CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As in every other worthwhile cultural pursuit, there is a fine art to grocery curation, and happily, Sasha Miller is a rising star in the practice. As the curator/proprietor of the just-opened Purplebrown Farm Store in Peninsula, she has gathered a group of local suppliers who want to live in the same food world that she does. Their stated mission: To offer the highest quality local and organic foods, plain and simple.
Miller has been pursuing this goal since 2016, together with her husband, Jimmy, and two sons, Ivan, and Ohlen, now 9 and 10 respectively. They have been farmsteading in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, raising pork, mushrooms, eggs, and vegetables, and developing an apple orchard for a long-term hard cider project. Their goal is to make their 12-acre farm resilient and sustainable. Along the way, they started offering the farm’s products along with a few others produced by like-minded people in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) packages.
The Millers recently expanded the Purplebrown operations to a restored late-nineteenth-century freight storage building once used by the old Valley Railroad. The railroad transported coal and passengers through northeast Ohio from the 1880s through the decline of the rail service. It was revived in 1972 as the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and now travels through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park as a tourist attraction.
Purplebrown embraces a wide swath of local products, stylishly merchandised inside the 100 year-plus building. It’s a light-filled, impeccably tasteful space of soaring white walls and spare dark woodwork, that could house an ethereally elegant Euro-style women’s boutique as easily as the beautifully curated Ohio food market it now holds.
It’s filled with food Miller says she would buy herself for her family. Not necessarily 100% organic, but nutritional food produced with no ecological compromises, improving our environment with a very small footprint.
The stock covers almost all the basics. You can check out the entire list of vendors, as well as other salient information at Purplebrown’s website, but they include Martha’s Farm, Brimfield Bread Oven, Akron Coffee Roasters, Nakyrsie Meats, Lucky Penny Dairy, Shagbark Seed and Mill, Cleveland Chocolate Company, Storehouse Tea, Dillon Fruit Farm, Pickle Patch Acres, Smyrna Mediterranean Morsels, and Purplebrown Farmstead itself.
In their attempt to supply all the basic daily needs, Miller says Purplebrown is “curating, not for the good-looking labels, but what you can eat really well for a week shopping here”.
And that’s important in Peninsula, the small, charming, tourist-friendly village in the middle of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Purplebrown is conveniently located across the street from the aforementioned railroad station, and is, even more critically, the only grocery store in town.
The solidly middle-class village has not exactly been a food desert until now, but the nearest full-service supplier is about 20 minutes away. This makes Miller’s store a valuable asset for Peninsula villagers, for the local suppliers, and for those that are looking for more value, in a more existential way, than the usual purveyors.
“Tthe store is a culmination of so many of our experiences, especially to me as a shopper, frustrated to have to drive to so many places to have to eat well,” says Miller. “There was nowhere to really go there where people like me can count on someone else to read the labels and find the right producers, blending food and politics, building solutions through food.”
Miller says she built Purplebrown for herself and others looking to buy and supply local food with honesty and transparency, hoping that the community on both sides will show up. “This is what we are, this is what we work for,” she said. “It isn’t very revolutionary, people have been starting businesses around food for a thousand years. But in terms of what we want to do, maybe it is.”
Purplebrown Farm Store is at 1619 Mill Street West, Peninsula, 216-299-6958. Refer to the website, https://www.purplebrownfarmstore.com for store hours, upcoming seasonal events, holiday gift baskets, and more as it happens.
Below are a few recipes from the proprietor, Sasha Miller. One of them showcases some of the best of the best local products available in the area -- and at the store -- right now.
Groceries, produce and sundries at Purplebrown Farm Store (photos: Beth Segal, special to cleveland.com)
Local and Gourmet Charcuterie Plate
Just in time for the holidays, or for any day when you find yourself short of time or culinary inspiration, a board filled with local flavors curated by Purplebrown Farm Store that are lovely on their own, but even better when mixed and matched.
Slice, dice & assemble onto a cutting board:
Dank rye bread from Wild Glory Bakery, goat Chevre cheese from Pain Valley Farms, handcrafted Gouda from Old Forge Dairy, Toscano salami from Na*Kyrsie Meats, savory spice granola from Witzie’s, fresh apples from Dillon Fruit Farm, lavender creamed honey from Brighton Wool & Honey, pumpkin spice peach jam from Pickle Patch Acres, dark chocolate from Cleveland Chocolate Company
1 Dank Rye Bread from Wild Glory Bakery 2 Goat chevre cheese from Paint Valley Farms 3 Fresh apples from Dillon Fruit Farm 4 Toscano salami from Na*Kyrsie Meats 5 Lavender Creamed Honey from Brighton Wool & Honey 6 Savory Spice Granola from Witzie's 7 Dark chocolate from Cleveland Chocolate Company 8 Pumpkin Spice Peach Jam from Pickle Patch Acres 9 Handcrafted Gouda from Old Forge Dairy (Photo: Beth Segal, special to cleveland.com)
Apple Oat Muffins
Apple oat muffins are one thing, these very special ones are quite another. Apples show up in three iterations: chopped and caramelized, as applesauce, and as a cider, plus they’re sweetened with local maple syrup and sugar. And it’s good to know that oat flour makes them gluten-free.
Ingredients for the apples:
1 apple (peeled and chopped into quarter-inch cubes)
1 tablespoon maple syrup or light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Ingredients for the batter:
1 cup oat flour (¾ cup “all-purpose” flour can be substituted)
1 cup rolled oats
1⁄3 cup maple sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄3 cup coconut oil or butter (melted)
1⁄2 cup unsweetened applesauce or 1 pureed apple (can leave skin on)
1⁄3 cup apple cider or milk
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
In a small saucepan, sauté the apples, brown sugar and cinnamon for about 5 minutes over low to medium heat. The apples should begin to soften and caramelize slightly. Remove from heat and set aside. WATCH CAREFULLY OR THEY WILL BURN
Stir together flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Add in the applesauce, oil, and cider. Stir until just moistened. Fold in chopped apple. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Butternut Squash Bread
This go-to loaf is good to have around for a quick breakfast slice or an easy weekday dessert. It can be simply made as is, or enriched with crunchy nuts, ever-popular chocolate chips, and/or sweet raisins for something a little more extravagant.
Ingredients:
1⁄3 cup melted coconut oil (or extra-virgin olive oil)
1⁄2 cup honey or maple syrup
2 eggs
1 cup squash purée (preferably obtained from a home-roasted whole butternut squash, but canned squash or pumpkin purée can be used).
1⁄4 cup milk of choice or water
1 1⁄2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend (or 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1⁄4 teaspoon allspice or cloves)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 3⁄4 cups whole grain wheat flour
Optional: 1⁄2 cup mix-ins like chopped walnuts or pecans, chocolate chips, and/or raisins
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, beat the oil and honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs and whisk until blended.
If your coconut oil solidifies on contact with cold ingredients, simply let the bowl rest in a warm place for a few minutes, like on top of your stove, or warm it for about 10 seconds in the microwave.
Add the butternut squash purée, milk, pumpkin spice, baking soda, vanilla and salt, and whisk to blend. Lastly, switch to a big spoon and stir in the flour, just until combined. Some lumps are ok! If you’re adding any additional mix-ins, gently fold them in now.
Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. If you’d like a pretty swirled effect, run the tip of a knife across the batter in a zigzag pattern.
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (typically, if I haven’t added any mix-ins, my bread is done at 55 minutes; if I have added mix-ins, it needs closer to 60 minutes).
Let the bread cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the bread to a cooling rack to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.
Purplebrown Farm Store in Peninsula, Ohio (photo: Beth Segal, special to cleveland.com)
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