Blog

Along the Paint Creek Trail

By | August 03, 2016
Share to printerest
Share to fb
Share to twitter
Share to mail
Share to print
Chef Victoria Connolly
Chef Victoria Connolly

In the heart of Oakland Township is Goodison Michigan, where there was once a trade town with a bustling train stop. The popular rail line moved people and products from Detroit to Flint and existed for almost 100 years. By 1970, much of the train line went unused until a 10.5 mile stretch was converted back to its origin as a bike trail. This was the first rail-to-trail in the state of Michigan and is now known as the Paint Creek Trail. Goodison is exactly in center of Paint Creek Trail.

One of the more historic destinations in Goodison is the Paint Creek Cider Mill, which serves a full menu year round along with the traditional donuts and cider. The owners pride themselves on preparing everything from scratch. They smoke the meats, make the pizza dough, prepare house-made pierogi and even make their own sodas. The mill uses all Michigan apples for their cider, applesauce, apple butter and desserts while also offering Michigan made honey, syrup and jams. Paint Creek Cider Mill is a great resting point along the Paint Creek Trail or a driving destination to eat a local meal.

New to the hamlet of Goodison is Victoria’s Reserve. Owned and operated by chef Victoria Connelly of Victoria’s Delights in Oxford, Victoria’s Reserve was created as a wine school and cooking demonstration kitchen. One of their wonderful cooking classes offered is a Lunch and Learn series called The Chef and The Gardner. Chef Victoria serves up a three-coarse lunch while Certified Master Gardener Kathy (Victoria’s mom) provides a short talk on a timely garden topic.

This week she talked about growing vegetables with a new garden, container gardens, seeds, pests, raised beds and soil testing. The chef prepared a spring salad with herbs from Kathy’s garden, crepes filled with ratatouille topped with marinara sauce and a seasonal strawberry and rhubarb crumble. It’s an informative and delicious class in an intimate setting. A great way to check out Victoria’s Reserve without signing up for a class is visiting on wine bar Wednesdays. Every Wednesday evening Victoria’s Reserve offers wine, a small plate menu and an opportunity to purchase bottles for home.