Chad and Wendy Allison bought their 70-acre farm in 2019. They had been living on Scott Hill Road when Allison took his wife to see the property he wanted to make their next home. The early 1900s house wasn’t exactly what his wife had in mind. In fact, the condition of the farmhouse was less than desirable.

“He said ‘You know I can make this nice,'” says Wendy Allison.

Her spouse set out to do just that by tearing off half of the house and remodeling the remaining rooms.

“It was a lot of hard work with him working many nights until 1 a.m., but he did it,” his wife proudly states.

An amazing selection of hard to find jarred foods is just a fraction of what is sold at Ivory Valley Farms in Frewsburg. Submitted photo

He also worked to make their new purchase into a working farm. The first herd of cattle was purchased in 2022 and within a year the family began selling wholesale freezer beef. As the demand grew, with the help and support of their family, they made a decision to expand into a retail business.

Chad Allison had the idea to open a store to sell their very own beef. Their first priority was to produce top quality beef by combining sustainable and old-fashioned practices. They harvest and mill their feed on the farm. The Angus-Hereford cross beef cattle are fed the farm’s own top-quality hay, silage and corn. Exceptional care of the animals goes into raising the all-natural beef. No chemicals or growth hormones are used.

“We are first generation beef farmers,” says the wife.

The history of their business is brief. They opened July 10 of this year and held a grand opening this fall, with about 300 people attending. The beef sales exceeded their supplies causing them to run out before the day was over. They are currently selling beef from the eleventh steer.

The Amish businesses in Holmes County, Ohio, was Wendy’s inspiration for the shop, therefore many of the products she sells come from Walnut Creek Foods, which is based in Ohio.

Wendy and Chad Allison recently opened their business Ivory Valley Farms where they sell their own beef, which is raised without chemicals or growth hormones. Submitted photo

The country store offers a variety of products, including some that are not usually found in this area, for example some jarred goods like candied jalapenos, pickled okra, baby beets and red onions. An assortment of relishes, mustards, seasonings and rubs are offered, along with at least six flavors of New Hope Mills pancake mixes.

Holiday shoppers may wish to check out the large selection of big and small gift boxes. The assortments are fun, sweet and savory and cater to various tastes. To name a few, a box filled with jams, jellies and a bottle of peanut butter spread suggests brunch, lunch or a late-night snack. A larger box containing popcorn, popcorn oil and toppings, ballpark style salt, fudge, nuts dipped in a chocolate coating and a few buckeyes would fit nicely in the home that enjoys evenings spent playing board games or TV viewing. A large party gift box contains handmade pretzels, a sweet and spicy mustard spread, too half-pound chunks of cheese, mixed nuts, summer sausage, honey beef sticks, crackers and assorted chocolates.

There is evidence throughout the shop that someone had a good time ordering items with holiday appeal including tubs of chocolate-covered candies, Gingerbread Boy-shaped glass bottles, decked out with a knitted Santa hat and scarf and filled with local maple syrup and Christmas wreaths. Many foods and non-edible items with Christmas-themed names, flavors and scents line the shelves including Christmas jam, Christmas salsa, peppermint hot chocolate mixes, Twelve Days of Christmas gourmet popcorn and seasonings set and goat milk soap and lotions and candles in Christmas scents.

Cute trinkets, various flavors of candy sticks, individually-wrapped sweets, candies on sticks, dog treats and more are available for stocking stuffers.

Besides their very own high-quality beef, they carry premium local goods like honey, maple syrup products and pork, chicken and brown eggs.

Till Top Creamery in Corry, Pa., delivers whole pasteurized-creamline white and chocolate milk, eggnog and weekly specialty milk such as orange and cookies and cream.

“The milk, eggs and beef are the biggest sellers and the cinnamon rolls fly out of here,” states the owner.

Through the doors of the well-lit freezers, the customers can see the most often purchased cuts of meat, take and bake pies, pumpkin, red velvet and carrot cake rolls and ice cream. A list of other chicken and meat cuts stored in a backroom freezer is attached to one of the glass doors.

Varieties of cheeses, rolled butter and tubs of garlic, black truffle, cinnamon and steakhouse soft butter are stored in the adjacent refrigerators. A bottle opener is attached to the wall by the front door for opening cold bottles of old-fashioned pop.

“Christmas may be different now with the store,” says Mrs. Allison, but goes on to talk about her family’s traditions.

In years past, she has spent an entire weekend baking cookies and other sweet treats with her daughters and a lifelong friend. They then share the fruits of their labors with others.

She remembers eating lasagna at her grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve. Now, her side of the family gathers at her parents’ house the night before Christmas and her mom makes lasagna. The Allisons provide the beef. Hot pepper jelly over cream cheese is another tradition they enjoy that night and now the jelly is available at the family business.

They host Chad’s parents for Christmas brunch when egg bake, breakfast potatoes, bacon, blueberry sausage and their daughter’s favorite, monkey bread, are served.

“We don’t need anything so we don’t exchange gifts with our in-laws. Instead, that money is used to buy clothes and toys for needy children.”

A basket of products will be given away for Small Business Saturday. All customers who make a purchase at Ivory Valley Farms between Tuesday, November 25 and Saturday, November 29 will have a chance to enter the drawing which takes place on Sunday, November 30. This year Small Business Saturday falls on November 29. This is the sixteenth year the Saturday after Thanksgiving has been set aside to encourage shoppers to support the small businesses in their area, rather than spend their entire holiday budget at big box stores.

Wendy Allison works a few hours each week at the Waterfront Pharmacy in The Chautauqua Center. Chad Allison will begin his new position as Carroll Highway Superintendent in January. They are Frewsburg natives. Their daughters, Holly Canon and Emily Allison, both live locally.

Mrs. Allison has shared a few of her family’s must-have recipes of the Christmas season. She chose the first because she wants the readers to know the best way to prepare a delicious sirloin tip roast and says, “it should never be cooked in a Crock-Pot.”

Her mom, Marcia Taylor, submitted the Christmas Eve Lasagna recipe when she was featured in The Post-Journal on January 15, 1983.

The home-raised beef used in these recipes can be purchased at Ivory Valley Farms, 683 Ivory Road, just three miles from downtown Frewsburg. Their hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10-6, Friday and Saturday 9-5, Sunday 10-4 through December 21. Sunday hours after Christmas will be 10-2. They are closed on Monday. The number is (716) 294-1801.

Christmas Day Sirloin Tip Roast

1 3-4 lb sirloin tip roast

2 T olive oil

1 T kosher salt

1 T ground black pepper

1 T garlic powder

1 T onion powder

1 T dried rosemary

1 T dried thyme

1 T steak seasoning

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, mix salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, thyme and steak seasoning. Rub the roast with olive oil, then apply the seasoning mixture on all sides. Place roast on a rack in roasting pan, fat side up. Cook for 20-25 minutes per pound or until desired internal temp (135 degrees for medium rare). Let the roast rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

Christmas Eve Lasagna

9 lasagna noodles

4 qts boiling water

1 T salt

½ tsp oil

Cook noodles for 15-20 minutes, stirring often. Rinse with cold water and drain well.

1 qt meat sauce (recipe follows)

¾ lb mozzarella cheese

¾ lb ricotta or cottage cheese

2-3 T parmesan cheese

Cover bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch pan with three noodles. Add ¼ lb ricotta or cottage cheese, ¼ lb mozzarella cheese and then top with 1/3 of the sauce. Repeat until you have three layers of noodles, cheeses and sauce. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on the top. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Meat Sauce

1 T olive oil

1 c onion, chopped

½ c celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

½ lb ground chuck

½ lb mild Italian sausage

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 c tomato juice

¼-½ tsp dry red pepper, crushed

2/3 c tomato paste

3 c tomatoes

1 tsp salt

½ tsp oregano

½ tsp basil

Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add onions, celery and garlic and saute until brown. Add meat and brown. Drain. Season with salt and pepper. Add juice and then cover and steam a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients and then cover and cook over low heat for one hour.