Special places

a weekend with Red Clover

I was going to write a newsletter every Tuesday. I was filled with optimism and pride at my newfound ability to stick to a schedule. Two weeks in a row, who is she?? Yet here we meet again, gentle reader, 3 weeks later. I have a few good excuses reasons, one of which being a long weekend at Red Clover Ranch.

Queen Anne’s lace and the eponymous red clover in the prarie

Every so often you come across a place that strikes a chord. The air carries a different weight and frequency, you feel firmly locked into the here-and-now, your eyes seem to expand to take in every detail around you. You feel more alive. Or perhaps jolted out of your mundane day-to-day enough to feel more present to the experience of being full of life. Whether it’s magic or something in the water or something about the people, there’s an ineffable quality that lets you know you’re in a special place. The kind of place you feel compelled to leave a part of you behind, so you can take a part of it with. Growing up, my family moved about every 2 years, so I feel like I’ve experienced this sensation a few times - in Alaska, in Paris, in Southwest Michigan, and strangely, in Dayton, Ohio (she’s a little rough around the edges but has a heart of gold). As a result, my insides feel like a strange ambrosia salad of locations, and I often feel a little homesick for many places at once.

Red Clover, and the Driftless region of Wisconsin in general, is one of those places. Nestled in a valley, surrounded by wildflowers and draped in weeping willows, you feel held as soon as you arrive.

Red Clover Ranch, nestled in a valley

The founder of Red Clover, Annie, invited me to make dessert for one of their dinners on the Ranch, alongside their chef, Dani. Dani has been cooking and farming in the Driftless for over 20 years and sources over 75% of her ingredients from the region. She is also incredibly kind, and invited me to her beautiful farm to cook me up a ribeye from cattle she raised and potatoes with herbs from her sprawling garden and greenhouse.

Since the driftless was spared by the glacial activity that flattened the rest of the midwest, it’s topography is dramatically hilly and etched by cold-water creeks. This unique terrain has allowed it to escape the grip of large-scale industrial farming, which relies on expansive lengths of flat land, and as a result has a rich concentration of organic farms and co-ops.

The grounds of the ranch are absolutely teeming with edible and medicinal treasures - stinging nettles, red clover, goldenrod, black raspberries, apple trees, golden oyster mushrooms, etc etc etc…

its called abundance sweetie look it up

The area is also shockingly queer? In countless other rural areas, I’ve always felt a little ashamed to be grateful for my privilege as a straight-passing femme (especially when thinking of my early 20’s, desperately trying to scream I’M GAY with my alternative lifestyle haircut and septum piercing. I think I actually had a shirt that said “i’m gay.”). It was refreshing and heartwarming to see visibly queer folks across the gender spectrum alongside aging hippies and ruralites. I know that there are progressive pockets sprinkled throughout rural America, and don’t mean to assume that all rural areas are radically conservative and dangerous for anyone a little different. But, being queer often means putting up a bit of a metaphorical shield of protection when leaving urban safe(er) havens, so it was nice to feel a little less guarded. It feels good not to have to tuck parts of myself away. There’s a meme floating around that states “America is hard because like how do you find somewhere to live around trees but not republicans?” Don’t get me wrong, I still saw plenty of “Tr*mp 2024” signs, but perhaps in the driftless you can have a balance of both.

guest cabins and a SAUNA.

Staying on brand, I took basically zero pictures of the actual dinner. But i got to work with locally grown hazelnuts (a hazelnut co-op in the midwest? yes), soft creamy sheep’s milk cheese from Hidden Springs Creamery, and intensely sweet and flavorful peaches from one of Dani’s off-grid friend.

Anyways, huge thank you to Annie and Dani and all of the other beautiful souls I met at Red Clover. Please look into this special place - they host dinners, retreats, concerts, and weekend cabin rentals. Keep your eyes peeled for a special offering I’m planning here for late spring / early summer 2024 - an immersive and nourishing experience to tend to our bodies and spirits via baking and herbalism.

Also just want to give a huge thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has subscribed. I thought this would be a fun way to share recipes and ramble on the many thoughts and ideas that ping around my brain. The idea that people (like you) are interested in what I have to say is funny and heartwarming. So, thank you for being here.

Please, share in the comments any surprising Special Places that you’ve found!