Lucinda’s day starts at 5 a.m. on Wednesdays. Well, technically 4 a.m. to take care of preparing for her family bakery but at 5, she prepares everything for the three-hour drive to New Jersey and Roselle Park.
Making everything fresh the morning of or the day before, Lucinda Hostetler is responsible for loading the Amish Country Bakery trailer with honey, jams, pickles, pickled vegetable mixes, apple butter spread, apple pies, shoo fly pies, pecan pies, whoopie pies, coffee cakes, cookies, apple dumplings, cinnamon rolls, and bread – including whole wheat bread and bacon egg & cheese bread – just to name a few.
Having been in business since 2001, Amish Country Bakery has been visiting Roselle Park for about a decade to take part in the Borough’s afternoon Farmer’s Market from 1 p.m. till 6 in the evening between the months of July to October. Stopping off first in Rutherford for the morning, Lucinda ends her day in Michael Mauri Park, interacting with residents looking for something special to bring home during the summer. After the market winds down, Lucinda and her liaison take everything down and then head back to Watsontown, Pennsylvania. Sometimes, with traffic, she does not see home until 10 o’clock at night.
Still, Lucinda and her family are dedicated to what they do. So much so that for this year’s Farmer Market preview, she was one of two vendors that kicked off the season – other produce vendors holding off a week to complete their harvest due to the late harsh winter. She kept cool under the hot sun, sitting under the Amish Country Bakery tent and helped customers as they made the tough decisions among the enticing variety of natural treats available.
Lucinda herself has a hard time picking her favorite.
“They’re all good,” Lucinda says, referring to the baked goods. She then smilingly whispers, “The coffee cake’s very good.”
The Roselle Park Farmer’s Market runs from July until the last week in October between 1 p.m. and 6 in the evening. Parking is available on the East Grant Avenue side of Michael Mauri Park, itself located at the corner of Chestnut Street and Grant Avenue.
