A Cherry Happy 4th of July! Continued

After we left Tandem, (I could have stayed all day!) we headed to the new Leelanau creamery and store. Leelanau is known for their Raclette, meaning made of melted cheese. Raclette comes from the French word "racler" which means "to scrape". The cheese is removed from heat using a scraping method. The owners, John and Anne Hoyt learned the art of Raclette in Switzerland, making their cheese very authentic. You can imagine how tasty it was. Who doesn't love cheese? After Mrs. Sweet picked up some Raclette and local 9 Bean Rows crackers (yes, the same place that makes those yummy pinwheels!) we headed to L Mawby Vinyards. Just when I thought it couldn't get a any better. 

Inside the Leelanau creamery

L Mawby, also located in Suttons Bay, is known for their sparkling wines. (Get excited!) The tasting room overlooks their beautiful vineyard, where you can enjoy two, half glasses of wine and your choice of spread and crackers for $7. That is a deal if you ask me! After trying two free tastings in their very busy tasting room, we headed outside with our two wines and spreads. I went for the Fizz, which they describe as having ripe fruit aromas, making it on the sweeter side and my favorite of the two, the Classic Cremant. The Cremant, a brut, is described as having nutty notes and piercing fruit flavors. Along with my wine, I enjoyed a cherry jalepeño cracker spread. (I had to get the cherry spread in Michigan!) Although, the real star was the smoked whitefish spread, a Michigan staple (so I'm told). I can see why! 

Tastings overlooking the L Mawby Vineyards

The Sweets and I enjoying our tastings 

I loved Mawby too! It is impossible to pick a favorite. Just when I thought we couldn't possible taste any more, we headed to 2 Lads Winery located on the Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City. 2 Lads is located on a hill overlooking Lake Michigan. It is truly a stunning view, especially from the tasting
room which has a wall made entirely of glass. There, we each tasted five wines. I chose a sparkling Pinot Grigio (yum!) and four Rieslings (my favorite!). It was neat to be able to compare so many Rieslings right in a row! Little did I know, I would be having the 2012 Fouch to accompany my dinner.

My tasting selections

A tasting overlooking Lake Michigan

After a quick trip to Jolly Pumpkin, (a brewery also located on the peninsula)  and a run in with some goats and poison ivy (thanks to a good wash in the lake, no one was harmed) we headed downtown to  Mario Batali's favorite restaurant, "The Cooks' House". We waited for our table across the street at the food truck lot called "Little Fleet". It was full of people eating their tacos and grilled cheeses at the indoor bar.

Grilled Cheese truck at Little Fleet

The Cooks' House head chef, Eric Patterson, himself came to tell us our table was ready. We each had the five course tasting menu, starting with a roasted tomato soup that was full of flavor. I think we all agreed that it was the best course (NOT that it went downhill from there!) Mrs. Sweet and I chose the Walleye with radishes and cranberry beans for our entrées and Mr. Sweet and Garrett had the hangar steak with bone marrow mashed potatoes. Each was equally delicious. Another favorite of mine was the salad course following the entrée. It was composed of heirloom tomatoes, a plethora of herbs snipped straight from the garden (we actually saw the chef come outside to get them) and it was topped with their homemade kafir sorbet. Simple and delicious! We were surprised with an extra cheese course that featured Leelanau Raclette. Our food had come full circle! And like I said, I enjoyed the 2012 Fouch I tasted earlier in the day from 2 Lads with my dinner. The Cooks' house was the perfect sum of all the parts of our day. I really can't thank The Sweets enough for packing TC into  24 hours!

The oh so charming Cooks' House

Roasted Tomato soup

Walleye with cranberry beans and radishes

Heirloom tomato salad with fresh herbs and kefir sorbet

Despite all the excitement on Thursday, we still had The 4th of July to have some fun! Our day started with a 9 Bean Rows almond croissant and then we headed out to the bay. Garrett's uncle, Howard took us out on his sailboat where we watched The Blue Angels. It doesn't get more American than sail boats and airplanes! Later that evening we went to Uncle Howard's house on Spider Lake where we took a pontoon ride followed by the best meal I had on this trip; hamburgers, baked beans and Asian slaw. Oh and Mrs. Sweet's Texas sheet cake! You can't beat a home cooked meal, especially lakeside. The night ended on the pontoon. We were surround by fireworks being shot off practically every dock. More importantly I was surrounded by some amazing people having an amazing time!

That was a lot packed into two days and I am sure there's more to explore in Traverse City! Back to work on Monday. A big thanks to The Sweets and the Cousineaus for their hospitality! Until next time TC! 

Xo

Olive

A Cherry Happy 4th of July in Traverse City! Part I

Many of you may know my boyfriend Garrett, and if you follow my Instagram you know him as #thesweetest. Garrett's parents live in a place that could be described as heaven on earth; Traverse City. When the opportunity came for Garrett and I to go to Traverse City for the Fourth of July, we couldn't resist. Little did I know TC is the perfect place to spend the most American of holidays.

#thesweetest and Olive Eats

Getting off our tiny plane

Delicious cherry pie

After the hour drive into downtown TC we decided on a new restaurant called The Franklin, for dinner. Although the waitstaff was a bit shaky, my local lamb burger with bacon, provolone and mint chimichurri, as well as my good company, made up for it. After dinner we headed down the street to 
7 Monks Taproom for a post dinner beer. I enjoyed a Shorts Key Lime Pie specialty beer. It tasted 
remarkably close to key lime pie. Graham cracker and all. It was the perfect dessert beer to end a perfect first night in TC. 

When I woke up Thursday morning, I had no idea what was in store for me. The Sweets had planned a fun filled day full of  wineries, breweries, bakeries, a creamery, and a five course dinner. That is my kind of vacation. Our day began at 9 Bean Rows in Suttons Bay, where we enjoyed the last four apricot pinwheels of the morning. It was my first apricot pinwheel but it won't be my last! After breakfast we drove up the road to the 9 Bean Rows' bakery where we learned how they make their sea salt fennel bread (yum!) and picked up our 4th of July breakfast; some of the most delicious croissants I've ever had! After stopping to take a few pictures in the cherry trees, we headed up to Tandem Ciders; one of my favorite parts of our trip!

Apricot pinwheel

Sea salt fennel bread

Young cherries

Tandem Ciders is located just north of Suttons Bay marked by a quaint little barn with a tandem bike 

hanging on the front. Bikes + cider = happy Olive! After a few generous, free tastings in the farmhouse, we moved to a picnic table to enjoy a cheese plate with local Leelanau raclette, strawberries, jalepeño jelly and homemade pickles accompanied by our favorite ciders from the tastings. I chose a blend of The GreenMan, made of Rhode Island Greenings and the Bee's Dream made of  Rhode Island Greenings, Northern Spies, Jonathan apples, and wildflower honey. Delicious! And what an amazing atmosphere! I think the selling point for me was their logo; a boy and a girl 

riding a tandem bike, and the girl in arabesque. How cute and how appropriate for me!? I think Tandem Ciders is my new special place. 

The Tandem Cider Barn

The perfect details inside

Enjoying our cheese plate amongst the trees

The Tandem Ciders logo

Story continued in next post...

800 Followers! ...and a Blog!

As many of you know, this blog started as an Instagram account that was meant to document my culinary experiences as a traveling dancer with River North Dance Chicago. selfishly, I only wanted it for my own personal use. The more I toured, the more pictures and followers I accumulated. When at home in my tiny Chicago kitchen I began to recreate or create new recipes inspired by the food I ate during my travels. My followers began to ask for my recipes. Now that I have reached 800 followers, I figured it was about time I gave this blog thing a shot!

On Olive Eats you will be able to follow my travels and access my recipes! I can't wait to share my upcoming adventures with you all!