Summer is over and Fall is officially here as we roll right into October. Much has happened at the Mill since our last news update and there is plenty to be excited for in the coming months. First and foremost, thank you to those who have already donated to help support the Daily Grind. We sincerely appreciate the support and hope more may join in so that we can continue putting these issues out.
         Our container shipment from Denmark is officially on its way, and we’re hopeful that there won’t be further delays as our goods cross the ocean. World-wide shipping delays have really put a wrench in things this year and we have had to resort to scheduling a follow-up shipment by air in just a couple of weeks to ensure we can get everything in. There is plenty of new stuff one the way as well as some vital restocks that we have been waiting on. We have a new supplier for our high-quality Danish dinner candles (now made in Denmark!) which means our red candles will be back soon. We also have the wooden rullepølse press coming back and will have both wood and stainless steel options this year. Other items of note include LED pillar and advent candles, new glass-blown ornaments, and lots of new and returning Danish trinkets and souvenirs.
The one casualty this year is our Danish hard candies made by Almuegaarden, which we will no longer carry due to complications specific to importing food. On the plus side, though, we are excited to announce two other Danish brands we will be carrying. The first, Lakrids by Bülow, we picked up this Summer. This is premium Danish licorice available in a number of flavors in licorice form and chocolate blends. Our Winter selection has recently arrived including Raspberry, Double Chocolate, and Mint, and we are expecting their beautiful advent calendar box very soon. We’re sampling these in the store, so stop down sometime to try them. The second is something completely new and you won’t be able to get it anywhere else in the country, Østerlandsk Tea! These teas, produced by a company that has been in business in Copenhagen since 1889, come in beautiful, ornate tins that are as unique as the flavors themselves. We anticipate these coming soon and supply will be limited until we can make a bulk order next year, so keep an eye out for that announcement when they arrive.
We have also recently picked up a new brand of Havarti cheeses from a small dairy farm in Massachusetts. These are available in 8oz blocks and come in five flavors including: plain, dill, garden vegetable, habanero, and smoked. The smoked Havarti is especially good and we might already have sold out by the time this news update airs. But don’t worry, this farm specializes in Havarti and regularly has new batches made, so getting more in is quick and easy. Best of all, this is raw milk cheese that is lab-tested. What that means is that these cheeses are made using traditional methods that rely on bacteria in the cheese to produce a more complex and richer flavor. This bacteria is normally removed during pasteurization, but don’t worry, each batch of cheese is lab tested to ensure it’s both safe to consume and extra delicious compared to pasteurized Havarti blends.
Looking ahead, we have a few very busy weeks coming up. We anticipate this year’s holiday catalog to be sent out in a couple weeks. And on October 11, workers from MøllebyggerPetersen will arrive to work on the windmill. The crew plans to begin repairs right away, starting with re-adjusting the cap frame gliders to make the windmill more secure and safe going forward. From there, the group will move onto the windshaft, and once addressed, we can get into the upgrades and renovations that we’ve been waiting for. Please allow us to extend sincere thanks to those who have donated to help us undertake this project so far. It is no easy feat, but we are doing what we can to make this work. We realize this is very sudden work, but we can assure everyone this was the best path forward for the mill and our organization’s preservation. No one here is a stranger to how difficult our windmill is to look after, and we appreciate the support we’ve received to keep it in its best possible condition.
To cap things off, we will be hosting a banquet at the Elk Horn Town Hall on Friday, October 25^th to send off our Danish millwrights, there will be Danish food and folk music just for the occasion, so save the date and be ready for a night to celebrate this year’s accomplishments and send off our visitors in the best way possible. More information will be out very soon, so keep a watch out for that announcement as well.