs. Fat: Week 21

The 21st week of my journey to better health is in the books, and things are still looking good as I inch closer and closer to my goals. Here’s a look at how I did it.

The Successes

It was another relatively uneventful week for me. Walking and working have been my go-tos for a couple weeks now, but they seem to be working. Here’s a look at this week’s small victories:

  • Monday: 15 Minutes of Walking
  • Tuesday: 60 Minutes of Walking
  • Wednesday: 25 Minutes of Walking & 75 Minutes of Lawn Mowing

Lighter meals have helped, too. On Monday, Julie and I enjoyed stuffed peppers from Fisher’s Poultry at the Pennsylvania Dutch Farmers Market of Wyomissing (approximately 650 calories).

Cheese steak and Dutch fries from the Kutztown Fair.
Dutch fries are a must every year at the Kutztown Fair.

Tuesday night we visited the Kutztown Fair and despite eating a chicken cheese steak, a taco and half an order of Dutch fries, I was still 260 calories under my limit.

Friday’s stuffed zucchini (with sage sausage) dinner came in around 600 calories and Sunday’s pulled pork sandwiches with mashed cauliflower were just 435 calories.

And these were filling meals, and I never left the table hungry.

The Challenges

While the week started well for me, it ended without me recording any exercises after Wednesday. However, I watched my food intake so I only had one bad day and one borderline day.

screenshot from the Lose It app showing 296 Calories over budget
Not the best day of my diet.

My worst day was Saturday, normally a win for me because I have more opportunity for exercise. The day started at a breakfast with some of my church friends at Wegman’s Reeser Restaurant on Route 61.

Anything flour packs on the calories so I was quickly down 600 before my day even began. I then spent the morning shopping, adding on a hamburger barbecue sandwich for lunch.

Ragu alla bolognese from Cosa Pizzeria
My first meal at the new Cosa Pizzeria: ragu alla bolognese.

For dinner, Julie and I made our first trip to Cosa Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant. I’ll be reviewing the meal in the coming weeks, but let’s just say that I don’t recommend an Italian dinner for anyone on a diet (at least if you’ve already had pancakes).

Thursday was the only other day that I came in over my calorie limit. I didn’t make it out for a walk at lunch and I went right from work to Grandview Speedway for the All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars.

I haven’t made it to nearly as many races this year as I would have liked but I had this one circled on my calendar because of the appearance of future NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. His 14th place finish was disappointing, but it was a great night of racing.

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to go home for a homecooked meal so I had to settle for a mashed potato bowl and half a soft pretzel from Wawa. Still, I was only over my limit by 26 calories, compared to nearly 300 on Saturday.

The Results

Current Weight: 165.2
Weekly Weight Loss: -1.0
Total Weight Loss: 24.2

It’s amazing to me just how accurate the Lose It! app is when it comes to calculating weight loss. I was just a few hundred calories under for the week, and I lost exactly one pound for the second week in a row.

The Week Ahead

Once again there is nothing out of the ordinary planned for this coming week. But the grass is dry and I’ve got two new discs so I think some disc golf courses will be calling my name.

See the full Food Blogger vs. Fat journey here

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exterior of a large stone farmhouse known as the Indian Fort inn
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Review: Indian Fort Inn – CLOSED

exterior of a large stone farmhouse known as the Indian Fort inn

Editor’s Note: The Indian Fort Inn closed in 2019. The location is now home to Rico Casa.

Most weeks on Berks County Eats, you’ll read about the culinary adventures of my wife (Julie) and I. But from time-to-time, other family members and friends will make cameo appearances, depending on the occasion and location.

Recently, I got together with my brother Matt, his wife Lauren and my friend Dennis for a night out in the Hamburg area.

We made the short drive west of town along Old Route 22 to the Indian Fort Inn.

Dennis and I had never visited before, but my brother and Lauren had been there often as my brother shot pool in the bar room regularly.

American flag hangs behind a wooden bench at the Indian Fort Inn in Hamburg, PA

In just a few years, he said, the restaurant had been greatly improved. The food had always been good, but the dining room was always empty while everyone was in the bar.

Outside, it looks like a large stone house with a giant parking lot. There’s a patio out front that looked jam-packed during our visit. Inside, the wood walls, wooden tables and chairs, and dim lighting give the feel of an upgraded hunting cabin.

The meal did not start out well. First, they were out of the meal I really wanted to try: the German lasagna (which was made up of kielbasa, sauerkraut and other German favorites in a mushroom cream sauce).

Then, the salad was a swing-and-a-miss. I was the only person at the table to order an entree and the only person to get a starter salad.

white plate with a basic green salad

It arrived quick enough, but without the salad dressing. Our waiter disappeared into the back before I realized the mistake so I had wait patiently for him to return to the dining room to wait on our neighboring table to flag him down, then wait for him to reemerge with my cup of ranch dressing.  He may or may not have brought me blue cheese instead.

Otherwise, the salad was unremarkable, standard greens with cherry tomatoes and croutons.

I was already in a slightly sour mood because I couldn’t try the German lasagna; this wasn’t helping things. For my entree, I settled on the Jagerschntizel.

Lucky for me, it redeemed the meal.

plate of schnitzel topped with gravy

The jagerschnitzel was a weekend special and included two deep fried pork cutlets smothered in mushroom gravy.

It was excellent. The cutlets were fried to a perfect golden brown that peeked out ever so slightly from beneath the mushroom cream sauce. The breading was fantastic and amplified the flavor of the pork. The cream sauce was very good as well, making the dish go down easily.

On the side were “Saratoga chips” and mixed vegetables. Real Saratoga chips are basically potato chips served warm (think Dutch fries, for anyone who visits the Kutztown Fairgrounds), but these were thick cut potato cubes, deep-fried and salted. I have zero complaints about them,  but they weren’t anything noteworthy.

burger with the top bun off to show the bacon and bleu cheese toppings

To my right, Dennis was enjoying his bacon and bleu cheese burger. It was topped with a roasted red pepper aioli that he thought played well with the bleu cheese crumble. Overall, he found it to be a very good burger.

chicken sandwich in a black basket with a cup of coleslaw

To my left, my brother was digging into to a chicken sandwich with melted cheddar and bacon. Instead of a sliced cheddar, it was a blend of shredded cheddar. It was a good sandwich, but I know my brother’s favorite thing on his plate was the coleslaw (and I would have to agree, it was a well-made slaw, though I would have a hard time picking out exactly what made it better than most).

While my Saratoga chips were okay, the French fries were exceptional. Both Dennis and Matt ordered a side of fries with their sandwiches. The side of fries was a full basket, one that Julie and I would have needed to split had we been out for a dinner-for-two.

basket of french fries

The fries were the fresh-cut style with skins still on the edges, and they were cooked perfectly. I got to try one or two of my brother’s fries. Otherwise, he took down the whole basket himself (Dennis left just a few in the bottom of his).

fries loaded with cheese and toppings

Lauren ordered a plate of loaded fries and made it her meal. It was your typical baked potato toppings – bacon, sour cream, chives. Her plate was even larger so she couldn’t finish all of hers, but she did enjoy them.

Our server was kind enough to split the checks for us. I spent about $16 for my meal and glass of iced tea. Most of the dinners were around the same price with some of the steak offerings reaching the low-to-mid-$20 range.

It was a good meal made better by good friends and conversation. And The Fort just seemed like the right place for that.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Good
Price: Reasonable

Indian Fort Inn
1343 Hex Highway
Hamburg, PA 19526

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Food Blogger vs. Fat: Week 20

It’s hard to believe that this is my 20th update on my journey to better health. But here we are, 20 weeks and 22 pounds later. Make that 23 pounds later. Check out the update below for details on how I did it:

The Successes

Sometimes you’re a home run hitter, sometimes you bat for average. This week was all about hitting for average for me. No 22-mile bike rides. No golf outings. It was a week of small victories:

  • Tuesday: 20 minute walk at lunch
  • Wednesday: 35 minute walk at lunch
  • Thursday: 20 minute walk at lunch and mowing the lawn
  • Friday: 17 minute walk at lunch
  • Saturday: 1 hour of walking
  • Sunday: 1 hour of walking

That’s about 3:30 of walking for the week, my best by far in several weeks. A combination of unseasonably cool weather and dry afternoons made it a productive week.

The Challenges

You’ll notice on the successes above that I didn’t mention Monday. Not only was Monday a washout for my afternoon walks, it was also my highest calorie intake of the week. That came thanks to a visit to Plum Creek Farm Market.

The small farmers market along Route 183 between Bernville and Reading has a wide selection of fruits and vegetables, homemade baked goods and other local products. But we skipped all that and went for the ice cream in celebration of my brother’s 30th birthday.

man taking a selfie with a cone of soft serve ice cream being photobombed by a woman in the background
Julie decided to photo bomb my ice cream selfie. Definitely improved the photo.

I ordered a medium cone of their peach soft serve, made with fresh peaches and not a flavoring mix. The fresh fruit made all the difference between a nice treat and an exceptional dessert. Every bite was loaded with peaches. I had to eat it a lot faster than I normally would though because it was not nearly as sturdy as an all-cream cone.

A small slice of peach pie on Wednesday wasn’t enough to ruin my two-mile lunch walk. Similarly, my chocolate chip cookie on Thursday was 80 less calories than I spent mowing the lawn.

man holding a cardboard cup of fries that is designed to look like a rolled up newspaper
I’m not ashamed of my all-French fry lunch on Saturday.

Even Saturday, my trip to the West Reading French Fry Festival and a heavy dinner at the Indian Fort Inn (review coming soon) balanced out with the walking and my lack of snacking.

Dry-aged ribeye from Willoughby's on Park
Like any good food blogger, I celebrated my anniversary with steak.

Sunday was the sixth wedding anniversary for Julie and I, and we celebrated with a trip to Willoughby’s on Park. I won’t give away everything before the review comes later this month, but my steak dinner and carrot cake for dessert was an estimated 1,400 calories (I couldn’t resist the carrot cake).

The Results

Current Weight: 166.2
Weekly Weight Loss: -1.0
Total Weight Loss: -23.2

Right on schedule this week. I believe this is the first time since I started that I lost exactly one pound, which was my weekly weight loss goal. I’m happy with the results; I just hope that we don’t put another “0” on the board next time.

The Week Ahead

This week will mark my annual pilgrimage to the Kutztown Fair, a yearly favorite of mine because I get to watch some dirt track racing, check out the exhibits, watch Julie’s face light up when she sees the sheep, and, oh yeah, eat some Dutch Fries.

Dutch Fries – any fried potatoes, really – can be diet killers. The calories add up fast so hopefully I can make smart decisions the rest of the week to overcome.

See the full Food Blogger vs. Fat journey here

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Photo of a paper boat filled with French fries topped with creamy cheese, strawberries and herbs.
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West Reading French Fry Festival 2017

festival goers crowd the street with tents and food trucks on either side

The second annual West Reading French Fry Festival was held on August 12, and Berks County Eats was there to taste test some unique takes on the traditional French fry.

This was our first time attending the festival after missing last year’s event. I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into, but I knew enough that Julie and I needed to get there early to avoid the crowds.

So we were there right at 12 noon when the festival opened — some of the restaurants were still getting ready when we walked past the barricade on South Sixth Avenue.

More than a dozen restaurants, food trucks and vendors were in attendance, including eight from West Reading, and that made the decision of where to eat even tougher.

Some of the offerings were very familiar to us.

two cups - one with French fries, the other with French fries topped with bacon and cheese

Philly Fry brought one of its two food trucks to the festival. Just two months ago, Julie and I got to taste their hearty French fry creations at The Truck Stops Here food truck festival at the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles.

The Gourmand Food Truck at West Reading Farmers Market

Gourmand, a more local food truck, was also there serving their signature truffle goat cheese fries. These have become favorites of us, and our first taste of them came just a few years ago at the West Reading Farmers Market.

Other restaurants in attendance included Nonno Alby’s, which was still preparing the chili for its chili cheese fries when we arrived; Go Fish!, who had fries with crabmeat; and Relish, the West Reading hot dog restaurant, was offering a hot dog topped with yucca fries and avocado aioli.

Unfortunately, they were still waiting for a power hookup for their deep fryer when we arrived, though plain hot dogs were still available.

Sign reading "West Reading Tavern Duck Fat Fries $8.00"

Julie and I walked up and down the block several times before finally deciding what to get. I went for the West Reading Tavern and their duck fat fries.

As the name implies, the potatoes were deep-fried in duck fat oil, giving them a much richer flavor than a traditional vegetable oil fry. The thicker cut fries were served with choice of aioli: malt vinegar or garlic. I, of course, went for garlic.

It was the right decision. the aioli was both cooling and kicking at the same time. It wasn’t a hot spicy, but it definitely had bite to it. Mixed with the heavy fry, it was a delicious dish.

man eating fries out of a cardboard cup made to look like an old rolled up newspaper

Best of all, it was served in a to-go cup with a handy compartment for my aioli so I could eat and walk without worry.

Julie’s choice was among the most creative dishes in the entire festival – the strawberry fries from Say Cheese.

sign reading "Say Cheese Strawberry fries $5 spicy bbq fries $6"

These were fresh-cut style fries topped with provel cheese sauce, basil crystals and fresh strawberries, all finished with a balsamic drizzle.

It was a perfect execution of a sweet and savory dish. Provel cheese isn’t as exotic as it sounds, actually coming not from the far reaches of Europe, but St. Louis. It’s a mixture of cheddar, Swiss and provolone that combine into a completely unique cheese.

fries topped with bechemel cheese and strawberries

In this sauce, it was a perfectly creamy topping that mixed well with the fruit to create a faux strawberries-and-cream feel. The balsamic added hits of intense flavor to every bite. All of that combined with some excellent fries made it a satisfying dish all around.

We had a great time tasting some of the best French fries in Berks County, but it wasn’t easy. The space was very tight. Some restaurants were sharing tents, and with vendors lining both sides of the street, lines were running into each other, making it nearly impossible to walk around.

And we were there early so I am sure it was only made worse when more people were standing in more lines.

The event definitely has potential to be a signature event for the region in years to come, but it has already outgrown Sixth Avenue. Hopefully next year, we continue to see it grow with more restaurants offering more dishes in a more spacious area.

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Food Blogger vs. Fat: Week 19

Welcome to my 19th weekly update. Highlights include an extended bike ride on the Perkiomen Trail and a taste of the best lasagna in Berks County.

The Successes

Unlike most weeks where it was all about my weekend, my peak this time was on Wednesday.

Preparing for a blog on ValleyForge.org, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and drove to Green Lane Park in the northwest corner of Montgomery County. The goal: ride 22 miles from Green Lane to Valley Forge National Historical Park.

The Perkiomen Trail crosses through Collegeville.
The Perkiomen Trail crosses through Collegeville.

The two parks are connected by the Perkiomen Trail, which travels 20 miles along the Perkiomen Creek (the final leg of my journey carried me along the Schuylkill River Trail).

My total ride time was 2:07:36, that included an extra two miles from the park to the gym (for a shower) and then to my office.

trail sign reading "12% grade head - 1/4 mile"
12% grades are no fun. No. Fun.

On a ride that carried me up Spring Mountain, down through Collegeville and on to Valley Forge, I burned around 1,100 calories.

My adventure will become a two-part blog. You can read part one at ValleyForge.org/blog.

shrubs in the foreground with a building in the background with red awning and white letters that reads "Visitor Center at Valley Forge"
My destination: the Valley Forge Visitors Center.

I did eat more that day than usual (it was necessary), but I still managed to finish the day nearly 500 calories under budget.

Unfortunately for me, the rest of my week wasn’t nearly as productive. I recorded a 25-minute walk on Monday and a similar walk on Friday.

screenshot of Endomondo showing a 24 mile bike ride
Not bad for a day’s work.

Saturday and Sunday were spent house cleaning. I burned roughly 500 calories between the two days (and succeeded in my mission of reorganizing our laundry room – a.k.a. our storage area for things we don’t know what to do with).

The Challenges

Monday was a not-so-good day for me for snacking as I ate more than 500 calories worth of nonessentials – one Graze snack, a pair of Oreo cookies and a handful of Cheez-Its.

As I mentioned earlier, many calories were consumed Wednesday. To refuel after my ride, I had lunch at Elevation Burger in Collegeville, including a delicious mango milkshake. With my chicken sandwich and fries, it was a 1,300-calorie lunch.

We had pizza for dinner on Thursday night, enjoying a pie from Nonno Alby’s while we listened to the Ringgold Band perform at the Stone House in Wyomissing.

two disposable plates with lasagna topped with red sauce
Bad day for my diet, good day for my stomach. St. Marco’s lasagna is the best.

But the worst day for my diet was Sunday. We visited the annual St. Marco Italian Food Festival for lunch, where Julie and I each enjoyed a slice of lasagna. I look forward to the festival every year because it is the best lasagna I have ever eaten. But it is anything but light. Twelve layers of pasta loaded with meat, cheese and sauce isn’t exactly healthful. My dinner of stuffed chicken breast didn’t help matters (stuffing packs on calories pretty quick).

The result was 300 calories over budget for the day, about 500 under for the week.

The Results

Current Weight: 167.2
Weekly Weight Loss: 0.0
Total Weight Loss: -22.2 lbs.

I’m not thrilled with the lack of results this week, but I can’t be too upset after dropping nearly three pounds over the previous two weeks.

The Week Ahead

No bike rides planned for this week. That can all change, but right now it looks like it’s going to be walks and housework.

Of course, those can burn up calories quickly. And with the added motivation of a flat week, I’m going to do whatever it takes to move the needle over the next seven days.

See the full Food Blogger vs. Fat journey here

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Stonersville Hotel – CLOSED

outside of a large old two-story farmhouse with red roof and the words "Stonersville Hotel" on the front of the building

Editor’s Note: The Stonersville Hotel is now closed. New owners are looking to open a B&B on the property and are also seeking a restaurant to operate in the dining room. The space is currently used for pop-up events.

If you follow my blog every week, you may remember reading in last week’s blog about visiting Intel’s Pennside Drive-In as a back-up plan.

Last week’s Plan A was the Stonersville Hotel, but after making the drive along Route 562 in Exeter Township, we had to keep moving because the entire parking lot was filled. And being in Stonersville, a village of a few dozen, there isn’t exactly an abundance of places to park.

So this week we went early, arriving around 5 p.m. for dinner in order to beat the crowd and get a seat.

wooden table with matching chairs beneath a chandelier in a dining area of Stonersville Hotel

The building may look big from the outside, but the restaurant takes up just two rooms – one for the bar, and one for the cozy dining room and its 12 tables.

A full parking lot is probably a good indicator that those tables are full.

The walls of the dining room were covered in original paintings, antique dinnerware and photographs. Above the doorway to the bar is a wooden, handmade Stonersville Hotel sign.

With a historic restaurant, diners expect old-fashioned comfort food. Stonersville’s menu is much more than that, though. Sure, there’s a variety of steaks and seafood options, but there’s also flatbread pizzas (including an intriguing lemon pizza), crab quesadilla, wings and wraps.

small plate with lettuce and club crackers from Stonersville Hotel

Our waitress tried to talk us into one of the restaurant’s never-frozen appetizers, like hot crab dip, breaded zucchini or fresh bruschetta. We saw an order of the bruschetta arrive at a nearby table – it looked tempting but was way too much to be split by two people.

Instead, we each started our meals with an order of soup. I went with the baked tomato and mushroom soup, one of two that are available daily on the menu.

crock of tomato soup topped with melted mozzarella from Stonersville Hotel

The soup came topped with mozzarella cheese and was served in a crock ala French onion soup. It was a hearty and creamy soup with a few mushrooms – not enough to get them in every bite, but enough to get the flavor.

I thought it was excellent, one of the better and more original tomato soups that I have tried. The mozzarella was what really put it over the top for me. Tomato and mozzarella are such a superb combination, and especially so in this.

cup of peach and ginger soup from Stonersville Hotel

Julie’s soup came off the weekend specials. It was a peach and ginger gazpacho topped with slivered almonds. Chilled soups are always among our favorites – it’s like eating dessert first. The “soup” was smoother than a smoothie or milkshake, but just as sweet. And the hint of ginger was just enough to add flavor without taking over the whole dish. It was a pleasant surprise to find something like this at an old country inn.

For my entree, I went with some old-school comfort food and the shepherd’s pie.

boat of shepherd's pie with a heap of mashed potatoes on top from Stonersville Hotel

When it arrived – and it arrived quick, just five minutes after our soup – it was already clear that some of it was going home in a box. The large casserole dish was packed with ground beef, corn, carrots and peas, and the whole thing was topped with a mountain of mashed potatoes.

The meat and vegetable mix was thickened with just a hint of gravy. I thought there was just the right amount of gravy to keep everything together without becoming overbearing as it may have been with gravy ladled on top.

As good as it was, I could only finish about two-thirds of it.

Just as I had too much food for one meal, Julie also couldn’t finish off her shrimp and crab pasta.

Served in a pesto cream sauce, the dish was one of three pasta choices on the menu. The crab was shredded up in the sauce and tossed with the spaghetti with a half-dozen shrimp on top.

The sauce was extremely rich, but enjoyable. It was one of the more expensive items on the menu, but Julie thought it was well-worth the splurge.

With us each having to take a box home with us, there was just no room left for dessert. It’s a good thing we weren’t looking forward to dessert, too, because our waitress told us that the only options were ice cream and a chocolate peanut butter cake.

In fact, there were also multiple menu items that were not available either because our timing was poor. The Stonersville Hotel is going to be closed between now and August 16 for vacation.

So instead of dessert, we paid our $45 bill and headed home, full and very satisfied having finally paid our first visit to Stonersville.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Price: Reasonable

Stonersville Hotel
5701 Boyertown Pk
Birdsboro, PA 19508

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