Cantaloupe, Fig, and Gorgonzola Salad

Jump to recipeAh, summer! I love this time of year, when a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables becomes bountiful. During a grocery shopping trip to my local Holiday Market today, I was thrilled to find a selection of fresh Black Mission figs in the produce section. I knew I had to come up with
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London, England Wall Calendar Now Available

I’m happy to announce the addition of a new product to my collection of fine art photography wall calendars: London, England. It’s available now in my Cafepress store, just in time for Christmas! To shop my collection of photographic calendars perfect for gift giving, please visit my Cafepress store at https://www.cafepress.com/shop/austinscarcelli.

Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald

Today is the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior (November 10, 1975), a tragic event that will forever be etched in Michigan’s memory. Four decades after its demise, the Edmund Fitzgerald continues to capture our imaginations and evoke such intense emotion that even seemingly the most typical family
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The Ultimate Halloween Party Playlist

After spending the 1990s pursuing a career in country music with my band Northern Lights, I decided to change my musical focus to include pop and rock. In 2001, I started the MissUnderstood Band (later the Kristina Austin Band). For the next several years, until I won the Mrs. Michigan United States Pageant in 2006,
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Michigan Tomatoes and How to Enjoy Them (Part Two – Michigan Tomato Salsa Fresca)

Jump to recipeAfter spending a perfectly beautiful summer Sunday morning at the Canton Farmers’ Market, my husband and I came home loaded down with a case of locally grown tomatoes and a ton of kitchen inspiration. The first thing Jason asked me to make with our bounty was my homemade salsa fresca (also known as
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Michigan Tomatoes and How to Enjoy Them (Part One – Michigan Tomato Sandwich)

Jump to recipeIt’s Michigan tomato season once again and I can’t help but feel excited over this year’s bumper crop of beauties, especially after last summer’s attack of late blight. And after suffering through colorless and tasteless store-bought tomatoes most of the year, it’s especially blissful when locally grown produce hits the stands and my
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Paris, The City of Light Wall Calendar Now Available

I’m very excited to add a new product to my collection of fine art photography wall calendars: Paris, The City of Light. It’s available now in my Cafepress store, just in time for Christmas! To shop my collection of photographic calendars perfect for gift giving, please visit my Cafepress store at https://www.cafepress.com/shop/austinscarcelli.

Michigan’s Ghost Towns – Kensington Village

Did you know that beneath the bucolic waters of Kent Lake in the Kensington Metropark once existed a town bristling with life, death, and scandal? This is the story of the Village of Kensington, Michigan. We begin in 1825, when great numbers of easterners, mostly from New York, began migrating to the Great Lakes region
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Winter Gardening: Ornamental Cabbage and Flowering Kale

This is the time of year when it seems that, each time I step outside my door, something else in my gardens has succumbed to the increasing cold. Though I know they’ll return in the spring, I admit that watching my plants and flowers wither away makes me feel a little sad. As my colorful
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Grand River Plank Road Stagecoach Toll House – Hickville Hotel in New Hudson (Lyon Township), Michigan

Here are some photos from my rural exploration today in Lyon Township, Michigan. This is all that remains of the 1840s-era Hickville Hotel and Toll House, located at 53517 Grand River Avenue, New Hudson, on the southwest corner of Grand River and Haas Road. This building is one of the last-standing original stagecoach stops on
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