I recently returned from a trip to England where I got to taste many amazing cheeses, and each one was incredibly fresh. These cheeses I ate in England inspired me to help you find local, fresh cheese in Missouri.

Featured last fall in Feast magazine, Baetje Farms – located near Ste. Genevieve, Missouri –  produces several flavors of goat cheese. The cheeses have a light and fluffy taste, without the heavy gamey flavor that sometimes comes with a goat cheese. My favorite is the Coeur de la Crème because it is shaped into a heart, reflecting its name.

Moving across the state to the Kansas City side, Green Dirt Farm makes their artisan cheeses from sheep’s milk. The “Wooly Rind” is a Camembert-style cheese and is similar to a mild brie. A big step up from that is the “Bossa” cheese – thick, creamy, and full of flavor. The “Dirt Lover” is a triple crème, practically a buttery spread.

You can shop online for another Kansas City cheese from Yummy’s Choice, who has created a variety of feta cheese spreads marinated in extra virgin olive oil. Flavors include regular, mint, and spicy, as well as a Sun Dried Tomato Lebaneh, which is a combination of feta, cream cheese, with several spices and herbs.

In the middle of the state is Goatsbeard Farm, located in Harrisburg, which is about 20 miles northwest of Columbia. Goatsbeard offers a selection of Fresh Rounds, Fresh Tubs, Soft-Ripened Cheese, Feta, and Raw Milk Cheese. More information can be found on their website at http://www.goatsbeardfarm.com, and their artisan goat cheeses can be found in wine stores such as The Wine and Cheese Place and The Wine Merchant.

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To learn more about the cheeses in this post:

You can find Baetje Farms online at http://baetjefarms.com or at the Maplewood Farmer’s Market in the Schlafly Bottleworks parking lot on Wednesdays from 4-7pm.

You can find Green Dirt Farm online at http://www.greendirtfarm.com or in the cheese section at Whole Foods Market.

Yummy’s Choice is online at http://shop.yummyschoice.com or you can purchase their spreads at the closest Whole Foods Market.

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Michelle Marcus is a web developer, music lover, and food aficionado. To read more from Michelle, visit her blog: http://michelleamarcus.blogspot.com/.

L-R: Little Sister (Fuji), Big Sister (Nikon)

In Missouri, I did a significant amount of freelance writing and photography work for other blogs, and also for local and state-wide print publications. While my eye was strong enough to be hired as a second shooter on professional magazine shoots, I quickly learned that my camera was not.

I found that while my Fuji technically had the capability to the basics I needed it to, it was too slow to shoot RAW images quickly, and that its low-light capabilities (it didn’t have the ability to add external flash) were rotten. I realized then that if I wanted to continue to improve my photography, I would need to invest in better equipment — beginning with a better camera.

Smalltowngirl's Growing Family

The old Fuji has sentimental value to me: I bought the Fuji in 2006 on Camera Street in Hong Kong while participating in a year-long Asian fellowship program, and it was my first big purchase after finishing graduate school. I’ll hold onto it for the sentiment and as a backup camera, but the Nikon is my new baby. I can’t wait to start taking photo walks with it, but I admit – the new camera makes me miss my old favorite subject matters; St. Louis and rural Missouri.

I grew up in rural Missouri, and I lived in rural Missouri for more than two years before moving to Colorado this fall. How I managed to live in the backwoods for so many years without being involved in any serious roadkill action is beyond me. My good luck ended on Wednesday night though, as the fiance and I headed out of Colorado in our attempt to stay ahead of a big winter storm on our drive to Missouri for the holidays.

We drove along the two-lane highway east of Kit Carson, Colorado, just ahead of the winter storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on the communities behind us. The sky was still spitting snow when we saw more deer than we could count on the highway in front of us. Afraid to slam on our brakes since the roads were slick with winter weather, we slowed down and moved into the opposite lane of traffic.

Although we managed to avoid most of the deer on the highway that night, one that had been straddling the center line edged toward our side of the highway. Even sitting up high in our SUV, this big guy was eye-level with us when we hit him. Thankfully, he didn’t jump, and we didn’t lose control of the vehicle. He was killed instantly – a blessing, really.

Our SUV sustained more damage than we originally thought. Not only did we knock our our front headlight, our front bumper and grill are both broken. The front fender is badly dented over the wheel well and crushed near the front of the car. There’s even damage to the back door, which is dented in several spots. The bottom of the door curls upward now, and air seal has disappeared, making highway driving much louder than it was before.Thankfully, my fiance, the dog and I are all okay, and the SUV is drivable.

As a small town girl, I shouldn’t feel so shaken up over hitting a wild animal on the highway. These things happen, right? But the truth is that part of me really is a city girl who can’t bear the thought of hurting or killing an animal – wild or otherwise. I’m thankful that my fiance and I are alright, but I really wish we hadn’t had the encounter with the big buck of small town Colorado.

I love the Cardinals, I love St. Louis, and I hate cancer. So when I was contacted to ask if I’d help promote an online raffle that The St. Louis Men’s Group Against Cancer has launched, I didn’t have to be asked twice.

The raffle gives you a chance to help the Cardinals kick of their 2012 season, go to an away game with the Rams or win a 2011 Cadillac SRX.

Fly With The Cardinals
Down to Florida for training camp that is. We’ll hook you up with four tickets to a pair of spring training camp games and two nights of hotel accommodations in the sunshine state. Hop in a Hertz rental with unlimited mileage and crank that AC on the way down to the stadium. Best of all, you can hang with the 2011 World Series Champs during an exclusive reception and dinner featuring a Season Preview with Mike Matheny. Rifle through your custom Cardinals sports merchandise package while listening to all the personal stories about that close series victory over the Texas Rangers. If you’re a true fan, you should be giddy with excitement just reading this. Buy in now for a chance to get all your best Cardinals’ swag signed at spring training camp.

Lock Horns with the St. Louis Rams
Are you a fan of the Rams? If you live anywhere near St. Louis, you better be! This is your chance to win an all expense paid trip with a friend to travel with the Rams team to an away game. You’ll be game-ready after flying with the Rams and riding in the official team bus with Sam Bradford and company. You’ll visit the field during pre-game warm-ups and then witness a gridiron battle on the road. This is the Ultimate Rams away game experience. If you’ve got your eyes on this prize, get into the raffle now!

How to Enter
Tickets are just $1 each for sports and $25 for the Cadillac giveaway. Visit www.rafflestl.com/sharetowin to purchase raffle tickets. And remember: proceeds go to local charities!

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About The St. Louis Men’s Group Against Cancer
The St. Louis Men’s Group Against Cancer (STLMGAC.com) is a nonprofit, charitable organization dedicated to raising funds for cancer research, prevention and care.

I didn’t have to know him personally to hurt for his brother, who reached out to me when I moved from New York City to Small Town Missouri in 2009 and was a good friend to me. I didn’t have to be close with him to wonder how a family endures a tragedy of this proportion twice in a little over a decade.

So was I close friends with him? No. But because I grew up in a small town, I don’t have to know someone intimately to feel that their passing is a tragic loss to a community that – at one time – was the only community I knew. He didn’t have to be a close friend for me to realize the impact that he had on the lives of other people I’ve known and been close to at various times in my childhood and young adult life.

My thoughts and prayers go out to people from my hometown who are mourning today. Our paths may not have crossed in months or years, but they’re still part of my home town and my childhood, and I so wish that they didn’t have to hurt right now.

The #140 Conference Small Town is unique from most social media conferences in that it focuses on 10-minute story telling. Joe’s small town story took immense courage to share, and it left the room silent in compassion and, frankly, discomfort.

After surviving a childhood that no one should have to experience, Joe has grown into a strong woman with who has her own career and has built a successful blog. She’s a single mother to a son who has cerebral palsy, and she is one of the most courageous people I’ve met in a long time.

Joe will be having major surgery between now and Thanksgiving, and is unsure whether she’ll have a Thanksgiving meal for herself and her son. She won’t be able to drive anywhere yet on Thanksgiving, and she’s unlikely to be in a position to cook Thanksgiving dinner at home.

I’m writing this post because I admire Joe, and I love her for sharing her story with us in Hutchinson,  Kansas at the #140 Conference Small Town. I’m also writing this because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I can’t imagine spending it alone.

Do you live in or near Topeka, or do you have friends or family there who might be willing to deliver a Thanksgiving meal to Joe and her son? Let’s find a family for Joe to spend Thanksgiving with.

Please share this post with friends and family. Surely there’s a family in Topeka who can help Joe and her son enjoy a Thanksgiving meal this year.

Sometimes being a blogger is a lonely experience. After all, a lot of us blog from the privacy of our homes. That is why I jumped on the opportunity to attend the Show Me the Blog conference in St. Louis in 2010.

Photo by Kim Wolterman

Blogging conferences might not be new around the United States, but there had not been one in St. Louis before. So I went to the meeting with no expectations, and came away from the day-long event much richer for the experience.

While at first blush some of the panel discussions did not resonate with me (I am not a food blogger, for example), the tips and experiences of all of the speakers were helpful no matter what you personally blog about.

A crowd favorite was the presentation by Melissa Gilliam (@milligfunk). Melissa was discussing blogging for a non-profit, but honestly she had on the most awesome boots! Everyone was talking about them (well, maybe not the guys in the audience), and the boots became the focus of many camera lenses as well.

In fact, for a while the boots were trending on Twitter in St. Louis! I think Melissa was concerned that her boots were more memorable than her presentation, but we reassured her that her content was just as fun and interesting as her footwear.

MilliGFunk's Boots, photo by Kim Wolterman

I began to follow Melissa and many of the other attendees on Twitter, and also Melissa’s A Small Town Girl’s Guide blog. Through the blog I have traveled with her throughout rural Missouri, run along side her as she trained for races, and viewed Colorado through her eyes.

And her blog is where I also learned that our small town Missouri gal was going to become a Rocky Mountain high girl. While sad that she was leaving the Show Me state, I celebrated her new job opportunity and her engagement to the man she loves.

Fast forward to 2011 and the second Show Me the Blog gathering, this time a two day event covering social media on day one and blogging on day two. Melissa was not able to attend due to the distance, but she was never far from our thoughts or conversation.

In fact at the pre-conference mixer on Thursday night, the trivia question was “Who wore the super cute boots at Show Me the Blog in 2010?” We had to tweet the answer and a winner was randomly selected. I am now the proud owner of a new MP3 player, and I will think of Melissa and The Funk’s Boots every time I use it.

Blogging and social media enable us to meet people we would never come into contact with in everyday life. How much our lives are broadened and enriched through this experience!

Kim Wolterman, author of Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed(room)? Researching a St. Louis County, Missouri Home; Keys to Unlocking House History; and From Buckeye to G.I. LeRoy C. Kubler The War Years 1942-1945.

Please visit Kim’s blog at http://writeformation.blogspot.com.

You can also read her write-up about Show Me The Blog 2011 here.

Diane's Pumpkin Patch, photo by MilliGFunk

Little is more perfectly fall than picking pumpkins together, and Nick and I are both suckers for fall. We decorated our front porch in fall colors, pumpkins and a scarecrow, and we picked pumpkins together as part of a Groupon date at Diane’s Pumpkin Patch in Canon City, Colorado.

MilliGFunk and the Giant Pumpkin, photo by Nick

Diane’s Pumpkin Patch is a family-run business dedidcated to helping its owners put their daughter, Diane, through college. At the entrance to the pumpkin patch sat a pumpkin that was bigger than I am. After snapping this photo, we gave our Groupons to the Diane’s mom, and we headed inside to explore.

Picking Pumpkins at Diane's Pumpkin Patch, photo by MilliGFunk

The pumpkin patch is really just a field in which they place pumpkins picked elsewhere. We each picked a large pumpkin from the field, placing them in a metal wagon to carry to our car.

The Best Pumpkins in the Patch, photo by MilliGFunk

For most of us, it’s the field with pumpkins in it – with vines or without – that makes pumpkin picking fun. It didn’t phase us at all that the pumpkins weren’t grown in the same place where we picked them.

In the Corn Maze, self-photo by Nick & Melissa

Diane’s Pumpkin Patch didn’t just have pumpkins though. There was a corn maze, a giant slide, and a snack bar with fall-friendly foods like apple cider, roasted corn on the cob, popcorn balls, and candied apples. They designed a “Clue”-like game inside of the corn maze, which we spent at least two hours playing, hoping to solve the who-dunnit.

Corny Funk, photo by Nick

As a throwback to fall in small town Missouri, I posed with my corn on the cob. In case you weren’t reading back in 2009, my picture was in a Potosi, Missouri newspaper during the Moses Austin Festival, eating roasted corn on the cob.

Diane’s Pumpkin Patch was a fun way to bring in fall in small town Colorado. What are your favorite ways to celebrate this time of year?

Growing up in Farmington, Missouri, my older sister and I would ride our bikes up and down the street, to the park that was behind our home and to our grandparents’ houses.  I even remember mastering the art of riding with no hands. As I got older and my parents moved out of town, my bike riding days came to an end. That is, until the past year or so.

Inspired by friends at church who ride, my husband started riding in 2009. I really wasn’t interested then, but as time went on I realized that this non-athletic girl needed a way to exercise. So when we upgraded my husband’s bike, I kept his old one, bought the necessary gear, and my cycling days began.

I have discovered a rich cycling community in the Farmington area, with the central hub being a Facebook group. Included in this varied group of people are business owners, young adults, teachers, retirees, salespeople and others, all joined together by their enjoyment of riding their bikes.  Three to four rides per week are organized, and each ride offers different demand levels so all cyclists can find a ride that is appropriate for them.  After a group ride, one of the riders will post in the group information about the ride—things like where they rode, who was involved, the average speed, and how many feet of climb they had. If there was a funny or interesting story, it will be shared, and invariably, the good natured jokes will flow.

As a rookie rider, one of the things I appreciate about the group is the encouragement given to cyclists at all levels. Even when I ride a short ride and post in on Facebook, I know it will get likes and comments of encouragement. You don’t have to be a top-notch rider to be welcomed, and everyone is willing to help and answer questions when asked.

The athletic abilities and accomplishments of the group members are impressive. Members’ accomplishments include the 2011 Missouri State Time Trial Champion for women and a King of the Mountain jersey in the Category Four state road race for men. There are also runners and tri-athletes as well. Many of the group members have lost a significant amount of weight and have made major, lasting changes in their health as a result of cycling.

One of the members who made major health changes is the creator of the group, Brian McEntire. He is currently riding across America on the TransAmerica Trail, which runs through Farmington. You can follow his progress by liking his Facebook Page or following his blog.

Additionally, Farmington has distinguished itself on the TransAmerica Trail by having one of the finest hostels dedicated to cyclists, according to the guests who have stayed. Al’s Place was established in September of 2009 and is in the old county jail in downtown. It is named in honor of late Farmington resident, Al Dziewa, who brought his love of cycling to the area. The cyclists have a place to store their bikes, do laundry, have complimentary Internet access, comfortable beds and modern kitchen and bath facilities. In the spring of 2011, TransAm Cyclery bike shop opened across the street from Al’s Place, further strengthening the commitment Farmington has to cycling.

What started as a way for me to exercise has grown into a group of people I likely would not have met any other way and I am glad to be part of a fun, supportive community.

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Jennifer Wassenaar is a music educator, memory keeping enthusiast and is active in her church family and lives in Farmington, Missouri. Find her online at www.mycmsite.com/jenniferwassenaar or on Facebook at Jennifer Sitzes Wassenaar.

Farmington Fall Fest 2009, Photo by MilligFunk

Guest Post by Jody McDowell

The annual Farmington Fall Festival is happening downtown this Saturday, the 24th, from 9:00 to 3:00. West Columbia street will be lined with festive booths featuring handmade arts and crafts from local artists, and delicious eats.

Downtown Farmington, Missouri, Photo by MilliGFunk, 2009

There is sure to be something for everyone! Animal lovers can attend Pet Fest at the courthouse square at 11:00, sponsored every year by First State Community Bank. Music fans will be in for a treat all day with live performances at Bauhaus Kaffee from 9:00 to 11:00, and The Vault is hosting more music in front of Long Memorial Hall from 11:30 to 3:00. Kids can hang out with special guest Diego and participate in activities by Parents as Teachers and the Farmington Public Library. Throw in a quilt show, sidewalk sales from some of your favorite downtown businesses, beautiful Missouri fall weather, and you get small town charm at it’s finest. Hope to see you there!

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Jody Mcdowell is a crafter and artist from Farmington, Missouri with a passion for photography, local history, and treasure hunting for vintage supplies. Learn more by visiting her blog and Etsy shop, Peach Parlor.