An Actual Craft Show!

This past Saturday, Hendricks County Convention & Visitors Bureau invited me on a holiday tour to see all of the fun things offered in Hendricks County during the holiday season.

We started the day at the Tri Kappa Gingerbread Christmas. It's a craft show and I have to admit that I wasn't terribly excited about it. However, the President of the Tri Kappa chapter spoke to us to give us information about the history of the event and she told us that they only accept true artisan vendors- people who are creating the product and not just reselling a direct sales item or from a kit that anyone can buy at a craft store. She had my interest!! We only got to spend an hour so it was a quick walk up and down the very packed venue. I am marking my calendar now for next year's event (first Saturday in December) and I will be saving up so I can spend more, too! I love going to a craft show where the artist is literally sitting there creating before your eyes. I love seeing things made in my state by people who live nearby. I love knowing there is such great talent all around! There was sewn items, knit items, tatting, woodwork, painting, wood carving, a few food stops, bake sales... at every turn, I found something that would have been the perfect gift for someone. Maybe I'll see you there next year!

The woman in charge of this booth has a grand daughter named Teagan who is just 4 months old. It was a delight to talk to her. Her grand daughter has Downs Syndrome and is an absolute blessing to this family. I bought a wooden family decoration of snowmen with each of our names on it from them. Any family that likes “Teagan” is ok by me!

Indiana is known for rocks. Maybe I know that more than some because my husband works for a mining company (limestone). But this guy takes sandstone and slate and makes fantastic decorative pieces!

Mmmmm…. Cookies!

Can’t go wrong with artisan chocolates! This is Chocolate For The Spirit. I need to buy some of these chocolates- they actually make 2 varieties that are infused with wines from Chateau Thomas! My 2 favorite things combined- heaven!!

One of our favorite finds was an older couple who only do 2 craft shows a year. This is the gentleman’s hobby and he uses his love of woodwork to earn a little extra money. He is very skilled and could really take this business far if he wanted to- but they don’t want to. They like doing their 2 shows per year. Again, if I’d had the funds to spend more, there is a lot I would have purchased from Bopa’s Wood Shop!
This was a special order that he made for the Plainfield Fire Department.

A collection of cars, trucks, and planes that he made. He makes everything nail free- he makes his own wooden dowels. It was fantastic to talk with him- he truly took pride in his work.

He also started doing, by request, a line of items for those who have American Girl dolls. This is a travel case he made- including little handmade wooden hangers. He showed me pictures of furniture he’s made- couch, chairs, end table, and more.

This is a crane- all parts work and move and fun stuff like that.

A very cool xylophone that he made. The top is carved giraffes that you strike with the mallets that are held by the elephants.

I was also fascinated by these outdoor fire stones. You pour in fuel (can use citronella) and the wick and you have a really cool outdoor candle. I had to chuckle when an older woman asked the guy if she could use it as a night lite… he was very careful in his wording so as not to insult her for asking such a dumb question.

I didn’t see this- would have bought one if I had. My friend Angie from Just Like The Number found this ear warmer and I think it’s fantastic!

2011… Tri Kappa Gingerbread Christmas… Plainfield High School

I will be there and I will be a shopping fool!!

Trader’s Point Creamery (Dear Flartus…)

I was invited to go on a tour of a local county near Indianapolis this past weekend and I got to invite a guest. This week, I’m going to share the day with you- because Christy and I had a lot of fun.

Christy and I love food. I guess you could call us foodies. I don’t think I felt comfortable with that title for a long time but it is feeling more and more right for us. Part of that realization came on this day we spent in Hendricks County. At the end of the day, Christy and I were in this insane food high and talking about how there isn’t anyone else we could share the food experiences we had with who could enjoy it and appreciate the way we could together. It struck me… that a friend I’ve made through blogging is exactly the kind of person who would enjoy and appreciate the food experiences we had for all of the same reasons that we loved our experiences that day- Flartus and Miss Chef of Flartopia.

Dear Flartus and Miss Chef,

If you ever come to Indiana (please come to Indiana), you must give us a day to dine together. And the two places we must take you are Traders Point Creamy and Black Swan Brewpub (details on Black Swan coming in a separate post). These are places where you will have a unique experience but will also benefit from the dedication to locally produced food and a focus on amazing combinations of flavors. Traders Point Creamery

From the website (because this says it better than I could): Traders Point Creamery is a family owned artisan dairy farm located in Zionsville, Indiana. We started making dairy products, selling direct to customers, and delivering in the central Indiana region in the summer of 2003. Our herd of Brown Swiss spend all of their time on pastures and we milk 60 to 90 cows each day throughout the year. Our farm is Certified Organic by the USDA. Additionally, we purchase milk from similar size farms who share in our organic, 100% Grassfed beliefs. As certified organic milk producers you can be assured that we never use synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides on our land and our cows never receive antibiotics or synthetic hormones. We produce pure, fresh, creamline whole milk, chocolate milk, plain and fruit yogurts. Our cheese offerings include Fromage Blanc, Fromage Blanc spicy, Fromage Blanc garden herb, cottage cheese, and our raw milk natural rind aged cheese “Fleur de la Terre”. Our whole milk and Fleur de la Terre cheese are made exclusively from our 100% grass-fed herd. We believe in “nourishing the land that nourishes us all.” This means preserving the family farm and continuing our grandparents’ legacy of sensible, sustainable, low-input agriculture.

You can take a tour of the farm- the nursery, the pastures, the chicken coop, the milking barn. You can get right up close to the cows being milked- and watch as they enjoy their molasses treat while they wait to get milked. You can see the mother cows waiting to birth their babies (not have their babies pulled from them) and you can see mother cows and their calves (they keep them together- they don't separate and then feed the calves, they keep mom and baby together).

On my way to the milking barn, I hung back from the group a bit and got to meet a very sweet cat. How can you have a dairy farm without some barn cats, right?

For the next two weekends (just in case you don't have any plans and would like to travel to the tundra of Indiana), Traders Point Creamery is hosting a special event called Christmas On The Farm. The farm is already beautiful- and our first snow of the season added to the beauty.

For Christmas On The Farm, there will be special vendors, Santa (sitting on a hay bale throne), crafts and fun kid things to do, and the winter farmer's market. I'm hoping to take the family on the second Saturday- looking at the pictures on the website really makes me want to experience this fun family event.

But the best part of our brief visit there was being able to sample the food. I first ate in the restaurant, The Loft, years ago when it first opened and I was first starting to really explore fresh, local, whole foods. It's pricey- but you are paying for quality you won't get anywhere else. Everything they serve is from the creamery, from a local farmer, or from their own gardens. We got to sample the creamery offerings- these are products you can buy at the small creamery store on the farm or in several grocery stores. We had the European style drinkable yogurt (the consistency is more like a smoothie than the runny stuff we call drinkable from most grocery stores) in vanilla and wild berry. We had fromage blanc garden herb fresh cheese and crackers. We had egg nog (I don't usually like egg nog but I adore Traders Point's egg nog- I drank at least 3 of the samples) and chocolate milk.

Let me mention the milk. You can't buy Traders Point Creamery skim milk or 2%. It only comes as whole milk- as I believe all milk should. You can read more about the milk and what makes it better (ok... different) than the typical mass produced offerings here. And the chocolate milk... made with Dutch chocolate... is truly heavenly.

Best of all, we got to try the new small plate (tapas) menu. It's offered on Wednesday evenings (which also happens to be half price glasses of wine day!). We had the roasted pepper hummus, beef satay, and a butternut squash thing that defies description. It was all delicious- I was sneaking skewers of beef off the platters that others left behind. But these little butternut squash chips with this creamy, slighty spicy topping were heavenly. The gentleman who was describing the food to us must have either loved Christy and I or thought we were totally nuts because we literally squealed as he was describing the food.

So please, Flartus and Miss Chef, please come and visit so Christy and I can experience this food with people that we know have the same deep and layered appreciation for all that it represents.

And the invitation is open! If you are interested in trying new foods, in learning about why grassfed dairy is better for you, in wanting to experience farming as it was meant to be... please visit Traders Point Creamery. If you see their product on your grocery shelf, try it. Yes, it's a little pricey. Yes, it's going to taste a little different at first- especially if you are more used to processed and packaged foods. But if you are a consumer of healthy, whole, real, grown food- Traders Point Creamery is for you. Or if you want to become a consumer of healthier foods, more whole foods, food that is grown and real- take a visit to Traders Point Creamery.

Sincerely,

& Christy