Why? Fresh Fork!

***A bit of blogkeeping: You have until Tuesday, July 31 at 11:59pm to enter to win 2 tickets to the WGAR Dollar Bank Country Jam. Click here for more information and to enter!***

Another week, another load of tasty locally-grown food from Fresh Fork Market! Here’s what we got and what we made…

What We Got:

1 pint blueberries

6 ears sweet corn

3 lb yukon gold potatoes

1 bunch rainbow swiss chard

1 bunch collard greens

2 ct cucumber

1.5 lbs heirloom tomatoes

1 package chicken bratwursts

1 lb yellow wax beans

2 ct green peppers

What We Made:

Whole Chicken Crock Pot Recipe (click here for the recipe)

We got a whole chicken in our Fresh Fork bag a couple weeks ago and froze it. This recipe was incredibly easy to prepare and the chicken came out moist and flavorful. Plus, the whole house smelled delicious when we got home! I put the chicken in the slow cooker still frozen and it took about 9 hours on low to cook.

Yukon Gold Mash with Rosemary and Garlic (click here for the recipe)

The yukon gold potatoes made a perfect side dish for the chicken. You could definitely taste the garlic, but the rosemary flavor got a bit lost. I might try chopping the rosemary and adding it to the potatoes (rather than just the milk) next time.

Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter, Lemon, and Radish Tops (click here for the recipe)

This recipe used every part of the radishes from our previous week’s Fresh Fork. I’m not a huge fan of raw radishes, but roasting them mellowed the flavor. The greens added a bit of a bitter tang and balanced the dish nicely. I served this with the potatoes and chicken.

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan (click here for the recipe)

This was a great way to use our green peppers and the chicken bratwurst. The stuffing is simple and flavorful. The recipe is easy to prepare. We used some Arrabiata sauce over the peppers to add a bit more spice.

Swiss Chard Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing (click here for the recipe)

I love finding a good salad recipe that we can take with us for lunches during the week. The apple and maple syrup added a nice sweetness and balanced the bitterness of the swiss chard and walnuts. Light, summery, and delicious!

Spicy Corn Soup (click here for the recipe)

If it’s a Bobby Flay recipe, I’m pretty much guaranteed to love it. We had a lot of sweet corn between this week and last week, so we needed creative ways to use it. This soup had a great spice to it, but I was surprised at how thin it turned out.

Jeni’s Sweet Corn and (Blueberry) Ice Cream (click here for the recipe)

I think we need to create “Matthew’s Ice Cream Corner” as a regular part of the Fresh Fork posts. Using the sweet corn and blueberries in our bag, he created this adaptation of the Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams original. So ridiculously delicious!

How did you use your Fresh Fork this week?

Why? Weekends!

***A bit of blogkeeping: You have until Tuesday, July 31 to enter to win 2 tickets to the WGAR Dollar Bank Country Jam. Click here for more information and to enter!***

On Friday afternoon, I was already excited for a great weekend in Cleveland. And then this happened…

Yup, Richard Marx of 80′s ballads and the bada** mullet tweeted at me (and Renee and Renee). I may have shrieked loudly and scared Matthew. Sometimes I just love the Internet in all its random awesomeness.

Friday night, we headed down to Voinovich Park for the Cleveland Wine Festival.

We didn’t let the rain keep us away…and by that I mean we got there, got soaked waiting in line to get in, and then figured we might as well drink wine to forget how drenched we were.

Our first stop was the Chauteau Ste Michelle booth. Culinary Director John Sarich took us through tasting each of the rieslings featured in The Reason for Riesling tour.

The Dry Riesling was my favorite. It was crisp and easy-drinking. The “regular” Riesling is the best selling in the country and definitely earned that spot because of its wonderful taste. And the Harvest Select Sweet Riesling makes a great dessert wine. Thanks to John and the Chauteau Ste Michelle folks for an informative tasting!

Some of our favorite reds that evening included the Terlato Wines Federalist Zinfandel, the Rutherford Wine Company Predator Old Vine Zinfandel, and the family of Alexander Valley Zinfandels (Temptation, Sin, and Redemption). We like our Zinfandels!

One of the things we enjoyed most about the entire festival was the people pouring the wine were from the wineries and very knowledgeable and passionate about the wine. All of the wines at the Cleveland Wine Festival are available at Giant Eagle. It was a fun, albeit damp, evening!

Saturday was “Christina Day.” First, I went dress shopping with my friend Chrissy. She is getting married next June and I’m honored to be one of her bridesmaids. We met at Catan’s, which is quite the wedding wonderland. Chrissy tried on her absolutely gorgeous wedding dress, then we picked out the bridesmaids’ dress.

Saturday evening, Matthew and I went to a homestyle wedding party for our friend Christina and her new husband Eric. It was a fun, relaxed event celebrating the happy couple.

Sunday was the big event that I’d been excited about for a long time: the Brothers of the Sun concert at Browns Stadium.  To pregame, Matthew and I met up with our friends Beth and Enzo at Map Room for beer and pizza, then headed over to the WGAR Saloon on West 6th Street.

We met up with friends, some quite randomly, at Barley House.

Then it was time for the concert. I loved all the acts! Grace Potter has such a cool, retro, rocking sound and her album has become one of my new favorites. And then, of course, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney…

I saw these two the last time they toured together (in 2001, eek!) and have seen them on solo tours. I was also at the Kenny Chesney concert at the stadium the year of “bathroom-gate.” So, I was prepared for a good time, but also prepared for just about anything.

There is something about Tim and Kenny’s friendship that creates an amazing vibe at the show. We had a fabulous time! There’s nothing like a country concert in the summer!

How was your weekend, Cleveland? Did you check out the Wine Festival or Brothers of the Sun?

***Disclosure: I was asked by Chauteau Ste Michelle to help promote the Cleveland Wine Festival and The Reason for Riesling tour. In exchange, I received 2 complimentary tickets to attend the festival. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***

Why? WGAR Dollar Bank Country Jam Giveaway!

There are few things I love more – especially in the summertime – than a country concert. I started listening to country music in college, when all my friends on my dorm floor listened to it. “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks was the first country song I loved and Deana Carter’s “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” was the first country album I owned. The best thing about country music has always been the concerts, though…it’s really all about the music and the fans.

One of my favorite country concerts is the annual WGAR Dollar Bank Country Jam at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds.

The first time I went to the Country Jam, I was in college in 2002 and I’ll spare you pictures of that trip down memory lane. I also went in 2006 with my country-loving, whiskey-drinking pal Whitney.

And then I went in 2009 with my similarly country-loving, but usually less whiskey-drinking friend Beth.

The Country Jam is an outdoor party atmosphere with awesome music all day. The 2012 WGAR Dollar Bank Country Jam takes place Saturday, August 25 and features Trace Adkins, Craig Morgan, Josh Thompson, Eden’s Edge, The Farm, The Lost Trailers, Katie Arminger, and Caliber.

Tickets are on sale now through Mira Productions. There are two tickets levels: General Admission for $35 and Super Fan for $99.50. General Admission gets you admission to the Fairgrounds at 10am, with festival-style seating on the grass. The Super Fan package includes reserved seating near the stage, a Country Jam t-shirt, a parking pass, SWAG bag, and 2 non-alcoholic drink tickets, plus a dedicated bar area and restrooms. Click here to purchase tickets.

If you want to shake your honky tonk badonkadonk, you can also enter to win 2 General Admission tickets plus a parking pass right here! Here’s how to enter (be sure to leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry):

1. Leave a comment telling me which artist you’re most excited to see at the Country Jam.

2. Like Mira Productions on Facebook or follow Mira Productions on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know you do.

3. Tweet the following phrase: I want to shake my badonkadonk at the @995wgar Country Jam with @WhyCLE and @MiraProductions and you can too: http://wp.me/p1fb9r-Pm

You can tweet once a day for additional entries, just be sure to leave a separate comment each time you tweet.

The giveaway will run until 11:59pm on Tuesday, July 31 and the winner will be announced here on Wednesday, August 1. Good luck!

***Disclosure: I was asked by Mira Productions to help promote the 2012 WGAR Dollar Bank Country Jam. In exchange, I will receive 2 Super Fan ticket packages for myself and 2 General Admission tickets and a parking pass to give away. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***

Why? Career Update!

It’s been awhile since I checked in with you on the career front. When last I updated, I had accepted a teaching position two days a week at my alma mater, John Carroll University, and was still bound and determined to change career tracks. So, where am I now?

Image Source – smcm.edu

After quite a bit of soul searching, I realized that the career I studied for, trained for, and have been doing for essentially six years is actually where I want to be. I had some negative experiences, some blase experiences, and some stellar experiences. When the negative and the blase started to outweigh the stellar, I had a “baby with the bathwater” moment. It took awhile to come back around from that, but I’m so glad I did.

This is not to say that radical career shifts aren’t good, refreshing or absolutely right for some people. Personally, I just needed a mental time-out to figure out where I wanted to be. I didn’t know it would lead back around to where I started. I didn’t know it was just a time-out.

So, about a month ago, I dipped my toes back in on a contract basis to the same career environment where I’d always been. The first couple days were really tough. I think there were bets between CLEmom and Matthew on if I’d last out the week or if the baby, the bathwater, and the tub might get thrown out for good.

But I kept going back. I kept at it. And, as the contract wraps up, I can honestly look back and say it was a great experience. It taught me that where I want to be and what I’m good at were never that far away or that different. I also found myself realizing that instead of expecting my career to just hand me moments of inspiration and sweetness, I had to look for them and, sometimes, make them myself, but they were there.

An unfortunate part of all this is having to give up the teaching position, at least for now. I can’t rebuild the career I know I want with only 3 days a week. It was a tough choice because I love the experience I’ve had with teaching so far and hope that it’s part of the picture down the road. But no one ever said being a grown-up or having a career was easy.

Image Source – etech-group.com

What have I learned, aside from figuring out where I want to be and what I want to be doing? I’ve learned that soul-searching doesn’t have to lead you to a different place. For awhile, I was so determined that my choices had to lead to something different that I ignored the voice telling me that what I was looking for was the career I already knew. It’s OK to step back, to analyze, and then to end up right in the same spot, if that spot is right for you.

I also learned there are no easy answers or quick fixes. I still have work to do to get myself where I want to be and I’ve already had and will continue to have tough choices to get there. But it’s worth it when I’m sure the goal is right.

Have you ever thought about changing careers, but ended up staying right where you were? How did it work out?

Why? Fresh Fork!

I was excited about this past week’s Fresh Fork Market bag from the moment we got the email telling us what was in it! So many great ingredients, so many great ways to use them. Here’s what we did with our Fresh Fork:

What We Got:

1 dozen pasture-raised chicken eggs

1 piece Havarti from Mayfield Road Creamery

2 ct zucchini

1 bunch beets

1 lb whole wheat linguini from Ohio City Pasta

6 ears sweet corn

2 bulb onions

1 lb apricots

What We Made:

Sweet Corn Pasta Sauce (click here for the recipe)

As much as I love sweet corn plain and simple off the cob, I wanted to find a way to incorporate it into a meal. This pasta sauce was light and packed with sweet corn flavor. I added shrimp to the sauce and served this over the whole wheat linguine for a great, not-too-heavy summer pasta option. If you’re making the entire pound of linguine, I would double the sauce recipe.

Ham and Havarti Panini with Jalapeno Butter (click here for the recipe)

Confession: I love kitchen gadgets/appliances. We have an underused panini maker, so when I saw the Havarti, I immediately wanted to make paninis with it. It was a homemade version of Melt! The Havarti was a nice mild compliment to the smoked ham and spicy kick of jalapeno.

Carrot Zucchini Saute (click here for the recipe)

An easy, quick-to-prepare way to use up some of our veggies (last week’s carrots, this week’s zucchini and onion). I served this on the side with the panini, but it would go great with any protein dish, as the flavors are very subtle.

Roasted Beets and Sauteed Beet Greens (click here for the recipe)

I like to use every part of the beet if I can and this recipe incorporated the whole thing. I made this on Sunday, since the beets take awhile to roast, to use for lunches during the week. I had a mix of golden beets and red beets from various Fresh Fork bags. Also, I did use the optional onion (from Fresh Fork) and red wine vinegar.

Fresh Apricots with Goat Cheese Mousse (click here for the recipe)

This was a nice, light dessert. The mousse had a very mild goat cheese flavor – just enough to give it a tang – and paired nicely with the apricots. While I did fill some of the apricots and drizzle the honey on top, the mousse also worked well simply as a dip for not just apricots, but a variety of fruit.

Apricot Ice Cream (click here for the recipe)

Matthew loves our ice cream maker and he is getting quite the reputation for making fantastic homemade treats. I told him this tasted like a creamsicle in heaven. ‘Nuff said.

What did you do with your Fresh Fork this week? If you’re not a Fresh Fork-er, what summer produce have you been enjoying most?

Why? Weekends!

Can you believe how this summer is flying by? I always say it, but time seems to be going faster and faster! On Friday night, Matthew and I headed over to Tammy at Miss WineOH‘s headquarters for a blind Viognier tasting.

The bottles were all wrapped and labeled with just a number. You tasted the wine and then voted with a green poker chip if you liked it, a red poker chip if you didn’t, or a white poker chip if you were on the fence. To go along with the wine, we had some delicious food made by Tammy’s daughter.

The pasta salad with poppyseed, strawberries, honeydew, and snow peas was probably my favorite dish of the evening. It was light and refreshing and paired well with the wines. As a confirmed red wine drinker, I found a couple Viognier’s that I really enjoyed that night, plus just had a great time sipping with old friends (like Crystal) and new!

Thanks to Tammy and Frank for hosting another great event!

On Saturday, we rolled out of the house bright and early to spend the day at Cedar Point. The “Tri-County Wives Club” (Amanda, Alicia, Kimberly, and myself) and our husbands spent the day at one of the best amusement parks in the world, that just happens to be very close to home.

From racing each other on the Gemini to cooling off on the Snake River Falls bridge to having a picnic in the parking lot for lunch and enjoying Famous Dave’s BBQ for dinner, we had a great day!

I used to be able to go on so many of the rides, but I’ve found I’m not the ride warrior I used to be. So, while most of the crew ended the day on the Raptor, Kimberly and I hit the arcade for some Skeeball, Whack-a-Chicken, and Zoltar fortune telling. You can still enjoy Cedar Point even if you don’t go on a lot of rides!

As we enjoyed massive scoops of Toft’s ice cream to end the day, we all sleepily agreed it was a great day in a fun place with fabulous friends. Which is exactly what a summer day should be…

How was your weekend, CLE? What new answers to Why CLE did you discover?

Why? Upcoming Events!

As summer rolls on, it seems like things are just getting busier and busier, with so many great events in Cleveland:

Wade Oval Wednesdays

Every Wednesday until August 29

Wade Oval

Live music, food, a Farmers’ market, movies, and tons of people: it’s a great summer party every Wednesday in University Circle. Admission is free. Just bring a blanket and hang out in one of Cleveland’s most beautiful areas! For more information and the line-up of bands, click here.

Cleveland Wine Festival

Friday, July 27 and Saturday, July 28

Voinovich Bicentennial Park

The Cleveland Wine Festival  is a great way to indulge two of my favorite things: sipping wine and looking at the Cleveland skyline. Held at Voinovich Bicentennial Park, with gorgeous views of the city, you have access to tasting over 270 types of wine, listening to music, watching food demos and more. Chateau Ste. Michelle will be there with their The Reason for Riesling tour, sampling three different kinds of Riesling, as well as having Culinary Director John Sarich do a cooking demonstration. Tickets are $28 in advance and $35 at the door for the Wine Festival.

Opera in the Italian Cultural Garden

Sunday, July 29 at 6pm

Italian Cultural Garden

Opera in a beautiful garden with wood-fired pizzas and free wine…what’s not to love?! Join the Italian Cultural Garden Foundation for a live performance by Opera Per Tutti of classic opera music from La Boheme, Carmen, and more. Admission is FREE! There will be 250 chairs set up, but blankets and picnics are encouraged. Click here for more info.

Emerging Chefs Present Sagra di San Rocco

Friday, August 3 at 6pm

Saint Rocco Parish

Emerging Chefs and Chef Jeff Fisher present an Italian feast served communal-style. You can trust there will be plenty of great wine, too! Come and indulge in this culinary treat for only $50 per ticket. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.

Image Source – paalive.org

Ten Years of Rhapsody: A Progressive Arts Alliance Celebration

Saturday, August 11 at 7:30pm

House of Blues Cleveland

The Progressive Arts Alliance is celebrating its tenth anniversary of taking arts-in-education directly to children across Cleveland with a fabulous party of House of Blues. Grandmaster Flash will host a dance party, the Corporate Cleveland dance crew challenge will take place, there will be silent auctions and raffles, and much more. Tickets start at just $25. Click here for more information and to buy tickets. And stay tuned to Why CLE? for more information about the great work PAA does in our community.

What upcoming events are you looking forward to?!

***Disclosure: I was asked by Chateau Ste. Michelle to help promote the Cleveland Wine Festival and blog about my experience there. In exchange, I will receive 2 complimentary tickets. I was also asked by Emerging Chefs to help promote Sagra di San Rocco. In exchange, I was offered 1 complimentary media pass, but declined due to scheduling conflicts. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***

Why? Anatolia Cafe and Fired Up Tacos!

This past week, I’ve had two new eating experiences that were both fantastic, so I wanted to share them with you! On Monday night, Matthew and I met up with some of his friends from work at Anatolia Cafe, a Turkish restaurant in Cleveland Heights. Not only had I never been to the restaurant before, I had never eaten Turkish food at all.

Luckily, my CLEtweeps came through with some great suggestions on what to order. We started with the Sigara Boregi, deemed a “must try” by both Twitter and the menu itself.

These rolls are made out of light, flaky Phyllo dough and stuffed with warm Feta cheese and herbs (the most predominant flavor other than Feta was dill). The Sigara Boregi made a great start to our meal and primed our palates for the Mediterranean flavors to follow.

For dinner, I chose the lamb kofte.

Ground lamb medallions are grilled and served with rice and cucumber yogurt sauce. I asked for mine spicy and the chili paste on top the lamb was truly a hot, yet flavorful, addition.

Matthew ordered the lamb shish kebab with yogurt.

Grilled chunks of lamb were served over Turkish bread cubes soaked in yogurt and tomato sauce. Somehow the bread was soft, but not mushy and the flavors all came together to make a very tasty plate.

For dessert, we couldn’t pass up the baklava.

Sweet, sticky, nutty deliciousness! Not only did I love the flavors of Turkish food, I loved the atmosphere at Anatolia Cafe. Their patio is surrounded by wrought-iron fence and flowers and is a nice urban oasis. This is on our “must return” list! Thanks to Shariq and Neda for introducing us to it.

On Wednesday, I had another new food experience at Walnut Wednesday. For those of you unfamiliar, every Wednesday in the summer, Walnut Avenue between East 9th and East 12th gets turned into a food truck and live music meca for the hungry lunch crowd.

I’d been to Walnut Wednesdays before, but this one was special because of Progressive’s #SaveItFwdCLE campaign. For tweeting about the campaign, you could get a voucher worth $10 at any of the Walnut Wednesday food trucks!

I love me a coupon

Thanks to Allison at Confessions of a CLE Habitant, I had a voucher waiting for me! So, I decided to try a new food truck (relatively new to CLE and completely new to me): Fired Up Taco Truck.

You can get 2 tacos for $6, which is plenty for a meal! I chose the chorizo taco and the Angus beef taco. The chorizo taco had black beans, pineapple, and cinnamon chipotle salsa. The Angus beef taco came with corn salsa, fried onion straws, and spicy aioli.

These are not your average taco toppings! I loved the uniqueness of the toppings and the taste of the tacos was superb. They were a little messy, but that’s how good street food should be! Also, I was there early, but Fired Up did a great job of getting your food up quickly, which is essential with a lunch crowd.

All in all, I’m so happy with my two new food experiences this week. Go check out Anatolia Cafe and Fired Up Taco Truck!

What’s a recent food find you had?

Why? Date Night at the Zoovies Winner!

Wow! First, you all are very passionate and knowledgeable about your 80′s movies! There were so many great favorites mentioned in entering the Date Night at the Zoovies giveaway!

Also, you all love the Zoo! But, there can only be one winner…courtesy of random.org, the winner of 2 tickets to Date Night at the Zoovies is…

bakingserendipity (Comment #9) who said her favorite 80′s movie is Pretty in Pink!

Congratulations! Check your email for more information. If I don’t hear back from you by tomorrow, a new winner will be chosen!

If you didn’t win, you can still purchase tickets for Date Night at the Zoovies, sponsored by the Cleveland Zoological Society and the Cleveland 20/30 Club.

For just $30 per ticket (or $50 for 2 tickets), you can mix and mingle through the Australian Adventure and Africa exhibits, while enjoying an open bar and light appetizers. Then, at 8:30, take in a screening of the 1985 classic The Breakfast Club in the Zoo Amphitheater.

It’s going to be a great night at the Zoo and I hope to see a lot of you there!

***Disclosure: I was asked by the Cleveland Zoological Society to help promote Date Night at the Zoovies. In exchange, I received two complimentary tickets to Date Night at the Zoovies for myself and two to give away. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***

Why? Fresh Fork!

***A bit of blogkeeping: You have until Tuesday, July 17 at 11:59pm to enter to win 2 tickets to Date Night at the Zoovies. Check it out!***

Another week, another recap of our adventures with Fresh Fork Market! Hopefully this inspires some locally-grown, super-fresh cooking in your home too.

What We Got:

1 whole chicken

1 pint blueberries

1 head leaf lettuce

2 count cucumbers

2-3 zucchini

1 head red cabbage

2 tomatoes

1 lb apricots

1 bunch carrots

1 bunch radishes*

1 pint grape tomatoes*

Extra zucchini and cucumbers*

*Starred items are in addition to the weekly bag were purchased with our credits from our missed weeks.

What We Made:

Fresh Tomato, Zucchini, and Pepperoni Pizza (click here for the recipe)

This pizza is simple and really lets the flavors of the vegetables shine through. I used Arrabbiata sauce instead of olive oil for a little spice and ricotta and parmesan instead of mozzarella. I have a great pizza dough recipe, but I ended up using pre-made crust. Our recipe for pizza dough requires letting the dough sit for 2 hours and, on a weeknight, that just doesn’t always work.

Fresh Tomato and Cucumber Salad (click here for the recipe)

This is another recipe that is simple and lets the freshness of the vegetables really shine. I made this for our summer party and it was a hit! Warning: the recipe reads a bit pretentious (like telling you to pick your basil at noon on a sunny day for the best flavor). Take it with a grain of salt, because ultimately this a great salad.

Stir-Fried Pork with Napa Cabbage (click here for the recipe)

Fresh Fork bags are generous and you can’t always use everything up before the next delivery. We found ourselves with Napa cabbage from a couple weeks ago that was still in good shape. So, I made this stir fry and added in some of the snow peas we had left as well. Served with a side of saffron rice, this made a really tasty meal.

Best Ever Blueberry Cobbler (click here for the recipe)

One of the things I love about this recipe is that most of the sweetness comes from the berries themselves. There is very little sugar and orange juice added for sweetness. This made a great dessert!

Random Side Dishes and Trimmings at Our BBQ

I often talk about basing a recipe choice around the Fresh Fork ingredients, but what’s great is when you can incorporate Fresh Fork into what you’re making anyway. For our BBQ last Saturday, we used lots of Fresh Fork items: onions in the potato salad, grape tomatoes in the guacamole, eggs in our brownies and cookies, and our burger toppings platter featured exclusively Fresh Fork veggies. While it’s fun to find new recipes to make, it’s also great to have better, fresher ingredients to compliment your usual recipes too.

How did you use your Fresh Fork bag this week?