Anna Faller | Author
Being Human in a Wild World
June 20, 2026
If you ask award-winning wildlife artist Kim Diment, humans have far more in common with the world of animals than many of us realize.
“We came from animals,” she notes. “If you’re open to it, we can learn so much from them, [because they] teach us about us.&…
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The Manitou’s Northwoods Crispy Duck
June 20, 2026
Summer tradition awaits at The Manitou Restaurant in Honor, where dining amid Sleeping Bear Dunes gets the seasonal cherry treatment. Enter: the Northwoods Crispy Duck! The perfect rich-but-lighter bite to showcase some cherry good sauce (ingredients: northern Michigan cherries, cinnamon, c…
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The State of Foster Care in 2026
June 13, 2026
In a world of increasing budget cuts and bureaucratic red tape, members of our most vulnerable populations are being left behind. With about 20 counties and hundreds of families and community members under their purview, Traverse City-based nonprofit Child and Family Services of Northwester…
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WildFlour Bakery’s Tiramisu Vietnamese
June 13, 2026
You could travel far and wide for a little coffee flavor fusion, or you could swing down to WildFlour Bakery in Cadillac for their Tiramisu Vietnamese coffee. Crafted using the traditional phin (aka, a small metal filter on top of the glass), this highly-concentrated coffee brews directly i…
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The Making of a Community Center
June 6, 2026
Founded in 2005, Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology is the brainchild of co-founders and co-directors Brad and Amanda Kik, who have long shared a passion for exploring the magic that happens when agriculture and art overlap.
Now in its 21st year of operation, the nonprofit conven…
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2 The Moon Bakery’s Green Goddess Sandwich
June 6, 2026
With the season’s verdant foliage finally out in full swing, we can’t help but think green—specifically, the Green Goddess sandwich from 2 The Moon Bakery in Lake City. Picture this: two toasty slices of house-made sourdough (which undergoes a 24-hour fermentation for plen…
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Old Mission Tavern’s Off-Season Piña Colada
May 30, 2026
Whether you take yours blended, layered, or virgin, it’s never the wrong time for a piña colada. To go with spring’s not-quite-swimsuit weather, our go-to version is the Off-Season Piña Colada at Old Mission Tavern in Traverse City. This riff on the classic tiki dr…
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The DAM Shop’s Meat Me at the Dam Pizza
May 23, 2026
When it comes to the ultimate day on the water, The DAM Shop in Elk Rapids has pretty much everything, from on-site cocktail and coffee bars (which feature scads of local products) to live music, a marine pro shop, and most recently, a Dam Good pizza selection, the perfect snack to refuel b…
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Stockist Company’s Dune Runner Medium Roast
May 16, 2026
We’re always on the hunt for a perfect pinch-hitter coffee. You know, that elusive house-style blend that checks all the boxes in one fell brew. Prepare your presses, folks! We’ve found your next go-to cuppa in the Dune Runner Medium Roast from Stockist Company in Traverse City.…
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Modern Bird’s Tomorrow Comes Today
May 9, 2026
With the long wait for spring finally over, you might say Tomorrow Comes Today, which is also the newest agave cocktail at Modern Bird in Traverse City! Named for the eponymous Gorillaz tune, this Paloma-adjacent creation features the earthy-smooth duo of Suerte Blanco tequila, which is sou…
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The Bistro’s Bloody Mary Omelet
May 9, 2026
We love breakfast food, we love fun drinks, and you bet we love a bite that does both! Enter: The Bistro in Petoskey’s beloved Bloody Mary Omelet. Inspired by the classic brunch sip, this breakfast plate features a fluffy three-egg omelet stuffed with white onion, Meat Monkey’s …
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Birdie’s Spicy Sparrow
April 25, 2026
It’s nearly beach bag season, folks, and you know what that means: time to nail down your sandwich rotation! For our first al fresco summer adventure, find us flocking to The Spicy Sparrow at Birdie’s Sandwich Shop in Suttons Bay. Modeled after the Muffuletta (a New Orleans stap…
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Shopping at River Street Marketplace
April 18, 2026
If you ask Michigan native Robert Gras, a telling marker of a community’s health is the in-person shopping scene.
Even with online retail on the rise, he says, there’s an irreplaceably human factor that comes from seeing and touching a product—maybe even consulting…
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Wren’s First Twenty-Two
April 18, 2026
Like writer Ernest Hemingway, we’ve also been known to wax poetic about a truly great cocktail—and we could write an entire novel about the First Twenty-Two at Wren in Suttons Bay! Inspired by the first 22 summers of Hemingway’s life spent in northern Michigan, the drink b…
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The Future Is Peace
April 11, 2026
If you ask co-authors and peace activists Maoz Inon, an Israeli, and Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian, anyone can be a peacemaker. The key is to reject the othering binaries by which we classify people as “us” versus “them.”
“If you must divide us, i…
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Red Truck Orchards’ Cherry Vinegar
April 11, 2026
We love a powerhouse pantry staple, especially one with proven health benefits. Enter: the original Cherry Vinegar from Red Truck Orchards in Northport. Crafted from Montmorency cherries sourced from northern Michigan family farms (including Red Truck’s home orchard, Hallstedt Homeste…
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Malted Vinyl’s Yellow Duster
April 4, 2026
We know spring weather is on the way, but we’d go absolutely bananas for some al fresco action right about now! In the meantime, we’ll be sipping on The Yellow Duster at Malted Vinyl in Petoskey. Crafted on the coattails of the Petoskey’s annual Banana Bread Festival (with…
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Come Hungry, Leave Happy, and Support Local
March 21, 2026
In the immortal words of the sitcom Cheers, we all want to go where everybody knows our name. Even better if tasty eats are involved!
It’s this sense of shared community (served up alongside scratch-made breakfast) that Kalkaska farmer Kristina Lane and her fami…
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Red Door Coffee House’s Adrienne’s BLT
March 21, 2026
For the kind of late-winter nourishment that’s sure to warm both body and soul, find us cozied up to the bestselling Adrienne’s BLT at The Red Door Coffee House in Lake Ann. Created by and named for a beloved employee, this prodigious panini is everything we love about a comfort…
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Kilkenny’s Iced Irish Coffee
March 14, 2026
Kilkenny’s Irish Pub in Traverse City is flipping the script on our morning joe with an Iced Irish Coffee feature in time for St. Paddy’s Day! Inspired in part by the infamous Erin Rose Bar in New Orleans (with a nod to the Starbucks Frappuccino), this sweet treat blends Tullamo… Read More >>