the boathouse

i literally have no idea why the montgomery inn at the boathouse is so popular. we were there friday before our final playhouse performance of the season, and it was a veritable who's who in cincinnati - oscar robertson, the hamilton county coroner (don't ask, brian recognized him), the real housewives of indian hill, and us.

everytime i go to the boathouse i expect to have a gastronomical epiphany, and i will suddenly understand the spellbinding capabilities of the montgomery inn barbeque sauce. but alas, this most recent excursion did not lead to enlightenment.

we arrived promptly for our 6pm reservations, but unfortunately jenny and john had babysitter issues and were running late. at the boathouse, no one is seated until the entire party arrives. this left brian and i hanging out at the bar, people watching. the boathouse does provide an excellent opportunity for sociological study while sipping a $3 happy hour martini (the lemon one. not very good. reminiscent of pledge.).

we were finally settled at an awesome table right by the window, which john commented would be a great view if it wasn't the ohio river we were seeing. our server was really wonderful and very personable. the crostini appetizer arrived promptly at our table.this was actually my favorite part of the meal. the bread was crisp, the bleu cheese a nice blend with the other cheeses. a nice, light start to the meal.

i decided to jump in and order the smokehouse trio of sandwiches. while not montgomery inn's famous ribs, the tiny sandwiches could give me an idea of the inn's flavors without requiring a bib. mac and cheese on the side, of course.i ate the pulled pork. it was ok. the sauce was a little sweet, but what i expected. the brisket i ate half of; it just wasn't as tender as i would like and if it had any smokey flavor, it was totally obscured by the sauce.finally, the chicken. i only had one bite of it and that was enough. while the sauce on the pork was tolerable, on the chicken it was unbearably sweet. that sandwich was quicly transferred to brian's plate, as was the rest of the mac and cheese. the mac and cheese was just ok and i couldn't see any reason to continue eating it.

brian thought he had died and gone to heaven when he saw this dessert on the menu. he was still talking about it the next day.the strawberry shortcake was decent. the shortcake was a little hard, but the strawberries were fresh.

overall, i felt the same as i always have after a meal at montgomery inn, the champions of mediocrity. so, can anyone please explain to me the attraction of the boathouse? i feel like i'm missing something.

tastes like chicken

i am a picky chicken eater. i hardly ever order it out because it is usually 1) dry or 2) full of those little chicken tendrils that are sinew-y and nasty.
but, the silver spring house proclaims to be the chicken joint. it says so right on the sign. and they have been declared "best chicken" by cincinnati magazine. it says so right on the menu. so i decided to give the tender, amish-raised, marinated in citrus juices and spices, grilled to perfection chicken a go. but a chicken dinner with a breast, wing, leg, and thigh is a bit too much chicken for this girl. luckily, there is an ample selection of chicken sandwiches to choose from.

i went with the baja chicken sandwich, which was the famous chicken breast topped with salsa and monterey jack cheese. it was fantastic - juicy, with a lack desecration by sinew. literally cooked to perfection. now that's truth in advertising. the sweet potato fries were also delicious. not too sweet. even the pickles were good. brian got the actual chicken dinner, with a salad (!) and fries. he ate every last bit. of the chicken, at least.mark's heart shaped buffalo chicken sandwich. jenn had the chicken (are we noticing a theme here?) taco salad, which is clearly enormous.also noteworthy were these amazing loaded wedges, yes, that's ranch you see drizzled on there. a cardiovascular surgeon's delight; job security.there were a few cons to our silver spring house experience, however. first, the place was absolutely packed. i guess that's to be expected at the best chicken joint in cincinnati, but it was also very loud. don't go if you actually want to converse with the people you're with. additionally, i guess because they were so busy, jenn had to ask our server three times for a glass of water. which she finally brought when i asked for a fourth time. she never came by to refill either.

next, the following picture speaks for itself.finally, exhibit c is the quesadilla. we chose to order it without chicken (~$13), so basically we paid $8 for a tortilla with melted cheese inside. we thought there would at least be tomatoes or jalapenos or something extra than what we could create in a microwave in 30 seconds. not so much. the salsa was tasty, though.

bottom line: if you've got a hankerin' for some chicken, hit up the silver spring house. just expect that other people had the same idea.

butter art

i just thought this was cute. why can't there be more butter art? (i mean, besides big butter christ on I-75)

break out your blowtorch

i'm on a martha stewart kick, and i like desserts that involve fire. my friend elisa, an accomplished baker, adapted this martha stewart recipe to make a s'mores cake, using a springform pan. (when she sent me the email with the recipe link, she wrote "Ok, so I didn't know that "she" had anything to do with it!")

mountains of marshmellow-y goodness, slightly runny because of the heat

elisa is from minnesota, so no pansy williams-sonoma kitchen torch for her. this is a hardware store version, directly from her dad's garage. besides flaming marshmellow on s'mores cakes, it also comes in handy for soldering pipes.
we each got to toast our own marshmellow to desired browness. mmm....campfire flavor on a plate!

gangsters and chili

in the 1930s and on into the 50s, newport was a haven for gambling and gangsters. dixie chili has seen it all. founded in 1929 by greek immigrant nicholas sarakatsannis, it is the second oldest cincinnati-style chili parlor in the area behind empress.

today brian and i ventured to newport for the historical walking tour and also stopped for some of the historic chili. dixie chili has the typical chili parlor decor and menu, with a few creative twists, like a juke box and "the alligator". i was kind of intrigued by the alligator, a hot dog with a pickle, cheese and mayo (i would get it without mayo, of course), but decided to stick with chili cheese sandwiches, sans onions.

the chili at dixie is thicker, heartier, with more complex flavoring than skyline. it was pretty darn good, although i thought it could have used a little salt. i think next time i would get it with onions. onions would really add to the overall sandwich taste. brian also enjoyed it, but did not like it more than skyline. i thought it tasted fresher than skyline, and therefore was more appealing.we got a little german flag to mark us as waiting for waffle fries. i'm not sure if there's an association, like german flags symbolize waffle fries and the greek flag maybe a 3-way. but i doubt it's that complex of a system.

the tour was full of interesting tidbits of newport's history. among other tales of mayhem and murder, we learned the brass ass (brian's most favorite strip club experience ever. it still makes his skin crawl.) used to be called the stardust, mimicking the casino in vegas. note the star still shining on the facade.

for martha, wherever i may find her

whatever happened to martha stewart? it seemed for a time she was an empress rivaling cleopatra in notoriety. she and john lennon could have shared in being more popular than jesus, as martha had an army of stepford-wife disciples behind her.

so what happened? why did we fall out of love with martha?

was it the jail time? the realization by the public that good things take a crack team, including employees with the actual job title "crafter", to accomplish? the rise of carrie bradshaw as the new feminine prototype?

i was looking through some old papers and i found a poem i wrote for an undergrad creative writing class. this was the late 90s, at the height of martha stewart frenzy. i post it for fun, not for judgement. poetry never was my strong suite.

Martha Stewart Sleeps In

Yesterday
I overslept
My alarm clock
Never
Went off
And when I woke
The world was
Different
No one's watch
Gave the same time
And on some
The time moved
Forward
And on others
Backward
I tried to have
Breakfast
But it was time for
Dinner
I started to
Panic
And called work
To see where
I should be
But there was
No answer
I asked everyone
What time it was
But no one seemed
To know
I turned on the TV
And I only saw
Static
I cried and wandered
Aimlessly
Waiting for the
Sun
To go down
Then I saw
My Backyard
Had filled with huge
Blue flowers
And People were running
Through them
Laughing
Because they were
Free

i can't wait for this movie

julie & julia.

it's everything i dream of in a movie, and everything my husband dreads. he looked terrified when we saw the preview yesterday and made a point of telling me he wasn't going to see it.

meryl streep as julia child? inspired. amy adams? adorable. story based on a blog about food? yay!

you know where i'll be august 7.