Accidental Chef in the Wild West

PORTAL, AZ – As if we were all Wild West outlaws lowering our bandanas for the first time, my neighbors in tiny Portal, Arizona and I are finally seeing one another’s faces. Never having seen their mouths, I made many of them extravagant Thanksgiving and December holiday dinners, alongside my friend Zola, who’s pushing 90…

New Mexico Christmas Decorations: Chile Red and Cactus Green

New Mexico has ‘Christmas’ year round – that’s how you order half red chile, half green chile sauce. But this mostly very Catholic state goes all out with Christmas decor, from religious to irreverent.

Cider Making in the Keweenaw: Central and Copper Harbor, MI

The Cornish miners who settled Central, MI left a legacy of apples, apples and more apples.

A Keweenaw Red Rocks?

Aaron Rogers envisions an amphitheater carved in stone & big-name bands at East Bluff Bike Park.

Keweenaw Leaf-Peeping Color Cruise, Houghton Canal

A Benefit for Donny Kilpela’s Copper Harbor Christmas Lights Display

Tax Talk Premature and Hunting and Fishing Welcome, Keweenaw Landscape Park Coalition Says

COPPER HARBOR, MI – Although various funding mechanisms were discussed at a Tuesday night informational meeting about a proposed Keweenaw Landscape Park, it’s premature to be talking about local property tax increases, the ambitious plan’s organizers say. In addition, hunters and fishermen will continue to be welcome on the property should a coalition of backers…

Trailblazer Aaron Rogers Unveils Ambitious 30,000-acre Mixed Use ‘Keweenaw Landscape Park’

Rock Solid Founder Already Building New Trails on His Own 524-Acre Parcel COPPER HARBOR, MI – Nobody ever accused Aaron Rogers of thinking small. The nation’s largest trailbuilding contractor on Tuesday night unveiled an ambitious plan to acquire up 30,000 acres in northeastern Keweenaw County and develop it for mountain biking trails and several other…

Keweenaw Diaries Part 1: Trapped in Paradise

Eagle Harbor, MI – I am trapped in a paradise, immobilized next to an animated orange fire, within earshot of the storm just now whistling over Lake Superior; I am be-blanketed on the couch of a log cabin far more spectacular than my budget for this trip could ever approach.  On the downside, my car…

Thimbleberry Donuts with a View at Jamsen’s Fish Market and Bakery, Copper Harbor, MI

Copper Harbor, MI – As far as olfactory promises made by restaurant names go, ‘Jamsen’s Fish Market and Bakery’ sends a decidedly mixed message. And while I’ve certainly eaten smoked fish for breakfast, the thought of walking into a co-mingled fish market and pastry shop gave me pause. But I was desperate for coffee just…

Deli, Birdwatching and a Great Coffee Shop: One Perfect Day in Ann Arbor, MI

ANN ARBOR — I came to Ann Arbor to volunteer for the spring breeding bird count, which, for you non-birders, is a delightful way to spend a morning — or a full day, in the case of the more hardcore birdwatching addicts. Take for example, whoever they talked into pulling an all-nighter on owl patrol….