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/.

Friends in St. Louis

Where does the time go?

I wanted to write about this St. Louis tweet-up when it happened, but instead found myself swamped (in the best of all possible ways) with the holidays, travel and time with our (my fiance and my) families.

One of the highlights of all of that holiday craziness was the Christmas Eve meet-up that so many good friends in St. Louis joined me for at Hartford Coffee Company in South City, St. Louis. Amidst the bustle of the Christmas holiday and with very short notice, ten of my friends made the time to get together with me.

Thank you, @VersaDave, @Nanna_J, @NickGilham, @mamarcus17, @Tojosan, @michaeltomko, @TabithaKMeyer, @STLWineGirl, @Velo_City – and of course, my fiance, Nick – for starting my Christmas weekend out warmly. It meant the world to me to see everyone while I was home!

STLWineGirl and MilliGFunk

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.

Colorado Coffee Merchant

Colorado Springs isn’t a huge town, and if you took it away from the Rocky Mountains, it would be much like the hundreds of other mid-sized cities around the country.

The handful of tourist destinations here that have helped draw people to the community are mostly Rocky Mountain-centric (two exceptions that come to mind immediately are the United States Air Force Academy and Focus on the Family’s Visitor Center).

Colorado Coffee Merchants

Two things about Colorado Springs that I like to share with friends who visit — and which are not Rocky Mountain-centric — are its coffee shops and its micro brews. One of my favorite recent discoveries has been Colorado Coffee Merchants, a coffee shop and roaster on Fillmore Street in Colorado Springs.

Air Roaster at Colorado Coffee Merchants

Colorado Coffee Merchants roasts its coffee right in the coffee shop using an air roaster. I’ve not yet been there while they were roasting, but one of the baristas had explained to me that air roasting provides an even roasting of their beans.

Latte at Colorado Coffee Merchants

And while I’m not sure how or why air roasting would make a difference, she also told me that they boast that their coffee won’t leave the drinker jittery. I’ve been buying my coffee beans (the Roswell Park blend, if you’re curious) at Colorado Coffee Merchants now for well over a month, and unless I find a roaster I like better, this is my coffee shop of choice.

Colorado Coffee Merchants is an industrial sort of space that serves coffee, yogurt, and a few pastries. The shop is located near I-25 and Fillmore, at 302 East Fillmore in Colorado Springs. For more information, visit their website.

1. A Visit from a Friend
A close friend chose to spend her weekend with me this weekend. She traveled to Colorado Springs from San Francisco, and we had a good, low-key weekend. We hiked Palmer Trail in Colorado Springs, we tried a few local beers, and we ate well. I’m so thankful for her!

Melissa and Christina on Palmer Lake Trail, Colorado

2. Speaking in Small Town Missouri

This week I went back to my small Missouri town  to speak on social  media and digital marketing at the Y-USA Camp Marketing Symposium. Even though I no longer work for the Y, I still have a heart for the Y’s mission and it’s impact on kids and families. It was an honor to speak at the national symposium.

Y-USA Camp Marketing Symposium

3. My fiance comes home!

My fiance had to travel for a few weeks for a military exercise, but he comes home to me soon. The next time he leaves for an extended time will be when he deploys to Afghanistan in 2012. Please keep him and his soldiers in your thoughts.

Happy

4. Seeing Family
Though it was a very fast trip that was dominated by the Y-USA Camp Marketing Symposium, my parents picked me up and took me back to the St. Louis airport, allowing us a few hours together this week. It was great to see them.

5. Brides Across America

This nonprofit gives wedding dresses away to military brides who have either deployed (for service women) or whose fiances have deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, or Bahrain within the last five years.

It moves me in ways that I can’t begin to describe here that someone is so thankful for their own freedoms that they would donate a free wedding dress to me as a thank-you to my fiance and I for his military service. What a tender gesture to offer women beautiful, new wedding gowns. Thank you, Brides Across America. I am so moved by your program!

Brides Across America Interview on Fox 2 News

I was interviewed by Fox 2 News in St. Louis during my Brides Across America experience (here’s the video), and some of that footage was re-used by Channel 11 News in St. Louis. The Fox 2 News Blog also used a quote from me in its write-up about the event!

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.

Grace in Small Things exists because we are choosing not to allow the noisiness of life to rob us of the time and energy to be mindful of ourselves and those we love and to recognize the grace that exists in small things.

Grace in Small Things

In these last few weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, it seems natural to reflect, and to give thanks for the blessings in our lives. This week I have much to be thankful for…

1. A second blog
I’m recently engaged to an officer in the Army, so I’ve started a second blog devoted to this new adventure I’m on as a soon-to-be Army wife. The blog has been live now for just over a month, and it’s been a source of peace and point of connection for me to other Army girlfriends, fiances, and spouses.

2. New Friendships
I’ve met some great new friends in Colorado since moving here. I feel so lucky to have connected so quickly with some of the people I’ve met here in Colorado. I’m grateful when I’m invited to do things with new groups of people, and it feels good to be building some strong individual friendships, as well.

3. Snow
I like snow, and I live in a place now where I can see it in the mountains nearly every day. The best part? I can see snow in the mountains on days when it’s sunny and warm in the city. How awesome is that?

4. Wool
It sounds silly, but I love wool socks. I’m cold-natured, but they keep my feet warm and dry, even when it’s cold and wet outside.  Smart Wool, I love you.

5. My Yoga Practice
The Bija Studio in Colorado Springs is beginning to feel like my yoga home. I try to take at least two classes there each week, and after two months of regular practice, I can feel myself stronger. Other students have introduced themselves to me, and the teachers have reached out to ask me about myself. It’s nice to feel like there’s somewhere I can go each week to take care of my body, where I am welcomed, and where I know I’ll find an hour of strength and peace.

In these weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, what things are you thankful for?