The Place Where We Live

We’ve been trying to do a little research on Michigan made products.

We came across this site http://www.buymichiganproducts.com/ 

It’s not as extensive as we’d like but it’s a good place to start.

One local company I almost forgot about is Jiffy Mix which is based in Chelsea.

Also I just recently found out that Faygo Pop is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Although sadly they haven’t been a Michigan owned company since the late 1980s (they’re now owned by Natl. Beverage Company which sells Shasta) they do still make Faygo in Detro

My husband came across the following story on NPR a week ago about a couple who decided to spend a year eating food produced within 100 miles of their home. They wrote a book about it called Plenty: One Man,One Woman and a Racous Year of Eating Locally.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10219029

We’ve decided to try a variation on this experiment for a shorter period of time, trying to eat foods only locally grown or produced in Michigan as much as we possibly can for about a month. Note: The authors of the book took a stricter approach which we won’t attempt to replicate at this point. Also we recognize that products that are locally manufactured probably will have ingredients that are grown and shipped in from elsewhere.  

At first we were planning on beginning this experiment right after Memorial Day. So yesterday we made a trip to the Monroe farmers market. However, we got there at 11:30 a.m. (they close at noon) and realized most places had sold out of their produce, packed up and gone home. We did manage to get a dozen eggs from a and a bundle of asparagus. After leaving the Farmers Market we made a trip over to Danny’s. We bought a bag of Germack’s (made in Detroit) chocolate and a 1/2 gallon of milk from a Dairy in Holland, MI…  we’re definitely going to have to make a trip to Calder’s at some point).   We then made a trip to Farmer Jack to buy some Faygo pop (made in Detroit).

We quickly realized that this was a pitiful attempt at buying and eating locally and that in order to be a little more successful at this we need to give ourselves more time to prepare. Our plan for the next week is to work on finishing the food that’s in our cupboard, do some research and more careful shopping and begin our experiment next weekend.

My husband and I are the proud “grandparents” of five brand new kittens!

In the next six weeks we’ll be looking for good homes for them. If you’re interested in a kitten (or know someone who is) please let me know.

As soon as they are a little more photogenic I will post a picture of them… Oh yeah…can anyone explain to me how to post a picture? I still haven’t figured out how to do that on here yet.

It’s nice to see a lot of down-town restaurants springing up within the last year or so.

Walking into down-town Monroe for dinner is one of my favorite things to do, especially on a beautiful spring or summer evening. But I actually can’t recall a time when we’ve had so many restaurants in town.

The place I probably go to the most is Monroe Street Grille. It has a nice casual, family (yet somewhat bistro style) dining atmosphere with a menu that changes seasonally and always has a number of unique specials. We had breakfast there on Sunday and I had southwest style Eggs Benedict. Instead of English muffins they used cornbread cakes topped with eggs, roasted red and green peppers, crumbled bacon and a cheesy hollandaise sauce. I’m actually not a fan of traditional eggs benedict but I made an exception for this. I’d say it was worth it. I topped it off with hot sauce.

A while ago we went to JefAna  They specialize in steaks, Italian, and sea food. I had a fried tilapia with a rum based pepper sauce that was very good. They also have a grand piano right in the restaurant with live music. I haven’t been back yet because they are a little on the higher side of my price range but it’s a nice place if you’re looking for a somewhat fancier evening out downtown.

Last Saturday we went to Senor Cactus which is a new Mexican Restaurant where Beeks Bar and Grille used to be. It wasn’t their official grand opening but they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. The food is your standard mexican fare which is excellent if you’re like me and get a craving for it on a regular basis. The salsa was homemade by the owner’s wife. Although I’m not sure if this will be the standard practice or if it was purely a matter of necessity, given it was their first night open. I hope they keep it. They also have a beer in the cooler there from Nicaragua that eventually I’ll have to try. I love beers that you normally can’t get anywhere else.

And these are just the restaurants that have popped up within the last year or so. There are the other great bars, grilles, and lunch places downtown like Village Bistro (which is one of my favorites that’s been around for ever), McGeady’s, and Cafe Classics (my husband loves their avacado ranch wrap).

It’s gotten to the point where there’s such a diverse selection of food in downtown Monroe that I think I’m even…dare I say it…starting to take it for granted. I guess it’s just nice to be able to leave my house, walk up town and decide where I want to eat on the trip there.

I haven’t been to the new Rendezvous Cafe yet but am hoping to check it out within the next day or so. I’ll keep you posted.   

In case you missed it, the City of Monroe Parks and Recreation Department published their schedule for the summer entertainment in the park series. The concerts are on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. at the St. Mary’s Park band shell.

The line-up is as follows:

June 21
Ray Kalamay and the String Doctors
(Country Swing and Fiddle)
First Day of Summer! I’m pretty excited about this one. I love any music with a fiddle!
June 28
Detroit Brass Society
(Five Piece Brass)

July 12
Trilogy
(Oldies and Classic Rock)

July 19
Sherman Arnold
(Elvis Tribute)
That’s right Monroe has it’s very own Elvis Impersonator. The guy’s pretty good too.
July 26
On the Beach
(Acoustic Rock and Vocals)

August 9
Steve King and the Dittlies
(Oldies 60’s-80’s)
Wow! It’s gotten to the point where 80s music is considered oldies?

August 11-12
River Raisin Jazz Festival
One of the biggest annual events in Monroe. Draws a great crowd of folks from Monroe and beyond.

August 16
Shout!
(Beatles Tribute Group)
One of my favorites. We go every year. Their first set is early Beatles and their second set is later Beatles complete with colorful Sgt. Pepper costumes! I prefer the second set.

August 23
Johnny Knorr Orchestra
(14 piece big band)

Be sure to check at least one of these events out. It’s always nice to see folks in Monroe come down with their lawn chairs, blankets and kids.

I did end up going back to Danny’s last Sunday afternoon and spoke to the store manager there. She was  nice and informed me that the reason why she decided to stop selling Higher Grounds Fair Trade coffee was that is was just too expensive. Specifically, shipping costs were a big part of her expense. Because Higher Grounds cannot be purchased through her distributor she was buying it directly from the company. However, whenever she buys coffee from the distributor she get’s a price break on the shipping. She talked with the owner of Higher Grounds but they were unwilling to give her a break on the shipping.

It’s unfortunate because it sounds like its a problem of two small businesses trying to do what’s most cost-effective (reasonably so) for them and not being able to meet somewhere in between to make it a successful partnership. One of the perils of the small business world I guess.

I did ask her if she was willing to talk with her distributor to see if they offer any Fair Trade brands. She said she’d check it out and told me come back in a couple of weeks to follow-up.

I was grateful that she took the time to talk with me about it and told her that if they were willing to offer Fair Trade coffee again I would remain committed to buying it there.