Adam Gerard has been mildly obsessed with scrapple ever since he was introduced to it at the age of 15. (3)

RAPA, located in Bridgeville, Delaware, is the world's largest producer of scrapple. Wow, that is a great phrase to read.

Scrapple lovers often have a brand-of-choice, so RAPA's distinctive red, white and blue packaging is a welcome sight to many. Growing up in Maryland, this was once the only scrapple I knew.

RAPA Scrapple History

In 1926, brothers Ralph and Paul Adams started a scrapple manufacturing plant. Notice the bold letters I added? That's where the RAPA name comes from. Did I just blow your mind? Probably not, but still, it's an interesting fact.

Though RAPA was bought by Jones Dairy Farm in 1981, their scrapple continues to be manufactured in Bridgeville with a staff of 60, in a facility that looks like a giant brick of their own scrapple. No word on if they are looking to hire scrapple quality control tasters, though I'm sure they'd have little trouble filling that position.

"Any day with scrapple is like Christmas!" says Gregg S. on our Scrapple Facebook page. Well, I guess that's true, but technically only one day a year is actually Christmas.

On that wonderful day, how do you incorporate scrapple into your Christmas festivities? Maybe a side dish along with some sort of casserole. Or maybe scrapple and eggs as you unwrap gifts. Man, that sounds delicious. But I'm wondering if we can do even more.

Here are a few ideas to make scrapple a bigger part of everyone's Christmas:

1. Scrapple Christmas Stockings

Mom, Dad, Little Susie, Fido - sure the whole family gets a stocking over the fireplace. But what does that say about your choice in breakfast meat? Absolutely nothing. Which is why we should all be hanging scrapple Christmas stockings by the chimney with care.

Bonus: I bet a brick of scrapple would slide right in to that stocking. Shopping just got easier!

It's election season which, of course, got me thinking about scrapple. (but really, when am I not thinking about scrapple?)

Anyway, I wondered, have any of our Presidents been scrapple lovers?

I'm sure, of the 44 that have lived in the White House, several of them have enjoyed a slice or two of scrapple. But it looks like the only US President with any real evidence of eating scrapple in the White House is our 15th, President James Buchanan. 

From Sarah Marshall's All the Presidents' Menus post:

While compiling this list I attempted as often as possible to learn not what the presidents ate at state functions and inaugural dinners but during their solitary breakfasts and family suppers—in other words, their comfort foods.

James Buchanan: Beef, mutton, venison, ham, terrapin, calf’s head dressed as terrapin, Pennsylvania Dutch specialties such as scrapple and succotash, moss rose cake, peach charlotte, Confederate pudding and Jeff Davis pie, grape pie, and ice cream.

This makes sense since he is also our only President from Pennsylvania, a state that knows a thing or two about scrapple. From PA to DC, Buchanan proudly brought one of his boyhood comfort foods along.

According to the Department of Labor, the actual founder of labor day is a bit unclear:

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, founded the holiday.

What isn't mentioned here are recent findings by the Research Association of Pork Amalgamations supporting evidence of a different origin of Labor Day. Have you heard the name Rasher Liverburg? Probably not, but if you love scrapple and having off the first Monday every September, then you should read on.

Condescending Willy Wonka does not care for your scrapple disgust:

I mean, he has a point. What do you think?

You love scrapple. If you could, you would eat it every day (maybe you do). But part of your job as a scrapple eater is to spread the love.

So what's the best technique for introducing scrapple newbies to this delicious, but often misunderstood meat? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Play It Cool
Don't make a big deal about how awesome scrapple is. It will only lead to questions, and in this case, questions are our enemy. The less newbies know before eating scrapple, the better.

Just offer to make breakfast. Nothing special, no big deal.

A few years ago, the NY Times pulled together a chain of editorial letters about scrapple from 1872. Like most discussions on scrapple, it starts off with a passionate supporter going on and on about how awesome this little-known breakfast meat is. And also similar to today, the detractors voice their disgust, unable to get over how and what scrapple is made of and insist it's terrible. Same story, different century.

But what I find most fascinating is how much the initial scrapple lover sounds exactly like scrapple lovers of present day.

Of course The Most Interesting Man in the World eats his scrapple the correct way:

Scrapple on, my friends.

Update (04/18/2012): Dolly Womack — co-owner of Hughes Delaware Maid Scrapple — left some good news in the comments of this post:

May looks good for us opening. We are down to the small stuff now and equipment is ordered and coming in.

All of you who have been obstaining from scrapple because it's Hughes or it's nothing, will hopefully be able to get your scrapple on within the month!
 

Update (03/11/2012): Delware Online has a super-detailed article on Hughes' successes and struggles since Dirty Jobs, the fire, and beyond.

Some excerpts:

On production and why they didn't start making it at another plant:
Normal production from the staff of seven is 8,000 pounds a week. Abruptly, it was down to zero. The workers -- all family members, many of them with homes adjacent to the plant -- had to go on unemployment. Briefly, Quillen considered having his scrapple made at another manufacturer's plant -- before he realized that would mean sharing the recipe. "I ain't giving my trade secrets away," he said.

The mounting expenses of getting back in business:
Yet getting back on track hasn't been simple, or cheap. An $18,000 hood fan. $6,500 meat grinders. A $27,000 panner for pouring the mix out so it can be cut into blocks. "That's just three items," Womack said. "Then we have everything else that has to be brought in here."

Dolly on when they'll be producing scrapple again:
"Every time we say, something happens," she said. "I'm hoping by the end of April. At first I was hoping everybody would have it on their table for Easter breakfast, but I don't see that happening."

Check out the full story here. Lots and lots of great stuff on Hughes Delware Maid Scrapple. I highly recommend reading it if you're a fan.

Original Post (03/01/2012):
Back in August 2011, the Hughes Delaware Maid Scrapple building caught on fire and was destroyed (which makes me feel guilty for thinking about how mouth watering all that scrapple cooking up at once would be). The Hughes family quickly put a plan into place to rebuild and get back to scrapple-making.