CHRIS AND HEATHER SACK FROM GREAT LAKES TEA AND SPICE

Great Lakes Tea & Spice travels the world to bring home the freshest flavors and richest aromas from around the globe. Chris and Heather Sack have done a great job with their product line - items are not only beautifully packaged, but they do not compromise on quailty and taste. Grand River Grocery is proud to sell Michigan products that are of the quality and presentation of this line created and sourced by Chris and Heather.

Chris and Heather say, “Throughout our travels, we’ve sought after flavors from around the world that have inspired and enlightened our senses. Now is our opportunity to bring those flavors to you. Made from all natural, handpicked ingredients and put together in tea and spice combinations from classic to eclectic, we’re sure there’s a flavor to flatter your palette. Consider us The Great Lakes region’s premiere purveyor of new and exciting loose leaf tea and spice blends. Here in our home of glen Arbor, Michigan, an area famous for its seafaring past and European trading history, we have distilled the rich heritage of teas and spices into authentic and fresh flavors that allow you to explore a new world of tastes simply and effortlessly. We encourage you to sample our products and be creative. All that is required is your passion for play and your willingness to try something out of the ordinary. Add new flavors to your everyday recipes, explore a new culture through its local teas and spices, and most importantly have fun and experiment. ” If you’re in the Glen Arbor area (home of the breath taking Sleeping Bear Dune area) visit Chris and Heather’s tea and spice “boutique” and view their entire line of products, then when you’re home and need to “replenish” - visit us at Grand River Grocery!

Mimi Wheeler of Grocer’s Daughter Chocolates

Another one of our Michigan food artisan’s, Mimi Wheeler started Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate in 2004. Mimi takes great pride in her handcrafted chocolates – from the quality of the chocolate she sources from the Ecuadorian rainforest, to the processing and roasting of those cocoa beans, to the blocks of chocolate that arrive at the door of her little chocolate shop in Empire Michigan, a sleepy little town (in the winter!) near the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, south of Glen Arbor. The chocolates are all natural and contain many organic and other naturally grown ingredients. Mimi grows her own herbs in her garden and packages the chocolates in recyclable materials whenever possible. Mimi sources her chocolate from the rainforest of Ecuador where she believes, the very best quality chocolate hails. Her chocolate is not overly processed which means most of the cocoa butter is left in the chocolate which gives her chocolate that dark, rich decadent presentation and flavor. Most commercial grade chocolates extract the cocoa butter from the chocolate and sell that off to the cosmetics industry (where did you think cocoa butter came from???!). That cocoa butter in commercially produced chocolate is then substituted with palm kernel oil, or other additives, reducing the quality and taste.

Mimi was in our market earlier this month sampling her chocolates and we were privileged to spend an evening with her and 33 lucky customers that signed up for her chocolate dinner hosted in a private home in Ada. (See our Market Chatter for more information and all recipes we served are posted on the website). It was a glorious evening of wine, chocolate, delicious food and friendship. We carry Mimi’s handcrafted chocolate truffles in our bakery case, along with her Wally Bars (a market favorite), Zen bars and Maple Nibs. We also sell the Ecuadorian “cocoa pulp”, which is similar to a quince paste. 90% fruit with just a little sugar added. It’s delicious on toast or scones, a marvelous accompaniment to cheese (similar to a quince paste), and for our chocolate dinner, we served a dollap of the cocoa pulp on Victorian Bakery date cake, then drizzled a little Kings Cupboard Chocolate Sauce over the two … it was … well … exquisite! Check out our recipe in this mailing which features Mimi’s cocoa nibs and the cocoa pulp.

The “Zingerman’s Bakehouse Team”

Grand River Grocery is proud to offer Zingerman’s breads and pastries. The Bakehouse is a true artisan bakery, which means they use traditional methods of baking, use flavorful ingredients, and they use their “hands” verses a lot of machinery to make their breads and pastries. They use very little commercial yeast, as most of their breads are made from original starters they used when they opened the bakery in 1992! Once formed, the loaves of bread take anywhere from 5 ½ to 18 hours to rise. In other words … this bread is the “real deal” and as close as you’re going to get to the old world breads of Europe.

High quality ingredients (and we mean high quality) are a hallmark of Zingerman’s products (their whole deli and business philosophy is founded on sourcing the “best of the best”). Handfuls of fresh cranberries, pecans, and raisins are found in every loaf. You can’t bite into their Cranberry Pecan bread (seasonal favorite right now) without getting a mouthful of each … and that’s in every bite!

Their pastries adhere to the same high standards. Real butter, cream, fresh lemons (yes, they make their own lemon curd with those fresh lemons), Michigan fruit when possible, Michigan honey, local flour and local ingredients when possible. And a lot of what we call “Zingerman’s magic”. High quality ingredients produce high end pastries.

It takes a great team to make great products. This holiday season we are grateful for the Zingerman’s Bakehouse team which includes (among others) Rachelle, Jaison, Ally, Ashley, and Paul for all they do for Grand River Grocery. They are our mentors in giving great service and we are looking forward to another great year with them.

Andrea and Nathan Creswick of Creswick Farms

Creswick Farms, located in Ravenna, Michigan, is a family owned farm operated by our good friends Andrea and Nathan Creswick. They raise healthy, happy cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys and lambs. Which means they are not force-fed; they roam freely; and eat what they want, but only what mother nature has provided for them. Their meats are absolutely delicious and flavorful – you can taste the difference (Andrea says it’s because they’re happier in life). Among the many benefits to eating grass-fed animals: Extra Omega 3’s, lower fat and calories, higher in Vitamin E than supermarket meats. Getting extra vitamin E is linked with a lower risk of heart disease and cancer.

We sell a variety of Creswick products with pride: Eggs, ground beef, ground beef patties, an assortment of steaks and roasts, and in 2008 we hope to expand our selections. This Thanksgiving we have fresh turkeys… so juicy and delicious. To order a Creswick farm raised turkey, send an e-mail to . We have a limited quantity and they sell out fast, so reserve your turkey today.

Victorian Bakery, Maria Brennan

Victorian Bakery and Maria Brennan are one of the many reasons our products are special. We always seek “extraordinary” products and Maria is one example of our unique, story-full, special partners.

After Maria moved to the USA seven years ago from Ireland, she found the need for baked goods with no artificial colors and preservatives. She bakes with only Michigan flour and sugar which she buys at a small family owned wholesaler in Kalamazoo. She sources as many of her products locally as possible, including “secret weapons” like Koeze’s Peanut Butter which is used in her peanut butter pie. Eggs are free range and sourced from a local farm in Kalamazoo. In addition to Maria’s amazing desserts, we’re loving her cookies – chocolate chunk, chocolate peanut butter chunk, peanut butter (both using Koeze Peanut Butter), snickerdoodle, lavender shortbreads and her absolutely amazing Millionaire Squares.

We’re proud to represent Maria and her amazing baked goods at Grand River Grocery … check out Sarah Massie’s Crew Pick which is Maria’s Sticky Toffee Cake, it is one of the best desserts we sell!