Cuyahoga Falls Riverfront and My Weekly Martini

This weekend felt an awful lot like autumn around here. Cooler temperatures and rainy days put an emphasis on the fact that summer is winding down. While it’s definitely still mid-August, the cool front that interrupted our summer heat wave was very much appreciated.

And for a change there was nothing on my calendar for the weekend at all. Nadda, zippo, nuttin’. Saturday was good weather for mowing the postage stamp-sized yard around my house and finishing up some paperwork chores that have been accumulating for a few months. By Sunday however I was pinging around the house with a small case of cabin fever. So I picked up my camera and headed out for a short walkabout.



Front Street way back when!
photo is copyright Barry W. Scholles



ON THE BOARDWALK

A popular summer destination is the Riverfront in Cuyahoga Falls. On Friday and Saturday evenings all summer long there are concerts, cruise ins, and more than a few festivals that bring hundreds of people to the plaza.

If you grew up in the Falls in the 1960's (as I did) you will recall this area being a work-in-progress during the 1970’s. Front Street still had automobile traffic, Kippy’s was a popular diner on the south end of the street and the only place for people to congregate was one and a half miles west at the State Road shopping center.

View of the Cuyahoga River from
the Boardwalk

When Front Street was closed off and they began building the pedestrian mall there were great hopes for a revitalization of the area. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s turned out exactly as planned, but the riverfront itself is really very nice.

What I learned on Sunday is that while this place can be hopping on a festival weekend, it’s very calm and quiet on a normal Sunday afternoon.

Between rain showers I took a very leisurely stroll along the upper and lower river front boardwalks. On the upper street level you’re behind the shops and condos that line the pedestrian mall. Among the trash receptacles and power boxes are a few pretty flower gardens and well tended back entrances. I also noticed a new Firehouse Grill on the south end of the plaza advertising their $1 burgers. At the north end was the new Samira's Restaurant. Both places are now on my list of places to visit.

The lower boardwalk was quiet with only a few folks tending fishing poles and me walking the river. The falls itself was rushing and the river was high. Even though we were only feet from rushing traffic along route 8, it was a serene setting. This isn’t a walk if you’re looking for exercise, but if you’re just looking for a quiet place to hang out for a while, this might be the spot. I also imagine the kids hang out here at night so if you really want quiet, try a Sunday afternoon like I did.

ACCIDENTAL MARTINI
It was such a nice quiet afternoon wandering around that I looked forward to a nice lazy night when I finally walked into the house for the evening. I was a bit hungry so headed to the fridge to scout it out. I found the remains of my blackberries from the CSA and decided to prep them for a shortcake. That meant heading to the liquor cabinet to find something to macerate the berries in because, of course, just plain water wasn’t good enough for these gigantic beautiful berries.

The ingredients for a cool martini

My booze cabinet is really full of some interesting stuff. It may rival some small bars I’ve been to in the varieties of liquor found there. I shop at the liquor store the way friends of mine shop for shoes, sometimes more for the looks of the bottle than the comfort found within.  But that's fine.  I like to experiment and try new things.  Mixing up a cocktail is a little like making dinner, a bit of creativity can go a long way to finding a new great experience.

I hauled out a bottle of cherry liqueur that I purchased a while back for……who knows what. While contemplating the effect of cherry liqueur on those blackberries, I spied the Godiva liqueur witting on the next shelf and my mind immediately snapped to chocolate covered cherries.

Chocolate covered cherries are a weakness of mine. They’re super sweet, super gooey and really very good. In fact, they are so sweet that my teeth hurt just thinking about them. The chocolate is mediocre at best, the filling is probably straight refined sugar and those cherries taste more like candy than a real cherry. But I don’t care. I love them anyway. I don’t buy them often because I can go through a box of these in a few short days. Sad, ain’t it?

So why it hasn’t occurred to me to make a chocolate covered cherry martini in the past is a very good question, especially since I had the foresight at some point to purchase cherry liqueur. I remedied that situation immediately.  A splash of cherry liqueur on the berries to keep them happy for another night and I reached for the cocktail shaker and some ice.  A few minutes later I was sprawled in my chair with a martini in one hand and the TV remote in the other.  Perfect Sunday night.

My Version of a Chocolate Covered Cherry - Martini Style
1 shot Cherry Liqueur
1 shot Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur
1 1/2 shots vanilla vodka
maraschino cherry for garnish

Put ingredients in a small shaker, add 3 cracked ice cubes, shake for a full minute.  Strain into a chilled glass, add the cherry and enjoy. 

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO ME

This past week was my birthday week. I only mention this because my share of ups and downs sort of centered around that fact.

One of the ‘ups’ – I’m still here and celebrating birthdays.

One of the ‘downs’ – my Mother, bless her soul, didn’t remember. I know her memory is wonky at best these days, but I also know that I sent her a personalized calendar with everyone’s birthdays on it (including hers and mine) and I know that she faithfully crosses off each day on the calendar so they are better able to keep track of what day it is. Or at least, she used to. So now I’m guessing that time tracking is also losing its appeal. Heavy sigh. I know I’m still lucky to have both parents alive at their age, but I’m also sure that there’s little more disheartening than them forgetting about your birthday. It’s just another in a long line of steps we take as we get older.

Another birthday ‘down’ – the long awaited boat ride on Lake Erie planned by Nancy and I was (once again) canceled. We’ve had this planned since last summer and I was really excited about this. I’m not a huge boat lover, but this promised to be a fast boat allowing wind in our hair and water splashed on our faces. That would be fun!

Another ‘up’ – instead of the boat ride, we ended up at Rosewood Grill in Hudson for dinner that night.

Rosewood Grill

Situated in the basement level of Turner’s Mill in Hudson, this place is rustic, popular and terrific. From the atmosphere to the food, our dinner was perfect for a birthday meal. My only complaint was that it was noisy. Cathy, Nancy and I were seated off to one side of the main room and could barely hear our own conversations. Otherwise, the staff was friendly and very accommodating and the food was delicious. Cathy declared it the best trout meal she’d ever eaten. Nancy’s walleye was good and my French Dip roast beef smothered in Grand Cru Gruyere Cheese was everything I’d hoped for. We each had a signature cocktail, Nancy and I had the Moscow Mule made with Ginger Beer and Cathy had the Peach Mojito. In honor of my birthday we each even succumbed to the call of the desert.

There’s a funny story lurking here somewhere but it’s better told in person. Ask me about it sometime and I’ll tell it. The upshot of the thing is that this young 20-something guy asked Cathy and I if we needed a ride somewhere – and he wasn’t trying to pick us up! Somehow (don’t know why that would be CATHY) he had the impression we were unable to drive a vehicle. Humpf! When I retorted that we were going to walk across the street to First and Main he quite seriously asked if we were OK to do so. Young kids these days! No idea of how old biddies giggle when we’ve had one little martini.


Anyway…we did manage to stumble over to the commons at First and Main and found their Friday night concert in full swing. Carlos Jones was playing and I very much have found a new local band I like. Known as the “iron-man” of the reggae scene in Cleveland, Carlos focuses on uplifting reggae music. The crowd was swaying and moving to the music and everyone was happy.

So my birthday 'down' got turned upside down.  I had a very pleasant evening with friends and that's what it's all about anyhow.

My version of the Rosewood Grill Moscow Mule
I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between ginger beer and golden ginger ale, but I found a 4 pack of Ginger Beer at the grocery, so with that I think I came very close to the drink served us at Rosewood Grill.    I'll have to open a bottle of the beer and a can of my Vernor's to see how they differ.

This was perfect in the heat of the evening when I had little to do and could simply relax. 

2 shots Smirnoff Vodka
juice from 1/2 a fresh lime
bottle of Ginger Beer
Squeeze the lime into a tall glass filled with ice, and then add the Vodka; finally, add Ginger Beer to taste, remembering that this is meant to be a long drink.

BARBERTON CHICKEN - YUM!

Now that I'm fairly certain my folks will not be visiting with me this summer, I had to make the trek to Belgrade Gardens on my own for a wonderful greasy, Barberton-style dinner. For the first time EVER I went on my own and also for the first time in nearly 45 years of eating their chicken dinners I ordered something else! It was a Friday and the fish really tempted me and the waitress ensured me that it was excellent. So I thought long and hard and took the plunge by ordering the fish and chicken combo meal (you didn't really think I'd NOT order chicken at all, right?) And hey, quel suprise, it was really good. As usual there was enough food on the plate for 3 meals but I really made a good effort to eat what I could while the chicken and fish were both hot out of the boiling lard. Pretty darned yummy! Of course there was chicken and fries left for lunch the next day and fish and fries left for the day after that. Overall, a good stop for dinner in order to quench that Barberton chicken craving I'd been nursing for over 6 months. Oh yes....fish too.

While I was there I took a good look around and was dismayed to only find 3 other tables with patrons. I overheard the cashier chatting with a departing patron lamenting that if business did not pick up, ownership was considering closing the location. In this economy there are plenty of places going out of business, but I know a lot of people that would miss Belgrade Gardens if it was gone.

In an upcoming blog I will talk a bit about the 3/50 Project and Eat Down The Street.  Please look for that soon and I have definately identified Belgrade Gardens as one of my Eat Down The Street restaurants.  Please join me in that effort by spending some of your dollars to help support a local business.


NEW PROJECTS TO UNDERTAKE

I've taken on a project for my media group to visit and document local food trends.  Well, not really trends, but something along the lines of finding out more about food grown and produceD locally and then how we prepare that food.   Not that this will be an unpleasant task since food is one of my favorite topics, but I am struggling a bit on just how to do this. I think a series of short stories on foods grown locally is my overall theme but where it goes from there will be up for grabs. I've already had quite a lot of good advice and some leads on folks who are far more passionate about food than I am, so it feels as though this will be a popular topic. And since wine and beer are becoming nearly as trendy as food, encompassing those topics should prove just as appropriate. I'll be heading out to some local farms, dairies, wineries etc and tracing their products to local tables. If any of you know of a business that should be included, do not hesitate to let me know.

AND SPEAKING OF LOCAL FOOD

It's getting about that time in the garden when things begin to ripen. Last week Cathy picked (and prompty ate) the first ripe yellow cherry tomato in the plot. In spite of the fact that she thought all tomatoes were supposed to be red in order to edible, she declared it tastey. Yippee, chalk up a win for the food diversity side! Our tomatoes will be all colors from golden orange to bright red. I was a bit bummed we didn't manage to snag any black tomatoes this year, but there's always next year!  Meanwhile the little tomatoes are coming on enough that I can eat a couple each time I visit the garden, today even a couple to share with a neighbor gardener and some to take over to Cathy's. 

I've been a little worried about my Macho Nacho pepper plants. They set on with BLACK oblong fruits and I'd began to believe that somehow I'd gotten ahold of eggplants instead of peppers. A closer look this weekend proves that they are indeed ripening into little green hot peppers. Now if the cilantro would grow I'd be almost ready to make a good salsa.

A neighbor in the garden has had his cabbages and brussels sprouts all eaten away. He's got a short fence around his plot so current speculation is that we're dealing with rabbits with really long teeth or deer invading the garden. A couple of days later another gardener on that side also lost her cabbages and brussels sprouts so it seems that the grazer is definately into the crustiferous plants.  So far they're only feeding on the non-organic side of the plots so my fingers are crossed they'll find enough to eat over there and leave our side alone.

As it's been so hot and dry reently it's also been a struggle to keep the garden wet enough. Cathy and I have taken turns driving out to haul water and have finally decided to take a hose to make this an easier task. Jerry let me use the big hose this weekend and I managed to get totally soaked in the process. The guys thought that was pretty funny and I would have been a little unhappy if it wasn't so darned hot that morning. As it was that water felt very good even if I did have to sit in wet clothes for the trip home.

SUMMER SIPPER

I may have mentioned that it's been very hot and sunny the past week or so and since a good piece of advice is to drink plenty of liquids, I've set up a spritzer area on my counter where I occassionally wander to create a refreshing drink or two for the summer evenings. Keeping a few things in the fridge will make these easy drinks to make on a warm whim. And while I'm not advocating these take the place of good cold water for keeping hydrated, these do make for a far more festive beverage.

LEMON LIME RUM SPRITZER

In a tall collins glass, add:
juice of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lime
shot of rum
add 6-7 cubes of ice

Top with tonic water or seltzer water and enjoy! I used spiced rum but feel free to use vodka or gin instead. It's really nothing more than a gin or vodka and tonic with a bit more citrus than normal.

So simple and so refreshing.