Hello there Cookie Friends! It’s been a long, cold, snowy few months since I last checked in with all of you. I thought I’d start off by re-introducing myself, I’m Michelle and the baker behind the cookies here at Riddle Hill Homestead. While we’ve only lived on Riddle Hill since September of 2022, we have lived in Grafton since 2011, with a brief move south for a couple of years in the middle.
Some of you may remember me from various markets over the years selling under the name Grafton Glass. In the summer I was usually at the Wilmot Farmers Market, winters were spent downstairs at the Danbury Grange Hall’s Winter Market and every year a fun filled four days was spent at Deerfield Fair in the New Hampshire Made building.
Working with glass is and always has been my first love, and baking has been a fun hobby and stress reliever for me while we worked to turn Mr. Eagan’s old ham radio haven into the glass studio of my dreams!
What does this mean? This means that I once again get to play with fire and melt glass to my heart’s content. I’ll likely be bringing back my ‘Piece of New Hampshire’ line featuring mica (legally) sourced from Ruggles Mine years ago, before they closed and the new owners took over and re-opened. Does this mean no more cookies? Absolutely NOT! While we worked on renovations I grew to love making cookies for my community almost as much as I love melting glass. Almost. However, there will be some changes, hopefully, all changes for the better.
First up is our Honor System cookie shop will be open and expanded to double the size this coming season! What else is new? Well, this isn’t totally new since we started not long before closing last season, but Melodie from Love at First Bite will be our featured baker! I’ll be baking less, and she’ll be baking more and working us in around her Primitive Picking and market commitments. Between the two of us we should be able to keep up with the demand and keep our shop full for you. Together, we’ll keep your favorites stocked. And if we ever need a little help, “Little Debbie” is always there!
The next new thing will be vendors set-up on Saturdays.Most weekends will feature Michelle’s art and we are hoping to have other local friends, crafters and artists to set-up as well.We have a few people interested and are still finalizing the details.This is not a full market, just a spot that will hold 3-4 vendors at most and may not be full every Saturday. We’ll keep you posted as the details evolve.
Now you know that I love both making glass art and baking. There is another thing I was surprised to find I enjoyed, despite the hammering in my chest, butterflies in my belly and sweaty palms everytime I do it. I love teaching glass classes. Being able to share my passion for glass with others is a privilege. Watching the light in someone’s eyes when they accomplish something new – I can’t imagine I’ll ever tire of that. Back in the day, I used to travel to teach. These days, I’ll be teaching in my new studio. As the studio grows and expands (there’s an entire second floor to be renovated!) we will be able to increase the classes and mediums offered.
And finally, we’ll be adding a few hipcamp campsites to accommodate our visiting artists, crafters and other guests. These will be off-grid sites, with some amenities like a communal kitchen area and tent rentals. If you are coming to the area to visit Ruggles Mine, please know that they have camping right at the mine. Not that we wouldn’t welcome you, but being able to stay at the attraction you came all the way to Grafton to visit is pretty darn cool.
Stay tuned and be sure to like our page to follow along. As we get closer, I’ll share more and more details!