Palestinian cuisine meets the harvest of Northern Michigan

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Local chef Jennifer Blakeslee of The Cooks’ House will team with Nasser Abufarha, founder of Canaan Fair Trade to hold a special Taste of Palestine on Sunday, Aug. 11 at 5 p.m. at The Box in Traverse City (425 Boardman). Guests will venture into the rich food culture of Palestine with a six-course meal, crafted with fresh ingredients from local Northern Michigan farms and accompanied by fine Northern Michigan wines. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to explore Palestinian culture, farming and cuisine among friends in a state-of-the-art open kitchen.

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Stathis Stamatakis’ pastries are Greek to me

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Glen Arbor’s weekly summer farmers markets are the quintessential way to enjoy an early morning stroll. But what about the people that spend hours preparing, gathering the freshest ingredients, mixing and tasting, and toiling in the kitchen to make delicious products to sell during those brief morning hours? Meet Stathis Stamatakis, who hails from Crete, and knows a thing or two about decadent Greek pastries.

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Grocer’s Daughter: “a sweet little business” grows under new owners

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As Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate celebrates 10 years in Leelanau County, it also fetes the new ownership of the business under Jody Dotson and D.c. Hayden of Traverse City, who acquired it from Mimi Wheeler on April 1. The ingredients of a successful business in Leelanau County would seem to include: a unique, high-quality product, community-minded entrepreneurial spirit, the ability to identify trends, a strong network of employees, like-minded business owners and customers, and a pinch of good luck.

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Dining at the Western Avenue Grill

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If you are a local or a frequent visitor to one of Glen Arbor’s premiere dining spots, you probably call this restaurant the WAG. The popular Western Avenue Grill is located in the middle of town on M-22 and adorns the streetscape with its handsome stone- and wood-clad building. The dining room has white birch bark beams and boasts a fisherman’s theme. The WAG has both indoor and summer-outdoor seating. Inside you will find a cozy bar separated from an inviting dining area with small tables and booths. The back of the restaurant includes an additional space for private dining parties.

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Nancy Allen, the Admiral Peary of cooking

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Nancy Allen has written the textbook she says she needed when she was teaching cooking. Her 933-page book, Discovering Global Cuisines, complete with recipes and photos, overviews of culture, history and geography from all over the world, is the result of five years of unflagging endeavor. The work required not just sitting at a computer terminal for endless hours, but actually preparing the food and trying out the recipes with her friends and neighbors and also testing them in places like Meadowlark, a long-standing organic subscription agriculture farm on the Leelanau Peninsula.

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Empire Asparagus is “Big in Japan”

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Empire’s Asparagus Festival this year drew the attention of Japanese food importer Tsukasa Miyakawa (pictured here with Miser’s Hoard owner Paul Skinner), who intends to purchase locally-grown asparagus and import it to Japan. Miyakawa visited Skinner in Empire on June 3. His company imports approximately 800 tons of frozen asparagus each year, and looks to grow that market by 250 tons over the next five years, according to Skinner. Northern Michigan may become their new supply source.

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Empire Asparagus Festival 2013 Poetry Contest winners

Here are the top three entries from the Empire Asparagus Festival’s 2013 Poetry Contest. The winners are Mary O’Neill, R.D. Andrews and Sylvia Duncan

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Economic investment, community resilience, save 10th annual Empire Asparagus Festival

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Years ago, when Paul Skinner traveled around Michigan to acquire antiques for his Empire-based business Miser’s Hoard, he was routinely asked, “Where in the world Empire?” But now, as the annual third-weekend-in-May festival celebrates its tenth birthday, Empire is known far and wide for its eclectic celebration of the green stalk. In fact, four years ago MSN.com named the Empire Asparagus Festival among “the World’s Weirdest Festivals” along with South Korea’s Boryeong Mud Festival and Thailand’s Monkey Buffet Festival.

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Park holds apple and pear tree pruning workshop

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will host its annual pruning workshop on Friday, May 3, in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. The workshop will be held at the Dechow farmstead in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District, four miles north of Glen Arbor on M-22 across from Port Oneida Road. Directional signs will be placed to help participants to the location.

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Food extraordinaire Nancy Allen publishes “Discovering Global Cuisines”

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From staff reports Join Leelanau County food extraordinaire Nancy Allen, Fred Laughlin, culinary chefs and students, for an around-the-world tasting preview of Allen’s newly released culinary textbook, Discovering Global Cuisines on Friday, May 10 from 6-8 p.m. at Lobdell’s — on the second floor of the Northwestern Michigan College Great Lakes Campus, 715 East Front […]

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