Meet Volunteer Extraordinaire Janice

Janice Ortbring gets the title of Volunteer Extraordinaire for her extreme Yellow Door volunteerism. Together with hubby Todd, Janice opens her home every Thursday and her home becomes, essentially, Yellow Door. Indeed, her yellow front door inspired this local foodie hangout's moniker.

Janice (and Todd) own Edgar Norman Creative, a creative agency based in Chelsea. A fan of everything Chelsea, Janice shares some of her most intimate thoughts... on volunteering.

So, Janice, why do you volunteer at Yellow Door?

The community. I love seeing happy faces gather around the doors (the Yellow Door tables). I enjoy telling and listening to stories, meeting new friends and, of course, eating! It's also fun when musicians show up!

Do you have any words of wisdom to share with others about getting involved?

Just do it! It feels like hanging out with friends, both new and old. Invest as much time as you can afford, learn about food and food sources, and help improve the process. The more, the merrier at Yellow Door!

Taste late summer's harvest in Yellow Door's featured August menu

Chilly autumn air is around the bend, so what a great time to passionately savor late summer's grand harvest. Our Yellow Door menu for August captures the essence of what summer is all about: sweet, sweet corn, juicy, mouth-watering peaches and summer-at-its-best cantaloupe. Come eat with us this Thursday:

* Frangipane-peach brioche tart and crème fraiche and bacon
Featured growers/producers: Wolfe Orchard peaches, Westwind Milling Co. flour, Back Forty Acres eggs, Calder cream, Ernst Farm bacon

* Corn fritters with fried egg and sauteed Swiss chard-tomato salad (walnuts, blackberries with Fustini blackberry balsamic dressing, oil, salt pepper) and crème fraiche and bacon
Featured growers/producers: Tantre Farm corn, Westwind cornmeal, Yellow Door garden chard, Brines Farm tomatoes, Wolfe Orchard berries, Fustini dressing, Calder cream, Ernst Farm bacon

* Corridor pate, cantaloupe, Millpond toast points, Greystone Manchego, Swiss chard-tomato salad
Featured growers/producers: Corridor sausage pate, Goetz Farm melon, Kapnick bread, Greystone manchego

* Yogurt sweetened with honey, peaches and blackberries, granola
Featured growers/producers: Thomas’ yogurt, Bobilin honey, Wolfe Orchard peaches, Ed’s granola

Yellow Door is open this Thursday!

Yellow Door is back in the original, homey destination near downtown Chelsea this Thursday, August 5. The fork and spoon shall be hangin' by the yellow door, starting at 7:30 a.m.

Chef Alan Merhar of Evans Street Station (of Tecumseh) is preparing a seasonal dish sure to tantalize the taste buds. The rest of the menu is equally fresh, surprising and tantalizing... and, well, surprising....

Come and be surprised! (It's our way of saying that we're still whipping up the menu!)

Closed this Thursday /Open next Thursday, August 5

See you at Sounds & Sights Festival this week. Check out all the scheduled activities at: www.chelseafestivals.com.

Next week, we're soooo excited to be back under the original Yellow Door roof and behind the actual yellow door for Thursday, August 5, breakfast. Chef Alan Merhar of Evans Street Station (of Tecumseh) is joining us in the Yellow Door kitchen. His dishes always comprise the freshest fruits and veggies of the season. We'll post his Thursday menu soon.

Eat local wherever your "local" is at the moment

Juicy, red raspberries, wild blueberries and oh-so-fresh lobster. Dorothy, we're not in Michigan anymore. A two-week road trip to Acadia National Park included dining on mussels, freshly boiled lobster, wild blueberry pie and, eaten by my daughter, the local favorite, "Whoopie Pie." On the return trip home, we ate Vermont cheese, chocolate and maple syrup, took in the Ben & Jerry's icecream tour and stopped at two farmsteads where local cheese, raw milk, maple syrup and granola are produced, and grass-fed cows and free-range chickens pluck at lush, green hillsides. (Incidentally, the creamery owner is from Marquette, Michigan, and a graduate of Ferris State University.)

Apparently, we are not the only Michiganders to travel to Maine this summer. In addition to running into my daughter's schoolmate twice, and Chelsea resident and Yellow Door diner Kathy Mueher and her husband on a whale boat tour (sorry if I butchered your last name, Kathy!), we ran into Michiganders at every point of interest. We Michiganders love our outdoors!

It's fun to experience other local foods and points of interest (anyone been to the world's largest nickel before in Sudbury, Ontario?). It's so, so, so nice to be home, though. After touring several eastern states these past two weeks (and having experienced many western states before), I can honestly say Michigan is one of the most beautiful states in our country. We're surrounded by rich agriculture and four of the five Great Lakes. Chelsea is a charming gem of a community. Give thanks for all the goodness surrounding us!