The Elegant Farmer: Wonderful Shopping Experience

[yellow truffle]

On County Highway ES between Mukwonago and East Troy, you’ll find a huge, rustic yellow barn surrounded by orchards and fields of fresh fruits and vegetables. Inside, you’ll discover the ultimate in farm market culinary delights and a "Wonderful Shopping Experience."

Just outside Mukwonago, Wisconsin, located at an intersection surrounded by farm fields you are graced by a small compound of a few small buildings and a large 'smiley' barn.

If after seeing the 'smiley' barn, you do not find yourself feeling good, then the sign inside will definitely take away all your negative vibes (at least until you get back on the interstate).

The Elegant Farmer, 30 minutes from downtown Milwaukee, offers its customers with some amazing local produce, canned/bottled goods, cheeses, meats and some amazing baked goods.

From fresh rhubarb to bottled honey creme, prepare to load up your shopping cart.

And prepare to load up your fridge with some just frozen fruits. They have blueberries, peaches, corn, rhubarb, blackberries, cherries, apples and many more.

They've got cheese. Wisconsin, of course.

And for your haute bbq session where you want to impress, you can serve up freshly ground buffalo burgers.

Or try one of their stranger items, the Reuben dip. Ingredients include; cream cheese, corned beef, swiss cheese, sour cream, sauerkraut, and milk. If anyone tries on of these or their other dips, please tell us about it.

But these guys have been know for their, "Apple Pie Baked In A Paper Bag." A registered trademark item, this pie can be had in two sizes, personal or family size and can be had with or without a thick coating of caramel. I personally like the caramel on top as it adds another dimension of texture to the dish. You've got chewy, crunchy, gooey, flaky. Hey if Farmer Dan guarantees this pie to be the "The Best You Ever Hung A Lip On," and has that quote trademarked, it's got to be good.

Next time you find yourself in the vicinity, stop by the Elegant Farmer. It might be slightly out of your way, but well worth the trip.

The Elegant Farmer

1545 Main Street

Mukwonago, WI 53149

765 966 2939

[ronnie_suburban]

Perfect timing! I'm heading up to Madison this weekend. I'll be sure to stop here and check it out.

=R=

[Varmint]

I used to go to the Elegant Farmer when I lived in Milwaukee. I recall the first time I ever went there was the beginning of the sour cherry season. You could pick your own, and I had never seen these types of cherry trees. Well, Mrs. Varmint is a big fan of sour cherries, so I decided I'd pick a few. In about 30 minutes, I had filled up a 5 gallon bucket with these cherries.

I went to check out, and they asked me if I'd like them to pit the cherries for me. It was a ridiculously low cost, but I figured hell, I picked 'em, so I'll pit 'em.

So I get home with my 5 gallons of cherries and realize that I've never pitted these before. And I don't have a cherry pitter (this was the summer before I started law school, so I was pretty poor). So, I find a bobby pin and commenced pitting cherries.

Three days later, I finished. I then made enough cherry freezer jam and cherry pies to last forever. I still think my hands, 14 years later, still have a bit of cherry stain on them. I haven't bought a fresh sour cherry since.

But I have eaten my share of those apple pies!

[ronnie_suburban]

Well, I never made it here in August but yesterday we wanted to go apple picking and we immediately thought about the Elegant Farmer. Going there was a great choice. All in all they grow 10 varieties of Apples at the Elegant Farmer and most of them were available for picking yesterday.

Cortland

Jonathan

Golden Delicious

Red Delicious (only variety we didn't see)

Spartans

Wisconsin Granny

Empire McIntosh

Macoun

Ida Red

McIntosh

The process starts with a short and inexpensive ($2 for adults, $1 for kids) hayride up a big hill to the Orchard at its top. Purchasing passage on the hayride is not required but the walk up to the orchard can be tiring.

Of course, apple picking is not without its rules and regulations . . .

. . . Hayride strongly encouraged

When the hayride stops at the orchard, just over the top of the hill, a greeter provides further information; such as how to use the color-coded ribbon system to identify the specific varieties of apples and best to remove the apples from the trees (twist, don't pull!).

Once off the hayride, you can roam the orchard freely . . .

Wisconsin Grannies

Macouns (iirc)

One nice thing about picking your own is that you can sample the varieties right out there in the orchard . . .

Sweet, acidic and crisp - Empire McIntosh

When the hayride resumes, it travels a bit further uphill to the pumpkin patch. We thought it was a bit early to buy pumpkins, so we stayed on the hayride.

When the hayride ended at the bottom of the hill, we disembarked and paid for our apples at a checkout booth. As the sign states, you are charged based on basket size. With a fully-filled basket, the cost ended up being about $1/pound. After we settled-up at the booth, we crossed the street and went into the main store . . .

Decent selection, although not much in this particular case is actually grown on premises.

In case you don't care to pick your own . . .

Seasonal offerings

Delicious ciders and blends

Some more off-beat items

The Elegant Farmer also "specializes" in baked goods . . .

Attractive muffin case

As Anthony mentioned upthread, the "signature" item at Elegant Farmer is their Apple Pie Baked in a Bag . . .

. . . and they turn out quite a few of them.

We had a really fun day. Although the weather was great, it would have been even better if it had been 10 degrees cooler -- 82 F was just a bit too summery.

Not only was it a thoroughly enjoyable experience but coming home with this . . .

. . . was very satisfying.

=R=

[yellow truffle]

Nice ronnie, nice.

Did you take home any of their off-beat items?

[ronnie_suburban]

Nice ronnie, nice.

Did you take home any of their off-beat items?

←

No, just our apples, a pie-in-a-bag and some cider blends. I'm not saying raspberry butter doesn't sound good. But it was quite hot on Saturday and it just didn't seem very appetizing in that particular moment.

BTW, my son has already requested that we make this an annual event and I'm okay with that. Considering my well-known curmudgeonliness, I guess that's fairly high praise.

=R=

[budrichard]

From I-94 take HWY 142 in Kenosha county West to just past Bong recreational area. Brightonwoods Orchard is to the right http://www.brightonwoodsorchard.com/ . The owners are 'Apple People' and grow many antique species of apples. All have been carefully picked and ready for you. Sample any apple you want. They also have a winery. We have been purchasing our apples exclusively from these folks for many years. They don't have the carnival atmosphere but they do have the widest selection of apples I have ever seen and the best apples.-Dick

[ronnie_suburban]

From I-94 take HWY 142 in Kenosha county West to just past Bong recreational area. Brightonwoods Orchard is to the right http://www.brightonwoodsorchard.com/ . The owners are 'Apple People' and grow many antique      species of apples. All have been carefully picked and ready for you. Sample any apple you want. They also have a winery. We have been purchasing our apples exclusively from these folks for many years. They don't have the carnival atmosphere but they do have the widest selection of apples I have ever seen and the best apples.-Dick

←

Thanks, Dick, for the recommendation. I'll have to check it out. I'm pretty sure we drove right past it on our way up.

I'm not a huge fan of the what you aptly called the "carnival atmosphere," but when you have an 8-year-old, it actually makes the day go far more smoothly.

=R=

[budrichard]

I certainly agree about the age factor. We take our grandaughter (7 now) every year and she enjoys herself. If you go in early September around Labor day, try the Gravenstien. They are not available after about 9/14 and are my favorite. As I said they will encourage you to try any of the many varieties and they have certainly increased my apple awareness. They truly love what they do. -Dick

[yellow truffle]

Having been inspired by Mr. Suburban's post, a few of us went to apple and pumpkin picking this weekend. Sunny and in the high 60's brought out everybody. There was a line to get tickets for the hay ride and another to get on. Sadly there was not a great selection of apple for the picking as this was their last weekend for said activities. This abundance of people caused a line to get into the grocery store. We were waiting 20 minutes to get in. Hopefully things will have died down with temps getting to their normal and entry into the store is quick and painless.

Also inspired by rs's thread on Mazos Burgers in Milwaukee, we took a trip there to see all the fuss. But darn-it, they were closed on Sunday, so instead we went to Kopp's.