Saturday morning was the annual Walk Now for Autism Speaks. One of my cousins has autism, so Autism Speaks has long been an organization that I’ve supported. Our team, Westside PAWS, raised $2,105 this year!
Westside PAWS
Walk Now
End of Our Walk
After the walk is over, the classic rides at Coney Island are opened for a couple of hours of free riding. Trey took full advantage of this and rode nearly all the kiddie rides.
Boats & Trains
Racing Rockets
Turtle Parade
Smale Riverfront Park
This past Friday was the grand opening of the John G. & Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park. For months I have followed the progress of this new park through the Cincinnati Parks YouTube channel and it was very exciting to see all the aspects of phase 1 of construction completed.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony took place on the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Event Lawn & Stage with a handful of local bands providing entertainment throughout the night. The neighboring Moerlein Lager House had the “Moer to Go” window open for beer orders as well as a few tents setup selling BBQ and sausages.
The Walnut Street Fountains & Steps
The most impressive feature of the park (besides the lager house) is probably the Walnut Street Fountains & Steps. The fountains and cascades are so wide and large that it is hard to get a picture of the entire structure, but I will have to remember to do that in the future when all the lights are on.
Main Street Fountain
Though wading in the Walnut Street Fountains is prohibited, the nearby Main Street Fountain is a fully interactive fountain for children of all ages. The array of colors that are used to light up the water is simply impressive.
Labyrinth through the Tree Grove
Other features of phase 1 at the park include the Labyrinth, Tree Grove, and Black Brigade Monument. It is really something to see. I hope that they continue to hold events on the lawn so that more people will come down and enjoy the new park. I can’t wait to see additional phases of the park come to life.
Last night I headed downtown to see Kim’s graduation from the YWCA’s Rising Star program. From their website:
YWCA Rising Stars are a dynamic group of younger professional women nominated by members of the YWCA Academy of Career Women of Achievement to participate in a program designed to provide unique networking, mentoring, and educational opportunities.
The YWCA Rising Star program was created by the members of the YWCA Academy of Career Women of Achievement in 2002. One of the goals of the Academy is to “lift as we climb” – to support younger women in pursuit of excellence in their careers. In 2002, the Academy introduced the Rising Star program as a vehicle to recognize and support younger career women who will become our city’s future leaders. By giving the Rising Stars the opportunity to interact and network with career women of diverse backgrounds, this program provides these younger leaders with the opportunity to address topics that will enhance their ability to further their career success.
The room was full of many very powerful young women. Being one of only a handful of men in the room, it was a little intimidating actually. However I was happy to be there to show my support for Kim and congratulate the rest of these women. A few members of MUSE Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir were on hand to sing a touching rendition of “True Colors.” It was an inspiring evening.
Finding new recipes is really easy with the internet, but I still like sharing some of the really good ones that I find. My latest finds are a spicy roasted broccolini quinoa salad and cowboy mashed potatoes. The broccolini quinoa salad was sent to me by my friend Aaron after he read my last entry on broccolini. After preparing his recipes (full directions at the bottom of the post) I have to admit that his is much better than my last attempt. I especially like that goat cheese addition to the quinoa.
I discovered the recipe for cowboy mashed potatoes after realizing that I had some unused red potatoes along with some Yukon gold too. This recipe combines both potato varieties with some other vegetables to make a rather unique dish. I wouldn’t say that I liked them better than the garlic mashed potatoes that I usually prepare, but they were still good.
Dinner Plate
Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 30 mins | Servings: 1 serving | Difficulty: Easy
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Cut the broccolini into bite-sized pieces, about 1 1/2 inches.
3. Place broccolini on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Squeeze the lemon over the raw broccolini and season with salt, pepper and the red pepper flakes. Toss to make sure each piece is coated.
4. Roast for 15 to 18 minutes in the pre-heated oven, until stalks are tender and the heads of the broccolini are just lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.
5. In a medium-sized pot, combine the quinoa and vegetable stock. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let the quinoa cook until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
6. Once the quinoa is fully cooked, fluff with a fork, and toss in the roasted broccolini, crumbled goat cheese and cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
This past Saturday night was a date night for my wife and I. We had a party to attend later in the evening, so we took advantage of my in-laws watching our son and headed out to dinner, just the two of us. Originally I had wanted to try something downtown that I wouldn’t want to drag our son to, but with a Reds game that night most of the places I had in mind were quickly filling up. Instead we headed over the river to Covington to see what we could find.
Outside Chez Nora
Once we hit the historic MainStrasse Village with all the outdoor dining we parked the car and wandered over to Chez Nora. An employee inside the restaurant told us we were welcome to select our own table outside, so we sat at a table right on Main Street where we could hear the music that was being played on the plaza across the street. Our server arrived before long and took our drink order. Despite not being very knowledgeable about their beer selections, he was very familiar with the food menu.
Bread Basket
After placing our orders, a basket of fresh and warm bread was dropped off. We were told that it did have pistachios in it, which was great for us, but also would probably be beneficial to anyone with a food allergy. The bread was great, and our server offered to get us a second basket, but we were trying to save room for our meals.
Dinner Salad
My entrée included a side and I chose the dinner salad, which did not cost extra. It’s always frustrating when a restaurant tries to charge extra for a side salad instead of another side dish. The mix of greens was fresh, but otherwise the salad was very standard.
Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya
For dinner I chose the chicken and sausage jambalaya ($13 with a side). It arrived before I could even finish eating my salad and was very hot! The amount of meat in the dish was excellent, as it appeared nearly an entire Andouille sausage was included in addition to a whole chicken breast. The portion was large and the chicken was very tender. Unfortunately I could have used a little more spice. A bottle of Tabasco was provided, but I would have preferred to have the heat already packed inside. With that said the flavor combination was good and I ate nearly the entire dish.
Crab Cake Appetizer
My wife went with the signature crab cake appetizer ($14) – a delicious blend of jumbo lump and claw crab meat, served with their rémoulade sauce. I don’t eat much seafood so I did not have a bite of her dish but she made several remarks to just how good the crab cakes were. The crab cake dinner is also available for $21 and includes two sides. I’m not sure if the dinner is two or more crab cakes, but my guess is two.
Overall we had a great dining experience at Chez Nora. The food was good to great, service was quick and friendly, and the outdoor tables in the neighborhood are hard to beat.
The Little Miami Trail is the longest paved trail in the US at 78 miles long. I’ve spent years on the sections of the trail around my childhood home of Loveland and have often wondered about any historical significance of the old railway that the trail now covers. I’ve also recently spent some time around the current endpoint of the trail in Newtown, which is the closest point to my current house.
Earlier today my dad forwarded a link to the Little Miami Scenic Trail Guide. I’ve read through most of it and have found the historical entries to be pretty fascinating. I pass by the Peters Cartridge Company on days when I head into the office and it was great to read all about the history of the company and the abandonment of the old factory. Other cool stories involve Morgan’s Raid and Camp Dennison.
It would be a good idea to take this guide on any future rides on the trail to get a better picture of the history surrounding it.
Outside Hyde Park Pizzeria
This past Friday evening my wife and I were in the mood for a walk with our 16 month old son. We decided to take a stroll down to East Hyde Park and to stop in at the Hyde Park Pizzeria on Erie Avenue. We get coupons for their pizza fairly regularly in the mail, but had never given it a try. I was originally thinking of getting a pizza to go, but they do have a few tables inside so we decided to dine in. There are no alcoholic beverages for sale, just bottled and canned drinks along with a water cooler.
Time To Draw
The woman at the counter was staying plenty busy taking down delivery orders, which seemed to happen at least once every few minutes. However after taking our order she did find the time to track down some dry erase markers and allowed our son to draw all over the menu wall while we waited for our food to be cooked. Our choice was a large Hawaiian with the standard pineapple and ham, along with extra sauce and extra cheese ($16.75).
Hawaiian Pizza
Our pizza arrived steaming hot from the kitchen fairly quickly. We had to let it cool down for several minutes as it must have been just pulled out of the oven. The appearance was great and there was plenty of pineapple, though it could have used a little more ham. The cheese and crust were well cooked. Unfortunately once I was able to taste the pizza I thought the sauce was really bland and dry. The toppings all tasted good, but I think the crust was again a little plain.
I really wanted to like this pizza but it was just okay, I would eat it again but only if I was already in the neighborhood. There are other places close to home that I would rather order from. However our service was wonderful! And the menu is really large (both in number of items offered and the amount of space it takes up on the inside wall) so I would likely try something like a hoagie or calzone on a future visit to see how it compares with the pizza.
It occurred to me last night while eating a paella dish prepared with both black and green olives that a year ago I wouldn’t have dreamt of eating such a thing. Up until recently I avoided olives like the plague. Though I still haven’t eaten them whole on their own (who does that?), they are no longer a must avoid ingredient.
It was at this time that I realized that pizza is a gateway food. If it weren’t for so many veggie topper pizzas I probably would have never tried olives. The same reasoning can be applied to my mushroom eating habits. Years ago I never touched them. Now I don’t mind eating a dish of sautéed mushrooms. And this all started as trying them on a pizza. I wonder what else pizza will trick me into trying next?
Mascot Race
This past weekend was the Flying Pig Marathon. Months ago Kim signed Trey up for the Flying Piglet Kid’s Fun Run which took place on Saturday. Since there was no real age category defined for his age, we bumped him up to run with the 2 and 3 year olds on the 25 yard course. The event was scheduled to start sometime around 1:15. Unfortunately Trey did not get a nap in before the start of his race. When it was time to run he quickly became overwhelmed and started to cry. The starting area was pretty chaotic for the kids event, so I just picked him and carried him to the finish where he was given a finishers medal.
Nick, Trey, and Camden
Prior to Trey’s race, Kim’s brother Nick also had a big event he was participating in, the Kids’ Marathon. Participants from schools around the area run 25 miles leading up to a big 1 mile run with all participants. So many kids take place in this event that they actually have to use a wave start system. From what I could gather it was a well put together and fun run for all the participants. Nick had a personal best by running the course in “two minutes.”
Race Finishers
Sunday was the full marathon as well as the half and relay. My dad ran the full marathon for the 14th time! Kim, Trey, and I met up with my mom early in the morning to watch him run through Hyde Park (just a block from our house!). We also saw some other runners that we knew as they sprinted through the square. From there we moved down to Linwood to see many of the same runners, including my dad. We were hoping to see my brother’s girlfriend finish her leg of the relay, but it turns out that their group was running slower than expected due to a missed turn prior in the relay.
Dad running through Lindwood
We ended up missing everyone at the finish line since we were in Linwood for so long. Fortunately we knew where to find my dad in the same spot that he has recently gone after finishing the race, where he meets up with his running group. At least one in the group re-qualified for Boston, which is always neat to hear. It is always so inspiring to watch so many people I know (and many I don’t) successfully finish a marathon. Maybe one day I’ll give one of the Sunday events a try.
I spent Sunday afternoon down at Williamstown Lake. Kim’s uncle Joe has a cabin on the shores of the lake that we visit frequently in the warmer months. The lake is only an hour from home, so we can easily cruise down for an afternoon. We don’t always get to take the pontoon boat out on the lake, but we did on this visit!
Kids In Charge
Trey wasn’t a fan of the life-jacket at first, but once Nick and Connor put theirs on he seemed to be a little more tolerant. We all packed together on the pontoon and headed off to a deeper cove for some swimming. The water near Joe’s is too shallow for swimming, in fact we later watched a speed boat get stuck in the mud just past his dock.
Swimming
The lake was a swirling mix of warm and cool waters. Most of us enjoyed floating around for an hour or so. Trey only lasted fifteen minutes or so before he wanted back in the boat. Hopefully as the water warms he will enjoy it more. Joe said this was the earliest he can remember swimming in the lake in the spring. Thanks to all the warm weather recently.
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