Tag Archives: OTR

Let’s play the glad game!

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Anyone remember Pollyanna? There are so many great quotes from that movie, my favorite is “Death comes unexpectedly!” shouted by the Reverend Ford during one of the church services. I’ve been to a couple of those

Mama Grace

with the preacher shaking a fist and predicting damnation to everyone. Anyway…grab a cup of lambs broth and lets talk about some fun stuff. My last couple of postings were a bit heavy, so let’s do a glad post this week!

 

Last weekend was our yearly birthday celebration. I’ve never been a big fan of giving stuff but I love celebrating with an experience. For instance, when my dad passed I got some inheritance from the sale of his house. I decided to take my girls to Disney World. It was one of the best vacations we’ve ever  had. I guess I could have planted a tree or something in the garden as a memorial but the memories we created on that trip were priceless. We took a moment one night to drink a beer, toast Papa’s memory, and laugh about the irony of using the sale of his house to travel when the man had never been any more than 100 miles away from his home in his life.

My daughters are, thankfully, employed and doing fine financially. They don’t want for much and I would rather spend the weekend laughing and having a good time rather than buying something from the store that will wind up in a closet somewhere. Last year we went to the Elton John concert in Cincinnati for birthdays. This year, I proposed going to the Cheap Trick/Joan Jett/Heart concert at Riverbend then out for dinner. Instead of just Friday night, the celebration turned into a weekend of hi-jinx. The eldest elected to forgo concert attending this year (Boo!) so I’m still searching for something fun for us to do. But, the three younger daughters, two boyfriends, and I had a fabulous weekend.

I’m not going to bore everyone with a  recap of everything we did, but here are the highlights:

Friday: Grace Girls (plus Tracy K.) only. Great music but…Riverbend…please get some help with after the concert traffic flow. Had it not been for my mad driving skills, we’d still be waiting for the line of traffic to start moving out of the parking lot. Sometimes it’s good to drive a Beetle even if it looks like a clown car when the four of us debark.

Saturday: $10 coupons at Penny’s means half price mattress pads for new beds at my house. Thank you to my girls for getting up early and doorbusting with me. Next was a Ghostbusters matinee at the Florence Rave Cinemas. Fabulous, funny,empowering, and a must see. Boyfriends arrive, cocktail drinking ensues, Arnold’s Bar and Grill, not as fun as everyone has told me (too hot in the courtyard, too expensive, too difficult to find a parking lot with an open spot) but glad I can now say I’ve been to Arnold’s. On to Wunderbar, best dive bar in the Cincinnati area. If you’re ever within driving distance of Covington, KY you have to stop here. Fabulous food made in-house and cheap drinks. Lots of good, local beer on tap, and live music. Rumor has it that bar manager, Borden, has left for someplace else. I hope not…he knew my tastes in beer. Stacy S. joined us, so glad she drove in from way out where she lives to catch up on family gossip!

Sunday: Findlay Market, Black Forest Cherry birthday cake for desert and this picture sums up the weekend…

chair cropped

Dimitri and Jay in the giant chair

The best part was watching them crawl back out. This family of mine makes me laugh harder and smile more than anything else in the world.

 

Saturday Morning at Findlay

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What’s better than starting off a weekend with an early morning trip to Findlay Market? Ummm…nothing. I had a Friends of Findlay meeting at 9:00am, which means a stop at Blue Oven Bakery on my way in because I don’t want to take the chance they’ll be out of English muffins when the meeting is over. And, bonus score for the day, the butter croissant were on sale for $2.

The Friends of Findlay Market is a volunteer group that supports the market as well as the Findlay Corporation by serving as outreach ambassadors, tour leaders, event workers, and all-around good people sworn to “preserve, protect, and promote” Findlay. I have the good fortune to serve as the chair of the Education and Civic Committee and give historic tours on Saturday mornings. You should come as I am a most excellent story-teller and it’s free. I talk a bit about General James Findlay, whose estate donated the land where the market building has been standing since 1852. I also tell a couple of bawdy stories about the Northern Liberties and why Over the Rhine is called Over the Rhine. You’ll learn about long-time vendors like Eckerlin’s who now have the sixth generation of family members working behind the butcher counter and have been at Findlay since the beginning. Then there are the young upstarts like Taste of Belgium that got its start in 2007 making liege waffles with a single waffle iron in the back of Madison’s Market and now has 5 locations around Cincinnati and Columbus. I talk about what’s new, what’s changing, what’s staying the same, upcoming events, and why everyone should buy fresh, local, and in season. Know your farmer, know your food.

So, I walked two laps around the exterior of the market and one straight up the middle of the building and met some new friends. The first was Benjamin Ranly and Philip Ranly of Injoy Food Stand. They serve fresh, crisp, fabulous Indian inspired dishes you can scoop into your mouth as you walk along the south side of the market. I tried the Tikkasala (chicken, Basmati rice, and veg) without cilantro, thanks to Philip

Injoy Food Cart

Injoy Food Stand

for listening when I said I didn’t like it’s taste. At $6 per serving the price was right for the first round of Findlay lunch. The guys are gracious and talkative and make all their customers feel welcome. I liked their mini-kitchen set up, it reminded me of an upscale push-cart ready to bring on the Indian hand-held servings just about anywhere. I wonder if they’ve had time to think about a catering side to their business? It’d be great to have them at a backyard party or wedding reception. So much yum. I’m guessing they’ll be at Findlay all summer.Look for them on the south side on Essen Strasse near Race Street. Benjamin and Philip…leave me a comment and let us know where else you’ll be.

 

A little further down Essen Strasse, just past Pleasant Street, I met Isis and Chris at Arepa Place Latin Grill. Columbian food is new on the Cincinnati scene and thank goodness it’s here. They serve arepas which are thick, ground maize rounds, split like a pita and stuffed with meat, cheese, beans, and plantains then grilled to melty perfection.

Isis and Chris Arepas Place

Isis and Chris at Arepa Place Latin Grill

Everything here is scratch made, including a choice of sauces to pour over the top. They even have one sauce that is cilantro-free, yay! The servings are large enough to share if you want. Everyone working this booth had big smiles on their faces and I could feel the passion they have for the food they serve. Arepa Place is part of the new Findlay Kitchen where food entrepreneurs rent commercial kitchen space to roll out their product and will stay there until they are ready to go out on their own. They are open Friday – Sunday and their tent is across from Saigon Market.

 

I love the market as the rainy spring gives way to the sunny summer. The farm shed comes alive with more and more farmers every week bringing bedding plants, gorgeous fresh-cut flowers, and baskets of organic fruits and vegetables. Findlay is a colorful, thriving, living history anchor for Cincinnati and the OTR neighborhood. Come visit and get into the market vibe.

Join me friends…

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Family

My beautiful family

 

Way back in the old Diaryland days I had a personal diary and posted about once a week with stories about my life, my family, and the general mayhem surrounding the doings of raising four teenaged daughters. It was a decent hobby. I met some wonderful people and we still get together once or twice a year to practice nonsense. They changed my life in an amazing way and I will be eternally grateful for their friendship. I grew weary of the posting, and as my job became more complicated and demanding, decided the diary had to go. So, here I am nearly 15 years later, back at it with a new blog.

This time, I’m writing publicly to give evidence of learning for my graduate applications classes. I’m working toward a Master of Arts in History and Culture with a specialization in Urban Planning. I’m studying inner city gentrification issues and how public markets can help communities form an identity honoring both long-term residents and new incomers. In my first two semesters, I’ve built a foundation for my study by reading and writing about the history and cause of community transformation, how some residents have constructed a system of resilience to fight drastic change, and studying the many different types of gentrification and how they impact the populations trying to remain in their homes. Over the next 7 months I will dive deeper into urban planning issues by exploring subtopics surrounding gentrification. My plan is to visit public markets and interview market administration, vendors, shoppers, and neighborhood residents about the history of their market, their memories of the market as a center for social activity, and their vision of the future for the market and the neighborhood.

This blog will be a record of my adventures…I’m glad you’re joining me, welcome!