A little bit of "Grace" makes cheesecake special!

Greetings all! Have you ever eaten something so good that as you close your mouth, you stop to just let the flavors and texture play across your palate? Well, that is what happened to me last night with our desert, Bailey’s Irish Cream cheesecake by Grace Cheesecakes, Madison, Wis. Tuesday nights are special for us as we often have guests join us for dinner. Some are regulars and others drop in as their schedules allow. Last night, we had planned on a few more guests but as it turned out, life interfered and it was just us and our good friend Robert Purvis. He joins us most every week and adds his humor and wisdom to all our family discussions being held that evening.

For those of you who think your life is just too busy to sit down to a family meal around the dinner table, let me assure you, it can be done. We are a typical American family with both of us parents working full time and two teenagers at home involved with sports AND a small farm, so trying to have a sit down dinner every night is a pipe dream. The reality is, though, we CAN do it at least once a week and generate a great deal of positive family harmony in that one meal.

Our family goal of sourcing at least 75% of our food locally is shared with our guests as we tell them the story of each food item and the farm it came from. We involve the whole family and our guests in the preparation of the meal as well as include some adult beverages and special kid ones like Sprecher Root beer or lemonade. We usually take pictures of the table all spread out with our evenings’ special and oh and ah over the bounty displayed before us. You don’t need to wait for Thanksgiving or Christmas to have that kind of dinner. We do it every week.

This week, our meal was vegetarian, Afghan style since my husband was the cook for the evening. I was in charge of bringing desert. Bashir cooked up some of his yummy Basmati rice, sabzi (cooked spinach with garlic, cumin, salt and pepper), garlic-yogurt sauce, salata using tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden, and a heavy garlic brochette. We adults enjoyed a light rose wine and the kids had some rarely served cola. Dinner was flavorful and satisfying with lively discussions ranging from the kids’ recent week spent at 4H camp, the monsoon-like rains and dealing with difficult people. We never lack for topics to discuss and by including our friends in on them, we often see things from different perspectives.

Desert was what everyone was waiting for though. I was late getting home due to a meeting with Lori Christilaw, owner and pastry chef of Grace Cheesecakes, Madison, Wis. Everyone agreed that it was worth waiting for! I first met Lori early this summer during one of my visits to the Dane County Farmers’ Market in Madison. I talked with her a bit about Local Dirt each time I purchased some of her yummy creations and finally decided it was time to show her the site when she wasn’t busy selling cheesecakes or breakfast bars to customers at the farmers’ market.

She graciously agreed to a meeting at her bakery where I learned that not only is she a pastry chef with a degree in culinary arts, she also does massage therapy a couple of times a week. She is amazing. On her sticker that graces every cheesecake box, it says they are made with love and truly, we could taste it. Her magic fingers not only make people feel good, her food made us pleasantly sated and content on the beautiful Wisconsin evening last night. Life really is good.

Lori took her time in developing Grace Cheesecakes by acquiring not only her degree in culinary arts but also working for the Paper Valley Hotel, Appleton, Wis. learning how to create seasonal deserts before it became all the rage. She takes great pride in her creations, striving to use as many local, Wisconsin ingredients as possible. She also works hard to create deserts that address the desires of people with dietary issues wanting palate-pleasing options. She moved to Madison in 1993 and became a member of the Dane County Farmers’ Market in April 2006 after a three year wait.

She typically bakes twice a week in order to meet the demand for her cheesecakes and breakfast bars not only at the DCFM but also for weddings and special events. Lori is fearless when it comes to baking for large numbers of people. I am terrified to cook for more than just my family and she willingly takes on orders as high as 3000 when preparing for events like the upcoming Taste of Madison without even flinching.

I am in awe. I am even more appreciative after enjoying last night’s cheesecake with my family and friend. It finished off a long day with a sweet note. I invite you to check out http://www.localdirt.com/ for a local farmer or baker near you where you can purchase delicious food and share it with your friends and family.

Try one of Grace Cheesecakes and leave me a note at to what flavor you tried so I know what to order next. Know your food producer, trust your food and bring joy back to the dinner table.

Hi all! Well, I survived another intense county fair season in central Wisconsin. This year, my children and I participated in the Stoughton Fair, held in Stoughton, Wisconsin as well as the Dane County Fair held in Madison, Wis. While I did not actively do any showing of animals, I was the groom and chauffeur for my children and their animals.

County fairs help to define our summers as well as the summers’ of many local farmers who have fair-aged children enrolled in 4H or FFA or even Boy and Girl Scouts. Children and their parents start planning in the fall of the previous year what their projects will be. These range from quilts to cattle. Some fairs allow you to compete in classes that judge the best eggs or the best preserves or the best in shooting sports. Most fairs include entertainment that can include musical guests, dances or even pig wrestling. There is always a carnival to go on rides and eat deep fried food too.

Kids spend months preparing their projects, whether they are works of art, preserves, or animals and then spend one crazy, intense, HOT week showing off their projects in hopes of receiving a blue ribbon. We belong to the Brooklyn Mighty Mites 4H group and are lucky enough to have a variety of families that enjoy creating many different projects for competition at our local fairs. Many of our members go on to compete at the Wisconsin State Fair held August 5-15. We have members that are active in cake decorating, quilting, preserve making, woodworking, shooting sports, dog obedience, beef cattle, dairy cattle, chickens, turkeys, sheep, llamas, rabbits, horses and swine.

2010 was a good year for the kids of the Brooklyn Mighty Mites as they came home with many blue ribbons and championships in almost every category. My own family showed chickens, a Shetland Sheep, and horses. All but one chicken took home a blue, the sheep earned a blue and both my children earned a Reserve Champion Western Pleasure Rider/Horse in their age categories. It was HOT and I was worried we all might melt in the heat as it radiated up from the blacktop and concrete. Luckily, we didn’t and when Sunday night rolled around, for both fairs this month of July, and we had to break down all our stall decorations, a deep sadness set in as the reality of it being 12 months before we all get to socialize with our animals and our friends all over the county for several days again.

While my children were prepping animals for show or keeping their stalls clean, I walked around the various barns connecting with the parents of other fair participants. I talked to them about Local Dirt and how it could help them reach out to consumers wanting to source their food more locally. Most everyone was excited about the idea of being able to easily reach out to potential customers and the stickers we have saying “I’m Locally Grown” were incredibly popular. They ended up in every barn and on many stalls. There were even kids wearing them. I look forward to helping them become more active in using our site and encouraging my readers to talk to your local farmer and show them the site.

Now it’s time to contemplate if we will participate in the Wisconsin State 4H Horse Show held in September at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds and to get back into blogging about local food that I have purchased from some of the local farms that were represented at this year’s local fairs. Check out www.localdirt.com for a local farmer near you.