Seen Through A Glass

The time crunch has arrived.   I've been warning you that I may need to take a break to fit everything in; it's a jam-packed summer for me. I'm trying to get a new whiskey book done on a very short deadline, and my son Tom is getting married at the end of August, and we've got a wedding shower in Philly this weekend.  It's here, that moment when it's all finally too much...but only by a bit. So I'...

Remember how I said it was mostly about food and drink?  This episode is about the amazing outdoor recreation opportunities in central Pennsylvania. I talked to a guy who's arguably one of the foremost experts on the topic, who's also done a lot of work on outdoor recreation in the American West, and in New England. And he says that Pennsylvania's wilds and outdoor recreation opportunities are sec...

There's a lot more in Hershey than Chocolate! Hershey is a company town, named for Milton S. Hershey, the chocolate man who built a candy empire, and a thriving town that's one of the top tourist attractions in Pennsylvania...with a 4th grade education. It's an amazing story, but after I've told you that history, and the history of the big HersheyPark amusement park, we're going to leave chocolate...

Destination: The Port of Hollidaysburg! Landlocked Hollidaysburg sits just south of Altoona. The only waterway is the Beaverdam Branch of the Juniata River, maybe 30 feet wide at this point...a port? 190 years ago...yes! Hollidaysburg was a big canal town at the heart of the Pennsylvania Canal system, where everything from the east came to go west, and vice versa. Hollidaysburg was where the canal...

Some Central Pennsylvania Moonshining History for you! Prince Farrington was the man to know in central Pennsylvania during Prohibition. With a network of 30-odd stills in ghost towns, stone donuts, and The Florida Fruit Farm, this North Carolina transplant and his perpetually angry wife Martha ran a business that kept whiskey in the glasses of people in Philly, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and reporte...

Part II of  The Big Valley: Reedsville, and Revival Kitchen! Reedsville sits at the northern, downstream end of the Kish Valley, where the Kishocoquillas Creek runs down through the Mann Narrows to the Juniata. There in Reedsville, tiny Reedsville, is Revival Kitchen , a surprisingly good restaurant that draws customers from as far away as Wilmington, Philadelphia, and New York...to Reedsville?  Y...

Another episode I've been wanting to do: The Big Valley, the Kish Valley! The Big Valley is about 45 minutes southeast of State College, an hour from Harrisburg. It's an idyllic rural paradise of farms, markets, restaurants, and small food producers. And the engine that keeps it running is  Kish Bank , a local family-owned bank that's been in the Valley for over 100 years.  Kish Bank is named for...

This episode is not about central PA...but it does have an excellent interview at a pioneering craft distillery that makes one of my favorite American Single Malt whiskies, and some great beer content, so stick around! Back in October, while I was doing my Midwest tour in support of my new book (American Whiskey Master Class, get your signed copy here! ), I visited  Cedar Ridge Distillery outside...

My grandfather bought a nail file in Kane, PA almost 100 years ago. I still have it...but I'd never been to Kane. Turns out I really should have! Kane, "the star in the forest," is another small central PA town that punches above its weight. There's the iconic Texas Hot Lunch (I interviewed owner Mike Bechakas, and had two of his very, very good Texas Hots), two distilleries, two wineries, a drive...

In 2026, how do you introduce a man who has next to no online presence?  Sam Komlenic (pronounced "kom-LEN-ick") is not unknown. He's arguably the foremost historian of Pennsylvania rye whiskey, and has been quoted a number of times in major publications as such. He's been the copy editor of Whisky Advocate magazine for years, well-known at the magazine's WhiskyFest Chicago event. He's been on the...

How about a nice hot bowl of stew? Stew means a lot to me, and I'll bet most of you like a good bowl of beef stew, or chili, or goulash. Or maybe some ratatouille? How about some good Belgian waterzooi, or a Polish bigos, or a plate of Thai curry?  A bowl of grits and étouffée at the Elk Creek Café set this episode off, which is why I interviewed Elk Creek chef Jon Forshey about what stew is, and...

We return to a place we haven't seen since Episode 1, back when I had no idea what I was doing, in order to do Northumberland and Sunbury the right way.  Northumberland and Sunbury are getting the full treatment they deserve, over three years after I first stumbled through them. History, geography, and of course, a look at some of the more interesting and fun spots in both towns, including Pinekno...

Join me on a journey deep into the reaches of the Coal Patch, following the anthracite trail to...Shamokin! I didn't think I'd do a coal country episode when I started the podcast, but Shamokin kept coming up (mostly because listener Jay Zalewski kept telling me about things in Shamokin), and here we are. But don't worry; Jay was right, this is a town worth a visit.  I interviewed Eric Kuijpers, a...

Holidays are over! Back to normal!  Well, kind of. I'll admit, I was kind of tired after the holidays: eating, drinking, staying up late. traveling, playing games (had a LOT of fun playing The Chameleon , a gift from our friends the Gallups, thanks for that!), and all that holiday stuff. So there's really only one story this time, plus some cooking, and a nice lunch out.  The interview is a good o...

Oh, hey. Hi.  Have a good Christmas? Me too. Got up early, stayed up late, right?  So I'm here with a whole bunch of coffee drinks to get going this morning!   I didn't know what to do for a relaxed post-Christmas episode, and then I remembered this interview with John Mleziva of State Line Distillery . They make a great coffee liqueur, and we talked about that. I knew we'd be just sitting around...

It's the SECOND Smack-Dab Center of the Holidays episode for 2025!   This episode features an interview with Shila Ulrich, the CEO of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank . We talk about the best food and drink all year, but I wanted to helping the people who are focused on simply finding enough to live on. We can help them, and Shila has some advice on how, and why, and who they are. Like me, after...

It's the FIRST Smack-Dab Center of the Holidays episode, a town profile of Mifflinburg!  The holiday episode is about...Mifflinburg? Yes! For a couple reasons, but the biggest one is the  Mifflinburg Christkindl Market , the annual recreation of an authentic German Christmas market on Market Street. Crafts and goods (many handmade, many unique), indulgent foods and drinks for the young and adult,...

Yeah, no real episode. This is just a little talk about what I'm doing on Thanksgiving, and a reminder that this week's episode will drop in TWO DAYS, on Saturday, because of the holiday.  See you then!

Thanksgiving is coming, so here's a food show, and a family Thanksgiving side recipe, and "shop local" holiday advice!  "Wild Food"? That's right, this is the FORAGING episode! I interviewed two foragers, both friends of mine here in Penns Valley: forester Andrea Ferich and my friend and pinochle partner, John Dubosky. They'll tell you about how to find and harvest wild mushrooms, we talk a little...

Finally! A Lancaster County episode, about "America's Coolest Small Town," "Pennsylvania's Best Small Town To Retire In," a place with "a downtown dripping with charm": Lititz, Pennsylvania.  I grew up not far away, and I'm pretty familiar with Lititz. For instance, Josh Kauffman, the brewer I interviewed at  Rooster Street Butcher ? I already knew him, and his parents, and his grandparents...even...

THE WOLFE IS LOOSE!! Erik Wolfe, that is. I sat down with Stoll & Wolfe distillery co-owner/founder/distiller Erik Wolfe a couple weeks ago when we did an American Whiskey Master Class event there. I wanted to get his thoughts on a number of things, and as usual, I had a whole page of questions to ask.  That's not what happened. I asked my opening question, and Erik took off like a rabbit. We...

THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED!! It's something that's bothered me for years: who owns the Original Italian Pizza shops?! They're all over central PA, dozens of them, all pretty similar, but all a little bit different. Thanks to a tip from Shy Bear's Jason Ufema, I got to interview John Pannizzo, the son of the man who started it all.  We get the whole story...and that's all I'm going to say. This is a goo...

Wherein we return to Lewistown and Shy Bear for another interview with podcast inspiration Jason Ufema to get the straight skinny on what's going on with their Hershey satellite operation.  Shy Bear Brewing owner Jason Ufema was only the fourth person I interviewed for the show, and the quality of that interview is a painful memory, so we decided to have a do-over. Seriously, there was stuff we mi...

After three years, we finally have an episode on Pennsylvania wines. I discovered Traminette, a delicious white wine grape, and it was time to press on! Pennsylvania has over 400 wineries! So it's definitely time to talk about them. I responded to this by talking about one grape: Traminette. I talked to George Hazard, co-founder of  Juniata Valley Winery , where they only grow Traminette. We talke...

When your central PA town is too small to get the attention of Wegmans, or Giant, or Weis, it's time for a local hero: the independent grocer! Rural Pennsylvanians need to eat too, and we like variety just as much as city-dwellers. Luckily, just like with craft brewers, and small butchers, independent grocers can often deliver stuff that bigger supermarkets can't. Local stuff that's too small to w...