It’s always Happy hour at a Mount Morris bar & grill
An Oregon artist likes to work in happy mediums
For fans of vanilla, all Goodz things come to a blend
Customers find the perfect fit at cabinetry business
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4 Samzart’s symphonies
A conductor of color and composition has taken the natural order and rearranged it. Inspired by an area in northwest Illinois that missed a glacier and found a landscape all its own, he’s creating pictures worth a thousand thoughts.
12
Happy Hour
The owners of a Mount Morris bar and grill aren’t the only ones who are glad that they took over the longtime establishment; they’re keeping their customers smiling, too.
18
Happy mediums
An Oregon artist likes to put a smile on people’s face and a song in their art by singing their praises at her studio.
24 All Goodz things come to a blend
Whipping up some goodies and want to bring something into the mix that’s handmade and homemade? “The Vanilla Guy” can help.
32 Customer satisfaction
A family cabinetry business specializes in finding the perfect fit for clients, by getting them to think outside the big box stores.
Your Musical Journey Starts Here!
For Sam
Tucibat,
the world around him is like a puzzle. He sees pieces everywhere he looks.
Clocks and cats. Doors and windows. Steeples reaching for the heavens and tangles of trees rooted in the ground. Kaleidoscopes of colors … they’re all pieces waiting to be assembled — but when they come together, the pictures they make aren’t what you’d expect.
Where some people simply see the everyday world, Tucibat sees new worlds every day, creating photographic artwork with a digital camera, his imagination, and a computer canvas.
His art lives in a world of composite photography, with works that look unlike any world that most people could imagine. Images are twisted and turned and bent and blended, and layered on top of each other until they become almost unrecognizable. Yet, amid the myriad layers are pieces that anchor the viewer in reality while taking them on a journey into the abstract. It’s a blend of the familiar and the fantastic in a photographic playground that he creates from his home studio in Baileyville, a community of about 200 people in the northwest Illinois region that he’s called home for 70 years.
The unique compositions have earned Tucibat accolades and attention from the art community. He was the featured wall artist in July at the Coliseum Museum of Art, Antiques and Americana in Oregon, and has exhibited in the past at the Encore! Mt. Morris Old Sandstone Art Gallery.
When Tucibat displays his art at shows, he hopes to elicit some sort of emotional reaction or reflection from the people who gaze at his pieces, whether the work is a cacophony of colors arranged with random precision, or a soothing image of a distressed door fading into a country road.
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CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
What does the piece mean? That just depends on who’s looking at it.
“I think the meaning of the image appears in the relationship between the viewer and the art when they’re looking at it,” Tucibat said. “Whatever that person is feeling, whatever the art engenders in them, that’s the meaning. Whenever someone’s engaged in it — whenever I’m watching them — if someone’s standing at it for 30 seconds and looks through it, and you can tell that they’re processing it and having some kind of emotional interaction with it, that’s what I’m after.”
The result of his inspiration, which can be found at samzart.com, “is a sort of alchemical surprise that references both the ‘real’ world, and the dreamy, imagination-fueled world of the abstract,” he writes. The Driftless Area of northwest Illinois, southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa — full of hills, bluffs and scenic views that are the result of missing the slow march of glacial ice during the most recent ice age — is a favorite source of inspiration for Tucibat. Closer to home, the Nachusa Grasslands in Franklin Grove, White Pines State Park in Mount Morris, Jarrett Prairie Nature Preserve in Byron and the Rock River spark his creativity.
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TUCIBAT
PHOTO:
Sam Tucibat
When Tucibat paints his pictures in pixels, he can spend hours in front of his computer screen making decisions — sometimes on the fly and sometimes after careful consideration — picking out what to emphasize and what to let lie in the background. But even with all that deliberation, trial and error still plays a part in the process — but with the benefit not afforded other artists: an “undo.” Unlike artists armed with paint and brushes, creating on a computer allows him to toggle between different versions of his pieces, undoing and redoing his creative choices.
“It takes a lot of experimentation for each piece,” Tucibat said. “I hardly ever have a destination in mind when I start out making the image. I play and introduce a new element, and suddenly the whole canvas changes, as well as the emotion and what it’s saying. If you want to go with that, you can, and if you don’t want to go with that, you can go a different direction.”
Sam Tucibat’s
Born in Dubuque and raised in Savanna, Tucibat enjoyed spending his early years among the Driftless Area, surrounded by its unique topography. Every square mile seemed to have its own story, with nature, rustic buildings and the melting pot of migratory bird routes. He recalls being disappointed when trips with his parents would take them to places along flat roads surrounded by cornfields.
Insta360 camera allows him to capture images in a circular panoramic setting that he can manipulate to create works of photo art. This image from Nicholas Conservatory in Rockford was transformed into “Calypso,” a circular composition made possible by edits and transformations done by Tucibat on his computer.
locally
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With a camera and a computer, Sam Tucibat can create new worlds out of the one we’re living in, a place where hours melt away, the ethereal and erie come together, and colors collide — a digital dimension that defies convention and embraces creativity. The pieces on these pages are a sample of his work. More can be found at samzart. com, where arrangements can also be made to purchase Tucibat’s work.
Sauk Valley Apple Cider Run
October 11
Lumberjack Show at Selmi’s October 4
TUCIBAT cont’d from page 7
“That’s really at the core of the process that I find myself following,” Tucibat said. “I really have an attachment to the area, and I like to use photographs from the area as my source photographs for these creations that I make. I like to think that keeps it all unified and makes a statement about how cool this place is to make art out of it.”
Photography has been a part of Tucibat’s life for more than 50 years, and it started with the unique sights he would see when visiting his older brother Mike in the Chicago area. “I was walking around while visiting my brother, and everything looked so cool where his house was,” he said. “I thought, ‘If you put a frame around that and cropped it, that would look nice.’ I went more deeply into it and realized that I could separate stuff out from the world with a photograph, and it has a life of its own and a meaning of its own, and an emotional vibe of its own apart from its context.”
For 20 years, until his retirement in 2021, Tucibat taught photography, image editing, graphic design and journalism at Highland Community College in Freeport. The free time that he’s had since then has given him more time and opportunity to explore his work and develop new ways to be creative.
Tucibat purchased a 360-degree camera in 2023, one that captures a circular panorama that can be displayed on a flat screen, like unrolling a globe on a map. The shots result in bends and warps, and they’re often coiled into a spiral to make the canvas circular.
“You can take an image from that and do weird stuff with it,” he said. “I started that and it really picked up my production because it was a new perspective on reality that I can incorporate.”
TUCIBAT cont’d to page 11
And even after all his years in photography, his artistic journey is still taking him in new directions including up. To keep from feeling “plateaued,” he said, Tucibat bought a small drone camera in August and is working on ways to incorporate it into his art.
“I saw a lot of wonderful drone footage in virtual reality, and I was thinking about what would be cool to try and add to all of this,” Tucibat said. “They’re usually high up and of landscapes, and I realized, ‘I could use that.’ Not necessarily for high footage, but to photograph a tree at a higher angle and see what’s actually in it, and see the whole tree. If there’s something interesting on the top of the tree, I don’t have to zoom in on it from a low angle, I can just go up to it.”
Even with all the years he’s spent exploring northern Illinois, Tucibat still finds scenes among the scenery that he hasn’t come across before, such as during one photography sojourn of the Thomson Causeway Recreation Area in Carroll County, when he saw a flock of orioles in the woods. One of the favorite trees he likes to capture is also at that park.
“I remember the day I took that picture, there were orioles all over the place,” Tucibat said. “I was shocked as I was walking through the woods. It’s the
kind of thing that happens as you go out into the field to be creative. I was walking on a little path and I encountered a flock — you never see a bunch of orioles together, but there they were, seven or eight of them just flying around together. It was the strangest thing. I never saw that before.”
Tucibat’s website has his recent works and information on how to purchase copies — though making money isn’t the main focus of his photos these days, especially since retiring.
“I’m exploring new stuff, now that I have the time,” he said. “I’ve stopped being real ‘business-y’ about it because I realized I’m retired, I have a pension, I don’t need to make huge cash off of my art. That was kind of a freeing moment because I can more produce for myself and do what I like, instead of thinking, ‘Does anyone really want to buy this?’ I don’t have that question anymore. If someone offers me something, I’ll take it, but I’m really just trying to expand the art and expand the technique, and make better art.”
Tucibat transforms the spirit of his surroundings into something new through art. It reflects both his personal connection to the Driftless Area’s landscape and his desire to reinterpret it for others. He works to uncover an essence, something rooted in place yet elevated through imagination.
“The art itself I think is neat because I picture the art blooming from the ground of the area,” Tucibat said. “I can capture all of these images, bring them together, and then the piece of art emerges. It may not look like the area it came from in many cases, but in its essence, it’s made from parts of northwest Illinois and is a representation of the area that I came from and I like. There’s meaning in that for me that makes it cool.” n
Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
Megan Gassaway and Britton Brooks have owned The Idle Hour bar and grill in downtown Mount Morris since March 2024. Gassaway had worked for its previous owners, Matt and Jamie Pendergrass, as bar manager for six years.
Mount Morris bar may be called The Idle Hour, but it’s been anything but idle for its new owners.
Megan Gassaway and Britton Brooks have been busy during the past year putting their own touches on the longtime establishment, working to turn a community watering hole into an area destination.
The couple bought the business in March 2024, and since then have redesigned its back patio, updated the music stage and sound system and are bringing in more entertainment options from the region — but that doesn’t mean it’s just out with the old and in with the new. They want the changes to complement longstanding events at the bar such as Bingo for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, and other events such as Adult Bingo and Adult Prom.
They’re also making sure The Idle Hour still lives up to is name, by giving people a place where they can take a detour from the daily grind and shift out of high gear long enough to park themselves at their bar and enjoy a few idle hours with friends while having a drink and grabbing a bite to eat. Gassaway and Brooks want customers to feel a sense of connection when they stop by, and hope to draw people not only from Mount Morris but surrounding communities, whether they’re longtime regulars or first-time visitors.
“We’re making it more of a place where more things are going on,” Gassaway said. “Mount Morris is kind of off the beaten path for most, so you got to give them a reason to come out here.”
IDLE HOUR cont’d to page 14
The location has been a bar for many decades, and prior to Gassaway and Brooks owning it, it was owned by local restaurateurs Matt and Jamie Pendergrass, who have several restaurants in north central Illinois, and Maggie and Dave Johnson before that, who named it Maggie’s Idle Hour. While bringing their own touch to the bar, they also kept some of the place’s longstanding features such as vintage signs from local businesses.
Gassaway had worked for the Pendergrasses for six years and was bar manager before she and Brooks bought The Idle Hour. They had been offered it a couple of times in the past, including during a time right after the coronavirus pandemic when the economy proved to be a challenge in the food and drink industry. Instead, they waited until the time was right for them.
“At first I was interested, but then not really because it was right after Covid since it was such a gamble,” Gassaway said. “After life kind of went back to normal, then we discussed it and were like, ‘Should we do it?’ Then we talked with Matt and went through what all we would have to do, and it got the ball rolling.”
Brooks, who also has a full-time job, helps out with the kitchen and maintenance, while Gassaway’s roles at the front of the house haven’t changed much, tending bar four nights a week on top of keeping the books.
Looking for Something UNIQUE?
The bar features a selection of beer, vodkas, whiskeys, bourbons, and more. Among some of the customer favorites are rum buckets and the apple pie shot, an apple vodka and cinnamon drink that customers have said tastes like the whole apple pie, crust and all. Gassaway said she and Brooks are looking at coming up with other drinks, such as seasonal ones for fall and winter.
“I’d rather have us know how to make the basic drinks good and then the one drink on special,” Gassaway said. “Being here for six years, I’ve got it down to what people want, but we also like to keep ourselves on the trending side.”
And the bar’s hours aren’t just idle; they’re happy, too, with Happy Hour running from 4-5 p.m. and offering half-price food and drinks
Burgers, wings and wraps are popular items on the menu, which has largely remained unchanged since Gassaway and Brooks took over, having stuck with what’s kept customers coming back to the bar for years. “Most of them are staples from previous owners, and if we got rid of them I think it’d put us out of business,” Brooks said. The chicken tenders are hand battered and one of its appetizers, the cheese logs, are six-inch hand-rolled mozzarella string cheese sticks served with sweet chili sauce.
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SUBMITTED PHOTOS
IDLE HOUR cont’d from page 14
“We’re in the process of trying to make ourselves known for something or another,” Brooks said. “Everyone wants to be known for something food-wise for sure. We definitely have the consistency and have worked on improving it with having weekly specials as one of the things that we now do.”
{Another fun event that brought engagement to the place was its Downtown Throw Down throughout the summer of 2024. Three of its cooks came up with a culinary creation, and customers voted on which one to add to the permanent menu, which Gassaway and Brooks plan to redo it in the near future. The winner was the Nacho Mounder Burger (seen at left) — a half-pound beef patty with nacho cheese, bacon and grilled onions on a toasted brioche bun — named as a nod to the former Mount Morris High School “Mounder” mascot. The other selections were a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and a Mac Daddy burger wrap.
The couple hopes being creative and having fun will keep customers hungry for more.
“We would like to keep doing stuff like this in the future,” Brooks said. “It keeps us engaged with the community and our customers more, and we like that.”
Winning money has been another fun way to engage customers, Gassaway said.
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A Fresh Start for
The Idle Hour, 115 S. Wesley Ave. in Mount Morris, is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thurs day, and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. daily. Find it on Facebook, go to idlehourfood.com or call 815-734-4110 for more information.
While some bars have a Queen of Hearts playing card raffle, in which winners of each draw select a face-down card to see whether it reveals the queen, The Idle Hour does things its own way, with the King of Spades as its featured card. As of late August, its progressive jackpot reached $4,400 and was the largest since Gassaway and Brooks took over. Unlike other versions of the game, it’s free to play, and the money comes from both the business and the gaming company that owns the place’s six gambling machines.
“I wanted it to be a little bit different,” Gassaway said. “We’ll have some regulars who’ll get mad if someone who just came in that night and gets their name drawn, and they’re like, ‘But we’re here 14 times a week ...’ You got to have some fun with it.”
Owning a business and making it their own isn’t the only big change for Gassaway and Brooks. The couple is engaged and will tie the knot in October — and since they own a bar, it’ll be the perfect place for people to stop by and wish them well and have a celebratory round.
“Everyone’s having a good time here, and that’s what we aim for,” Gassaway said. “We’re very happy with our decision to take over.” n Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com
Tonya Hardy is happy to be a part of Oregon’s vibrant art community.
She’s found the city to be a welcoming home to someone like her, who enjoys making things by hand so much so that she decided to provide other creative minds a place to call home.
Hardy owns Happily Handmade 815, an art studio and gift shop in downtown Oregon that offers hands-on classes for all ages and a place where local artists can showcase their work — and art isn’t all that’s made there. Hardy hopes the studio can help people make something else too: “A better world, one person at a time,” she said.
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While that may seem like a tall order, when it comes to art the Oregon area has a history of standing tall with its creative community. Just north of town and across the river, the 50-foot tall Eternal Indian (“Black Hawk”) statue, created by artist and Eagle’s Nest Art Colony founder Lorado Taft, has stood watch over the city for more than a century. Today, Taft’s legacy lives on in Oregon’s Eagle’s Nest Art Group, and the city is also home to the Coliseum Museum of Art, Antiques and Americana.
The studio, whose name is a nod to the local area code, opened in November 2022 and has grown into its own thriving art community. At Happily Handmade 815, Hardy helps people tap into their inner artist and unlock their imagination, offering year-round classes such as pottery wheel throwing and hand-building with clay, as well as fiber arts (crocheting, knitting and needle and wet felting), woodcarving, and candle and soap making. About 20 artists or crafters contribute by teaching or creating in the space, and some students have gone on to sell their work in the shop alongside Hardy’s pottery and other local goods.
Hardy, who began selling her own claybased works as a child growing up in rural Kane County, has taught for more than two decades. Over the years, she developed an emphasis on adapting her teaching techniques to different learning styles so that her students can gain confidence in their creativity.
Anything can be art, if you just put your mind to it, including chunks of wood. Happily Handmade’s Tonya Hardy uses various different kinds of creative projects to engage people — clay, paint, felt, wood and more.
“My big reason for opening up was to have a place for all ages, from toddlers to adults,” Hardy said. “They can create, check out art or figure things out. We’re just trying to provide a safe space for people to create.”
“The biggest thing I’ve learned from being a student to teaching is learning to teach different ways,” Hardy said. “Teaching the same thing, but being able to teach it in different ways so everyone can understand it. Hands-on, visual and audio are your three main learning skills, so being able to incorporate all of those and observing the students — their body language and what they’re actually saying versus what they think they’re saying to explain something — is a really big part of it. There’s a lot of psychology with it.”
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Feats of clay ... Tonya developed an appreciation for working with clay at a young age, thanks to her mom. “When she bought my first 25 pounds of clay, I pretty much went off to the races with the hand-building.” Today, she’s helping others gain an appreciation for the malleable
at Happily Handmade 815.
Instilling a passion for art in children is a primary goal for Hardy, whose own inspiration came from her mother Clara’s slip cast ceramic works. In the clay classes, for example, students can be as young as four years old, or eight to learn how to wheel throw. Clara used to paint and sell her works from her family home and Tonya would help on occasion. Hardy grew up also enjoying face painting and drawing cartoon characters, both from sight and from how-to books, but when she first got her hands on a lump of clay, the infinitely moldable medium became her favorite art form.
“When she bought my first 25 pounds of clay, I pretty much went off to the races with the hand-building,” Hardy said. “We hand-built at school and I told my mom that this was really cool, like what she did but a different way to do it.”
When Tonya started to make her own pieces and sell them at shows on her own, she would bring a few of Mom’s with her.
Hardy learned how to wheel throw — shaping clay on a spinning pottery wheel — in 2006, and her passion for it led to teaching opportunities at kids camps and personal development courses at Kishwaukee College in Malta. She also taught art classes in Rochelle and Sycamore before coming to Oregon in 2021, finding the community a welcoming
place, she said, to share her talents. The studio not only nurtures individual expression, but also revives art projects often cut from school programs, giving the community a place to rediscover creativity, connect and celebrate the joy of making things. Hardy has often heard from parents of children who are happy to find that forms of art once commonplace at schools years ago can now be found in Oregon.
She enjoys helping people find these lost experiences at her studio.
“I’ll have parents who’ll say, ‘All of the art stuff we did in school, they don’t do anymore,’” Hardy said. “We’ve been bringing back some projects and they’re now like, ‘I remember making this, and they don’t make these anymore.’ I’m like, ‘I know, that’s why we brought it back.’ We’re bringing some of the fun back, and teaching them to problem solve.”
Class schedules change seasonally and are posted on the studio’s website and social media platforms. Hardy likes to introduce art forms that people may have not heard of before, like bark carving, which Hardy anticipates having in the near future. The technique uses piece of a tree, such as limbs or logs, and retains the bark as part of the design. Weaving and fiber spinning are other ideas she also has plans for.
Even those who don’t picture themselves as an artist can help the creative cause. Have extra paint or brushes lying around the house or garage? Hardy will gladly accept them to help her reduce supply costs.
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HAPPILY
Though classes are held at scheduled times, the studio also has business hours when students can come in and work or seek inspiration or feedback from fellow artists. Hardy and her artists also set up at events such as Mount Morris’ Jamboree concert nights during the summer, as well as the town’s Strawfest in August; and celebrate Happily Handmade’s yearly anniversary during Oregon’s Candlelight Walk in November. The place gets busy during the fall, when Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations fill its space.
Another way the studio promotes creativity and inspiration is through its Artist’s Trading Card Club, which meets once a month and where students can create a work on a 2.5-by-3.5-inch card and trade them with fellow club members.
“I like giving everybody a space to be themselves,” Hardy said. “That’s a great thing. The way the world is
in general, people need a place that’s safe to create what they want to create in art.”
Though it’s her job to help inspire others, she finds inspiration of her own in students.
“Sometimes you get some really interesting pieces,” Hardy said. “I’m like, ‘I never would have thought ...,’ but those colors look great together. That’s what’s great about kids: before they hit that stage in school where they’re told the sky is blue and trees are green. No, trees are multiple different colors. It’s really cool to see them come in with that mindset. You’re creating, it’s unique and one-of-a-kind, and it doesn’t have to be perfect.”
Hardy and her team of artists have grown Happily Handmade 815 into a place where artist achievement comes in all shapes and sizes from all ages, where sparks of creativity ignite a passion for art and feelings of confidence and faces beam with pride.
“There’s nothing better than seeing a student, no matter what their age is, go ‘Oh, I get it,’ and they light up,” Hardy said. “That’s the best feeling in the world.” n
Happily
Handmade 815, 312 W. Washington St., suite A, in Oregon, is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Monday, and 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday. Find it on Facebook and Instagram, go to happilyhandmade815.com, email happilyhandmade815@gmail.com or call 815-790-1981 for class schedules or more information.
Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
By Cody Cutter n Sauk Valley Media
Tim LeClere took some time on his hands and turned it into vanilla, teaching himself how to make the favored flavor of cooks everywhere. Today he and his wife Jolene sell the tasty teaspoon treat through their home business , Homespun Goodz. Tim is seen here at the Mount Carroll Farmers Market, a frequent stop for the couple.
ife as empty nesters didn’t leave Tim and Jolene LeClere empty-handed — it left them with some time on their hands.
When their son Austin graduated from high school and went out on his own 15 years ago, Tim found himself needing something to do — and he found it down and an internet rabbit hole with a bunch of beans.
What began for Tim as an idea to create a do-it-yourself Mother’s Day gift has become a business, Homespun Goodz, where the LeCleres make vanilla extracts in various flavors from their basement workshop, along with other
Meet the couple with the Goodz ... The Mount Carroll Farmers market runs Saturdays 8 a.m.-noon from May to October at the intersection of East Market and North Main streets.
kinds of extract such as cinnamon, espresso and pecan; along with vanilla sugar mixes and bean paste. Vanilla extract is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol, which acts as a solvent to draw out the flavor and aroma compounds from the beans. The LeCleres make their pure vanilla extracts using liquors such as vodka, white rum, bourbon and Captain Morgan Spiced Rum.
Their products come in various sizes and are sold online through Etsy. The LeCleres also make occasional appearances at local pop-up events such as Oregon’s Autumn on Parade in early October and the Back Roads Market in central Ogle County in late September, where their items are sold at Hough’s Maple Lane Farm in Mount Morris. They’re also are regular vendors at the Mount Carroll Farmers Market each Saturday from May to October.
“When our son graduated from high school, we found ourselves as empty nesters,” Tim said. “I was looking for a hobby and was also looking for a do-it-yourself Mother’s Day gift. I stumbled across some stuff on the internet and tried it, and that’s how we started.”
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Tim is known as “The Vanilla Guy” wherever they set up (a friend made a display with his nickname that is at their table), but both he and Jolene work as a team, setting up at events together; Jolene also helps with the vanilla sugar and vanilla bean paste — and she’s taken on another task: the all-important tastetester.
Producing real vanilla extract— not the imitation version of vanilla found at many retailers — is a time-consuming task that depends on a lot of factors coming together. It takes 12 months to make the basic vanilla with vodka, 14 months for white rum, and anywhere between 18 to 24 months with the bourbon and spiced rums.
The journey to the jars that line the LeCleres’ basement shelves begins on the other side of the globe, on the African island country of Madagascar, where the beans they use are grown before being shipped to the Florida supplier that the LeCleres buy their beans from.
Vanilla crops can only be produced in hot, tropical climates, Tim said, and vanilla orchids bloom only one day a year. They are manually pollinated, which requires manual labor, and any number of factors can conspire to drive supplies down and prices up — civil unrest, natural disasters, tariffs. In 2023, the most
recent year statistics are available, the country accounted for 42 percent of the global vanilla production.
Fans of the real deal, though, say the work is worth it, offering a richer flavor.
“The one thing that I can’t stress enough is that our vanilla is a real quality product,” Tim said. “There aren’t any chemicals. The big companies use chemicals to extract to lessen the time; they don’t spend a year making a product. They’ll use heat, chemicals and pressure, and when they pull the beans out, they’ll use more chemicals to have everything clot together and pull everything out. We buy real good, high quality, grade-A Madagascar beans.” Their beans are also GMO-free.
Making good vanilla is also a matter of remembering the tried and true rule: Haste makes waste. The longer the beans sit in the alcohol, the better the end product is, Tim said, so you don’t want to rush the process. That’s why you’ll find some beans at the bottom of some bottles, which helps lengthen the extraction process and brings out more flavor.
“You can buy it in May and start using it during the holidays and you have six extra months of free extraction time,” he said.
Another use for the beans: vanilla bean paste, made by blending the beans with agave nectar and vanilla extract — a discovery Tim made when faced with what to do with some leftover beans.
“Instead of throwing them away, we have a brand new product,” Tim said. “It’s a thick, syrupy, sweet product that you can drizzle like honey or you can bake with it and exchange it with vanilla extract in your recipes. You can get that extra sweetness from that agave.”
VANILLA
VANILLA cont’d to page 27
While their extracts don’t pack a punch — you can barely taste the liquor in them — not everyone can get into the spirits. That’s why Homespun Goodz also offers an alcohol-free extract, made with vegetable glycerin. It wasn’t something that was originally offered when the business started, but came about by happenstance. Tim is a software engineer at OSF Saint Katharine Medical Center in Dixon, where he works with people from different cultural backgrounds, including those whose religion forbids the consumption of alcohol.
“I had a physician at the hospital ask me for some one day, and I gave her some of the regular pure vanilla,” Tim said. “She brought it back the next day, and asked: ‘Tim, does this have alcohol in it?’ Her religion prevented her from consuming alcohol. I said, ‘Yeah, that’s all alcohol.’ So then I started an alcoholfree version, and it really turned out nice.”
When set up at markets and events,
Tim enjoys seeing how customers go from vendor to vendor to find the perfect ingredients for their recipe or just the right flavor combination — something he likes to do, too. When he picked up some cinnamon raisin sourdough bread from the Mount Carroll market, he drizzled some vanilla bean paste on it and topped it off with another of their products — vanilla sugar — sprinkling it on top.
“When I talk to customers at shows and suggest, ‘You can put this in your ...’ or ‘This particular type of vanilla goes well with ...’ they light up sometimes,” Tim said. “They’ll go, ‘I had not heard of that!’”
SHOP ONLINE
Go to homespungoodz.etsy.com to shop for vanilla products from Homespun Goodz in Forreston. Find it on Facebook and Instagram or email homespungoodz@gmail.com for updates on pop-up events, arrange for orders or for more information.
Exchanges like that make the months of waiting and the long hours of preparation worth the work for the LeCleres — sharing ideas, inspiring creativity and making lasting connections with their customers.
“The best part about being at the markets or a show is when someone comes up to you and they go, ‘I’ve used your stuff and I’ve been out for a while, and I couldn’t wait to come back and get some more,’” Tim said. “They’ll tell their friends, and there’s a repeat customer and a new customer. That’s the most satisfying thing, to have someone come back and say, ‘I’m so glad I found your stuff; it’s so good.’”
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VANILLA
VANILLA
If you’ve ever spent any time mixing things up the kitchen, you’ve topped off a teaspoon or two with vanilla — but how much do you know about it? Here are a few facts, courtesy of Rodelle, a leading manufacturer of vanilla …
About 2,000-2,500 tons of vanilla beans are produced worldwide each year.
Vanilla is one of the most ancient flavors, dating back to the early 1500s.
President Thomas Jefferson was the first American to bring vanilla to the U.S., in 1789 following his tenure as ambassador to France. Today, the U.S. is the largest consumer of vanilla in the world, followed by Europe.
a few facts
Vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor in the U.S.
Vanilla is the world’s second most labor-intensive agricultural crop.
The word vanilla is derived from the Spanish word vainilla meaning “little pod.”
Vanilla vines grow 30-50 feet tall, supported by a host tree or posts.
It can grow only in a hot (75°-85°F), moist, tropical climate, found 10-20 degrees north of south of the equator.
The vanilla vine is actually an orchid, and one of the few that produces fruit. The orchid blooms for only 24 hours and must be pollinated or dies. Due to its size only the tiny melipona bee can naturally pollinate it. However, the beans can be hand pollinated, using a stick the size of a toothpick.
There are over 150 varieties of vanilla plants.
Vanilla isn’t just for sweet treats; a few drops can be added to most recipes that contain fruits, vegetables, meat or fish. A few drops will cut the acidity of tomatobased foods. It also has many industrial applications, including flavoring medicines and as a fragrance to conceal the strong smell of rubber tires, paint and cleaning products.
Vanilla’s aroma can be calming, relaxing, and even sensual, and is used as an aphrodisiac in some cultures.
To read more facts about vanilla, go to rodellekitchen.com/ resources/learning/ vanilla-fun-facts/ Vanilla beans can drive spiders away.
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The “Vanilla Guy’s” method for making vanilla follows a tried and true technique. The journey from jar to bottle begins with Madagascar beans, which are soaked in various liquors for a year, which draws out the beans’ distinctive flavor. “The one thing that I can’t stress enough is that our vanilla is a real quality product,” Tim said. “We buy real good, high quality, grade-A Madagascar beans.” He also makes other kinds of extract such as cinnamon, espresso and pecan; along with vanilla sugar mixes and bean paste.
With families making special meals and sweet treats for the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas are a busy time for the LeCleres, and this year should prove to be even busier, with the recent addition of another product to their lineup: pecan extract.
“There are a lot of people who are thinking about holiday recipes with fruits, nuts and spices; all of those things go real well with the [extracts we make from] spiced rum and the bourbon rum,” Tim said. “A lot of people only bake during the holidays, and if you’re going to bake sugar cookies, our other ones are great for them: the regular, the alcohol-free and even the white rum — when you get a touch of that rum to come through, that’s real good in cookies.”
For the LeCleres, what started as a homemade Mother’s Day gift has become a shared passion that’s been part of their lives for years, perfecting their extracts. Every batch is part of their story the lessons they’ve learned from their years in business and the inspiration they’ve found in family, including Jolene’s mother, whose love of baking she carries with her.
Tim has also enjoyed being able to disconnect and connect with his craft — like a retreat that where he can turn his talents into an ingredient for treats to eat.
“This is super low-tech,” said Tim, who spends his days at work behind a keyboard. “I just needed something to get me to unplug. It’s peaceful and low-tech, and that’s why I grabbed onto it. It doesn’t require a lot of overthinking. n
Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
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Danlee Wood Products’ approach to customer service is a team effort, starting with owners Dan and Lee Reif Jr. and practiced by the rest of the staff, including sales and design manager Lindsay Heitz (left) and production manager Rob Polizzi. “We like to stand behind our product and are proud of the fact that we always want to make sure our customers are satisfied,” says Polizzi.
hen it comes to making their customers happy, there’s no leeway at a Forreston business. Build it right and build it to last.
The owners know that when they do that, they’re also building trust, and something else: the kind of relationship with their customers that will last as long as the products they make.
Danlee Wood Products has been invited into homes and businesses for 30 years, since 1995, when father-and-son founders Lee and Dan Reif started the cabinetry shop. During that time, they’ve taken on projects big and small and near and far (including Lake Carroll), from bookcases and bathrooms to banks and chain stores. They’ve even done their duty for Uncle Sam.
The business does custom cabinetry, entertainment units, bookcases, vanities, bars and more. If the customer has something in mind, Danlee can make it one-of-a-kind.
“We like to produce a nice, quality product, both for residential and commercial,” said Danlee’s production manager, Rob Polizzi, who coordinates the woodworkers who build and assemble the custom products. “We like to stand behind our product and are proud of the fact that we always want to make sure our customers are satisfied. We’re prideful on our quality, and if there’s an issue, we will fix it and not be done until the customer is happy.”
Among the team joining Polizzi in making those customers happy is Lindsay Heitz. Polizzi, Danlee’s sales and design manager, who works with customers to plan projects.
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Both Heitz and Polizzi each bring different strengths to their respective roles. Polizzi works more with commercial clients, who are looking for products designed more for efficiency and profitability, while Heitz has a college degree in interior design and works more with residential customers, whose focus is more on ergonomics and aesthetics.
“We’re a small business and work with local people,” Heitz said. “We want to make sure that we’re giving quality products and making them happy.”
That quality begins with the materials, with Danlee steering clear of thinner and cheaper options often found in commercially made products. Cabinets for example, have solid wood doors and drawer frames, drawer boxes and face frames. The result: more durable, longerlasting products (go to danleewoodproducts. com/cabinet-construction for more details).
“People were getting production cabinets with a lower price point, but they were lesser quality with thinner end panels — eighth- or quarter-inch back panels, where we use half-inch,” Polizzi said. “Now it’s evolved, especially after Covid, where we’re still higher than box cabinets, but for the price that they’re selling box cabinets for, you might as well spend the
little extra to get the custom cabinets that are going to be built to last, and properly made to fit your area instead of having three- of six-inch fillers everywhere — exactly what you want. The price point different really isn’t that much anymore.”
With custom-designed work, there’s no dealing with prefab products or cookie cutter cabinets that roll off an assembly line and into a big-box store. Danlee’s pieces come together like a puzzle: Everything fits just right, and when all the pieces come together, they’re picture perfect.
“When you order from a production company, you’re ordering what they have — period,”
Polizzi said. “When you order from us, we can make it fit any area you want.”
They can also build them to suit each clients’ needs. Ergonomics has become big in recent years, with customers looking for cabinets that can make their time in the kitchen more efficient — and easier on their knees. Why bend down to dig through crowded cabinets to
When it comes to design, it starts with details. In order to see the big picture, little things can mean a lot.
When Heitz meets with customers, she doesn’t just ask the size of a customer’s kitchen, she’ll ask how big their kitchenwares are. Do they need bigger drawers, smaller drawers or more drawers? What kind of dividers will be the right fit? The more digging for information she does, the less digging for kitchen tools her customers wind up doing.
“When I sit down and consult with people and go through the drawings, that’s what we talk about,” Heitz said. “I’ll tell them this is the cabinet where I see you setting your Tupperware, and this is the cabinet where I see you setting your pots and pans. Do you prefer the trash drawer by the stove, or by the sink? We’re really thinking about where things make the most sense for the individual user.”
“We’re seeing a lot more trends to make things more accessible, where each cabinet serves a specific purpose,” Heitz said. “Being more organized, being more accessible, we get customers who have been cooking for a long time and they’re tired of bending down and getting deep into their cabinet to get something. We have opportunities to help with that.”
A variety of different fronts and finishes are also offered, with samples on display in Danlee’s showroom. Door styles such as shaker and Marie remain popular in recent years, with a light brown Latte finish being a top seller. More customers are wanting bring out the natural characteristics of wood, rather than a painted finish.
“We like to see it better because when you’re staining it, it’s
going into the wood,” Polizzi said. “The pigment is in the wood, not the finish. Then we spray a clear coat over it to protect it, as with paint the pigment’s in the paint. If something happens five, 10 years down the road, if the clear coat starts to have a chip, you’re not going to notice it as much on a stained door; on a painted door, it’s going to pop.”
The Reifs are originally from Byron, and the business began when Dan and his father, Lee, decided to combine their talents, and their names, in a father/ son business partnership. Their skills proved to be a perfect fit for a cabinet shop — Dan bringing his devotion to woodworking to the table and Lee bringing his background in business, with more than two decades as a purchasing manager under his belt. Danlee started with a 3,200 square foot facility and three employees in Forreston, and by 2000, they had expanded the building and their business.
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DANLEE
Production Director Rob Polizzi, at Danlee Wood Products’ workshop in Forreston.
Danlee Wood Products’ showroom, at 207 S. Chestnut Ave. in Forreston, is open 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Find “DWP Custom Cabinetry” on Facebook and @danlee_wood_products on Instagram, go to danleewoodproducts.com or call 815938-9016 to arrange projects or for more information.
DANLEE cont’d from page 35
Dan’s love of woodworking began as a child, when he would make pinewood derby cars with his dad, and he would go on to immerse himself in the trade. During high school, he took 4 years of vocational training in wood shop, where his instructor helped inspire him to turn his passion into a profession. He went on to Olney Central College, earning an Applied Science degree in cabinetry, followed by a return to Byron and nine years working in a cabinet shop in the nearby town of Oregon.
Lee died in 2017 and today Dan and his brother Lee Jr. own the business, with Dan serving as president.
Through the years, Danlee has been nationally recognized in the industry, with top awards at the annual Cabinet Makers Association National Conference, including a couple of first place honors.
While Danlee’s team is proud of the industry accolades they’ve earned, the ultimate judges of their quality are their customers — the people who, as their mission statement says, they value treating like family. And judging by how much Danlee has grown in the past 30 years, the business has built up one big happy family. n
Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
