Lizard's WHAT?

It’s been a while between postings and for that I do apologize. Life’s been pretty hectic and it doesn’t leave much time for running around on the town or writing about it when I do snag an evening out.


So I’ll be catching up with a few fun activities for you this week. To begin, during the last week of February I spent a hectic week down at my parents home closing up their house since they are now staying** with me. When I packed up a few of their belongings and them and brought them home last November, it was uncertain about whether they would be able to return to their home or not. At this point it seems unlikely that they’ll ever be on their own again and so some decisions had to be made about their home and all the things that go with it.

Suffice to say that with the help of some very kind neighbors, I spent a frazzled four days sorting through the house and clearing it out for the future. Bins full of trash, a patio full of things for yard sales, cars sold, and paperwork packed up for reviewing, took a mental toll on me that I wasn’t expecting.

However, the fun part of the trip was the drive home in Dad’s 1993 Cadillac Deville with two of the best people I know, Grant and Lynn Murphy. Grant and Lynn had been planning a trip to Florida to visit their daughter and her family and they kindly offered to drive home with me. Well, OK, I sort of begged them to help, but they were gracious enough to say yes without too much whining on my part. Bless them both!



The menu board at Lizard's Thicket in Columbia, SC

COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA

We had great weather for the trip, which we broke into two days of about 9 hours driving each. With a stop in Columbia, SC overnight, the trip was not too difficult, especially with three of us sharing the driving. We had rooms at the Hampton Inn, Columbia which were comfortable and clean. The front desk gal recommended we try having dinner across the street at the Lizard’s Thicket.

My chicken dinner with
fresh potato salad.

With a dozen or more locations in the Columbia area, we found this to be an interesting place for local southern cooking.  The menu is a laundry list of "pick 1, 2 or 3 meats" and a huge assortment of sides, including fried okra, sweet potato casserole, and mac n' cheese. 

Grant's pulled pork with Carolina BBQ

Lynne ordered the chicken and dumplings, Grant had the Carolina BBQ Pulled Pork and I ordered the fried chicken.  The food was all very good and we shared a blackberry pie for dessert.  Even the biscuits were good!  I was a little disappointed because I had really been hoping for some good BBQ on the way home, but the meal here was good enough to let that slip my mind with not much concern.

In any event, the overnight stay was fine, the remainder of the trip was uneventful and I arrived home to find everything in order. 
--------------------------------------------------------------

**Staying....
Even now, I hesitate to state that my parents are living at my house, not just "staying".  Neither of them are really aware that they are now here permanently so I don't say it out loud often at all.  The other day Dad told someone that they were visiting with me here for a while and I think if that makes him feel better that it's OK.  I know that they both have moments when they are aware that they've left a house somewhere and all of there belongings and it breaks my heart that they cannot grasp that things have now changed.   

For now, we make the most of our situation.  I'm learning patience and hopefully some tolerance for things not going the way I want them too.  If dinner is going to be mushy broccoli and a bowl of dry cocoa rice cereal, then we try to make the best of that. 

Eating Around Akron - Wine Tasting Dinner at Giant Eagle in Hudson

Yes, indeedie! I’ve been to some interesting wine dinners in the past – on trains, at old mansions, at wine shops and many, many restaurants, and yes, now that I think about it, one at the upscale West Point Market here in Akron. But my local Giant Eagle? Whod’a thunk it?

Give credit to the folks that organized this, it was a very nice event. Chef Tim Monsman created a five course tasting menu that was paired with five wines from Cline Cellars out of Sanoma. For $15 this was a very economical evening and I walked away slightly wine-happy and extremely tummy stuffed….OK, tummy over-stuffed.

Aside from the food being served on plastic plates and plastic cutlery (completely understandable given the location), this was a first-class event. Also, credit to my fellow diners at the table who made me feel welcome (thanks Nancy for including me with your group!).

A fun thing we learned was that the Cline Cellar family are descendants of the Jacuzzi family - yes, that means that their great-grandfather was the inventor of the Jacuzzi.  Neat, huh? 

The Cline Cashmere was originally a blend put together by the wife (who'd had no prior wine experience) for a Breast Cancer fund raiser a few years ago.  It became a hit with the locals and they have been making it every year since.

Some tasting notes – 1) the soup was a bit spicy and overwhelmed the Zin poured with it, and 2) for me, none of these wines were what I’d term exceptional. Wine, of course, is very subjective and other folks at our table made purchases of some of these which indicated to me that they liked them. The Cashmere was popular as was the Chardonnay.)

Here is the complete pairing menu (with photos - I'm learning to use my camera phone but I won't be making that mistake again!)




Pan Fried Corn Cakes with Sweet Chili Sauce served with a Chardonnay

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Chili served with a Zinfandel

Braised Chicken, Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce, Mafalda Pasta served with Cline Cashmere (a vineyard specific blend)

Beef Short Ribs, Lentils, Squash Dumplings served with Ancient Vines Mourvedre

Orange Poached Pears, Toasted Pecans, Crème Anglaise served with a Viognier

The corn cakes were the hit of the meal followed closely by the tender short ribs - Chef Tim did a wonderful job. An even better thing, he provided recipes for each item so that we can recreate these at home. I’m already imagining corn cakes in my very near future!

For any of my local friends who are interested, there will be yet another wine dinner in November. Get your reservations in early as I’m told these are sold out quickly. Chef Tim is also putting together a Beer tasting menu for October 28th, four courses and four locally brewed beers. If you’re a beer fiend, sign up now! Call the store at 330-342-9995 to get further information.

Cleveland weekend - October 2011

Summer seems to be coming to a fast and early end as September sped away. Most of us are trying to keep up momentum with putting as much into these beautiful days we have left, especially as it’s beginning to get dark so much earlier.

Last Saturday was no exception. Although it started out rainy and chilly, my friends, Nancy and Cathy and I, headed up to Cleveland for a visit to University Heights.

This area contains some of the best things that Cleveland has to offer – The Cleveland Art Museum, The Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Case Western Reserve campus, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Severance Hall (home of the Cleveland Orchestra), MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), some wonderful restaurants, plus it sits close to Little Italy and all of its eclectic galleries and restaurants.

ONE OF THE BEST LUNCHES EVER!

We began our day with lunch at L’Albatros on Bellfower. Nancy had been here before and it was on her recommendation that we stopped for lunch. L’Albatros is a small space, as so many in this area are, and simple in décor. Visual stimulation is low but the food more than makes up for it with their well prepared French country fare.

We had mimosas to start our lunch and followed up with my croque monsieur with pommes frits. Nancy had the Cassoulet with braised white beans, lamb, duck confit and sausages. Cathy settled on the Roasted Cod served with garlic spatzle and sauerkraut. Nancy and Cathy both agreed these were some of the best meals they’d had in a long time. Cathy’s had to be good - we started eating and I’d taken maybe five bites of my sandwich and when I glanced back her direction, her plate was clean. And not just clean, she was busy using the bread at the table to wipe it completely naked! I’m not even sure the plate needed washing when we finally left. Which was too sad for her, Nancy and I both had restes de repas to take home for later. YUM!

NOW FOR A LITTLE CULTURE
Once lunch was over, we ambled back to Wade Oval and tried to get into the Natural History Museum. We were turned away at the parking lot because the museum was closed for a private party. This actually was really annoying since this museum was our target all along for the afternoon. I’d checked their website the day prior for hours and location – it would have been nice to have been warned the place would be closed.

Fortunately, we had options! A quick trip back around the oval took us over to the Art Museum where we spent a leisurely hour or so browsing the exhibits. It’s funny how different people like different things at a place like this. While I’m more intrigued by the paintings (my favorites are the Impressionists), Cathy preferred the other objects – vases, jewelry, etc, and Nancy liked a bit of both.

The Art Museum is undergoing a huge expansion project and some of the exhibits are quite a distance apart. We also got lost a few times. Still, this is a fascinating place and well worth visiting.  Especially since the cost of admittance is FREE!

AND A LITTLE ITALIAN FLARE!
After our cultural afternoon, we drove over to Little Italy for a bit of respite. The area was preparing for their quarterly Art Walk so all the galleries and shops were open with wine and some sort of nice food to munch upon. I have two favorite places in Little Italy – one is La Belle Vita which is a store carrying a veritable feast for the senses - bright colors of scarves, pottery and glassware – soothing aromas of fragrant soaps and perfumes – the tinkle of chimes and happy music in the background – the touch of fuzzy hats and cool silverwork. I really love shops like this one. The owner is friendly and chatty and offered us wine and appetizers as we meandered through the displays.

My other favorite place here is the pastry shop Presti’s on Mayfield Road. Presti’s has been a staple in the neighborhood since 1943 and the current pastry chef is the 4th generation of the Presti family to run the business. From traditional Italian breads, pastries and cakes, they’ve now expanded the menu to include a full line of fresh deli salads, pizza, Stromboli. Sitting in the café is to watch a slice of life in Little Italy. People of all ages sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea with a pastry or lunch or dinner or just sit and chat like we were doing after a long afternoon.

WINE AND FRIENDS – PIZZA AND WINE – SOME OF LIFE’S BEST PAIRINGS

For the evening, we headed east to Cedar Green Wines where we were meeting up with our good friends Bev, Lynn and Grant for their 2nd Annual Gourmet Pizza Night. Bev had attended this event last year and recommended it for a fun night out.

The wine shop owner partnered with the chef from the neighboring Zeppe’s Pizza to bring us 4 wines and 4 gourmet pizzas. The wine began flowing by 8pm followed closely by fresh hot pizza and a new pairing arrived at our seats about every half hour. The wines were so-so but the pizzas were wonderful. My favorites were the Yukon Gold potato and the butternut squash. I’ll be trying to recreate all four at home but these two will be first on the list!

The full line up was:

Provolone-parmigiano reggiano pizza topped with a baby arugula salad and a meyer lemon vinagerette paired with a Bianco Campania Triade

Ohio Yukon gold-white truffle oil-fontina pizza paired with Palma Nero Grillo

Pistachio-arugula pesto with grilled chicken and asiago cheese pizza paired with a Mandra Nero-d'Avola

Ohio butternut squash-applewood smoked bacon-extra sharp New York State cheddar pizza paired with Vitiano. 

Thanks Bev for the suggestion of the evening, I had a great time!

ON THE TOWN, OUT OF TOWN AND A DAY AT THE HOUSE

Myersville Road and Killian Road
near Uniontown

What a beautiful fall weekend we had here in northeast Ohio! Sunshine, clear skies, temps in the 60’s and color surrounding us on all sides from the trees and foliage preparing for winter.

Friday night was all about rock and roll (the good stuff from the 70’s) and catching up with my friend Cathy. Although we’d decided we wanted to go “out” to listen to a band and grab a drink, the bands starting at 9pm were just too late for us. We found a band starting at 7pm at the Upper Deck on the Lakes (that would be Portage Lakes for those of you not from around these parts). Named “Midnight Special” the band was lively and did rousing renditions of songs from the 70’s, both rock and country. Tunes like "Old TIme Rock & Roll" and "Main Street" had me singing along and dancing with the music.  The band started at 7, the patrons were properly inebriated by 9:30 and I was home and tucked into bed by 10.

I think you can easily tell we’re getting older. My co-worker Dan says that “old” biddies are so defined because we have lunch at 11am and hit the early-bird specials at 4pm. I wonder if my Friday night was a variation on the theme? Band starting at 7pm and home in bed by 10. Hmmmm… bar hopping - old biddy style?

ESCAPING OUT OF TOWN…AGAIN
The reason I was so insistent about getting home early on Friday is that I had a 6am alarm calling me on Saturday morning. This weekend was the annual Longaberger factory visit arranged by a co-workers friend, Barb. Barb has been selling Longaberger for many years (and teaches middle school by day) and has been organizing this annual trip to Dresden to take some of her customers and their friends to visit the factory.

World's Largest Basket

I was invited to ride along last year and it was so much fun I decided to go again this year. We leave Wadsworth at 7:30am, arrive at the Longaberger factory around 10:30 and spend the day shopping the factory outlet and other shops on the property. Included in the trip is a tail-gate style lunch, arranged and presented by Barb and a terrific family-style dinner on the property in the evening. The afternoon is available to walk the property or take a shuttle into the charming little town of Dresden where you can find things basket-related from one end of Main Street to the other…including the World’s largest basket. Oooooo!

There wasn’t nearly as much shopping this year as last, it’s easy to see that the recession has hit this company as much as any other. I’d guess about half the number of people were visiting the factory as last year and the bargains were fewer and harder to find.

Regardless of the bargains available, we had another fun day thanks to Barb. I was very happy to be included again this year.

LAZY SUNDAY AT HOME

City Fresh share

Finally a day to spend at home! Sunday was the perfect day for getting a few chores done around the yard, some laundry finished and a good scrub down of Robert (my car). And, I’ll admit that I needed some time for my legs to rest from the busy day yesterday. My only intention for the day was to ensure that I got a pot of soup on the stove at some point so that I could use up some of that fantastic vegetable bounty from this weeks City Fresh share. Everything else was bonus.

A quick jaunt to the store to pick up some cheap beef for soup and I was ready to slice and dice my way to a hearty beef vegetable soup.

I’ll give an ingredients list below, but veg soup is really all about what you have hanging around your fridge and pantry. You don’t really even need beef, but I like it in here, it gives this soup some heft if this is all you’re eating for a meal.

For me, the only staples for this soup are mirepoix, beef broth, cabbage and a can of tomatoes. (Mirepoix is fancy French for the vegetables that go into the pot first with a little oil to create your flavor base…in this case, onions, celery, carrots and a little bell pepper.) Add liquid in the form of stocks or tomatoes, any combination of vegetables to this and you have soup. In this case I added beef to the pan first to brown it up, then the mirepoix. Once that has all browned nicely, add the stock, tomatoes and other vegetables et voila! Soup!

The main lesson to learn from making a good pot of soup like this is to get your soup started well with a nicely browned and seasoned mirepoix. Remember that this is the flavor base that will carry all your other ingredients to soup nirvana. There is a fine line between browning and burning, so watch this carefully.

Also, seasoning with salt and pepper as you add ingredients is another great way to ensure that each layer of flavor you build will be well seasoned. If you wait till the end to add salt and pepper, your soup tastes salty and peppery – not “well seasoned”. For instance, if your overall salt amount would be 1 teaspoon, parse that out over the course of the cooking process rather than adding it all at the end.

EARLY FALL VEGETABLE SOUP – makes 2 quarts

Beef, carrots, onion, celery &
a bit of red bell pepper
browing in the pot

Mirepoix
  1 Tbls vegetable oil
  4 oz beef stew meat – cut into very small chunks
  ½ stalk celery – chopped to a fine dice
  2 carrots – chopped to a fine dice
  1/2 small onion – chopped to a fine dice
  ¼ small red pepper – chopped to a fine dice
  Salt and pepper to season

Add the oil to a large heavy pot and heat to medium high. When oil is hot, add beef and brown on all sides – lightly season with salt and pepper. Once meat is browned, add celery, carrots, pepper and onion – again season lightly as you go. Lightly brown the vegetables then begin to build your soup.

Stock base
  2 cups beef stock
  14 oz can diced tomatoes

Add the tomatoes and stir enough to pick up any browned bits that are in the bottom of your pot. These are concentrated flavor bits you do not want left behind. Then add the beef stock.

This will most likely not be enough liquid to complete your soup. Once you begin adding vegetables, you can easily add enough water to make sure they are covered while cooking.  More stock is not really necessary, there is plenty of flavor in here already.

From here you can add whatever vegetables you like. I happened to have the following things in my fridge and freezer, so in they went. The trick here is to make sure you chop everything small enough to fit on a spoon, I like everything cut in about 1/4-1/2 inch dice.

Soup
  ½ cup green beans 
  ½ cup diced zucchini
  ¾ cup shredded cabbage
  ½ cup shredded kale
  ½ cup frozen corn
  ½ cup frozen peas

Add all of the chopped vegetables; make sure they are covered with liquid, cover the pot and let cook over medium heat for 20 minutes or until everything is cooked to your liking.

Taste for seasoning and add whatever else you might. If you still have some herbs hanging on in the garden, chopped parsley or chives would be a good addition. The rule for adding herbs to things like this is, dried herbs DURING cooking, fresh herbs when the pot is done.

SUMMER EVENINGS

Saturday our gaggle of gals gathered at Bev’s house for a great summer evening on the deck. As usual Bev is the consummate hostess and terrific cook.  Each of us brought a dish to share and we enjoyed a great dinner of chicken and salmon on the grill accompanied by broccoli salad, asparagus and pistachio fluff and then followed by some sweet ice cold sorbet and fruit compotes.  Yum! 

We started the evening with Bev churning out a limoncello slushy concoction from her blender and moved to a couple of great refreshing sangrias.  A little wine - a nice warm breezy deck and good food and friends and we couldn't have asked for much more.

My contribution to dinner was the appetizers.  A trip out to the farm market where I found a nice bunch of fresh beets and a tub of locally produced goat cheese from The Ornery Goat farm, a quick stop at the grocery for a whole grain baguette or two and a small wedge of Cambozola and I was in business!

I took inspiration for the Beet Crostini from the wonderful Beet and Goat Cheese Dip I ordered at The Burgundy Room on the Short North while we were in Columbus over this past Easter weekend. A browse through the internet scored the following recipe using the beets I found at the market. Once you have the beets roasted and cooled, putting this together was a snap as was the other crostini I chose to make. 

ROASTED BEET CROSTINI

This makes a stunning appetizer. The beets are roasted then pureed with goat cheese for a creamy ruby-red spread. If you've bought beets with the stems on, you could easily sautée the tops with olive oil and garlic for a topping adding more nutrition and color to this appetizer. 

2-3 small to medium sized fresh beets
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 sprig of rosemary

2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 ounces creamy goat cheese
16 1/2-inch-thick slices baguette, preferably whole-grain, cut on the diagonal

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Roll the washed and dried beets around in the olive oil.  Using a piece of aluminum foil large enough to loosely wrap the beets completely, place the beets in the foil with a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme, cover with the foil and crimp edges to seal the packets.  Put in the oven and roast until beets very tender when pierced with a knife, 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of the beets. Uncover and let cool. The skins should slip off or easily be peeled from the beets once they're cool. 

Peel the cooled beets and cut into 1-inch pieces. Place 3/4 cup beet pieces, goat cheese,salt and pepper in a food processor and puree until fairly smooth.

Place the baguette slices in the oven set at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes to toast, or grill them slightly on the outdoor grill (which I did Saturday since Bev was already heating the gill for the main course). 

To assemble crostini, spread about 2 teaspoons beet-cheese spread on each slice of toasted baguette and garnish with a leaf or two of fresh thyme.

CAMBOZOLA CHEESE AND HONEY CROSTINI

As a second appetizer offering, I also put together another of my favorite combinations, bread and cheese, in the form of a Cambozola Cheese and Walnut Crostini with Honey Drizzle. The combination of salty cheese, crunchy walnuts and sweet honey hits all the right notes.

I’m also pleased that the honey I used for my drizzle came from one of my favorite local businesses, Becker’s Cottage Herb Farm. Aside from the greenhouse plants Jan sells in the spring, she sells eggs from her 4 pretty little hens in the back coop and honey from her beehive. Even though the greenhouse is closed for the season, you can still find Jan selling her honey, herbs and flowers at the Springfield Farm Market on Friday nights and the Barberton Farm Market on Wednesday's. I'm a huge honey fan and generally buy it whenever I see it from local purveyors. Honey flavors range from light and mild to dark and robust and I love them all.  This appetizer worked very well with the mild honey I got from Jan's busy bees.

Anyone not familiar with Cambozola should quickly recitfy that situation.  Cambozola is a combination of  french triple-cream cheese and an Italian Gorganzola.  A marriage made in international heaven, this cheese is soft and creamy and has the tang of a blue cheese.  Great just served with whole grain crackers and some fruit, this cheese also works really well with the sweet honey and crunch of the walnuts in this crostini.  You'll have to search a bit to find this in a specialty cheese case like at Kreiger's or West Point Market or a more upscale grocery.  This is well worth seeking out if you love cheese as much as I do.

CAMBOZOLA CHEESE & WALNUT CROSTINI WITH HONEY DRIZZLE

4 oz. cambozola or a good blue cheese
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped coarsly - I used some glazed walnuts for added sweetness
16 1/2-inch-thick slices baguette, preferably whole-grain, cut on the diagonal
mild flavored honey

Toast the baguette slices in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or grill on a preheated grill until they are slightly toasted. 

Spread a small slice of the cambizola cheese or crumble a tablespoon of blue cheese over the warm bread.  Sprinkle with the toasted walnuts and drizzle with the honey.

SPA ADVENTURE

This week was my friend Bev's birthday and we celebrated with her by visiting Mario's International Spa up in Aurora. They run Thursday evening specials and for $25 you get your choice of manicure/hand massage, pedicure/foot massage, neck/shoulder massage or facial/hair style and they include some champagne and cheese afterward for your lingering pleasure.

Nancy and Laura had pedicures, Bev got the manicure and I chose the neck massage. MMMMmmmmm. Aside from the long wait due to some scheduling mixups, we enjoyed our mini-spa treatments and spent some time lounging in front of the fireplace with our glasses of champagne. I've never had a massage before but after about 30 seconds I was relaxed and comfy in my little room with my face down in one of those donut things. After about 10 minutes I wasn't too sure what all the fuss was over massage, but then she started in on the deeper tissues and I turned to silly putty. I might have even drooled a bit :) Hope they change that donut covering!

After our "treatments" we wandered over to the Cabin and had a chat with the chefs and decided to stay for dinner. Their wood fired pizza oven was burning red and I was temped by the pizzas but the chef had been pretty proud of his handmade butternut squash ravioli and he promised he could easily put some browned butter on it if I wished (and who wouldn't?) so that was my dinner. Nancy and Laura ordered Kobe Beef Burgers that looked tremendous and Bev had the wedge salad and lobster bisque that she proclaimed fantastic.

Our meals were wonderful and we were captivated by the setting. We negotiated a table in the corner of the room with windows around us looking out at a little courtyard filled with twinkling white and red lights. The place is still decorated for the holidays so the room had tufts of cotton "snow" and "icicles" hanging from everything. It reminded me of the little inn from White Christmas set in Vermont. Very charming.

I'm not sure if the massages would be worth the trip back up to Mario's but the food and location for dinner will be on my "let's go back" list for sure.