Michigan’s Cottage Food Law allows small businesses to make and sell homemade foods from their home kitchens without cumbersome and expensive commercial licensing or inspections. Goodies like breads, jams, cookies, candies, granola, and more can be sold directly to consumers at farmers’ markets, roadside stands, and fairs. It can be a wonderful way to connect with the community.
Posts filed under Food Section
Tea with Peggy--Yaupon Tea
Most continents have their own unique tea blends. Maté is typical to South America and Rooibose to South Africa. True tea, or camellia sinus, can be found all over Asia. For the longest time, I could not believe there was not a plant or herb that was unique to the North American continent that could be considered tea. Then, I discovered Yaupon tea while on vacation in Florida.
Cooking with Lisa
Recipes for fall 2025: Maple Roasted Delicata Squash Salad and Kale and White Bean Stew
Tea with Peggy: Minty Cool
When I think of mint, winter comes to mind—a nice cup of cocoa in which I steep some peppermint tea leaves. It’s invigorating, refreshing, and cooling. Wait a minute... if mint is invigorating, refreshing, and cooling, why am I drinking it in the cold of winter? I should be drinking in the warmth of summer instead!
Cooking with Lisa: Chickpea Salad Sandwhich and Herbed Polenta
his sandwich is a celebration of simple ingredients coming together in the most satisfying way…a little moment of deliciousness—one that feels both nourishing and delightfully familiar.
Boost Your Winter Immunity with Plant-Based Foods
As the cold winter season approaches, ensuring a healthy, responsive, and robust immune system becomes even more important. Freezing weather, short days, and reduced sunlight can put stress on our bodies and increase our chances of getting sick. A plant-based diet, full of immune-boosting antioxidants and nutrients that naturally fight inflammation and promote immune response, is an excellent way to make sure you and your family stay as healthy as possible this winter.
Cooking with Lisa: Winter 2025
This Winter Vegetable Buddha Bowl is a nourishing, colorful meal featuring roasted sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and red onions over a bed of quinoa. Topped with fresh kale and spinach, creamy avocado slices, and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds, it’s drizzled with a tangy tahini dressing, offering a perfect balance of warmth, flavor, and nutrition.
Tea Time with Peggy: Rooibos Tea
I enjoyed a cup of tea long before I knew it could help me in my quest to become a healthier person. Upon discovering that something I enjoyed doing on a daily basis could actually help improve my health, I decided it was time to do some research.
The Sugar Shack: How One Sweet Family Tradition Turned into an Airbnb Experience
It’s the time of year where the wind is nipping at your winter coat and the gopher may or may not have already seen its shadow. Many Michiganders may opt to stay indoors while the final weeks of winter thaw to spring, but Kirk Coppernoll of Sugar Shack Experiences in Grass Lake insists that these are actually the proper months to tap a maple tree and sip a maple cocktail in the woods. Grab a tap, boil some sap, and meet some other nature-loving strangers as the syrup boils: this is the Sugar Shack.
Slow Farm: Growing Healthy Food and Justice in the Food System
In late April, on a mostly sunny, cool morning, with the temperature in the low fifties, I drove out from Ann Arbor on Whitmore Lake Road to Slow Farm. I found Bayer and co-farm manager Magda Nawrocka-Weekes standing at the edge of a large field on the west side of Whitmore Lake Road, near the farm’s gate.
Cooking with Lisa~Vegetable Chili with Chocolate and Chocolate Sweet Potatoe Brownies
Cooking with Lisa~Did you know that a bit of cacao powder, or even a bar of dark chocolate, can enhance your favorite chili recipe? It adds a rich, complex depth by enhancing the savory and spicy flavors with a subtle, earthy bitterness. Cacao’s slight bitterness balances the chili’s spiciness and acidity, creating a harmonious blend of flavors that is just delicious.
Cultivating Connection: The Power of Community Gardens
A community garden is like a little shared oasis, a special spot where folks from all walks of life come together to grow delicious veggies, fragrant herbs, and beautiful flowers. It becomes a green sanctuary, where members roll up their sleeves, dig in the dirt, and let nature work its magic. Often organic, community gardens help promote soil health and community connection as much as they do delicious, locally grown food.
Spiedo with Love
Brad Greenhill bought a vertical rotisserie on a whim. As the owner of the James Beard nominated “Best New Restaurant” Detroit’s Takoi, Greenhill wanted to experiment with spit roasting meats. He had the notion that once a new location became available, he might branch out. Last October, along with his team, executive chef Michael Goldberg and General Manager Matthew Ferreira, Greenhil did just that.
Eating for the Climate
The organic farming movement began in the 1940s. People looked around at the rapid evolution of farming equipment and techniques and became concerned by increased soil erosion, a decrease in the quality of food, and a diminishing variety of the crops being grown.
Tea With Peggy: Summer Hibiscus Tea
There is nothing better than reading an enjoyable book while sitting outside soaking up the sun. I delight in sitting on the back patio overlooking the lake, listening to the boats go by, and hearing kids laugh as they tube across the water. It is also a fun time to drink a glass of iced tea which can help keep you hydrated in the warm weather.
Cooking with Lisa: Spring/Summer 2024
Summer recipes for Creamy Asparagus Soup and New Potatoes.
Growing Green Indoors All Winter
As the days shorten and the gardens are put to bed, I find I not only miss fresh greens, I miss puttering in my garden and watching my food grow. So, for several years, I’ve been experimenting with ways to grow meaningful amounts of vegetables indoors.
Cooking with Lisa: A Flavorful Winter in Michigan
In Michigan, winter can be cold and snowy which limits the availability of locally grown fresh vegetables. However, some flavorful vegetables can still be in season during winter, especially if they are grown in greenhouses, cold frames, or are properly stored. Here are some vegetables that are in season and readily available during our winters. Many root vegetables like carrots, beets, turnips, and parsnips can withstand cold temperatures and are nearly always available in winter. These are versatile and can be used in a number of ways, including roasted, and in soups like the one below.
Great Tastes in Local Food
Local restaurant reviews for Winter 2024: The Deep End Cafe and Gallery, Cups n’ Chai, and Hidden King Cafe and Bar.
Tea with Peggy: Mindfulness and Tea
Try the following experiment with me. Shut off your TV, silence your phone, grab your tea kettle, and go over to the sink. Fill it with cold water. Listen to the sound of the water falling into the pot. How does the sound change as it fills? Place the kettle on the stove. Listen to the sound the kettle makes as the water gently heats to a boil. Pour the hot water in a clear mug. Place your tea in the water. Observe as the color slowly swirls and filters through the cup until it turns the water a rich brown. Take a moment and breathe in the tea’s aroma. Take a small sip. Sit for a moment and just breathe.
