Taking a fungi class at UW

 It seems like my blog hasn't been much of a priority for me, but I am working on some new material. I retired from Madison College after close to 32 years working in the culinary arts program. As of January 1st 2026 I am fully retired! Yay! 

What does the future hold? Well, I will now have more time on our farm doing the things I  have always enjoyed but never had enough time. Growing food is obviously one of my passions; when you grow your own food, you labor through the planting, weeding, watering, and harvest to enjoy the goodness of fresh food! The winter months are spent planning and eating the foods you labored to grow during the summer months. 

It really is a full circle for me as a chef. One of my second passions has always been to support small local farms. This started when my wife and I owned the Sandhill Inn, in Merrimac, Wisconsin. We would have small producers knocking at our back door to sell us fresh vegies from their gardens, mushroom growers, mushroom foragers, and even folks who raised chickens and, believe or not, ostrich. In my teaching career I would take students to the Dane County winter Farmers' Market. Students were given $100.00 each to purchase fresh produce, meat, cheeses, and other products from the market. I would take it back to school, (it was on a Saturday) and put everything away. Monday morning in class they wrote the menu for that week based on what they purchased. It was challenging for them but they always came up with an incredible menu for the week.

Today as I venture into my new journey, I will be selling my products at our local farmers' market in Poynette, Wisconsin. I started doing this before I retired and have really enjoyed being the vendor for the small market. It's a great way to meet your neighbors, and to get to know people who truly want to know where their food comes from. To accomplish this I offer not only fresh produce, but breads, preserves, cake, cookies and other items to offset what my garden hasn't started producing. One of my more popular items comes during the peach season, I produce bourbon vanilla peach preserves. I have one customer who has had five 16 ounce jars shipped to her out west. Another popular item has been my boule bread, it translate to round bread.  I usually make 8 loaves per market and most often sell out. 

One of the loaves of bread

Bourbon vanilla peach preserves

I am definitely in a good place and I am looking forward to this next adventure! I look forward to seeing any all who can make it to our tiny little market this summer. Something to consider, the small rural markets are easier to shop, the drive in the area is pretty nice, and along the way to these rural markets, are a lot of farm stands, and near us there is a local farm store! This really is an opportunity to shop locally, support small farms, and save dollars compared to shopping at a larger market! Plus, if you currently shop at one of the many stores, specializing in organics or local foods, consider this, the produce, eggs, or meat you purchase from the farmer at these markets, probably just picked everything the night before, collected the eggs that morning or butchered the beef recently. You cannot get any fresher! 

Cheers to our new adventures!