(Micro)Brewing Community in Columbus

Last Thursday, I had the fortunate opportunity to join Jim Ellison (a.k.a. CMH Gourmand, and Co-Owner and Tour Coordinator of Columbus Brew Adventures) and 13 others on a brewery tour in the microbrewing district of Grandview. Begun just this past September, van fulls of folks have participated in one or more of CBA's six public tours, including voyages to Granville and Athens. The Grandview tour took us to four different sites, where we tasted over a dozen local brews and especially learned through drink.

Oh là là là ! La Chatelaine of Dublin, OH

We stepped into a rather charming-looking restaurant, a tri-colored flag posted prominently on its façade. Inside, the temperature rose considerably from the crisp autumn winds; clearly the wintry weather was hitting central Ohio early this year. Around the interior were a series of menus, all of which indicated familiar names and harkened back to memories from trips past. My speech began to take on a dual persona as I transitioned into French mode, my ears quickly acclimating to the music playing on the speaker system (this must be a live, streaming radio station I recalled). The Dublin, OH, location of La Chatelaine instantly became a place of homey comfort.

Autumn Apples and Foodie Fun on the Farm

Last Sunday, the composite aroma from light dustings of cinnamon mingling with warm, buttery caramel and natural sugars from the interplay of cooked down Melrose, Rome, and Suncrisp apples filled my kitchen as I took out my first attempt at tarte tain out of the oven. A few weeks prior, in the midst of midterms, I joined some of my anthro friends at Lynd Fruit Farm (Pataskala, OH) to pick apples, get through a superhero-themed maize maze, and select a pumpkin for last Saturday's pumpkin carving party hosted by Erin and Tim. (Unfortunately, the original pumpkin I picked didn't make it to the party.) With about 12 pounds of apples, a few more than I knew what to do with, I settled on trying my hand at creating my own rendition of the aforementioned "accidental" [1,2] dessert for Bluescreek Farm Meat's ox roast and potluck on their Marysville farm.