Camping

Please bear with me as I'm a tad behind in my posting (as usual), but I'm now officially less than a month behind!  Yay, go me!  Anyway, let's talk about camping.  Before I started dating Antoine I had never really been camping.  I grew up in the country and it seemed like camping just wasn't a thing for country-folk.  Why go camping when you could just pitch your tent anywhere on your 16 acres of land?  So when A and I started dating he introduced me to the ins and outs of camping and I realized liked it.  I then proceeded to tell my sister, brother-in-law, and best friend (all of which hadn't really been camping either) that we all needed to go camping together.  And finally, after like 5 years, we finally did and it was good times!

We decided to keep it simple for our first group camping trip and stayed in Ohio, meeting up at the Bulter/Mohican KOA, that way we could go hiking or check out fun country stuff like apple picking, cute quaint towns, etc.  Since it was pretty late in the year for camping (mid/late September), there really weren't many people at the KOA, which was nice.  We chose three sites on the KOA's little pond/lake...

View of a site opposite from our sites.

I think Cheese really enjoys camping...all the smells and being outside.  Plus, extra people to pet and love him!

View of the little lake.  When Antoine and I arrived there were a bunch of Canadian geese on the other side, but they flew away shortly after and only returned briefly.  Though there was a giant fish in the lake that we all found very entertaining.

On Saturday evening the KOA offered a free hayride around the property.  Michelle proceeded to convince Amanda to go with her...because no one else would go.  I should mention, we were all pretty intoxicated already!

After a full day of apple picking and fun Cheese proceeded to pass out Saturday evening in the warm sun.  So adorable!

Antoine and I did most of the cooking, which we did over the fire.  I was specifically in charge of making the morning coffee, and I'm very proud of how my first attempt at campfire coffee turned out...if I don't say so myself!

Cheese (on Sunday morning) after his morning scratches and pets.

So, how was your weekend?  Mine was delightful.  Antoine and I decided to check out the Cincinnati Nature Center for the first time.  We'd been meaning to go for a while now, but just hadn't made it out there.  It is quite tempting to just explore French Park with Cheese when it's five minutes down the road.  But it's also nice to mix things up and try a new park every once in a while.  We spent a little over three hours hiking around with Cheese and then we finished off the night with Chinese take out from Yat Kat Mein (always good!).  How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun?  I'm already looking forward to this weekend, it's our annual trip to Yellow Springs to pick pumpkins and I can't wait!

Camping Weekend in Instagram

What a great weekend, but man, I'm tired!  And, is it just me, or did the weekend just fly by?!  Camping was a big success, but I think I need a couple days just to recuperate.  I took a bunch of photos this weekend, including some night-sky photos that I'm hoping turned out well, but until I have a chance to edit them here's some photos from Instagram...

 Antoine and I were in charge of all the food/cooking.  I was in charge of the coffee, something I've never made when camping before because Antoine doesn't drink coffee.  But since we had some serious coffee drinkers in the group this time I got this and this (which also came in handy for making some warm spiced cider Saturday night!) and some tasty coffee from Stauf's...and it turned out really well!  Plus my sister gave me this sweet set of metal mugs, bowls and plates (thanks sis!).

 These photos are from Saturday morning.  Antoine and I made an egg bake (somewhat similar to this one) with potatoes, onions, and peppers from Amanda's garden.  We topped it with Parmesan and aged white cheddar and it was very tasty!  Cheese, of course, wanted to help with the cooking process and kept getting way too close to the fire...but he managed not to burn himself, somehow.

 On Saturday we went to Apple Hill Orchards in Mansfield, OH, which was about a 30-40 minute drive from where we were staying near Mohican State Park.  I had never been to Apple Hill and just found them online earlier that week.  It's a great little place that I'd highly recommend (and they are dog-friendly which is awesome!).  We went apple picking, feasted on apple donuts, and sampled some delicious cider.  Good times!

 After Apple Hill, my sister and brother-in-law spotted a sign for the Ohio Bird Sanctuary just down the road.  It turned out to be a really great impromptu stop!  Cheese was allowed in most of the areas, they had a cool selection of owls, hawks and falcons, and they even had an enclosure that you could walk into (but no dogs!) that had all kinds of birds in it, quails, blue jays, chickens, killdeer, etc.  And then as we were getting ready to leave we spotted one of the very friendly staff exercising one of the hawks.  And then another one of the staff members brought out this little screech owl, Lazarus, to talk about!  I have better photos that I'll definitely share later!

 As you can see Saturday night got a little silly!  We were all drinking and playing cards against humanity and then this happened...don't worry, that's not cocaine it's powdered sugar for campfire pies!

It was a fun, but exhausting weekend...especially for the Cheese-man!  All the smells, all the random people petting him and rubbing his belly...it's so rough!

Stay tuned for more camping photos, though it might take me a while to get to them since this weeks is Midpoint!  Happy Monday everyone!

Coquette Patisserie in Cleveland

After our blissful trip to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Amanda and I were in the mood for a snack.  She hadn't had any birthday cake yet so that was an obvious must!  She mentioned a little patisserie that had opened recently near by, we glanced at their website and we were sold!  Within a couple minutes we were making our way to the Coquette Patisserie.  It took us some time to find parking but it was totally worth it.  The shop itself is absolutely adorable...

 I mean, how cute is that!?

We decided to share a couple of their amazing looking cakes and a small french press of coffee.

 So pretty!  We ended up getting (clockwise from the top): the pear pinwheel, the Queen of Sheba, and the chocolate triomphe.

 We were both actually a little wary to dig in because it all looked too beautiful and perfect to eat!  The Queen of Sheba (with the fleur-de-lis) was this first one we tried and turned out to be our least favorite.  It was good, but once we tried the pear and the chocolate triomphe it was blown out of the water!  Amanda loved the pear the most, while I was absolutely crazy about the chocolate triomphe.

Look at that!  I was expecting a dense cake like the Queen of Sheba, but when I dug my fork in I was surprised to find a soft white cake covered in a fluffy chocolate mousse covered in a creamy, rich ganache topped with candied hazelnuts...WOWZA!  So good!

If you find yourself in Cleveland anywhere near the university or the museums I would definitely recommend you stop by and try one of their delicious and perfectly constructed goodies!  They also offer a cheese and a charcuterie plate, a selection of beers, and wine and champagne.  It'd be a great spot for an afternoon snack with your best lady friends or a sweet spot to stop for dessert on a date!

Well, with that, happy Friday everyone!  I gotta say this week felt both short and long to me; the first half of the week flew by but the second half seemed to crawl.  I'm very much looking forward to the weekend!  Antoine and I are heading to the Krohn Conservatory orchid show, which I'm insanely excited for, and then I'm hoping to spend a good deal of the weekend relaxing and maybe reading.  What about you?  Any fun plans in the works this weekend?

Weekend in Instagram

Yet another weekend in Instagram post...I know, I know.  I need to get off my ass and do some actual blogging.  I promise I'll have a real post with real photos later this week!  And then either this week or next I'll start on my guest bedroom posts, I promise!  In the meantime, Instagram photos (mainly of Cheese) for your enjoyment...

 I started Saturday morning off right with some cold brewed iced coffee.  And I swear I'm not so pretentious that I normally drink my coffee out of a Ball jar, I just didn't have enough for a full glass of coffee.  Not that I think all people who drink their coffee out of Ball jars are pretentious...but some are.

 Saturday was a lazy day.  Well, to be honest, the whole weekend was pretty lazy!  We stayed in our pajamas most of the weekend.  Saturday we watched Mud and Now You See Me.  Mud was actually really good!  Easily Matthew McConaughey's best performance to date...and that's saying a lot because I'm not generally one of his biggest fans.  Usually I find him to be kind of creepy, but not so much in this film.  Now You Can See Me was good, kind of hokie at times, but good.  I also watched Side Effects on Friday and thought it was decent, if kind of flawed.  But luckily, Channing Tatum isn't in it too long, so that was good (I can only handle his douchiness for so long, then I'm done).

 

Sunday was yet another lazy day...I snuggled on the couch with this guy most of the day and watch How I Met Your Mother reruns.  It was kind of awesome.

Poor guy!  It's so "ruff" being the Cheese-man.

Sunday night I had to feed my sis and brother-in-laws cats and I spotted this gigantic cluster of mushrooms in their backyard.  Crazy!

This is Cheese on Monday.  It was obvious that Labor Day was just too much for him and he needed to get out of the house for a while to let off some steam, so we took him to the dog park.  You know it's hot out at the dog park when all the humans AND all the dogs are staying under the shade of the trees!  Cheese managed to last an hour and so did we!  He had a great time and drank about a million gallons of water!

While Cheese was getting a bath I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this guy rolling around on the guest bed, which Guillermo now thinks is his bed!

Antoine and I rounded off our Labor Day by running some errands and then feasting on some silver queen corn on the cob for dinner (tasty!).  It was a nice, relaxing weekend...which frankly, in this heat, was pretty much all we could bear.  I really hope it starts to cool off soon!  I'm so ready for cool, Fall weather...it's my favorite!

How about you?  How was your long weekend?  Did you do anything fun?  Or did you avoid the heat at all costs like we did?!

Holmes with a View (B&B Review)

Antoine and I aren't normally bed and breakfast people.  We've been to a couple and never had a bad experience, in fact, we've only had positive ones.  And don't get me wrong, I love the idea of an included homemade breakfast!  But bed and breakfasts tend to have a social element built into them, and that's just not our thing.  Mainly, it's not my thing.  Talking to strangers while I'm on vacation terrifies me and doesn't sound at all appealing.  Luckily, all of the bed and breakfast experiences we've had have been stress-free and involved little to no socializing.  Holmes with a View*, where we stayed for a night while we were in Amish Country, was the epitome of a stress-free, private bed and breakfast.  Combine that with a really cool design and one heck of a view and you've got one awesome bed and breakfast!

  Unlike most B&Bs where all the guests stay in one house, Holmes with a View's suites are completely separated from the proprietors home.  After checking in (at the proprietors home), you drive a couple hundred feet down the road to three circular buildings.  Each building is two stories high and each contain two suites, one on the top floor and one on the bottom.  Each suite has it's own private entrance and separate parking.  One of the buildings is larger than the other two because its suites have two bedrooms instead of one.  We obviously stayed in a one bedroom suite, and chose a top level one.

Look at that view! Isn't it incredible?

Now, it's definitely pricier than we'd normally spend, but in the end we agreed that it was totally worth it!  In fact, we were both blown away by this place and will definitely return in the future.  If you're looking for a quiet, private, and romantic getaway in Amish Country, I'd definitely suggest this place.  I mean, just look at it!

A full kitchen complete with all the necessities, nearly 360 degree windows to enjoy that spectacular view, an adorable little seating area for two, a jacuzzi tub, dish tv (as well as a collection of movies and board games),  a full bath with shower and a bedroom with a view.  Oh, and if that's not enough...continental breakfast waiting for you in your room.

After you check-in and get the keys to your suite and then you oooh and ahhh over it for a couple minutes you realized that your included continental breakfast is already there in your room, waiting for you to enjoy it the following morning.  You don't even have to get out of your pajamas to enjoy your breakfast...icing on the cake!  Delicious cinnamon rolls, a loaf of Amish bread, homemade strawberry jam, an assortment of juices, coffee, tea, popcorn (for a late-night snack) and a Keurig...all in your room waiting for you!  Doesn't get much better than that!  Oh wait, a britta in the fridge full of ice cold water to cool you off after all your sightseeing?  Check!  (This made Antoine and I very happy!  We are very picky about water and we like it ice cold, so yay!)

Picture this, you wake up after a day of shopping/eating cheese samples/feasting on the ultimate comfort food/relaxing in a bubble bath, etc. and you warm up a cinnamon roll, make some coffee and enjoy it on the balcony while looking out on this.  That's just awesome!  Makes it totally worth the price tag.

And the peacefulness of this place is crazy!  It's up on a hill away from any traffic, so you're surrounded by fields and flowers and all you hear are birds chirping and the occasional cluck of a chicken.  It's wonderful.

Oh, and in the morning, there might be horses in your backyard, which is pretty cool!

We had the best time!  It was so relaxing and perfect, we can't wait to go back.  If you're planning a trip to Amish Country, I would definitely recommend this place.  Also, you could make it a little more affordable by splitting the two-bedroom suite with four people, say for a girls weekend or two couples.

* (Holmes = Holmes County, the heart of Amish Country) 

Holmes with a View has no idea I'm writing this post and has not given me any incentive to do so, we just really loved it and I wanted to share it with everyone!

[HLP]Weekend in Instagram

I don't know what happens when your best friend comes into town, but when mine comes for a visit we eat.  And from these Instagram photos it looks like that's about all we did.  But let me rewind a bit.  First Antoine and I cleaned the house like mad people, because no one should be subjected to our sloppiness but us.  I know there are crazy weird people out there who clean weekly or even daily, I just will never be that type of person.  I'm hardwired to clean only when I have to, i.e. before a trip, when we're expecting company, when my brain is about to explode from the utter messiness of our house.  I need something to motivate me, like a visit from my HLP, otherwise, I'd rather relax or do more important things like spend quality time with my boyfriend or cook or snuggle with my animals.

We recently discovered that if we give Cheese a tennis ball he will be completely distracted, which allows us to go about our business and clean without too much interruption.  He hits a certain point where the excitement of said tennis ball exhausts him so much that he has to pass out, with said tennis ball as close to him as possible, in case a human tries to take it back!

After cleaning like crazy people Thursday night, I was so excited to see Amanda after work on Friday!  Once she got into town we headed over to Ambar for some tasty Indian food.  Sorry, no picture of the delicious Indian food because we were just too famished to pause for a picture.  Afterwards we headed back to my house and chatted while I whipped up a batch of Montreal-style bagels for the next morning.  I made some chocolate chip ones this time which turned out very well. 

Saturday, we woke up, drank some iced coffee, ate a bagel and headed out for a walk around my neighborhood.  Two hours later we were exhausted and dehydrated!  Taking a 5 mile walk in 90+ degree weather in the sun probably wasn't my smartest ideas ever.  We collapsed when we got back to my house and drank as much water as we possibly could.  Then, after some showers, Amanda headed to Hyde Park to meet up with another friend, so Antoine and I ran some errands and got some Culver's.

Way to cancel out all the calories I burned on that walk, huh!?  If you've never had Culver's before, let me just say that the chocolate frozen custard will blow your mind!  For fast food ice cream it is insanely good!

Later that evening I mixed up some mojitos for Amanda and I and we planted ourselves in front of the tv to watch some Dr. Quinn.  Now, years ago Amanda and I embarked on this journey of watching all six seasons of this 90s tv show.  It was partly a bonding thing, partly something to do; a nostalgic idea of two best friends watching a show our kid-selves liked so much when we didn't even know the other existed.  Well, fast forward to this weekend...we just finished season five.  Only one more season to go!  It might have started as a fun little thing to do, but now it's more of a laborious commitment we intend to see through to the end.  Even if it kills us in the process (the last couple seasons have been difficult to make our way through...the show really goes downhill!  There's a reason why by the last couple seasons most of the viewers were women over the age of 40...it just got dull.)  So, when we find some time we grab a bottle of wine (or some mojitos) and we chip away at a couple episodes, forming our own running commentary along the way (usually we just note how utterly stupid the characters are or comment on the rugged yet sensitive creature that is Sully).  Hopefully, some day, we will finish it. 

Anyway, Cheese enjoyed our little Dr. Quinn viewing party and decided to snuggle with his aunt.

After three or so episodes of Dr. Quinn (and a couple alcoholic beverages) we decided we desperately needed cheese fries from PRC.  There really is nothing better than a little fried cheese covered food in your belly after a couple drinks.

Sunday was a lazy day.  We got up and laid around for a bit.  And then Amanda and I randomly started watching Heroes on Netflix.  We decided to take a lunch break and headed to Sitwell's for some 3 cheese melts and milkshakes.  Nothing better to time-warp us back to our college days than Sitwell's.  And the Milkway malt is like heaven with whipped cream on top.

With insanely full bellies we headed back to my house where I convinced Amanda to watch a couple more episodes of Heroes before she headed home.  Because that's what I do.  And really, she didn't need much convincing.

Once Amanda left, I just hung out on the couch with this guy being totally and completely lazy...watching Heroes.  I think Cheese was a little exhausted from all the excitement of having his Aunt Amanda in town...just a little.  Anyway, that's what I call a perfect Sunday!

How about you, how was your weekend?

Cafe Mediterranean: A Mini-Review

I thought you needed a little break from my crazy long Olympic/Seattle recap.  So here's a mini-review on a local Mediterranean place.

I've never been the biggest fan of Mediterranean food.  I mean, I've always liked it okay, but I've never craved it or dreamt about it like I do with ice cream or Dewey's pizza.  That's until I tried labneh or lebne.  Then, BOOOOOM!  My world was turned upside down and I longed to get my hands on more of this delicious and creamy delight.  If you've never had lebne then you're missing out.  It's somewhere between strained yogurt and cream cheese, often with hints of garlic and sprinkled with herbs and spices and a drizzle of olive oil.  Oh, and served with warm pita bread...that's a must.  Mmmm.

Wait, what was I saying?  Oh yeah, lebne has given me a greater appreciation for Mediterranean food and now I find I crave it more and more.  So when I saw a groupon for Cafe Mediterranean in Blue Ash, a spot I had been to once with the girls, I jumped on it since Antoine had never been.  Plus, groupons can be a great vehicle for impromptu date nights to spots we normally wouldn't go.  And often, especially in this case, the restaurant becomes a favorite that we'll eagerly look forward to visiting in the near future.

The food is excellent and the staff is so friendly!  We started off with the lebne (of course) and the spinach borek.  The lebne was fantastic!  The sprinkle of fresh dill on top was just perfect.  The borek, which we had never had before,  is a flaky pastry filled with spinach and feta, rolled up like a egg roll and lightly fried.  Tasty!

We both got the chicken kebab as our entree, which was juicy and flavorful.  I opted for the steamed veggies instead of the rice and I'm glad I did; they were a tasty accompaniment to the chicken.

For dessert Antoine got the baklava, which I stole a bite of, and my goodness it was heavenly!  I tried the Turkish coffee since we were going to the 10pm showing of Great Gatsby and it was a weeknight.  I had never had before.  Wow!  It was intense. 

It totally did the trick and I made it through the movie without passing out.  But boy, oh boy, I don't now if I could handle that again.  It was like drinking coffee-mud.  But the demitasse it came in was exquisite. 

Overall, Cafe Mediterranean is a great spot with good food and a super friendly staff.  I'd recommend it to anyone for a nice little date night out!

Taste of Belgium Bistro: A Brunch Review

If you live in Cincinnati and have been to Findlay Market then you've had, at the very least, a sample of Taste of Belgium's delicious Liège style waffles.  And if you've had one then you know how awesome they are, especially compared to most of the run-of-the-mill "Belgium" waffles you find at most brunch spots.  If you're me, then you're lucky enough to have a partner who once he tries something tasty and gets it in his head that he wants to try making it at home (which happens all the time), then he spends hours researching online for the best recipe and techniques for that certain dish.  Yep, that's Antoine!  Well, when Antoine and I first tried a Liège waffle from Taste of Belgium years ago (from their Findlay booth) Antoine immediately set out to find the perfect recipe, which, as we found out, must start with pearl sugar.  Lucky for us, there's this little place called Jungle Jim's that usually have everything you could possibly need when it comes to unique ingredients.  After a test-run or two, Antoine was making Liège waffles like a pro...a very very dangerous thing.  As you may or may not know, Liège waffles are dangerously good.  Unlike their "Belgium" counterpart Liège waffles are dense and buttery with bits of pearl sugar throughout that caramelize from the heat of the waffle iron.  It's heaven!

Yet, as much as I love these little pieces of heaven, I still hadn't made it to their bistro on Vine St (which opened up at the end of 2011).  So, when my mom was in this weekend and we rattled off a bunch of different brunch options for Sunday I was really happy when she said, "waffles sound good!"  Like most trendy places that are popping up in OTR, I expected Taste of Belgium's Bistro to be busy and possibly a little uppity.  Sadly, it was a little more uppity than I think I can take...especially when I can have tasty Liège waffles at home (or even at Findlay) without enduring attitude and feelings of inadequacy.

We walked in a little after 9:30am (they open at 9am on Sundays), so there was a little bit of a wait, but not too bad.  When my sister went up to the hostess to give her our name the hostess, without looking at Michelle, said "I'll be with you in a minute".  Several minutes went by, two other parties came in and stepped up to the hostess station, and when the hostess was ready, what did she do?  She's looked right past my sister (who was standing right in front of her), and asked the next person how many in their group.  Steam immediately started coming out of my ears!  My sister let it roll off her back and politely said she was next and got Miss Attitude's attention.  And this is why I let my sister handle these things, because I would have gritted my teeth and "I was fucking next! Thank you very much!" and felt an intense urge to punch her!  *(FYI, I wouldn't actually punch someone for that, but I would definitely want to)

Anyway, we were shortly seated and, thankfully, our server was nice and waited on us right away.

I got a latte, which was good.  Not the most amazing latte ever, but it did the trick.

My sis got a chai latte, which was pretty tasty.

Silly sister, making faces for the camera.

There, that's better!

Michelle and Antoine both got the waffle n' chicken ($10).  It had really good flavor, but Antoine and I both agreed that it was a bit of a disappointment that the chicken wasn't the usual fried chicken you get with chicken and waffles, instead it was more like a chicken cutlet that you'd get with Chicken Parmesan.  Still the sweetness of the waffle and slight spiciness of the hot sauce made a good combo.

Mom got the waffle with fruit and cream ($5).

I got the waffle with banana and nutella ($5).  

I don't know, call me crazy or call me a cheapskate...but I don't know if I'm willing to spend $5 on a waffle that's barely 4 inches in diameter with some nutella and half a banana on it.  Especially when some of the servers and staff give off this vibe that they think they're the shit and you're not good enough to be there.  And when Antoine can make a waffle just as good, at a fraction of the cost, and I can stay in my pajamas while I eat it.  Not too mention that the wait can be long; there was a long line of people waiting when we left.  And seating is pretty cramped!  My sister was butted up against a pipe that was protruding about 10 inches from the wall and our table was so close to a high-top table that Antoine and the lady behind him (at the high-top) had to coordinate with each other any time one of them wanted to get up or sit down.

While the food was tasty, overall the vibe of the place left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  I'm not sure if I'll be eager to return, when places like Senate and A Tavola are so close and feel a little bit more inviting, albeit just as busy.  And as far as brunch spots in OTR go, I will continue to choose Mayberry's over ToB Bistro anyday!  Mayberry is anything but snooty and they're portions are very generous.  Plus their food is killer!   And as far as Liège waffles go, I'll leave it up to the Findlay Market storefront, because they're always friendly and inviting, or Antoine, because he won't charge me and he's cute!

Have you been to Taste of Belgium's Bistro?  What did you think?  Have you ever tried a  Liège waffle before?  Isn't it buttery/sugary magic?!

*Author's Note: Shortly after posting this, Taste of Belgium contacted me via twitter to apologize and track whoever it was that was mean to us and slap them.  Awesome!  Thanks for the personal attention Taste of Belgium, you definitely haven't lost me as a customer...your product is just too tasty!