Two Great Places I Visited Yesterday

"Pastured" meat and eggs are becoming very popular nationwide, including here in Wisconsin where I've been staying lately. A couple simple google searches led me to Thundering Hoof Ranch, just north of Green Lake, WI. Run by a young couple, open a year or so, they are just getting started, but their cattle, sheep, hogs and chickens are clearly visible grazing in various paddocks across their land. Yesterday, they only had ground beef and eggs, so I purchased a couple dozen eggs, and several pounds of the beef. I scrambled some eggs for lunch, and just as pastured eggs should be, the yolks are dark orange, and whites thick and clear. And they taste great. This was my second visit here. I bought some porterhouse steaks last month, and they were also very tasty, although I left them on the grill just a minute or two too long.

The other place I visited was Soda's Farm Market, a small family-run store just a mile west of Green Lake' western shore, carrying mostly their own produce, supplemented by a few things that won't grow in this area. We go there almost every day when staying here. They're renowned in the area for their extraordinary sweet corn, but also have a huge variety of other vegetables, all freshly hand-picked. Many types of peppers and squashes, radishes from purple through many shades of red and pink, and also white. Many tomatoes, including heirloom varieties, and this time of year, three or four types of melons.

Two places that are small and very local. And the owners love to talk about what they produce, what's coming next week, next month, what didn't work out, recipes, etc. Compared to places like these, Whole Foods seems like Walmart. But back home in Chicago's north suburbs, I'm still trying to find anything like these places within a reasonable drive, with little success.

I forgot my camera, but next time I'll get some pics and include them.