In tiny Nisula, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Alison Kirksey and her neighbors were driving 45 minutes for basic groceries and supplies. With a successful food blog and a passion for cooking for others, Alison combined her loves and opened Red Hen Foods & Goods, a community gathering place that also has groceries, gifts, prepared food, and animal feed. And macaroni and cheese.
The food blog, That Which Nourishes, catapulted Alison into to the viral stratosphere when she published a recipe for “just regular macaroni and cheese” in 2013. “My site got so many hits each holiday, it would crash!” she said.
Alison wasn’t planning on opening a store or running a business. She and her husband moved to Nisula a dozen years ago (she’s quick to point out that “Nisula” and “Alison” are nearly anagrams) and he bought the abandoned building that now houses Red Hen Food and Goods, using it as storage for airplane parts as he renovated. When their barn blew down, they reclaimed that wood for use in the airplane hangar/future store.
The whole time, “all of us were going 45 miles to Houghton, 25 miles to L’anse, and at least 20 miles for milk,” she said. And that was just feeding the humans.
Her son owns a ranch nearby with Highland cattle and draft horses and needed to feed them. So she started asking other neighbors what they needed and found out you need 20,000 pounds to place an order. “I thought I’d be doing that every four to six months,” she said, “but it’s every two to three months.” Obviously, there was a need. And the humans were still hungry too. So she prepares food for them too.
“I sell out of my made food every day,” she said. Red Hen Foods & Goods has become a community gathering place. The store, which really is in the heart of Nisula, is open Wednesday through Sunday, and Saturday is mac and cheese day. “People get here early,” Alison said, and she makes “four big pans.”