On July 10/11 the Inn at Lonesome Hollow, located near Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, hosted its seventh cheese making workshop. Steve Shapson (www.thecheesemaker.com) again led the workshop which teaches participants how to make delicious soft cheeses overnight. As an added feature for this workshop Sid Cook, Certified Master Cheesemaker from Carr Valley Cheese, spoke about his experience as a fourth generation owner and cheese maker. (more…)

Two of our guests at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow (a rural Soldiers Grove, WI Bed and Breakfast), Cindy and Ann, took an afternoon tour last Saturday with local  guides, Kevin and Patsy. Kevin is a retired history teacher who is as well steeped in the history of the Kickapoo Valley as anyone. (more…)

 This weekend marks the official beginning of cheese making workshops at Lonesome Hollow. Today we set up the workshop in preparation for 26 workshop attendees who will begin learning the art of cheese making tomorrow morning.

workshop set up for cheesemaking

 Steve the Cheesemaker, from Cedarburg, WI teaches the class. In 2009 Steve conducted four workshops at Lonesome Hollow, and this year he has signed on for another four. The 2009 workshop attendees came from as far away as Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, California, Virginia and Texas. The class will make its own soft cheeses overnight and will go home with some cheese that they helped to make. 

November Cheesemaking Graduates

Other cheese making workshops at Lonesome Hollow are scheduled for the weekends of May 22/23, July 10/11 (already sold out), and Nov 13/14. Call Steve at414 -745 -5483   to reserve a place in the workshop, and call Pete or Nora at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow for your lodging.

The world is a better place because of cheese!

Some of the best stream trout fishing in the midwest is found in the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin. The topography here is one of repeated bluffs and valleys, with an underlying porous rock structure consisting of limestone and sandstone. As a result the Driftless Area is dotted with hundreds of cold water springs that emerge at the bottoms of the bluffs, flow together, and create perfect trout streams. The Driftless Area streams are home to four types of trout: brook, rainbow, brown, and tiger.

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow  , a rural bed and breakfast located near Soldiers Grove, WI, is hosting three trout fishing workshops during the 2010 trout season. The speaker is Len Harris, a native of the Gays Mills, WI area, a former trout fishing guide, and currently a syndicated outdoor writer. Len knows these streams well, and he has hundreds of great photos of the streams he fishes and the fish he has helped his clients catch. In these workshops Len will discuss the tactics he uses to catch big trout.

Join us on May 8, June 19, or Sept 11 at Lonesome Hollow to be informed and entertained by a talented “trout guy”.  You can view all kinds of trout stories and pictures on Len’s blogsite, http://lenharris.blogspot.com.

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow is delighted to announce three culinary workshops this year featuring  chef Monique Jamet Hooker.  Participants in any of the 3 culinary workshops staying  2 nights at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow will get a $50 discount on their stay.  The first workshop this year is April 17th and 18th, and will be “Pates and Sausages”.  Learn how to make Pate de Campagne, garlic sausage, onion brats and more!

 Culinary workshop attendants can choose several ways to participate: from a full weekend, starting Friday night through Sunday, which includes 2 dinners, lunch, and Sunday brunch, to a shortened workshop on Saturday, which includes lunch.  The workshop will be located at Monique’s kitchen at her log home, which is nestled in the woods on a bluff above the Mississippi River.  Included with the workshop will be Monique’s award winning book,  Cooking with the Seasons, which introduces readers to over 200 recipes that emphasize seasonal distinctions of taste, texture, and color.

Monique Presents her Delicious Fare

Acclaimed chef Monique  came to the US from France in the sixties and took a position in her brother’s restaurant in New York state before moving to Chicago where she made a name for herself as a food stylist and caterer.  She also began teaching classes for people eager to recreate her art in their own kitchen. In 1983 she opened Monique’s Cafe’ in Chicago’s North River district which has since become the premier dining area in the city.

Since Monique has “retired” to the hills of Southwest Wisconsin,  she has been a spokesperson and chef with Organic Valley Cooperative, and is a frequent guest on “WPR’s “Here on Earth” and continues to teach, lecture and demonstrate the “art of seasonal cooking”.

Additional Lonesome Hollow workshops with Chef Monique Hooker will be November 5th-7th:  “All About Duck”-Roasted, Confit, Foie Gras, and more;  December 3rd-5th: “Chocolate and More Chocolate”-Cake, Truffles, Glaze, Dipping and more.

Photo by Jerry Quebe

Bob Denny, professional Chicago-area photographer, has announced another in a series of digital photography workshops. This workshop is scheduled for October 31 / November 1 and will take place at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow (www.lonesomehollow.com), a bed-and-breakfast located near Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin.

Art From Digital Photography

This workshop is titled, “Digital Photography Into Art”, and focuses on the creation of artistic images beginning with digital photographs. The workshop will incorporate both indoor and outdoor photo shooting techniques as well as Photoshop manipulation of the images. Outdoor shooting will take place near the Inn at Lonesome Hollow, located in the heart of the Kickapoo River Valley and the famed Driftless Area of the upper midwest. The landscape in this area is one of constant valleys and ridges interspersed with small farms. Dozens of trout streams, and the Kickapoo, Wisconsin, and Mississippi rivers all flow nearby. Tobacco barns, vineyards, Amish homesteads, and eclectic small villages add to the photo opportunities.

For more information on the workshop, contact Bob Denny at www.bobdennyphoto.com/WisOct09.html. All workshop attendees must stay at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow during the workshop. Lodging options can be found at www.lonesomehollow.com.

On August 28-30, 2009,  an uplifting women’s retreat with yoga instructor and wellness coach, Jeanne Penton, and author, Colleen Baldrica , will take place at Lonesome Hollow.  Take some long overdue “you” time and restore work/life balance through yoga, meditation, mind-body wellness workshops, circle time, laughter, and wine tasting. This retreat will offer morning and evening yoga and meditation sessions (90 minutes).  Weather permitting, the meditation portion will be held on the serene grounds of Lonesome Hollow. Yoga and meditation is a wonderful and awakening practice that doesn’t discriminate.  All levels are welcome.   The style of yoga taught is a non-purist blend, combining the elements of Vinyasa, Iyengar, and Anusara. The focus is on connecting breath with movement, letting go of competition with ourselves and others and achieving harmony within mind, body,and spirit.  Healing Touch will also be offered by Nora Knapik, Innkeeper at Lonesome Hollow, and Healing Touch Apprentice.  For more information, contact Jeanne at pathways2wellness@yahoo.com, or Colleen at colleenbaldrica@gmail.com.

Colleen Baldrica

About the Retreat Directors:   Colleen Baldrica (Moran) began her spiritual journey as a child.  Inspired by the teachings of her Native American grandmother, she carried that wisdom forth into her career as an adult.  With a Masters degree in Counseling  and a PhD in the Philosophy of Education, she worked in public education for 28 years. As the author of “Tree Spirited Woman” (Beaver’s Pond Press 2006) she has begun a new quest – to share with others what experience has taught her about those simple truths she learned as a child.  Colleen continues to enjoy the path she has discovered by taking long walks in the woods, sharing meaningful conversations with friends and family, and taking time to curl up with a good book. Colleen lives in Stillwater, Minnestoa.  Her website: www.colleenbaldrica.com.

Jeanne Penton

Jeanne Penton, B.S., ACSM has 15 years of experience in the health and wellness industry.  She is nationally certified through the Amerian College of Sports Medicine, and is a yoga instructor and public speaker.  She has worked with many populations including children, seniors, physically disabled, post-cardiac, diabetics, pre-post natal, cancer survivors, athletes, and general population fitness enthusiasts.   Jeanne has shared her knowledge and passion for wellness with many groups, having worked with corporations, schools, churches, fire departments, and served on faculty for the Department of Health and Human Performance at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, IL.  Self-acceptance, mind/body awareness, and stress management serve as the foundations of her teachings.  Jeanne lives in Sycamore, IL.

Bob Denny of suburban Chicago has been honing is photographic skills for 40 years. Bob will be coming to Southwest Wisconsin for a Digital Photography Workshop that will be held at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow, www.lonesomehollow.com,  near Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin. The workshop dates are June 5-7, 2009.

This will be Bob’s third workshop at Lonesome Hollow, and we are very glad to have hime back. Previous attendees have rated the workshop very highly. Bob keeps his workshop size small so that he can provide much individual attention to all attendees. 

To learn more about Bob visit his website, www.bobdennyphoto.com.

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow is a rural retreat, offering 160 acres of wooded hills in the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin. The Inn is located about one hour south of LaCrosse and about one and a half hours west of Madison. The timing of this workshop will offer participants opportunities to photograph many wildflowers that will be blooming in our fields and woods. Bob will set up side trips that offer dramatice landscapes of the Driftless Area and the Kickapoo Valley.

Contact Bob to register for this workshop, and contact Pete or Nora at 608-624-3429 for lodging arrangements.

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow, www.lonesomehollow.com, a rural bed and breakfast located on 160 forested acres in Southwest Wisconsin, is happy to announce the scheduling of a scrapbooking workshop at the Inn from Apr 17-19, 2009. The workshop will be led by Creative Memories consultant Wendy Einsweiler. Workshop attendees will learn the newest and the best techniques for preserving and organizing print and digital photographs. Wendy will demonstrate the use of many different formats for collecting and presenting your keepsake photos in attractive and affordable albums.

Enjoy a great scrapbooking weekend in the rural ambience of the Driftless Area of Wisconsin. Our trees will be budding and the earliest of the forest wildflowers will be blooming. Bring a camera, stretch your legs with a walk in our woods, and look for some early wildflower picture opportunities. A wide range of accomodations are available for workshop attendees. For information on workshop content email Wendy at wendyeins@yahoo.com. For lodging information at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow, email Pete or Nora at info@lonesomehollow.com, or phone at 608-624-3429.