We’re combining cutting edge digital technology with a healthy dose of social media to market properties in a new, more productive way that brings buyers and sellers together based on commonalities.  Since real estate prices have taken a huge hit during this economic downturn, we decided we better do what we could as realtors to help folks out and get this economy moving again.  So after months of study, research and development we’ve come up with some Innovative Real Estate Solutions to help Buyers and Sellers save money on commissions.  We’ve taken some of the best programs for Flat Rate Listings and Buyer Rebate Programs, and merged them, to come up with a fresh approach.

We’re sure in the weeks ahead you’ll see others attempt to imitate what we’ve developed, and that’s ok with us.  Especially if it helps to break the ice block in the real estate market.  We’ll admit, we borrowed pieces of plans from sources near and far, and then tweaked them to keep them inline with our mission and goals.  What we’re attempting to do is offer the best of the best.  We’re answering to today’s market dynamics, implementing the latest in technologies, utilizing new channels of communications, and throwing out the old ways of doing business.  We doubt few will be able to compete with all we’re offering.  And you know what they say – “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”.  They also say “lead, follow or get out of the way” .

We decided to lead the way.

Northern Shores Real Estate is based out of Bellaire and Mancelona, Michigan. We’ve lived up here for years, and our families live in Traverse City and near Blue Lake near Kalkaska / Mancelona. We know the region. We hike its trails, we kayak its lakes and rivers, we toss flies at trout when we get a chance….and we keep an eye out for cabins, cottages, camps and wilderness properties that are seldom found anymore. We’re not posers trying to make a sale, we’re real people that want to be your neighbors, that want you to experience the Northern Michigan you remember from days gone by.

Here’s just a few of the locales we service in Northern Michigan:

Acme | Alba | Alden | Bay Shore | Beaver Island | Bellaire | Benzonia | Beulah | Boyne City | Boyne Falls | Cedar | Central Lake | Charlevoix | East Jordan | Eastport | Elberta| Elk Rapids | Ellsworth | Empire | Fife Lake | Frankfort | Frederic | Glen Arbor | Grawn | Grayling | Honor | Interlochen | Kalkaska | Kewadin | Kingsley | Lake Ann | Lake Leelanau | Leland | Mancelona | Maple City | Mayfield | Northport | Old Mission | Omena | Rapid City | South Boardman | Suttons Bay | Thompsonville | Traverse City | Walloon Lake | Williamsburg

We’re aware of some fabulous deals on waterfront and near-waterfront properties on the following lakes:

HIGHLAND LAKES REGION

Bear/Cub Lakes | Blue Lakes | Guersney Lake | Indian Lake | Manistee Lake | North Crooked Lake | Papoose Lake | Pickeral Lake | Squaw Lake | Starvation Lake | Twin Lakes

CHAIN OF LAKES

Benway Lake | Lake Bellaire | Central Lake | Clam Lake | Elk Lake | Ellsworth Lake | Hanley Lake | Intermediate Lake | Scotts Lake | Six Mile Lake | Lake Skegemog | St. Clair Lake | Torch Lake | Wilson Lake

We specialize in rivers & streams in Northwest Michigan – the place Hemingway called the “last good country”, and what others call “Trout Country”. We know of some great opportunities on the following rivers, streams and creeks:

Acme Creek | Apple Creek | AuSable River | Bancroft Creek | Barker Creek | Battle Creek | Bear Creek | Betsie River | Big Bear | Creek Big | Cannon Creek | Black Creek | Boardman River | Bowens Creek | Buttermilk Creek | Carter Creek | Cedar Creek | Cedar River | Cedar Run Creek | Clam River | Cold Creek | Ellis Creek | First Creek | Grass River | Green River | Herring Creek | Jackson Creek | Jordan River | Kids Creek | Knowles Creek | Little Betsie River | Little Rapid River | Manistee River | Miller Creek | Mitchell Creek | Muskegon River | Parker Creek | Pierson Creek | Pine Creek | Platte River | Rapid River | Saloon Creek | Silver Creek | Slagle Creek | Soper Creek | Spencer Creek | St Clair Creek | Stanley Creek Stream | Torch River | Williamsburg Creek

We were introduced to Chicken Katsu last October while dining at the Cafe 808 on Maui with Mike’s son Greg.  We stopped there after catching the sunrise at Haleakala and playing frisbee golf on Greg’s favorite course (that he helped design).

It was easily the best Chicken Katsu we’ve ever had.  Then towards the end of our trip, we stopped at an L&L Hawaiian Barbecue to get our last fix of island fare.  We realized we had fallen madly in love with this tasty dish and vowed someday we’d learn how to make it….or open up an L&L franchise.  We figured if we opened an L&L  franchise, we’d eat ourselves stupid in no time, so we opted to try our hand at making this epicurean delight.

A friend of mine, Evans Pang (who used to be a chef at Roy’s in San Fransisco), gave us some direction on what we needed to pull this off.  We did a search online for the recipe, and found a couple we thought we could work with.  Chicken Katsu’s actually pretty easy to make, it’s bascially Japanese fried chicken.

After blitzing the cupboards we realized the only thing we didn’t have was the magic ingredient….Panko.  So we cruised to Travese City and easily found this Japanese version of bread crumbs at our favorite supermarket.  I know, some of you are wondering, “what’s so special about bread crumbs?”.  Panko is not just your ordinary, everyday dried up morsels of bread.  Panko is special, unique, easy to work with, and makes for killer eats.  Here, read this about Panko so you know what you’re getting into.

We worked with the following recipe, and despite a slight goof-up (Mike added ALLthe dry ingredients together….doh….so we had to start over), all went well.  Yes, this is fried food.  Hot oil is involved.  There are tons of calories.  You’ll eat more than you should.  You can thank us later. Quit whinin’!

Of course, to properly serve this famous Hawaiian barbecue dish, you need to put two scoops rice on the side along with some Macaroni salad.  Then you will be “fat & happy” (as Mike likes to term it), or as our Hawaiian bruddahs would say…”Broke da mouth”.

Many thanks to Iron Woman at RecipeZaar for the recipe we used.  We also couldn’t have made it happen without the sage guidance of Evans, our gourmet shaman and food counselor.

Ingredients

This serves 5-7 people, your mileage may vary.

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup water
• 4 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 lb Panko

Katsu Sauce

• 1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon (flakes)
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2-3 dashes Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, mixed with
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. Open the chicken thighs and flatten with a rolling pin (we double bagged ours in Ziplocs and beat them flat with a wooden tenderizing hammer) 
2. Combine eggs, cornstarch, salt, white pepper, garlic powder and water to make a batter.  DO NOT screw up like Mike did and add the Panko to this mixture (unless you realize it right before adding the water, thank gawd).
3. Coat chicken in the egg batter, then the roll in panko crumbs.
4. Fry in oil (maximum 325 degrees) until brown and crispy.

To Make Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil.
2. Add cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken. Chill and serve.

Loosen belt.  Grab your favorite cold beer.  Cut chicken into strips and serve with sauce.

We went grocery shopping yesterday, and yes, we bought more Panko.  Once you try this tasty dish, you too will begin asking the same questions we did.  What if we did this with Lake Perch?  Or with a nice batch of Brown Trout?  Hey, we have a whole bunch of Salmon left in the freezer!  Then there’s what spices could be used to adapt this recipe to the flavor of fish.

If you beat us to the punch on trying this with something other than chicken, please let us know how it turned out.  And we warned you, this stuff’s addictive!

A hearty hello to one & all from the banks of the Cedar River.  This is just one of many blog entries you’ll see coming from our neck of the woods.  If you like, you can also catch up with us on Twitter and Facebook.  We’ll be having some fun and telling you about some of the best deals in wilderness and waterfront property the northern Michigan real estate market has to offer (and there are many).

We’re Mike & Aimee Argyle.  Newlyweds enjoying life and living in a modern, log chalet on the Cedar River near Bellaire, Michigan.  Aimee is an associate broker with Northern Shores Realty, where Mike is the Marketing Manager.  Aimee also owns ClearStream Concepts, a company which offers innovative digital marketing solutions.  Together we’re known as the “Northern Shores Team”.  Our goal is to help people enjoy a better life by sharing our knowledge and experience of northern Michigan.

And what better way to enjoy northern Michigan, than to live here.  Many people dream of having a primary residence or a second home on one of our state’s many lakes, rivers and streams.  Eventually they do some research and find prices for real estate on the most popular lakes and rivers well beyond their reach.  So they let go of the dreams and accept less than what they could have had.  Sometimes realizing your dreams is looking a little further, or knowing the right people.

If you’re reading this post, then you now know the right people!  We know where to look to find affordable cottages on gorgeous lakes, or that dream deal for a cabin on a crystal clear river (after all, we live in one).  We enjoy helping folks find affordable waterfront properties.  There’s absolutely nothing better than living near the sounds of wildlife in the wilderness, waves on the shore, or currents rushing past rocks.

We consider ourselves truly blessed, and we come to that conclusion often. Despite economic conditions, or physical plights, or our mental state for the day, we always recognize one thing above all others.  We are truly blessed to have one another, to have great friends and wonderful families and to live near a pristine river.

The key to knowing you’re blessed is being thankful for what is in your life now and who you are. It’s not about what you have or what you are.  We most often recognize this when we’re out enjoying the great outdoors, as we did a few weekends ago.

It was early afternoon on a Sunday when walked out the front door of our cabin, put on our snowshoes and headed down to the Cedar River with our dogs Abby & Kona.  The river is amazingly beautiful when there isn’t snow on the ground and ice on the trees, and it takes on a whole new appearance during the winter.  We arrived at the river and stopped dead in our tracks.  Mother Nature was putting on a show, and we were in the middle of it.

There’s just something about a rushing river and the sound it makes.  If you’ve heard it once, you can easily close your eyes wherever you are and hear it again.  It’s a “personal permanent sound”, like your child’s voice or your dog’s bark or the wind itself.  Fast moving water rushing over and past rocks and logs, cascading in torrents as falls or rippling past obstacles to its progress as rapids.  On this day, with a slightly swollen river from the sunshine-induced thaw, the river was in concert.

Above us the sun shown brightly, and around us it bounced off the myriad ice & snow on the trees.  Bright, popping moments occurred all around, gracing all that stood reaching for the sky.  Beneath us glittered an unbroken carpet of puffy snow, broken only by the tracks of woodland creatures who’s home we’d barged into.  It was truly one of those moments when you realize, despite it all, you are all truly blessed.

We spent the next couple of hours enjoying the spectacle around us.  Once we were all tuckered out, we headed back to our nearby cabin in the woods to get warmed up.  There’s nothing like living in the wilderness, on or near water, no matter what the season.

So the message to many of you is this.  Don’t despair, but do all you can to realize your dreams.  Be thankful for what is, and for the small gifts that grace every day.  If it’s a cozy cabin near a babbling brook, or a rustic resort near a raging river, or a comfy cottage on a clear lake, please don’t let go of those dreams.  Give us a call and let us help you.  There are plenty of affordable waterfront properties in the Highland Lakes and Chain O’ Lakes areas, and we know where they are.  The northern Michigan of the old days still exists, at prices from days gone by.  Check out our Northern Shores Deal Alerts – you’ll be glad you did!

Thank you for taking time to visit our blog and get to know us.  We hope you come back often.  Give us a call the next time you’re in our area, or drop us a line, to discuss your dreams of living on a lake or near a river.  We’d enjoy meeting you and sharing what this region has to offer, and what life can be like when you count your blessings.

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Aimee’s Office Phone 231.633.6322

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