If you have never heard of or been to Cherry Republic

Tucked away in the gorgeous lakeside burg of Glen Arbor is an empire known as the Cherry Republic. Bob Sutherland started Cherry Republic with the crazy idea that he could make a living by selling only cherry related products. Well, it seems to be working for him and I have to say that whenever I am anywhere near Glen Arbor I have to stop there and breath in the ambiance of this quaint little empire while grazing through the tasty cherry products. We carry a few of the Cherry Republic products in our gift baskets. You can find Boomchuggalugga Cherry Soda in the Very Cherry Basket and the Michigan's Best Gift Basket. Totally addictive chocolate covered dried (nothing dry about these cherries - trust me) cherries appear in various baskets along with Cherry Sour Patch Candies (kind of like sour gummy worms).

The saddest part of my week has been the notice that Cherry Republic is no longer making Baby Boomchunkas which were awesome little bite-size chocolate chunk cookies with dried cherries and pecans baked right in. Now I must search for a replacement cherry product of some kind, but that is a fun task due to the taste-testing nature of making sure I get a quality product.

Oh, one other item that appears in nearly every basket are Cherry Wafer Crackers. We add these to each basket that contains preserves because they go so well together. They bake thin slices of cherries directly into the crackers. Yum!

Well, if any of you haven't been to Cherry Republic and you want to "experience" their unique Glen Arbor store I found this video on YouTube. It is neat to see the quirky signs that dot the stores and garden area and to hear how Bob Sutherland worked to create what exists today.

Visit Cherry Republic on the web: CherryRepublic.com

Construction has started on Michigan's largest wind farm

The construction of 32 wind turbines has begun in Michigan's thumb between Elkton and Pigeon. The turbines will produce 52.8 megawatts of electricity. That is enough to power 15,000 homes. I found it interesting that the credit arm of John Deere is helping to finance the project. I checked out their website, deere.com, and found that they are actively trying to invest in wind power by extending credit and investing equity into projects like these. The turbines are located on farmland that will continue to be cultivated.

I know a lot of folks complain that wind turbines are an unsightly blemish upon Michigan's lovely horizon. I guess I would rather see wind turbines with their enormous white blades churning in the breeze instead of a huge smokestack from another coal-fired electric generating plant.

Read the article at Freep.com.

Stryker, a Michigan company that delivers good news

Stryker Corp. just announced a 65% surge in first Quarter earnings. Net income rose to $243.5 million for the three month period of January through March. At the end of the day Wednesday, Stryker was trading at $69.10 per share which was down from the $70.06 it opened the day at.

It sure is nice to see a Michigan based company that issues good news.

You have got to try the Cinnamon Swirl Latte at Beaner's

I signed up with the Beaner's E-wards program last year and every week I receive a couple of coupon offers. Some of them are only valid at specific locations (annoying) in the area, but most of them can be used at any Beaner's location. Anyway, last week I received a buy-one-get-one coupon for a new drink - the Cinnamon Swirl Latte. Oh man, that was the best coffee I have had from Beaner's.

They add a shot of vanilla and a shot of cinnamon flavoring to the espresso. It is topped off with a generous dollop of whipped cream, a drizzle of some sort of sweetener, and sprinkled with ground cinnamon.

Man, I wish I was sipping one right now. It was so good. It kind of helped to make a cold wintry day in April not feel so bad.

Get your super delicious paczki's today

The paczki. Wonderful fruit filling wrapped in a heavy dough that weighs in at over 400 calories. But they are so delicious!

My favorite places to get them are still in Lansing. Roma Bakery makes a ton of paczkis every year and they get snapped up pretty quick. Quality Dairy was another great place to get your paczki fix.

Quality Dairy had the best donuts any time of the year. Yum! I can almost taste one now.

I better eat some breakfast. All this thinking about paczkis and donuts is making my stomach rumble.

Snowy and cold Michigan weather makes me wish I had a Stormy Kromer

Just what is the legendary Stormy Kromer you ask? Well, back in 1903 retired semi-pro ball player decided he had lost one too many hats due to the wind whipping them off. He enlisted his wife to add earflaps to one of his old baseball caps so when he was riding in his locomotive his cap would not blow off.

Folks took notice of his little invention and it wasn't long before the Stormy Kromer Cap Company was started in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2002 production of the Stormy Kromer was moved to Ironwood, Michigan after production in Wisconsin ceased.

It seems fitting that a product meant for extreme weather should be made in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The Original Stormy Kromer retails for $29.95 and shipping to the Continental U.S. is only $2.50.

Time to go do some more shoveling.

Visit the online store for Stormy Kromer.