Many of us share a love of Orange County.  Besides the gorgeous weather, there’s the beach, diversity in culture, people, and food, the Angels, the Ducks, the fact that you can wear white pants in December.  But there are certain things that I don’t love about it. One of those things is the stereotype that others have of the women of  ”the OC” and the other is the mass consumerism and the attitude that you often encounter, especially at some of our finer shopping destinations (often a rude awakening for  those of  us who don’t make shopping a hobby).  This is what makes my visits to the country even more special; there’s much less pretension and  you can really enjoy nature and “get back to basics”. ( If you’re a new reader, the country I am referring to is a small town named Eureka Springs in the Ozarks area of northwest Arkansas.)

Speaking of basics, while in Eureka Springs for Thanksgiving, we took a leisurely drive through the countryside to visit the historic War Eagle Mill, a popular tourist attraction and a working grist mill.  War Eagle makes stone ground organic flours, cornmeal, gourmet baking mixes, and gluten free flours the old-fashioned way:  slow stone-grinding to preserve all the nutrients and flavor of the grain. Read about their commitment to your health and the planet here.  You can see the mechanism used to grind grains into flour and meal and know that what you’re buying is nothing but pure grain –  none of the bleaching, bromating, preservatives, added gluten, etc. that comes with processed flour and bread.

Shown below:  different grains used to produce flour and bread, the Grinding Area, the water wheel that powers the grinder, the method used before grist mills were invented, and shelves stocked with flour in the War Eagle Mill store.