I feel as though I am at a luxurious spa every time I return home from Hot Yoga, step over the porcelain bathtub and turn the water on. The items taking up space next to the tiles are indulgent and work wonders for the senses. Here’s what I’m using now that the weather has turned and the calendar reads December.
The Keys Salt Scrub in Mango Coconut
I picked up a jar of salt scrub the last trip I made to the Keys to work. I jumped behind the counter and in front of the camera at the Midway Cafe. When I left there, I left with this jar so I would never be without the exfoliating benefits of Florida sea salt. This coffee shop located at Mile Marker 80 is also a gift shop. The item can be purchased almost anywhere down on those islands, or visit their site.
Gabriel Correctives Tea Tree Facial Shampoo
I picked up 4 ounces of a custom blend of Gabriel Correctives face shampoo my last visit to Westshore Skin & Health Center in Westlake, Ohio. The owner laced the formula with lemongrass and lavender essential oils. The items this establishment sells, located across from Crocker Park, are priced well within reason. Call 440-250-1535 to learn more, order, or make an appointment.
Peppermint Tingle Soap
My favorite Made in Ohio soap brand, Cashmere, came out with a peppermint version for the holidays. This Lebanon, Ohio based company is run by two sisters from Cincinnati who have a passion for suds. The soap comes wrapped in paper containing wildflower seeds to plant. I picked up a bar at a rural drug store. Order here for $5.99.
S Factor Serious Conditioner
Julia Jabour turned me on to this line back in 2010 when she opened Infinity Hair at 126 Simonton Street in Key West. One of the first sulfate free hair product lines to hit the market, this conditioner does serious stress relief to tired tresses without heat and is infused with sunflower seed oil and hydrolyzed silk. The added parfum and color make this product a gift I give myself all year.
Josie started her career as a news anchor in Ohio. Her first client for JK PR was to run a Key West newspaper.
Apples are oh so in. The calendar reads they are the seasonal fruit and to chop’em, slice’em, bake’em, cover in caramel and nut topping, or bask in the glory of the detoxifying elements and eat them plain or simply coat the slices in cinnamon.
Whatever you do, don’t serve them up with plain Jane peanut butter, the apples long time evident protein partner.
Here’s an equally as healthy of a dip to decorate the slices with for anyone who can’t go about their affairs without the crutch of chocolate and who wants the pleasure of all of that peanut butter protein.
Take a tablespoon of coconut oil and melt in a pan on the stovetop. Take a large spoon and add your favorite all natural creamy peanut butter. I didn’t measure because measuring peanut butter is as fun as … (insert a task you dread here). Stir, stir, stir and grab a regular sized spoon and add the unsweetened cocoa powder. I splashed in about a teaspoon of vanilla and I added a splash of this unrefined, vegan friendly, gluten free sweetener I snagged at the grocery store.
Hey Shuga! A Balanced Sweetener for a Balanced Life made from the sweetness of the sugarcane, the warmth of the Caribbean, and the passion of hard working people.
The sugarcane blasts the bitterness of Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa without having to add chocolate chips. I melted all of the ingredients together and then stirred in Bob’s Red Mill Old-Fashioned gluten-free, Kosher certified, vegan rolled oats (about 2/3 Cups) until the compactness of this chocolate concoction was consummated. If you opt out of oats unsweetened coconut flakes will create a neat consistency.
I served up one generous spoonful of the deceptive snack with the slices of half of an organic Fuji apple. You can adjust the amount depending on the horde of hungry individuals around.
Josie is an award-winning journalist and healthy eating enthusiast.
Thanksgiving is upon us. Which has many wondering and thinking about how to enjoy the season and all of the flavors that accompany the yearly family feast around the table without guilt, added weight, or overindulgence.
Simply cut out the calories before the day. Do this NOW while we’re still over one week away.
I realize the thought of being hungry or missing out on the mid-day munch fest of candy and carbs sends pains through most people’s bodies.
I detox. A lot. At least three times a year for six weeks straight. Coffee, chocolate, meats, and cheese are all cut out. Tossed to the curb.
Here’s the snack that transitions my body and cravings from starvation and survival mode to, “Hey world! I’m feeling spectacular!”
Take a large bowl and mix together the nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, rolled oats and lemon zest. The only work here is taking the seeds out of the Butternut Squash. But, I figured since most of us eat Spaghetti Squash anyway … might as well make use of those seeds. One Squash produces six tablespoons of seeds.
I scraped the seeds out of both halves of the squash and tossed them in a colander mesh and continued to separate the seeds from the vegetable continuously until they were all laid out and drying on a dish cloth.
You don’t have to do this. You can easily buy pumpkin and or sunflower seeds. I didn’t have any in the house and happened to be making Spaghetti Squash for dinner.
Zest the lemon. Approximately three-quarters of the peel of one lemon goes into this. If you don’t feel like zesting, squeeze and save the lemon juice and remove the insides and the pith then cut the peel up into tiny, tiny pieces.
I save all lemon juice to add later to water. Melt the two tablespoons of coconut oil and mix separately in a bowl with the honey. Grease a glass pan with coconut oil. Mix the oil and honey into the bowl with the nuts and seeds before transferring to baking dish greased with coconut oil.
Bake at 350 degrees, cool and refrigerate overnight. The following day remove from the fridge and cut into one by one inch cubes. Or, if you choose to use a rectangle glass baking dish you can cut these into bar form. Just look at the texture. The taste is thrilling.
I scooped them out of the dish with a spoon and arranged on a snack tray.
When I first started noshing on these bite sized snacks that pack a powerful punch of nutrition and flavor I purchased a tiny container of about fifteen pieces in the produce section at Cleveland’s downtown Heinen’s for $5.99. Wash down with an entire liter of San Pellegrino, Perrier, or lemon water for true benefits of feeling full and fresh. Play around with the nuts and added ingredients. If raisins are your rage stir them in. Crushin’ on cranberries? Add them in! The ingredient that gives this dish the zing is the lemon zest. Orange would add the same oompf to give these nutritious nut bites a citrus kick.
I thought about drizzling melted caramel into the pan to kick this up a notch, but I already went all-out with that sugary snack here and this is all about the once dreaded detox.
Josie is an award-winning journalist and healthy eater enthusiast.
“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”
“I’m an attorney (in) commercial real estate. I specialize in affordable housing community development law. That’s why I’m here in Cleveland. I’m here for a conference and snuck out for a few minutes and here I am buying Chucks,” Toni Jackson shared her vice in the Tower City Center.
“I have a crazy collection of Converse. I grew up like everybody else wearing Chuck Taylors and when they came back in style a number of years ago I guess I started going crazy,” Jackson, like an attorney, spoke the truth.
Even though this legal powerhouse hails from Houston, Texas, she caught the championship fever pulsating through The Land and also bought tickets to every sporting event she could afford.
In the stands and in the bleachers, a dress shoe just won’t do. At Underground by Journeys in Tower City is where the men at Footlocker send shoppers to try on the footwear fashion that never fades.
“They love Chuck Taylors. They’re very in-style. We have a lot of selections to choose from. Yeah! They buy them a lot. We got a lot of Converses,” Journeys sales associate Diamond Moore wearing a pair of high-tops herself supplied.
Even though named for a basketball legend, Chuck Taylors Converse take members of its tribe from work to the playground. Every Cleveland Indians fan knows navigating the way through the gates to seats on the upper deck through peanut shells and steep steps requires shoes as indomitable as the roster.
According to Converse:
Created in 1917 as a non-skid basketball shoe, the All Star was originally promoted for its superior court performance by basketball mastermind Chuck Taylor. But over the decades, something incredible happened: The sneaker, with its timeless silhouette and unmistakable ankle patch, was organically adopted by rebels, artists, musicians, dreamers, thinkers and originals.
“Chuck Taylors. They’re the quintessential, stylish sports shoe,” observed photographer Steven Drescher.
In line with Cleveland’s scene this shoe, with its vulcanized rubber sole, has an “unmistakable cultural authenticity”.
The All Star sneaker also has an unmatched style and the $49.99 price tag leaves plenty left over for peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Tower City Center is located at 230 West Huron Street in downtown Cleveland. Underground at Journeys is on Level One.
My last stop at the market sent me looking for all of the ingredients to make my favorite fall foods; sharp white cheddar grilled cheese on sour dough, chili, caramel apples covered in nuts, and ingredients for homemade pumpkin spiced latte.
On site with TV 88 in the Florida Keys I presented a Cuban version of this caffeine delicacy made with Cafe Bustelo.
I have tried this using Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk and added two teaspoons of sugar, versus just one (when using sweetened condensed milk.) I’ve also pumped up the pumpkin spice to 1/4 of a teaspoon.
Summer, summer, summertime produced a style on the Lake Erie Islands which couldn’t be cloned on any other coast.
Instead of showing up fashionably (for a far-a-way destination surrounded in freshwater) island tourists risked appearing initially tacky. They tore off of the ferries and private watercraft in their Cavs jerseys, t-shirts, tanks pullovers and most often — the 2016 NBA Champs hat.
Ballin’! Representin’ a city of champions!
“I did a shot with everyone I saw wearing this hat at Put-in-Bay,” one Middle Bass Island bartender exclaimed at the end of summer 2016.
The hat, the gear was everywhere on any given day or night and on any given island! An island worker from Uzbekistan, Farruxjon Sattorberdiyev, was given a championship chapeau to celebrate his end-of-the-season success. He took the Cleveland Pride and rallied the 13-hour, 6,500 mile trip to his home country wearing the wonder, that was once dubbed the “Mistake on the Lake”.
Make zero mistake about this, on Ohio’s North Coast, the fashion is: forget the Tommy Bahama, Red Rum, Vineyard Vines, or J. Crew and bring on the Cleveland Sports Teams.
Suddenly, allegiance isn’t designated just for the Cavs.
With The Tribe winning the pennant and entering the World Series this week as they take on the Cubs, Chief Wahoo is once again stylish reigniting a fashion code for Fall 2016.
Josie Koler is an award-winning journalist. She grew up in the western suburbs of Cleveland and had to be bribed by her mother to put on clothes which did not depict the Cleveland Browns or her beloved Cleveland Indians.
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.
Yes! Middle Bass Island does have a grocery store.
This little roadside joint stands taller in a community of 50 full time residents than every Giant Eagle in Cleveland’s surrounding area. Constructed in 1987 the Middle Bass Island General Store is a grocery store, yet also boasts a fully-stocked bar, restaurant, hardware section and is most notably known as gathering space for the island’s elite.
A Tourist’s Take
“The Middle Bass General Store is a cute little roadside catchall for groceries, eats, drinks and has all the necessities for dinner,” described Conde Nast’s Cynthia Drescher when asked how she would explain the establishment to travelers.
This accomplished journalist, who hails from a bedroom community of Toledo hopped the Miller Boat Line to neighboring South Bass Island and then ferried over on the Sonny S for a day of visiting her younger brother, a bartender by night at Saint Hazards Waterfront Resort and Brewery and photojournalist by assignment during the day.
“You know when you get somewhere, and you don’t know quite what to expect the first time you’re somewhere, and then you walk in and they have everything? I feel more comfortable seeing this aspect,” Drescher explained her reaction as she chewed a Reuben Sandwich and the logistics of where the day’s adventure had taken her.
She calls New York City home right now and shared this sentiment, “This menu showcases island lunch fare. You only expect so much from an island considering it all has to be shipped in. So, I’m not coming out here expecting gourmet food. You don’t even get that on Put-in-Bay. I’m just happy they have it. This is so very local.”
The Owner and the Logistics of Island Groceries
“This is my hometown,” said owner Eddie Sheller, also our bartender, cook and waiter for the meal .
Sheller lived on the island for the first six years of his life and then once his family crossed the unsalted waters to make a home on the mainland, he ventured back to this remote Lake Erie island playground every weekend. In 1992, his dad purchased the property.
Sheller, who stands well over 6’2″, has dark hair, eyes and complexion is best described as the quintessential Great Lakes guy. He always appears to have just walked off of a football field after practice because he’s always wearing workout apparel and sport shoes. The sport isn’t football but survival and supply on an island that remains largely undeveloped. “The Store” is always hiring but Sheller shares he doesn’t have employees.
“Mike is always in here, he just works for beer. I do have a lot of people who just come in and help me out,” Sheller disclosed of the secrets to running the business.
Sheller also spoke like a true island entrepreneur when he admitted he rarely shuts his eyes.
“I don’t [sleep]. When Peggy (Taylor) comes in on Saturday or Sunday, I’ll go home and take a 20 minute nap,” he admitted.
“The Store” boasts of a frozen food section that includes a section of Toft’s. A representative brings over the frozen dessert packed in dry ice on a 40-minute ferry ride across the lake. A refrigerator section contains fruit and dairy products; there’s an aisle of snack food, one with canned dry goods, and other essentials such as Milk Bone dog biscuits, Hawaiian Tropic suntan lotion, contact lens solution and cotton balls. Sliced bread and buns for those impromptu barbecues share an aisle with wine and spirits. The selection includes bottles of 19 Crimes, other blends from California and more unique, regional bottles from Canada’s Pelee Island and Catawba Island on the mainland.
For Sheller the concept is in the store’s simplicity.
“My Dad originally had it stocked, and you knew what necessities you need. Four or five years ago, a small retail consultant came in and assessed the stock. We’re situated on a 755-acre island. There is zero pressure. The only item we run out of are worms or minnows,” he laughed. “People come in here, and they get what they want and they leave. A wine salesman sets the shelves (of wine). If it doesn’t work we sell something else.”
An aisle of souvenirs impress worldly, well-traveled tourists like Drescher whose next assignment will take her to Cuba. Sweatshirts with Middle Bass Island emblazoned across the chest hang from garment racks, and anyone can blow their allowance on Lake Erie Pancake Syrup or artwork showcasing watercolor depictions of island landmarks from Lake Erie Artist Jim Siemer.
The Locals Watering Hole
Peggy, who pops in to relieve and assist the charming grocer, doubles as the island’s United States Post Office employee situated across the street from the store. The evening we stopped in, she was behind the bar in a decorated ball cap pouring drinks and mingling with fellow islanders.
“The people in the bar are 90 percent locals,” Sheller said.
Several generations of families who live and work on the island at least part time are seen alongside local business leaders and the Who’s Who of Middle Bass Island. Their success and family money is displayed on their wrists via Rolex watches.
Jessica Bartels works at both the Middle Bass Island Yacht Club and “The Store”. She’s lived on the island her entire life, and on this particular Friday night encounter, she was in the company of her parents, boyfriend, brother, grandmothers and her friends sipping a decadent after-dinner drink popular on the Lake Erie Islands, a Brandy Alexander.
“My grandparents used to live here year round. Now they’re only here in the summer, and they vacation in Florida. My parents are building a house here,” the recent Bowling Green State University psych grad explained of The Store’s social scene. “My dad works in technology and travels a lot, so whenever he needs to get off the island, he stays over there on the mainland where we have another house.”
Even on such a tiny plot of land accessible only by boat, plane or helicopter, politics are in play.
“About six years ago, and they started changing [The Store] into a bar and restaurant,” the adorable, 20-something blonde remarked. “Eddie has always been a big islander, and so has his Dad.That’s why it’s always been a big place for islanders to gather.”
The Middle Bass General Store is the last structure in ‘town’ located a little less than one mile from the ferry docks. There’s an adjacent hardware store with an entrance strategically located in between the dairy section and Lake Erie souvenirs. This island-go-to-establishment does seem to have everything except a full-blown organic section complete with coconut milk. A pitstop will pose the question to visitors, “What exactly do I need from a corporate superstore? Where’s the owner to serve an after-dinner drink sprinkled with nutmeg?”
Observed Drescher, “I noticed that “The Store” just isn’t your basic BBQ stuff and food for the weekend. The establishment supports the community.”
“If we don’t have it,” said Sheller, “You don’t need it.”
The Middle Bass General Store, restaurant and bar hours change with the season but is open seven days a week. It’s worth the ferry ride over to check out this local gem of the Great Lakes! (419) 285-2608.
Josie is a former TV anchorwoman and award-winning journalist. She grew up 35 minutes west of the Miller Boat line Ferry launch.
To view my slideshow of The Store just click through the pictures I took.
When I first started noshing on these bite sized snacks that pack a powerful punch of nutrition and flavor I purchased a tiny container of about fifteen pieces in the produce section at Cleveland’s downtown Heinen’s for $5.99. Wash down with an entire liter of San Pellegrino, Perrier, or lemon water for true benefits of feeling full and fresh. Play around with the nuts and added ingredients. If raisins are your rage stir them in. Crushin’ on cranberries? Add them in! The ingredient that gives this dish the zing is the lemon zest. Orange would add the same oompf to give these nutritious nut bites a citrus kick.
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