Raclette Cheese from Sutton's Bay

We have always purchased Swiss made and French made raclette cheese to melt in our raclette machine which we pour over cooked potatoes, veggies and cold cuts.  We were thrilled to hear that the Leelanau Cheese Company in Sutton's Bay makes this special fromage.  We deem it superb!  Raclette parties are lots of fun and all you do is slice the cheese, put it in the little pizza type trays and let the machine do the melting and browning. You can watch the cheesemongers work their magic at the Black Star Farms wine tasting room. The cheese cave holds about 2000 wheels of raclette!

Sip N Knit in Ithaca

It was a lovely experience recently at Sip-N-Knit in Ithaca where the lure of coffee beckons one to linger awhile and where good yarns are shared.  Open everyday except Sunday, this shop offers knitting classes, free wireless, a sandwich counter and even a pajama party coming up this Friday at 6pm. Wear your favorite flannel pjs and slippers and bring your needles, yarn and project. Cost is $10 but that includes a buffet supper! Their recent goal was to give away 1000 hats to their local cancer treatment centers and outreach missions.  We liked this cozy boutique a lot.

Cheese Lady in Grand Rapids

We were thrilled with our recent discovery of the Cheese Lady in Grand Rapids.  Only open three months, they were doing a brisk business last Friday afternoon.  Susie gave us samples and sold us on several products which make up into beautiful gifts in their wooden boxes. We bought cheese made in Benton Harbor, Muskegon and Fennville. Yum! They taught us a new word: "turophile", which means lover of cheese! To go with their fine foods, they sell good quality Eagle Eye import wines. The Cheese Lady started in Muskegon and they have an additional store in Kalamazoo. Woohoo!