JR Afternoon with Chris Renwick
Michigan Made Treats For The Holiday Season
You know, everybody's out buying things for Christmas for Hanukkah, whatever it is. And all these big stores make it real easy, right? You can go right online, you buy things, they've got all these deals, Black Friday deal, Cyber Monday, which is today, all, I mean, all the deals, they're all there for you. But in reality, you got to give some love to our local places. You got to give some love to all the handmade goods, all the love and care that goes into making things here in Michigan. And a long time, buddy of mine, Franklin to Hannes has always put together and put out an annual made from Michigan with love list. And it's all kinds of gifts, all kinds of food that you got to have for the holiday season and Franklin to Hannes joins me once again. Frankly, it's good to have you back, my friend. Good to be back. How have you been? We've been well. And we're gearing up for the holidays here now, looking past Thanksgiving. And my studio is just flush with stuff that you've so graciously sent over. I want to hear from you a little bit about what it takes to make, to go through and make this list that you've compiled because you kind of reach all the corners of the state. Yeah, we do. We do a lot of research, a lot of scouring of the internet, a lot of phone calls to be sure. And we just tell the people, look, you know, we're putting together this. Really nice guide and we'd like to have you be part of it. And it's just a matter of trying to help the Michigan economy because if every household in Michigan replaced, not added, but just replaced $45 a month on Michigan goods, we'd pump about $2 billion into our economy. That's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. And it's not that difficult, right? Because you can find really quality food or items, whatever it is, all across the state. I want to start close to home with Great Lakes pot pies because they've got, I mean, everything. I've got a chocolate chip hand pie, kind of like a pasty almost. And then you've got pies in little tins here, Thanksgiving, pot pies and chicken pies. They've got a whole array of things to choose from. Exactly. And believe it or not, this started out as just a hobby. And it grew and it grew and the owners actually opened up the business during the pandemic of all things. Wow. And it's taken off like crazy. The chicken pies are my favorite. They're just delicious. They have the hand of breakfast pies that you just cook in the oven while you're getting dressed or shaving. And they're ready to go for you, a lot healthier for you than a lot of the fast food out there. And the pies are now available through the Gordon food stores all across wherever they're located in the 33 different Meyer stores and 150 stores in Michigan. And again, this was just supposed to be a hobby and it just keeps growing and growing. And I expect this one to go national. Well, and I've got kids and the air fryer has become a gods godsend in our kitchen and they've got air fryer instructions on there too. So it's it's fantastic. And to start a business in the pandemic and watch it flourish is such a wonderful Michigan story. It is. It's just terrific. The owners are great. They love not only to make the pie, they love to eat them. They're always coming up with new different ways to do them. And you know what else they have? It's really good. These little pie crust bites. They're coated with cinnamon. The problem is once you open the bag, don't expect you're going to close the bag up again. I've got it here as well. I haven't opened it yet for that reason flavor pie crust cinnamon pie squares and they're dry. These little bags. It's wonderful. And you know what I like about this is and I like about this with with the the array of foods here is it's not pumped full of nonsense. It's all the ingredients are good ingredients. And I think that that's that's something that has kind of come to the forefront recently. So that's really cool. And then you've got Michigan awesome, which is in Holland. Another they make all kinds of different foods. We've got different types. We've got chocolate covered cherries. We've got different mixes here. And these look fantastic too. They're delicious. He's got food from all over the state that he has in the Michigan awesome bags. They've got t-shirts galore, all kinds of wearables that are really cool. I think I have three or four t-shirts that I you know cycle through each week. Just stemware, glassware, chachis, decals. You name it, this guy really is Michigan awesome. They're over on the West side of the state in Holland. They ship all over the country just well all of these companies do. But it's just terrific company. Great gifts. They have corporate boxes and gift bags and all kinds of things. There's so much you can do with Michigan awesome. Yeah. And they have kind of we like the West side of the state a lot. We love Holland and we go there a lot as a family during the summer. And they've become kind of a staple for us. Like we'll go in, we'll buy a couple of things and they've got a great shop, great store front there downtown. Yeah. So Michigan awesome is in Holland is a great spot. Yes, sir. And then we've got this Wilson cheese shop in Pincanning. And their array is unbelievable and they've been around for a very long time. They're just celebrating their 85th anniversary this year, which is cool. Yeah, it really is. They're the originators of the Pincanning cheese. And the store across the street, the Pincanning cheese factory is, you know, the same owners. And what you've got there is the Pincanning cheese, it's so good. My favorites two of them are the Swiss cheese with the almonds in it. It's delicious and also the, I guess it's up to the Pincanning cheese with the horseradish in it. You put it on this cracker. Oh my gosh. Is that good? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're talking my language. It's taken a tremendous amount of resolve for me not to be eating the entire show with all of this stuff in here. Yeah. Well, yeah, I got a, I got a, I got to stay on top of my game here, but, but they've got, they've got everything and that's fantastic as well, a pepper jack and mild chedders and sharp chedders and pepper jacks and smoked cheeses, which is great as well. And you don't love about this list because most of us travel all around the state anyway, right? And, and what's really cool is that even during the holidays, right, you go to, you go up to Pincanning or you go up to different places. I mean, there's, there's all kinds of snow activity. You can make it a real kind of Michigan weekend, a Michigan vacation and, and hit all these spots. Mm hmm. Yeah, it's great. I mean, everywhere we go, we travel the state a lot too. Well, you know that. I told you and, and everywhere we go, it's a destination. We stay and we go out and see what's out there. And it's just Michigan has rife with these kinds of little towns with really great products that are known, you know, all over the Midwest. And I mean, you're going to get a better product than if you go to the store and look at it, you know, sometimes you're in the hustle and bustle and you got to go to the store. You got to pick some things up. It's no big deal. But you're right. If you just spend 45 bucks a month on some of these things, if you choose to go downtown A&R burn, grab something as opposed to, to, to, you know, your, your box store, it can make a world of a difference. And I think that's a, that's a huge part of this. Uh, Franklin to Hannes, uh, with his wonderful from Michigan with love compilation, um, can you hang tight with me? I'm going to take a break, but there's a ton more that I want to get to. All right. Franklin to Hannes is with us as we cover the best products in Michigan that you got to pick up this holiday season. We'll take a break. Come back with more with Franklin here on J or afternoon, Franklin to Hannes is with us as we continue to break down some of the best made in Michigan products for you this holiday season. Another good one, Franklin is, is again, uh, very accessible to us to the metro area. Gilbert's chocolates, they've got locations in Jackson in Ann Arbor. And, um, and, and the, the, the interesting piece about this is there's also a little history tied in there is they're celebrating their 125th anniversary starting in January. And the company's still using a lot of the same equipment that they use back then. Everything is pure. It's delicious. And I got to tell you, these chocolates are absolutely decadent. I just, we can't stop beating them here. And that's problematic when you're trying to lose weight during the holiday season. It's always problematic. But if you, if you're indulging, uh, Gilbert is a good place, uh, to be and, and what's cool is so they've got, um, in this particular box of chocolates that I have, um, they've got, uh, kind of their story, um, but then also different important dates in Michigan, like very much tied to the state, like in 1957, the five mile Mackinac Bridge opens. They've got, um, Michigan being created as a territory in, in 1805. So like things that you may actually learn while you get to enjoy the chocolate. Exactly. That's the Michigan history box comes in a smaller size, a larger size. And you know, something else that's really hot right now are the Dubai chocolates. And they're, they're offering those as well. And, you know, everything's made in small batches. So it's not like mass produced, like, you know, some of the bigger chocolate companies. I think they're terrific. I've eaten chocolate in three countries and two continents. And I think it's the best. So what is Dubai chocolates? What is that? You know, it's just a, uh, just small batch chocolate. Okay. Yeah. Exactly. Special blend of chocolate. It's just, it's good. It's, uh, it's hot right now. I know that. Yeah. We go back to Holland, you've got the Holland bowl mill, which is fantastic. Um, they, uh, a lot of handmade heirloom bowls, um, again, just kind of handmade things and, and they've been featured predominantly nationwide. Oh my. Yeah. They were on the Discovery channel on that, uh, how it's made program in the bowl. I got to take the tour actually a couple of times. I love going there and you just, you see the logs come in and they load them up on the machines. They cut them into blanks. I guess they call them. They, they hand turn these, these bowls. It's just a wild process. From one blank, you see a big bowl, a smaller bowl, a small, it's like a four or five bowl set. They offer cutting boards, charcuti charcuterie boards. I think I'm saying that right. Yeah. You got it. Yes. That led tongs, all kinds of kitchen accessories, holiday accessories. And you know what they do is for their bowls, when you buy one, you get free engraving. So they got that little wood engraving tool. Oh, cool. Oh, yeah. It's great. They're at the house and grandkids are already fighting over it. Well, that's very cool. That's very cool. And then of course, I mean, it's a staple, I feel like in most people's houses, better made, just continues to be in my mind, you know, the, the premier chip maker for, for the entire country and quite frankly, they really are not only are the chips delicious, but take the wavy chip with its crunch and its salt and its great potato flavor Michigan potatoes, all I had. And then put chocolate on top of it, Chris. Oh my gosh, these chocolate covered chips, people wait all summer for these to come out in like mid October. We start getting calls. I'm getting emails all the time. Where can I get them? Where can I get them? And when they come out, I think by like the end of December, they're gone. If you don't have them by then, you get away. No. And the problem is with those and this is no offense to my friends over better made. But I can't have those in my house. They can't exist. They can't exist because if they exist, they go too quickly and then, yeah, then we want more and then it's a whole thing. It's a spiral. So they're just so darn good. You're right. You're right. They're precious. All their products are good. I can't think of one that I don't like. My favorite, of course, are just the wavy chips and heat them with a sandwich and there you go. And then in Rochester, Mel's toffee, it puts out wonderful stuff. We've got the gingerbread toffee here. We've got the cookies and cream kind of toffee. It's got coffee stout and Oreo crumbs inside. This is a, yeah, I fear for these bags at my house as well, but frankly, these are good. And you know, something, you ever bite into a toffee and it like it hurts to eat it just so. Yes. This stuff will melt in your mouth. It's good. You get it plain. You can get it with the flavors on it. And you know, breweries all over town are using Mel's toffee's to make their specialty brews, which is pretty cool. Yeah. Michigan craft beers using Michigan craft toffee to make delicious beers. And they have these gingerbread toffee now that made without the molasses, which is, for me, I'm not a big molasses fan. Yeah. Yeah. And I love them. Great corporate gifts, wedding gifts. If you're having a party, you can get little individual tens and pass them out as party favors. What a great company. No doubt. And then of course, you know, I, we just had Thanksgiving, obviously. And if I would have my way with it, I would substitute the turkey for ham and there is nobody better to go to around here than Dearborn, not only their hams, their kibbasas. I mean, everything that they pump out is super high quality. Very high quality. I've been to the plant at dozens and dozens of times. I've seen how they're made. There's no junk going inside the hams. And you know, you can eat it ice cold, you can eat it heated up in the oven, however you want to make it. And of course, once the main meal of the ham is done, then you've got leftovers for soups and sandwiches and salads and I can't get enough of their hands. And the sausages, people like the holiday sausages now out and a lot of folks will make their ham and then they'll make sides of sausage pieces to go with it and people they will, why would I want sausage if I have ham? Try it. Trust me. You'll like it. Yeah. It's not a bad combo. That's for sure. Yeah. No, there's no doubt about it. It's a wonderful list. Where can people find this list if they want to go out and look for it? They can find all this and a whole lot more if they go to from michiganwithlove.com or you can simply go to Facebook, look out from Michigan with love. We put out our extended or expanded list of our favorites for the holiday season. It's all on there. We put it out three or four times during the season and we run contests all the time. A lot of these folks are running contests on our page, giving away free food and stuff. No shipping, nothing. But you get a prize if you win and it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. I know it's a lot of work, but we appreciate it shining light on all of these wonderful Michigan companies, whether they were started in the pandemic or they're going on 100 years, you've got it all covered. Franklin, the Honors, thank you so much for your time as always. Have a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to talking with you again. Yeah, you too. Thanks. Yep, you got it. That is Franklin, the Honors. Anybody interested in this stuff? I mean, I mean, look, I think he's on to something when he says $45 a month, $45 a month. That's like three trips to Starbucks. And then you inject that into our Michigan economy. It's a win-win. It's got to be that way because we have too many good companies around here. I mean, like for me, we always have better-made chips. It's like we're always buying better-made, like we don't buy lays or anything. We always are, the chips in our house are always better-made. But like toffee and things like that, if you can get that specialized, it's way better. Well, and they sent us some of their chocolate-covered potato chips. Have you had those? They sent those? Yes. There's some in there. There is a tin. There is a tin of chocolate-covered potato chips. Yes. Yeah, those are a problem. They are a problem. Have you guys had them? I have. Yeah. The chocolate-covered, better-made chips are good. I bought a tin of them when the grandsons were in town. Oh, yeah. And I had one. Oh, yeah. I had one. Yeah. So I said, you should take them home for the boys. I said, I said, you know, it's not a slight to better-made. It's that I just can't buy those things because I eat them and then I want more. And then, you know, it's not, it's a vicious cycle. It's a vicious cycle. Yes. You can't eat just one. No, you literally cannot eat just one. if you want to check it out for michigan love with love dot com uh... wonderful spots to hit this holiday season
December 2, 2024 ~ Chris talks with Franklin Dohanyos about the From Michigan With Love Annual Food Guide, finding out about all the great treats and gifts you can give...even to yourself...that are all made here in Michigan!