I’m back from a long summer hiatus. My daughter Rachel had a baby and I spent two months with her in Traverse City, Michigan. Welcoming baby Neena into the world was a wonderful, emotionally rich experience. Much of the time was spent with the basics of running a household (so much laundry!), helping Rachel to recuperate, and watching her blossom as a mother. There was lots of baby cuddling and I also got the chance to read many books to Neena and stroll her around Boardman Lake.
As often happens, many of the memories we built over the two months included meals shared together. I have a hard time remembering details about people, particularly names, but if you ask me where I had a really good wood-fired pizza in Michigan I can tell you EVERY detail about the experience. For Rachel’s first post-birth field trip we went to 9 Bean Rows, a farmstand in Sutton’s Bay. Pulling into the parking lot I immediately noticed that off to the left there were rows and rows of vegetables at their peak and straight ahead was a stand filled with flower bouquets, bursting with color and welcoming us towards the entrance. 9 Bean Rows is much more than just a farmstand selling fresh veggies, it is also home to a beautiful French-style bakery featuring croissants and sourdough based multi-grain breads. In addition, there is an outdoor pavilion featuring performance space for bands and a wood-fired oven where they make superb pizza!
As mentioned in the video, I’ve been baking graham crackers for my son Jacob who owns Roaring Fork Mill. We are in the process of rolling out new flavors which means I’m doing lots of recipe testing, and tasting. The gallery below features some of the steps in the graham making process. The top-row, middle picture shows chunks of the mature ginger in the cream before I put it on the stovetop to steep. Bottom right is me with that bite-size ice cream sandwich I mentioned in the video.
Also mentioned:
Kiwi Roots Farm in Westbrook, Connecticut.
Strata knife store in Portland, Maine where I purchased this wonderful Morihei grater.
If you have a favorite recipe featuring ginger, I’d love to hear about it.
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