Food & Drink

It’s Apple Picking Time at Royal Oak Farm Orchard, Harvard IL

Connie Attractions & Events, Food & Drink, Illinois , , , 0 Comment
It’s Apple Picking Time at Royal Oak Farm Orchard, Harvard IL

Apple pie, apple strudel, apple turnover, applesauce, apple butter, apple cider, or a big bite into a crisp, freshly picked apple.  Sweet, tart, or somewhere in between.  However you like your apples, Royal Oak Farm Orchard has them for you to bake, cook, or eat as-is.  Wow, do they have the apples, 15,000 trees and 29 varieties.

For three months every year, from mid-August to late October, Royal Oak Farm Orchard, the largest orchard in northern Illinois, is open six days a week (closed Sundays) for you to pick apples.  Raspberries are available in late summer and early fall, and you can pick your Halloween pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, too.

pumpkins

Royal Oak has a great cafeteria-style restaurant that serves sandwiches like pulled pork or Italian beef, entrees like their famous chicken pot pie, salads, soups, and delicious desserts like fresh-baked pies and apple slices.Chicken-pot-piePieBesides apple picking, lots of activities are available, too.  You can listen to music, sometimes live, as the kids play on the playground or visit the petting zoo.

playground_trainRide with the kids on the Royal Oak Express, a trackless train ride, or the carousel.

train_2

carousel2On the hay wagon tour of the orchard, you’ll learn the orchard’s history, see the present and hear about the future, like the apple tree maze that was planted and will be available for use in 2015.  The trees are planted close together to form European-styled hedge maze.

hay_wagonPondapple_tree_hedgeBe sure to stop in to the Country Store, where you can purchase fall decor items, jams, jellies and syrups, and  baked treats like fruit pies, turnovers, strudel, and their popular apple cider donuts.

gift_shopjellyturnoversIf you don’t care to pick your own apples, you can buy them pre-picked in the Apple Barn, along with lots of other fresh, colorful fall fruits, vegetables, pumpkins, and gourds.

produceRoyal Oak Farm Orchard is located at 15908 Hebron Road in Harvard, Illinois.  Admission is free, but there is a small fee for the train, carousel and orchard tour.  They are open in 2013 through November 16. Check the web site for exact hours and u-pick schedule.

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Tour Stone Hill Winery, Hermann MO: Most Historic and Awarded Winery in the State

Connie Attractions & Events, Food & Drink, Missouri , , , 1 Comment
Tour Stone Hill Winery, Hermann MO: Most Historic and Awarded Winery in the State


Entering Stone Hill Winery’s cool limestone cellars that date back to the mid-1800s, you inhale the heady aroma of oak and fermenting wine mixed with the cellar dampness.  It is in these cellars of Missouri’s second largest winery that 250,000 gallons of wine are produced per year, resulting in more award winners than any other winery in the state.

The History
In 1836, German immigrants settled in Hermann, Missouri, hilly land along the Missouri River reminiscent of German Rhineland, perfect for growing the grapes of their homeland.  The winery opened in 1847 under the name Michael Poeschel, after the founder.  After changing hands and names several times, George Stark took ownership of the winery, changed its name to Stone Hill Wine Company, and by the late 1800s the winery became the second largest in the country and the third largest in the world, producing 1.25 million gallons of wine per year.

All of that came to an end when Prohibition took effect.  Barrel upon barrel of wine was dumped into the Missouri River, and the vineyards were burned.  For decades after that the cellars were used to grow mushrooms, until in 1965 Jim and Betty Held bought it and reopened the Stone Hill Winery.

The Tour
For the bargain rate of only $2.50 you can tour the winery, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and taste as many wines as you’d like.  As your guide takes you through the cellars, he or she will relate the history of the winery and many tidbits of information about the wine making process.  Here are a few of the facts you’re likely to hear on your tour:

  • The cellars were carved out of limestone and rank as the largest set of underground arched cellars in North America.
  • Sweet wines age in stainless steel tanks; dry wines age in white oak barrels.
  • One of the winery’s pre-Prohibition barrels still exists.  It had been shipped to a St. Louis monastery during that Prohibition and used for communion wine.

The tour ends in the tasting room, where you can sample the finished product.  After sampling, you may choose to enjoy a full glass of your favorite at the adjacent Vintage Restaurant, serving American and German cuisine.

winelunch_Stone_Hill_restaurant

Stone Hill Winery is one of several wineries on the Hermann Wine Trail.  Hermann, Missouri, is located about 80 miles west of St. Louis on the Missouri River.

Enjoy this post?  Click the Subscribe2 button to the left to be notified whenever I publish another post on MidwestWanderer.com.  (Be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.)  Visit the Midwest Wanderer Facebook Page, and check out my Examiner.com page, too, where I’ve had over 70 articles published.

Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket: A Route 66 Icon

Connie Food & Drink, Illinois , , 0 Comment
Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket: A Route 66 Icon

Family road trips were in their heyday.  Route 66, the 2,448 mile two-lane Mother Road connecting Chicago with Los Angeles, was completely paved by 1938, making cross country travel a popular family vacation.  Stops at kitschy roadside attractions, small motels and family friendly diners were as much a part of the adventure as the destination.  One of those diners was the Chicken Basket in Willowbrook, Illinois. The restaurant is still in existence today as Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket.  One taste of the fried chicken, crisp on the outsider, tender, juicy and flavorful on the inside and you’ll know how Dell Rhea’s has survived the rerouting of Route 66, the subsequent decommissioning of the road, and difficult economies. Read more

Silver Moon Winery, Lanark IL: Wine Tasting and Food Pairing

Connie Food & Drink, Illinois , , , , , , , 0 Comment

Many of us casual wine drinkers know that white wine goes with chicken and fish and red wine pairs well with red meat.  But unless you’re really into wine, it’s hard to know exactly which types of wine to pair with what foods, including appetizers and desserts.  Do I serve a pinot grigio or chardonnay, pinot noir or merlot? At Silver Moon Winery in Lanark, Illinois, you’ll begin to learn the differences. Read more

Black Swan Brewpub in Plainfield IN: Pub Food and Brew Taken to a New Level

Connie Food & Drink, Indiana , , , , , 1 Comment

I expected the Black Swan Brewpub in Plainfield, Indiana, to have good food and good brew.  What I didn’t expect was the extraordinary, pub cuisine taken to a new level, but that’s what I got.  You can taste the passion that goes into the food and beer, and feel the enthusiasm the staff and patrons alike have for Black Swan Brewpub. Read more

Piggott’s Farm Market for fresh produce, Benton Harbor, Michigan

Connie Agritourism, Food & Drink, Michigan, Shopping , , , , , 1 Comment
Piggott’s Farm Market for fresh produce, Benton Harbor, Michigan

Last weekend I discovered Piggott’s Farm Market in the country near Benton Harbor, Michigan.  They advertise fresh local in-season produce, so I had to check it out.  My hopes weren’t high.  May in the Midwest is too early for most produce, and markets usually sell only annuals this time of year.  Yes, Piggott’s was selling annuals, and I picked up some petunias and alyssum lavender.  But they also were featuring asparagus and rhubarb, both at reasonable prices, and if you spent ten dollars or more, you got a free sage plant. Read more