Baked Goods by Mary Mast (Ethridge, Tennessee)
Walking into the auction with the day growing long and things winding down, I knew exactly what I was looking for. When I spotted a stand with baked goods, I beelined over.
The stand owner had set up under the porch of one of the farmhouses on the auction property, there in the Ethridge, Tennessee Amish community. I went right to scanning the plentiful items on offer.
The middle-aged Amish lady running the stand made a friendly comment or two, and began suggesting items here and there. She wasn’t pushy, but I could tell she probably sold less than she had hoped for that day.
Her shelves – with baked goods, candies and canned goods – seemed more laden than you’d expect at the end of a large event like this sale.
Things became clear as she began offering discounts (especially on the perishable items), and suggesting some of the baked goods like fry pies could be frozen for later.
I ended up taking her up on a number of them, and left with a pretty decent haul – about $35 worth – some of which you can see in these photos.
I ended up speaking with Mary for a little while. As I was getting ready to go, she scrawled her address on a piece of paper for me. I told her I’d pass it on to people I know, without explaining this website.
Mary Mast
99 Oaks Road
Ethridge, TN 38456
Baked goods, canned goods plus more
It has been seven years since Mary lost her husband. It is still hard, she admitted. Sounded like she had children still at home. We didn’t talk for too long, but I got the sense of a warm person, who could maybe do for a break.
We swung by Mary’s address on the way out to get a look at her shop.
The photos are not great, but this gives you an idea. It looks like any other humble Amish place selling products in this community. Here’s the best photo I got of her roadside signs:
I had wanted to tell you about Mary’s business sooner, but didn’t get to it before the latest events. The Amish in this community have been informed about the coronavirus situation. As far as I know, things are not shut down there.
I’ve already posted on the 57+ Amish businesses you can visit at Ethridge. Many of them overlap, as to the types of things they sell.
If you do visit Ethridge – and I recommend it – I suggest stopping in at multiple businesses. Try to make Mary’s one of them, if you can. I think you’ll be glad you did.
With folks traveling less these days I may write her a letter and see if she would ship. I’m guessing she is not set up for online ordering….
An idea...
She’s not set up for online, but you could give a letter a try (you might happily surprise her). It just occurred to me that you might send say a check for say $20 or whatever, and write her what kinds of things you like and ask her to send you a mix of whatever will fit in that amount.
I’m not sure if she’d need a minimum order size, and what shipping would cost (or if she has even shipped before), but it could be worth a go. She does have a variety of less- and non-perishable goods. I am partial to the brittles, and she does have nut mixes and I think cookies and fudge and things like that.
This community of Amish does not even have phones, so that wouldn’t work to order. But the plus side of that is it could make for a memorable ordering experience:)
Question on Black Walnuts
Oh my, black walnut pie. Looks delicious. How do the Amish process the walnuts to retrieve the meat? Do they have any tricks not generally known to others? I once had a very productive BW tree, but could never find a very successful way to retrieve the nuts. Bought a special cracker, but it didn’t work nearly as well as it should have for the labor involved.
I wish I could tell you Paul, alas I have no clue:) The culinary realm is not my realm except when it comes to consumption. They must have figured out a way to get the job done efficiently enough. Maybe a reader better-informed than me would know.
Black walnuts
I know an Amish woman who cracks walnuts while she is selling her baked goods and produce at a weekly farmers market. Her has a technique where she hits the nuts on one side that makes the harvest easier. Another handy device the Amish use is called “children”.
Thanks Jerry. Good answer.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
I am almost positive she had cookies that day, though I don’t remember chocolate chip.
Baked Goods by Mary Mast
” Erik, my appreciation for the article;on, ‘ Baked Goods’ by Mary Mast, from Etheridge, Tennessee.
A ‘ planned returned’ trip,(i.e. went in the 2010 spring season) is in the near future, and look forward to the return !
Thank you always for caring, informative, and worthwhile Amish updates ! ”
Best Wishes & Stay Well.
Dianne Churchwell-Patterson, Nashville, TN native
Thank you Dianne, around 2010 happened to be the last time I went to Ethridge as well, previous to this trip. Have a great visit there, one of my favorite places.
help
the photos don’t load. they stopped loading on the tablet a couple months ago, but worked ok on the laptop until today.
Help photos don’t load
They don’t load on my iPad either. They used to do this all the time.
SASE
I am very familiar with the Ethridge Anish from 30 years of visiting, buying, making friends.
If you want to write to Mary Mast (who I don’t know personally), from my husband’s and my experience, if you include a Self-Addressed-Stamped-Envelope and paper for a reply, it will make it a lot easier on her to respond to you. She probably sells other things–maybe baskets, pot holders, etc that you might ask her to describe. Maybe she has sons who build small bird houses, or carpenter bee traps, small cutting boards, etc that could be shipped.
black walnut nut meat source at Ethridge
There is an Amish family that buys black walnuts, dehulls them, cracks them, and recovers the meat. They have a sign out along the road advertising the availability of black walnut nut meats. I don’t recall the exact location. I think it was NW of the town of Ethridge on an east-west road and on the south side of the road. Perhaps Indiana Avenue??
black walnut nut meat source at Ethridge
After a little research I found the black walnut place I referred to in my last post. The name is Hammons Black Walnuts located at 59 Long Rd, Ethridge. A phone number of 888-429-6887 is listed.
There is a Hammons Products Company in Stockton, MO that specializes in black walnuts. Apparently the Amish family at Ethridge serve as a buyer for the MO company. The phone number will go to the Stockton operation. see https://black-walnuts.com/
Sounds like she has plenty of delicious foods to offer…but please, given our circumstances: save your in person visit until after COVID19 has run its course. I feel sympathy for her plight and would live to become a patron but not at the risk of bringing the virus to her family and/or community.
As soon as this quarantine is over, Etheridge is going to on the list of Amish communities to visit.
We live close to Mary, and have known her for over twenty years. Before my wife retired, she would take quilt tops and batting to Mary to have her hand quilt them. She would usually do one or two a year for us. She would send us a postcard to let us know the quilt was ready to pick up. Mary also sells her own quilts, and weaves many varieties of baskets for sale as well.