“Don’t stand over there,” photographer Ed Gudenas advised in his Nikeys at the onset of the shoot. “There’s water everywhere!”
Waves from Lake Erie were splashing up onto the deck of the Miller Boatline Ferry headed for the mainland soaking every car and truck aboard as well the stainless steel deck we were standing on.
“They are designed in the UK kind of with the equestrian in mind. They’re really built to last. They’re super tough. They’re waterproof. I have a pair myself that are seven-years old, and they’re still waterproof. I wear them all of the time,” offered Anne-Marie Burlingame about this designer fall and winter footwear brand.
The terrain on the islands and mainland aren’t always dry this time of year. Canvas shoes aren’t conducive to the conditions. Spasmodic weather can create a cramp in style. Coastal Ohio’s on-again-off-again weather, paired with ferry rides to our remote Lake Erie Islands, leaves us ladies hurting for all-weather gear. Gear that protects our feet and the glamour in us.
These Premium Joules Wellies’ claim to fame is that they’re right as rain and can outwit the weather. In 2015 I sensibly skimped on the cost and picked up a name brand pair at an outlet which only lasted two months before tearing.
Burlingame knows the game and offered her insight, “a lot of people make the mistake of getting the cheaper boot which doesn’t have the support for their feet then their back starts to hurt, or like your boots they fall apart and they tear and then you have wet, soggy feet which nobody wants.”
So, I flung my money into the Evedon Premium Wellie fashion from the United Kingdom, ($165.95) and considered this an investment into the tire-inspired outsole for effective water dispersal and grip. The bow on the back and enamel plaque on the front adds just the right extravagance for Ohio’s bespattered spots.
Josie in a former tv anchorwoman, expanded a newspaper into Key West, opened the nation’s southernmost newsroom, and completed her digital media training with CBS Cleveland.
I always saw the caramel apples for sale at the local grocer and from non-profit organizations covered in candied confections. The sugar and various nuts which had been applied perfectly to the apple. I wondered how did the creators apply the coating?
What did they use? Was this modus operandi as all-consuming as cutting out holiday sugar cookies?
There isn’t any way of knowing without setting out to make the seasonal staple.
The primary course of action is to pick out the apples. Did you know there are over 1,800 varieties according to Orange Pippin? Including this last one on the list, Zuccalmaglio’s Reinette Apple which is described as flavored with tones of wild strawberry, quince, pineapple, ripe pear and a pine floral touch.
I am a simple island woman and went with organic Red Delicious and a couple of Galas which are the most commonly grown and eaten due to their sweet deliciousness from the produce section at the grocery store.
I grabbed the Concord Foods Original Caramel Apple Wrap, a cranberry burst trail mix and a package of sixty-two percent cacao dark baking chips. Plus, a package of walnut chunks.
I also picked up a package of finely chopped, unsalted peanuts. Invest in colorful ingredients which will delight you and your crowd.
At home I removed the cashews from the trail mix leaving just the dried cranberries and almonds and added the walnuts and dark cacao bits. I chopped all of this up finely on a cutting board.Wash and dry the apples. Take a sheet of the caramel and fold over the apple while the oven preheats to two-hundred degrees. Place the white apple sheets on a baking sheet and then stick a wooden stick in the center of each apple and place on top of the paper-covered sheet. Bake for five minutes.
I removed the apples individually from the oven to work with so I could keep the caramel soft. Then, with some pressure, stuck the homemade trail mix onto the apple. This took some time and the mix does keep falling off during the process. I alternated from the cranberry-cacao mix to plain peanuts and left a few plain caramel.
I placed the candy-coated apples back in the oven for ten minutes. The textured mixtures created an edible arrangement so eye-popping that for Fall 2017 someone might just find me out in an Ohio apple orchard.
Here’s a list of where to go east of the Lake Erie Islands, and these are the orchards located west. These Ohio orchards are all located just off of the Coastal Ohio Trail.
Josie is an award-winning journalist. Her first job out of college included a TV Show “Cooking with Chef Rocco and the Inn at Eaglesticks”
The Fall Fashion item is the new Sperry Saltwater Duck Boot showcasing vintage style. A pair of poorly constructed shoes will derail owners trying to take on the Lake Erie and the Ohio coastline elements.
“With our weather, where this week alone the mercury goes from 80 degrees down to 54 degrees so you kind of don’t know what you’re going to get into. Its nice to have a good pair of boots on your side,” advises Anne-Marie Burlingame a sales associate at Newport Clothing and Gear in the West Marine shopping plaza on Catawba Island.
Fall style on the Coastal Ohio Trail and Lake Erie Island System, whether for a man, or a woman, calls for Sperry. Keeping those tootsies toasty isn’t high-living but a sine qua non.
Burlingame emphasizes. “That’s the fun thing about Newport is we bring the beauty to the necessity. You don’t have to have clunky, ugly rubber boots, you can have pretty ones and (this is) where the wellies come in and the Sperrys.”
The $120 price tag is worth every penny for two reasons; shoppers are buying from a thirty-year old locally-owned, family store, and these kicks can take on Ohio’s North Coast elements.
Josie is an award-winning journalist, former TV Anchorwoman, Mutli-Media Specialist and mom to Bosco Ohio’s Lab Pup.
I’m starting to break down the 33-acre energy field nestled on 500-acres of family farm on Route 51 on the Coastal Ohio Trail.
This location popped up on my iPhone6 screen with two taps of the MindBody app. I entered “Explore”, “Fitness”, then “Yoga”. The screen led me to Prajna Consciousness and after two attempts to locate the property on the west side outskirts of Genoa, Ohio, I knew there was a story.
The studio sits against vast fields.
A trip down the unpaved driveway leads visitors and yogis to their journey before they can put the car in park and turn the ignition off.
How fitting to work on this piece on June 21, 2016 International Yoga Day 2016.
Before we delve into the deep discussion of consciousness, energy fields, the students and the owner, Heather Zeller, I feel a lesson in the lingo of the land of yoga, Sanskrit, associated with the country of India dating back 6,000 years, is an absolute necessity.
Explains Zeller, “Sanskrit is the oldest language on the planet and is also based off of mathematics and vibration. The sounds are not necessarily based on phonics. There is an energetic principal that lies in Sanskrit.”
Plus, one of the students I will profile is a former U.S. Marine
I felt her terminology, too, is necessary to expand on.
Prajna Consciousness Dictionary
Bhagavad Gita: a 700-verse Hindu scripture that presents the synthesis of the concept of Dharma. Ancient Indian text written between 400 and 200 BC as a guide to spiritual realization
Bindi: a red ornamental dot worn or tattooed in the center of a woman’s forehead between her eyebrows, most commonly in India, and is of vast importance reminding the self and others focus is on the spiritual journey versus the material connecting to the third-eye center
Dharma: law or doctrine of Buddhism that believes we are all subject to the principle of cosmic order
Divisa: Lord, God
Epigentics: belief we can change our genetic (DNA) programming based on our environment and energies we are attracting and projecting rather than being subject to creation programming via our conception
Equanimity: mental calmness and composure in a difficult, stressful, and or trying situation
Grunt: U.S. Marine Corp slang for Ground Unit
Jehovah Nissi: translation: the Lord is my banner
Jyotisha: the Hindu system of astrology to track and predict energetic movements with astrology
Karma: destiny or fate due to personal behavior and actions
Krishna: Lord God in the Bhagavad Gita, the embodiment of love and divine joy, born to establish the Religion of Love
Lakshmi: the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity and fortune, an active energy source and wife of Lord Vishnu
Mala Tulsi: equal to the Rosary beads of India, these wooden beaded necklaces are made with sacred wood of the Hindu religion and worn by yogis and yoginis for protection and to worship Vishnu, Krishna and Ram
Metaphysical Counseling: guidance from a higher source of power to guide us through life
Om: the sound of creation, known as the first sound in Sanskrit, belief we are aligning with and connecting with the highest part of our consciousness
Parris Island: site of Marine Corps boot camp training since 1915 located within Port Royal, South Carolina
POG Life: U.S. Marine Corps terminology meaning Person Other than Grunt
Reiki: a healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient’s body and restore physical and emotional well-being
Raga: personal impurity or fundamental of character
Rose of Sharon: first appears in English in 1611 in the King James Version of the Bible in Solomon Chapter 1 Verse 2 speaker says, “I am the Rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley”
Sarcophagus: from the Greek language defined as flesh-eating or outer layer of protection such as a coffin or decorated body art containing representations of the deceased
Shanti: Sankrit for peace
Song of Solomon: celebration of sexual love, two lovers praising and yearning for each other
Tuefel Hunden: motivational nickname in the U.s Marine Corps translated to Devil Dog
22 Foundation: Non-profit organization and suicide-prevention program designed for military and former military members and their families coping with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Military Sexual Trauma, and Combat Stress Reduction
Josie is a former TV anchorwoman and award-winning journalist. She has USF course credit in Religions of India, studied Catholicism on the island of Islamorada and spent two years studying theology through Cleveland’s St. John’s Cathedral
Coming up on this International Yoga Day
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” – Nikola Te …
Condo 106 at St. Hazards Resort on Middle Bass Island is a sweet spot for a weekend getaway. Or, stay for the entire week. Travelers will be basking by the pool with a homemade lemonade or ice tea in their hand after realizing the glory of the godsend that these accommodations are on an island extremely difficult to access.
Booking a place to stay on the Lake Erie Islands isn’t exactly as easy as calling the Kimberly Hotel in New York City with dates and arrival times. The islands nestled between Ohio’s coastline and Canada are only open from May through September and then again for ice fishing season. Finding, calling and making that connection for a legitimate booking is a lot of work.
Here’s a look at Room 106 and the view in the Saint Hazards Resort lakeside condominiums.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Condo 107 is a two-bedroom and has bunk beds for travelers planning to bring children.
To reach this 800 acre island catch the Miller Ferry at Catawba Point. Reservations are required to bring a car, or truck. The number to call to book this room or one similar in style is 419-285-6121.
A ferry service runs every half hour from MBI (Middle Bass Island) and Put-In-Bay from 9 am until one in the morning (1 am).
Josie is a former TV anchorwoman and award-winning journalist. She grew up on Coastal Ohio and continues to explore all of the nooks and crannies which make the region spectacular.
Let go of using the leafy greens for just a slight moment as a salad base.
Instead open up a can of garbanzo beans.
This recipe, a variation from allrecipes.com, can actually be eaten by one person as an entire meal, or just double the portions and serve alongside a main dish.
Garbanzo beans, or chickpeas, are a legume and the USDA recommends we consume at least three cups per week. They’re chock full of folate, manganese, protein and copper. Iron and magnesium intake also gain check marks from the flavorful chickpea. Two cups of garbanzo beans contain the daily recommended intake of fiber, creating a fullness effect.
Here is what you need.
1 Can of Garbanzo Beans
10 Cherry Tomatoes
1/4 Cup of Chopped Red Onion
1/2 – 1 ounce of Feta Cheese
1/2 Lemon
1 Diced Garlic Clove
Ground Pepper
Ground Sea Salt
Italian Dressing or Seasoning
Open the can of garbanzo beans, rinse, and place in a bowl. Cut the tomatoes in half, and add in the chopped onion, garlic and Feta cheese. Squeeze the juice from the lemon onto the ingredients. Either sprinkle with Italian seasoning and stir in Sunflower oil and sea salt until desired taste is reached or use about 1/8 cup of Italian dressing.
I used Corp Sunflower Oil and added taste with several shakes of Italian Seasoning from Tank’s Meats in Elmore Ohio.
Spanish explorers spread the taste of the buttery bean after Middle Eastern cultures began to cultivate them around 3,000 B.C. The benefits of the garbanzo bean are boundless and have proven to lower cholesterol.
If you prefer, add a cucumber then chill for 30 minutes to two hours before stirring and serving. When prep time doesn’t involve cooking the taste is simply stunning when summer is a couple days away.
Greek take on a nutty, buttery bean. Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad.
If you prefer to use dried Chickpeas. Pre-soak in three times of the amount of water. Boil for two minutes, remove from heat, cover, and allow to stand for four hours. This reduces the oligosaccharides, which is Greek for simple sugars, or carbohydrates, and also chances for gas or bloating after or during digestion. Dried chickpeas are a more natural and healthy option.
Whichever packaged bean you choose, either is the base to shake up a summer salad.
Josie is an award-winning journalist and former TV anchorwoman. She splits her time between the Florida Keys and Coastal Ohio.
The last time I was asked if I had any request from the grocery store my reply was, “Yes! Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder from the baking section.”
I’ve become smitten making anything and everything made sweet with that unsweetened staple. The powdery product is so potent with caffeine after consuming just half of a teaspoon in any fashion makes me feel as though I just threw back three shots of bucci and have the energy to walk a puppy, clean the house and write a fluffy dining feature about whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy an extra kick if you chase one of these magic Mounds Candy Bar-like concoctions with the Cuban espresso.
Mounds, made by Hershey’s for nearly one-century, consists of a “filling” made with shredded coconut enrobed in dark chocolate. The package contains about 260 calories, 30 grams of carbohydrates and 10 milligrams of caffeine plus 24 grams of sugar. The processed sugar will undoubtedly give any overzealous eater enough power to swim like Diana Nyad through a pool of jellyfish and sharks before collapsing in a sugar coma on the nearest beach.
(You can read more about this determined woman here in my 2013 interview where she was pulled from the ocean while swimming the Florida Straights).
Back to the task at hand. Grab your favorite mixing bowl and first stir these ingredients together and microwave for 45 seconds.
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
2 T of Dark Cocoa Powder
2 T of Water
3 T of Coconut Oil
The mixture will bubble. Once this happens stir in these ingredients next.
1 Cup of Rolled Oats
1/2 Cup of Shredded Coconut
Pinch of Salt
1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla
1/3 Cup of Peanut Butter
For the 1/3 C of Peanut Butter I used creamy for half of the third and filled the rest of the measuring cup up with this PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter. Made with peanuts, salt and sugar this product is so easy to use, especially in smoothies, and has 85 percent less fat.
Drop onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper in one-inch balls and sprinkle with more shredded coconut flakes. I used Bob’s Red Mill Unsweetened Shredded Coconut. The entire process takes about twelve minutes.
The batch makes 20 cookies.
Just as Mounds was marketed in the 1970s as “Indescribably Delicious” these 2016 Cocoa Coconut No Bake drop cookies; an adaptation of the Minimalist Baker’s version, which contain almond milk instead of water, are made mainly with old-fashioned rolled oats. This batch in particular is laced with a powdered peanut butter to make them, once again, indescribably delicious.
For the next round I’m adding an ingredient to turn this healthy, heavenly treat into Almond Joy.
Josie is an award-winning journalist and former TV anchorwoman. Lately her luxe lifestyle consists of caring for a Labrador Puppy in Coastal Ohio and adding healthy twists to long-time favorites in the kitchen.
I remember the first time the smell of Betty Crocker’s Bisquick Original Pancake and Breakfast Mix wafted through the house. All of the females representing my Kindergarten class from Shupe Elementary in the uncharted Coastal Ohio town of Amherst (now population 25,000) had stayed the night to celebrate my sixth birthday.
The evening was an out-of-control blow-out on Elyria Avenue. One might reflect this evening was a precursor of what was to come.
Over one dozen young ladies showed up, sleeping bags in tow, with Holly Hobby, Strawberry Shortcake, ET, or the Care Bears beaming on top of the zippered stuffing. They were also toting gifts. One of which happened to be a Barbie Doll wearing a striking fuchsia one-piece to accentuate her over balanced body.
The calendar read the “early 80s” and life was grand.
We spent the evening jumping on the bed and feeding the family dog popcorn made in the Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper. One of my classmates peed her pants in the excitement of the evening and we never crawled into the sleeping bags and closed our eyes.
When the sun arose to alert us blurry-eyed young ladies we had survived our first sleep-over together with my stay-at-home mom, (who had just reached the ripe age of twenty-seven) she made all of us initial pancakes on a stand-alone electric griddle. I wouldn’t take the time to use a fork, add butter, or pour maple syrup on top. I just grabbed the “J” and the “K” like a cookie and ate the fluff full of oil, egg and butter.
To this day, I’ve never ordered a stack of pancakes. The thought of sticking my fork into a pile of “goo” with sugar poured on top makes my stomach churn. My palate prefers egg white omelets made with fresh vegetables and eggs that aren’t from an actual animal.
With a side of fruit!
But, something this past week, maybe its from following Amy Weinstock’s new blog, “Earth To Amy” where I’ve seen all of the “goo” can be replaced with alternatives.
Maybe its because for the first time since age eleven I’m living again by my South Eastern European family and I feel as though I’m not alive if I’m not eating a pastry for two of my three main meals of the day.
This week I revisited that box of Bisquick in the back of the cupboard. I opened the box and made a couple of quick alterations.
1 C of mix
2/3 C of coconut milk
2 T of coconut oil
2 “eggs” = 2 T corn starch mixed with 6 T of hot water
Mix those ingredients together and heat more coconut oil on a hot griddle. Pour the batter and soon the sweet smells of Betty Crocker Pancakes without egg, milk, or vegetable oil will be transported through the kitchen.
Perhaps, transporting one to another time. Pick a topping such as Wholesome! Organic Pancake Syrup, sprinkle fresh fruit on top, and you have yourself a pancake party.
“Me and A.J., my husband, and I went to the actual Derby in 2009 and that got me hooked with the fashion and everything. I already loved horses. We started having Derby parties at the house and then I saw the events at Kelley’s Island and we started coming here and renting a house for the weekend,” Cheri Camp Potter explains her elation over the Run for the Roses.
The Oak Harbor native boarded the Kelley’s Island Ferry Thursday night and is already ready to plunk down her paycheck on the long shot, Oscar Nominated, the horse who has a fifty to one odds in winning.
“A.J. is putting his money on Mo Tom,” Potter offers more on where the bets will be made and on the couple’s Derby party plans. “It’s fun. It’s so nice over here. We’re only an hour from home, but it doesn’t feel like we’re in Ohio. We hang out and go to different bars and restaurants. They’re having Derby hat contests.”
Mary Whittman, office manager with the Kelley’s Chamber of Commerce supplies, “The people come in their fancy hats and all the restaurants enjoy having people come in and watch the Derby. It’s always a fun day. The boats are running their early May schedule. Now that we have sun in the skies people are eager to get out here.”
Back in the Glass City Shelley Crossley, Community and Public Relations Manager for the Hollywood Casino, relays that as far as the race goes the televisions will be on in the Scene restaurant. But, bets aren’t allowed.
“You can’t book here,” Crossley confirms. “In this area the Sylvania County Club does a huge party. It’s a big deal.”
2015 Attendees, Picture Courtesy: Sylvania Country Club
“It is one of the best attended and most fun parties they have been doing for years,” solidifies Carrie Serber the Marketing Director of the Sylvania Country Club.
Over 200 attendees are expected in bowties, seersucker, hats and all-out Kentucky style the region (separated from Ohio only by the Ohio River) is known for. The party starts at 5 pm Saturday, May 7 with an appetizer station featuring fresh fruit, cheese wheels, and blue grass watermelon and feta salad. Collectible Derby glasses are ordered from Churchill Downs. They’ll be filled to the brim with Mint Juleps containing mint grown on site at the club. Attendees expected are restaurateurs George and Michelle Mancy and Promedica executives.
April Cousino, Assistant Manager, attests the success of the event has been no “Exaggerator” since its inception.
“We have a hat contest. Dining certificates will be given away and two tickets to our wine club event. This is a very traditional party with very large hats,” Cousino confides.
After the dust settles, the main grazing station opens featuring bourbon marinated beef tenderloin. Velvet Jones plays from 6:30 – 10:30 pm.
Featured dessert is a Maple Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie Photo Courtesy: Sylvania Country Club
East of Kelley’s Island, hats will be donned and bourbon poured on the porch at Cleveland’s SoHo Kitchen and Bar on West 25th Street beginning at 4 pm. Chef and Owner, Nolan Konkoski is the “Creator” of this reception designed around the racehorse.
“We host a classic Derby party in every sense of the word. We do complimentary appetizers until the race and have an a la carte menu people can order from. The appetizers are all Derby inspired. Pimento cheese on crackers, deviled eggs, Benedictine sandwiches and mini Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie Pies,” Konkoski clues us in on what will be coming out of his kitchen.
SoHo is a Southern bourbon bar stocking over one hundred different bourbons to be sipped. Bullit is one of the most commonly ordered to wet one’s whistle. To brush up on the other labels: Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Eagle Rare, and Colonel E.H. Taylor are all ordered at SoHo by the distinguished drinker. At this Derby soiree four different Mint Julep recipes have been concocted: classic, peach, ginger and strawberry rhubarb.
“We went through seven hundred Mint Juleps last year. There’s no cover charge. We do a best-dressed where the staff votes and then we give away prizes, Konkoski concludes. “We are usually packed full inside and out. This party gets bigger and bigger every year. We’ll have a tent up and are expecting probably between two hundred to three hundred people. We put TVs inside and out and turn the audio on when the race begins.”
From Mo Tom, to Oscar Nominated, Shagaf, and Cherry Wine; no matter which horse is chosen to win the affection of the hard-earned cash, Potter declares all this hoopla is really all about the hat.
Cheri Camp Potter’s authentic Kentucky Derby purple hat is inspired by Prince.
“My uncle got me a very expensive Derby hat. This is the real deal. It’s purple for Prince and my outfit is cute tailored beige shorts and a top which will really set off the focal point – the hat!”
The 2016 Kentucky Derby Run for the Roses will be broadcast live on NBC starting at 5 pm Eastern.
Josie is an award-winning journalist and former TV anchorwoman. She grew up on Coastal Ohio and knows many of the nooks and crannies which make the region so spectacular.
North Coast: No Sharks provides a conversation piece in the kitchen. When the space is blank and boring add style to the home in 2016 with this Great Lakes blue print of the glacial water system responsible for dramatic climate. Covering the 216 and 305 area codes, this piece is a first edition created in downtown Cleveland and captures the energy of the area. Designed in ball point pen ink. For the luxury home — with a twist.
North Coast: No Sharks Josie, Style for the Home JK PR Sales & Design 216 305Josie is an award-winning journalist and former TV anchorwoman. She grew up on Coastal Ohio and knows many of the nooks and crannies which make the region so spectacular. Fitness and Design are her passions.
Newport Dry Goods on Catawba Island is where shoppers seeking style can find Joules, a premium wellie boot made for those who ride.
You must be logged in to post a comment.