The Pennsylvania Dutch tradition was to put the pies and cakes on the table with the savory food, rather than serving it after the main course. It was a generous, smorgasbord-style meal. I remember many an uncle's plate filled with Lebanon baloney, shoo-fly pie, potatoes, pickles and bread-- at the same time.
The old "seven sweets and seven sours" tradition meant serving a variety of sweet and tart dishes, including
desserts and pickled vegetables to balance out the flavors. Salt and pepper were pretty much the only seasonings.
Looking back, the food was heavy but wholesome. Sunday dinner especially seemed to last a long, long time, with the adults eating slowly and talking. There was no rush for anything. Of course kids were expected to sit quietly at the table and listen until excused. After dinner, the men went in the living room to smoke a cigar while the women cleaned up.
Pie was cheap and filling and they made it from just about everything, including Funny Cake (above) a weird but delicious pie/cake combo.
When we were kids in the 1950's, there was always some sort of dessert right after dinner: jello or pudding from a box, fruit cocktail or peaches from a can. On lucky nights-- pie, cake or ice cream.
Have a sweet day.
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