It all started at a cheese farm.
You can call it a dairy farm if you like. The fact is, this dairy farm makes some of our best local cheese that I have tried. It's settled just outside one of East Tennessee's most charming old towns.
It happens to have a nice little tourist shop and restaurant. They have tours of their farm. (We didn't know that initially so we figured this could be for another day with better planning with our time.) Since we were on a country drive tour of small town USA we hadn't planned for tour time. But a grilled cheese sandwich and a milkshake? We'll make time for that.
Who wants to share a milkshake anyway?
They had an awesome selection of unique grilled cheese sandwiches and ice cream shakes – all made from their fresh dairy products. My husband has the taste of super sweet, decadent ice cream flavors. I fall more towards the fruity fresh flavors. Who wants to share a milkshake anyway? I know I don't. My classic strawberry milkshake made the day.
As we wandered around the gift shop, that's when the idea came to me. They have wonderful cheeses and dairy products – which are some of my favorites. It would be so great to create a recipe card for them to sell in their shop all while promoting another product. Yes! They'll love it!
And the creation began!
It's funny how things turn out. This particular farm never picked up on the idea (but I haven't stopped sending them cards!). Meanwhile, I have talked to various other gift shop owners that sell their products and others thanks to the recipe cards. The gift shop owners love anything that will help sell more products. As this idea has grown, shop owners have shown me products that might work on a recipe card. We don't accept everything. If they're a good fit for our mission of scratch-made, then we put that product on the card. Some exceptions may apply – lol! But we truly look for products that have few ingredients. We're about 'back to basics.'
This truly is a win-win-win situation.
As for the WhistlePig Maple Syrup? That's just one of the latest products we had a request for to be added on a card. (We updated the card since it was a nondescript product before. Just so you know, these pancakes are truly amazing!). Ideally we want to have recipes featuring local food makers. In our area, we have lots to choose from and I am working on more to feature. But our recipes do have a few rules. I'll talk about those later.
Does your town have a scratch made, food maker with a tasty somethin' somethin'? Let us know. If we can help promote a local maker, then we've done our job.