The Place Where We Live

I just finished the most delectable cookie that I bought today from Cakes by Stephanie here in Monroe. It was a fluffy,  pumpkin spice cookie with cream cheese frosting topped with chopped walnuts. It was so soft and moist it was almost like a mini pumpkin cake.

 I came across Stephanie’s cookies by chance. A friend of mine got married last weekend. She is from Bellville and her wedding was in Canton. However,  having  sampled one of Stephanie’s cakes at a bridal show, she decided to go with them for her wedding cake. 

 At the end of the reception last Saturday night my friend asked me if I’d be willing to return the cake stand during the week, since she’d be off on her honeymoom and since I already live in Monroe. “No problem!” I said.  Well…guess what? I forgot I even had the cake stand in my car until I opened my trunk LAST NIGHT.

Panicked, I rushed the cake stand back to the bakery this morning. All is well and my friend will get her deposit back!  And of course, while I was there I got to see and smell all of the other delicious baked goods they make.  So I went for the pumpkin cookie (I’m really into all things pumpkin right now).  I bought Kevin a peanut butter cookie with a crumbled reese’s peanut butter cup on top.

It’s almost a shame that their name is “Cakes by Stephanie” because they do so much more than just cake! And now I’m glad that I know. Or maybe I’m not… this could be dangerous.

We started off the day with a breakfast of scrambled eggs that we bought at the Monroe Farmers market last week and fresh cut local strawberries. When I scrambled the eggs I added a little chopped green onions from this week’s trip to the farmers market and some garlic and fried it in a tablespoon of Calder’s Dairy butter. After using cooking spray for so long now, I forgot how good things taste after being cooked in butter. The garlic I used was what was left in the fridge. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that the garlic I had bought at Health Matters yesterday had already gone bad, but when I cracked it open this morning I realized that it had shriveled and begun to rot so I pitched it.

It was a nice light and fresh breakfast. To my coffee (Leftover coffee I bought at Zingermann’s - they roast it there - a couple weeks back)  I added a little bit of the Guernsey farms half and half instead of the flavored Coffeemate that I usually drink with it.  Drinking coffee with just half and half reminded me of being at a late night truck stop and, as with the butter, I realized how nice it was to be able to taste the flavor of coffee again rather than having it be over-powered by the artificial sweetness of the flavored cream.

As for lunch, Kevin’s cousin’s ran the Dexter-Ann Arbor run today and we went up this morning to watch them finish and to hang out at the “Taste of Ann Arbor” the town’s annual festival featuring local restuarants. We figured that since we were eating food from local establishments, we could count that as eating local and we did stay away from the booths that belonged to chain restaurants (like Buffalo Wild Wings). What do you think? Is that fair?  

After the festival we stopped in at Grizzly Peak had a locally brewed beer and decided to head down to Kerrytown for a trip to Zingermann’s. We knew that picking up some Zingermann’s bread was a must and also knew that they made their own cheese, so naturally we thought that Zingermann’s would be a great place to go to stock up on some more local food. It turns out that, that’s not necessarily the case. First we realized that the only cheeses that they actually make at the Zingermann’s creamery are a small selection of artisianal cheeses everything else is from out of state or imported. Second, we are completely igonorant when it comes to  artisan cheese. After sampling a few different cheese we finally settled on one softer cows-milk cheese with peppercorns which ended up costing us $6.99. It was one of those situations where, after eating all those samples, we felt obligated to buy some rather than saying : “Umm…do you have any regular cheese? You know, the kind that you can put on sandwiches?”

We also realized that 1.) Almost everything else in the store that isn’t specifically made by Zingermann’s is imported and 2.) Everything in the store is pretty expensive. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great for the occaisonal gourmet indulgence but when your looking to do more substantial food shopping, it’s not your best bet. We did buy a few loaves of bread (one for this week and one to freeze) a couple of other items and a deli sandwich with a side of homemade mac and cheese to split for dinner. I will say that Luna Pier Chef was right in one of his earlier posts. The mac and cheese was definitely worth the price.

On our way back to the car, we stopped at the People’s Food Co-op which we were happy to see had more reasonable prices and a good variety of locally made products. One of the things we were excited to find at both Zingermann’s and PFC was pasta from a company called Al Dente out of Whitmore Lake. We ended up buying a bag of spinach linquini from Zingermann’s and then saw that they had a wider variety at PFC and bought a black peppercorn fettucini there. We also found jarred spaghetti sauce from Eden Organics.  We also saw that they sell bread from Avalon bakery in Detroit which we would have bought if we hadn’t already made the trip to Zingermann’s.

We still haven’t had much luck with “regular cheese” as I said but I’ve gotten some great leads from other Monroe blogspot folks. Thanks you guys! 

It’s funny… as a kid, I remember laughing at my grandparents who would go from store to store to find the best sale on meat or bread or eggs. I would always think to myself, “Why don’t they just buy all their food from the same store, it’d be so much easier that way.” It’s interesting how your attitude and behavior change when you realize there’s more to life than convenience.

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.

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.