ohio – Fervent Foodie

The day I ate a dozen eggs.

June 12, 2018 1 Comment

Last month, I got the chance to hang out with some folks from the Ohio Poultry Association for two days chock full of eggcentric cooking and Ohio Eggs information sharing. I left with nearly 12 pages of scribbled notes about the ins and outs of the egg business in the U.S. (fascinating!) plus tips and tricks for cooking with eggs. I’m sharing some of my favorites below.

Egg Size.

Did you know the egg size printed on egg cartons (Large, Extra Large, Jumbo) is determined by the weight of the carton, not the individual egg? A dozen large eggs, for example, weighs 1.5 pounds. That’s why you sometimes see eggs of varying size in one carton! I had no idea.

Egg Grade.

Grade has to do with the age of the egg. In the U.S., Grade B eggs aren’t sold in the grocery stores, rather they are used for processed foods and pet food. Interesting fact: the older the egg, the runnier white.

Egg Labels.

Ohio is one of the top egg producing states in the U.S., but some of the eggs sold in our stores still come from other areas. Did you know every carton of eggs sold in the U.S. has a USDA plant code printed on box?

In the example above, P1008 tells you processing center, which you can look up on the USDA website. This carton came from Sunnyside Farms in North Manchester, Indiana. June 11 is the best by date. 134 is a Julian Date, which indicates that the carton was packed on May 13. In the U.S., eggs must be packed within 36 hours of being laid.

Travel

Weekend in Butler County: What to Eat!

November 1, 2017 3 Comments

Though I’m originally from Ohio, since moving to Columbus last year I find myself realizing I don’t know much about this state. Outside of the major cities, there are a surprising number of nooks and crannies to explore. This is great news because traveling locally is budget-friendly, and we all know how I feel about budgets. We knocked one cranny off the list a few weekends back when we ventured down to Butler County. It’s less than a two hour drive from Columbus, a bit outside of Cincinnati. Butler County includes several communities that are worth checking out, including West Chester, Hamilton, Oxford, and Liberty Township. A great way to get a lay of the land is to follow the Donut Trail, which features ten local donut shops (only one of which spells it “DOUGHNUT”). If you’re interested in hitting up the trail, you can download a trail passport here.

I like to eat my doughnuts for dessert, so we took a more savory breakfast route. Our first stop was Hyde’s. If you’re looking for a homey, locals-approved breakfast joint, this is your place. Established back in 1946, Hyde’s has the feel of both a diner and a cafeteria, complete with colorful booths and swarms of senior citizens. Hyde’s isn’t fancy, and they are proud of that fact. Their website boasts that most of their customers are regulars, many of whom eat at the restaurant once or twice each day.

The breakfast menu has all the basics covered: eggs, omelets, hotcakes, biscuits and gravy, and even freshly fried bologna. They also make cream pies in-house with flavors changing daily. Pie for breakfast is encouraged at Hyde’s. Overall, homey, comfort food at a great price gets my two thumbs up.

If you’re looking for something a little on the fancier side, you can’t go wrong with Northstar Cafe. Though we have a few Northstar Cafes in Columbus, I’d never had their breakfast! The Liberty Center location is beautiful, with a large bar, gorgeous open kitchen, and a sweeping wooden ceiling. Liberty Center is a a cross between a town center and an outdoor shopping area; this area of the county looks particularly modern and new.

The format at this Northstar is the same as the Columbus locations–guests order at the counter and dishes are brought to the table by servers. I was stoked to see Counter Culture coffee brewing (one of my favorites from NC)! For breakfast, I had the mushroom frittata, which has hearth baked roasted mushrooms, sweet onions, and loads of Gruyère plus crispy breakfast potatoes. I definitely recommend this dish.

Ohio, Travel

Hocking Hills: Winter Getaway + Comfort Food Cruise Giveaway

January 9, 2017 3 Comments

I don’t know about you guys, but once January rolls into town, I don’t want to do a dang freaking thing. It’s hard to find any sort of motivation; even getting out of bed is a struggle. I wake up, feeling half drunk, confused why it’s still dark even though I slept in.

Thankfully, I broke this January rut last weekend and headed down to Hocking Hills. Did you know winter hiking is a thing?

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Hocking Hills in the winter is stunning. Who knew snow could look so good?

Hocking Hills

The purpose of my trip was to learn all about Hocking’s fourth annual Comfort Food Cruise, a fun January-only foodie event focused on a whole lot of country cooking (more details PLUS A GIVEAWAY below!).

Ramblings

Weekend in the motherland.

September 19, 2011 18 Comments

Before I became a Charlottean, I was a long-term Northeast Ohian. I had a brief stint in Cleveland and a few years in Kent, but I’ve spent the bulk of my years to date split between two very different areas: the Portage Lakes and West Akron.

My dad lives in the Portage Lakes area, where they’ve got a burgeoning population of hillbillies, which he is oh-so-proudly apart of. My mom lives in West Akron, which has a hodge podge of artsy and eclectic mashed up against hoity toity types with big fancy houses I like to drool over.

I can’t believe it has been four months since my last visit home. The summer heat just melted the months away right before my eyes. The time flew but four months is really far too long to be away.

This past weekend, I FINALLY headed back to OH (i-o!!) to celebrate my pa’s 50th birthday!

Age. It’s so bittersweet. On one hand you become wiser and more mature. You’ve seen more, travelled more, and gotten to spend more time with the ones you love. But on the other hand, aging means you are one step closer to not being able to have and do these very things.

It’s no secret that I’m sort of a sap, but something about my dad turning 50 really struck a chord with me. It’s just crazy to think my dad is now 50… but at the same time it’s also crazy to think that my dad is ONLY 50. I’m quite lucky to have such young parents, and I sure as heck need to do a better job of spending time with them.

For dad’s big day we decided to cook up some half chickens. THIS is how we do things in our neck of the woods:

Serious backyard grilling:

Bart (my dad’s BFF) was the master of the grill.

Don’t act like you’re not impressed with this craftsmanship.

Toby (my dad’s other BFF) took her usual role of being the master of all things lazy:

Dad opening presents:

My sister Jenny, brother-in-law Jon, my nephew Dylan, and one of the three million balloons he popped:

Mmmmm cake….. Chocolate, of course Smile

Family Photo Op!

After hanging with the hillbillies all night, I headed back to my mom’s to hang out and share yet another slice of chocolate cake… and perhaps a slice of cherry cheesecake. Perhaps.

The next day I busted out a six mile run then ransacked mom’s cabinets in search of grub. I came up with this tasty combo for breakfast:

Oatmeal with some warmed up frozen berries. It’s that time of year again… bye bye overnight oats. Bring on the hot stuff!

After breakfast, I took a quick stroll through Highland Square..

I’ve always loved Highland Square, and honestly it’s hard not to. It’s basically the cultural mecca of Akron.

It’s also home to one of my all-time favorite coffee shops: Angel Falls!

Ahhhh.. I’ve sipped hundreds of coffees and nibbled on many a baked goodie in this green building. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their biscotti…. Sadly I didn’t have time to grab any this visit.

Down the road from Angel Falls are lots of random shops, bars, and restaurants including a Chipotle and Metro Burger across the street.

Later in the day, I had lunch with my friend Tim (newly engaged to Jaci at Engaged & Running), then headed to my dad’s to watch the Browns win their first game of the season!

HERE WE GO BROWNIES HERE WE GO!!!!!

And THEN I headed to Starbucks to meet up with some of my hometown gals: Allison, Kelsey, baby Ella, and Tracy!

After downing my first official pumpkin spice latte of the season (*heaven*), I headed home where mom cooked up some asparagus, risotto, and chicken she picked up from Earth Fare. This wasn’t ANY chicken. This was chicken stuffed with goat cheese, prosciutto, and arugula! So friggin good, and according to her it was only $7 for two large pieces! I’m gonna have to snag some of these when I get home. And next time I’m in OH, I need to make sure I get my Angel Falls Biscotti fix.. And lunch at Nate’s Deli in Cleveland. Luckily, I’ll be heading home in only 2 months (thanks to Turkey Day Smile ).

What were you guys up to this weekend?

Ramblings

Time to toot.

July 29, 2011 6 Comments

It’s that time. Toot time. As in, time to toot my own horn

Kelly, who blogs at Foodie Fresh, nominated me to participate in a fun game (of sorts) that’s sweeping the blogosphere. It’s called “My 7 Links” and the goal is to unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

THE RULES

1) Blogger is nominated to take part
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers
5) And so it goes on!
6) We’ll be sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on our blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links

My 7 Links

#1—> *My Beautiful Post * This IS a food blog after all

#2—> *My Most Popular Post* Overnight Oats For Dummies. So many people just do not understand the OO concept. Whenever someone asks me what I’m eating, I always preface it with “OK this is going to sound really gross but…”

#3—> *Most Controversial* I tried to recall a controversial post, and honest to god I could not think of one. This makes sense given my hatred for conflict. So, in lieu of inciting anger here’s this post that is SOMEWHAT controversial… at least my brother might think so –> Two Random Things

#4—> *Most Helpful* I love to reflect on this post when things get crazy at work, and it applies to ALL jobs, not just taxes: 10 Tips for Tax Season. Given that I’m rolling into fall busy season, this is an especially appropriate time to remember to bust our my daily happy dance. Shout out to all my old coworkers in Ohio

#5—> *Most Surprise Success* Maker’s Mark Bananas Foster Bread. Not sure why, but this get A LOT of googlage. Well that and “pizza porn,” which is now officially the third most common search that links people to my blog. Oh dear.

#6—> *Not Enough Attention* Words of wisdom from my mom. You can NEVER get enough of those. NEVER.

#7—> *Most Proud* Hello Cat, please exit the bag. The result of EVERYONE and their mother assuming I was moving to CLT for a boy. I don’t know why, but every time someone would make that insinuation I would literally go red with rage. From family, to coworkers, to a PARTNER at my old employer, it didn’t matter. RED RUM… RED RUM…………….

Lovely ladies I’ve nominated to participate: Leashie Loo from All Kinds of Hungry, Andrea from Can You Stay for Dinner, Jamie from Bibliophiled Away, Jaci from Engaged and Running, and Shanna from Shanna Like Banana!

Psssttttt by the way, the winner of the Veggies Chips Giveaway is:

~*~ Hope from With a Side of Hope ~*~

(Note that I removed Scott from the giveaway since he was the sponsor. It’s only fair he can’t win his own prize )

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