Farm Fresh Eggs

My in-laws have acquired some new animals on their farm in Wisconsin, including five beautiful chickens. This morning I went out with my father-in-law to say hi, feed them breakfast and gather the eggs. I've always tended to buy free-range or organic eggs at the market and have lately been getting my eggs straight from the Amish farms in Michigan. However, I had not yet met the chickens that provided my eggs for breakfast until today. It's just nice to know where your food comes from. We had a fantastic cooked breakfast and all enjoyed farm fresh eggs fried to order. Over hard for me, please.

Hot Chocolate at Beernsten's

On a recent visit to see our family in Wisconsin, my sister-in-law, mother-in-law and I had a nice afternoon break to catch up at Beernsten's Confectionery. They have told me about it several times and it was great to have some time to check it out. It's a charming little chocolate shop with an old fashioned feel from the original wood display cases and booths. It feels like a cross between a 1930's candy shop and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's so fun visiting a chocolate shop this time of year with all the beautiful Valentine treats and pretty decorated heart candy boxes. It inspired me to want to make chocolates again and I may try to make some truffles for Valentine's Day this year. They have sit-down service so instead of just getting some chocolates and heading home, we picked out a few treats and sat down to catch up in person instead of via Facebook, video calls or e-mail, like usual. We each had a chocolate and a homemade caramel with the highlight being our hot chocolate. It was steaming hot with an unusual topping...instead of whipped cream or marshmallows it was topped with marshmallow cream. What a treat on a cold and windy winter day!