In finalizing this “Lessons Learned” arc of blog posts, I wanted to end where I grew up:  Ohio.  Blame it on time, as well as changing perspectives and needs in life, but these five were a lot harder for me to come up with than the ones for Oregon and Colorado.  Don’t get me wrong, though–I loved the surroundings I grew up in, and have a lot of family who love living in Ohio still.

So, without further ado, here are the five lessons learned from living in (and growing up in) Ohio.

LESSON 1:  Lake Erie is pretty impressive

I did live in a lot of different places in Ohio, usually near farms.  My Dad and Mom (OK, stepmom, just so you don’t get confused) always lived near Lake Erie, though.  As one of the five Great Lakes, it’s obviously a huge body of water with a large shoreline.  As a kid, I loved going across the bridge that takes you over Sandusky Bay, which is off Lake Erie, out to Marblehead.  When you’re in Marblehead, you can check out the lighthouse there and just get this really magnificent view of the Lake.  You can spot some of the islands from the shore, too, weather permitting.

Actually, I still love taking that drive across the bridge, and my wife and I went across it one time when visiting back in Ohio.  It was fun to see how amazed she was at such a big, fresh body of water–and how darned cold it was at the time we were there.  The boys had a good time looking out on the lake too when we went back more recently, even if it was a pretty wicked cold, wet day.

You can also enjoy a view of Lake Erie from my next lesson learned/great things about Ohio item:  Cedar Point.

LESSON 2:  Cedar Point is a wonderland for roller coaster enthusiasts

Ah, where can I start with a place that bills itself as “The Roller Coaster Capital of the World”?  My family visited there many times when I was little.  I remember lots of waiting in line for rides; I also remember the pain-in-the-butt hikes back to the front of the park to eat lunch in the pavilions there.  Even those many years ago, it wasn’t cheap to go to Cedar Point, so it wasn’t a regular thing, but it was fun.

For those unfamiliar with Cedar Point, it has LOTS of roller coasters.  I still remember when the Magnum XL-200 was built, and that was a scary high ride at the time.  Now, it’s been eclipsed by many other rides (I’d include both Top Speed Dragster and Millennium Force in there).  If you enjoy riding roller coasters, with the variety in size, style, and speed, you’ll probably like Cedar Point as much as I did.

Roller coasters aren’t the only thing there, though.  There are water rides, some of which get you SOAKED.  Thunder Canyon was one we rode frequently and I’m happy to report it’s still operating.  There is this myth that, on the tub/seat thingy you ride on, there’s always one seat that stays dry.  I don’t know if that’s true 100% of the time, but I do remember riding at least three times in a row and one person in my family not getting wet each time.  If you aren’t that lucky, though, you get to enjoy a cold, soaking waterfall or two.

I actually worked at Cedar Point, in a food stand, for a couple summers while going to college.  One of the nice side benefits of that was the rare Ride Night, where you’d get to join all the other employees in going to ride the one roller coaster they left open for us.  After a day of grease, salted pretzels, elephant ears, hot dogs, and soda, being able to whip through a ride 3 times within half an hour felt awesome.

LESSON 3:  The seasons change in beautiful, distinct ways

I didn’t realize, until living in different places in the U.S., that the changing of the seasons isn’t a universal phenomena.  Ohio, in particular, has a significant difference between winter, spring, summer, and fall:

1. Winter:  All the trees as you look around are skeletal, having lost their leaves.  There are a lot of dark days, and they’re definitely short.  The snow seems permanent from fall through spring and just becomes this packed down mass as you walk or drive over it.
2. Spring:  The trees begin to burst with fresh leaves, and birds are all over as they come back from their migrations south.  Insect noises buzz through the air, and there’s part of the time when the ground squelches beneath your feet as it’s drinking in the moisture from winter.
3. Summer:  All around you are bright greens from the trees being in full bloom, the bushes and plants are in their full brilliance, too.  The sun just bakes into you during the long days.
4. Fall:  There’s a chill in the air, and all the leaves start turning red, orange, and yellow as they fall off the trees.  Kids get to jump in leaf piles even as they bundle up in the colder air.

Sure, Colorado has some seasonal transition too.  Because they have a lot more evergreen trees, you don’t see as much color change or blooming in the fall and spring, respectively.  The transition to winter feels more like a sharp cutoff between warm and freezing, and spring is simply, “Yup, we had some warm days, and now they’re more frequent.”  Oregon has the transition to fall with leaves changing color, and back to spring with lots of things blossoming.  Temperature-wise, though, it’s just four months of sunny and warm switching to eight months of cold and rainy.  Ohio wins on this point, then, from my biased opinion.

LESSON 4:  Deciduous forests (oh my gosh, trees with leaves!)

As indicated in the previous lesson, Ohio has lots of deciduous trees and forests.  I’ve run in them, played in them, and just walked through them enjoying nature.  Those were some of my favorite moments from when I was a kid.  From buckeye trees to tulip trees, beeches to oaks, there was so much variety to explore.  Evergreen forests that dominated in other places, then, have always seemed–well, boring to me. Sorry, Colorado.

LESSON 5:  You’re less likely to get eaten there

A nice little benefit to the woods in Ohio versus other places:  There aren’t major predators in them.  In Oregon, you can run into bears and mountain lions, though the likelihood depends on where you live.  Colorado also had bears and mountain lions, and I’ve known a lot of people who have run into one or the other.

Ohio, in contrast, didn’t have bears where I lived, though there are some in the state now.  Mountain lions definitely weren’t there.  The only predator of size you’d typically see would be a bobcat or coyote, which avoid interaction with humans.  Not having to be concerned about something that might maul you or eat you makes it much easier to enjoy being out in nature 🙂

LESSONS FOR OHIO COMPLETED

Those are my lessons for Ohio, as colored by a kid’s perspective and the years in between.  There are many more things to enjoy about Ohio (and Oregon and Colorado) than I’ve written in these blog posts.  Everyone will find different things that stand out as “the best things” for them in each state.

Wherever you live, I hope that you’ve found lots of things you can enjoy.  If not, go explore all the other wonderful places in the world and find what hits your hot button.  Until next time!

THIS POST’S PROJECT

When I hear “bundt cake”, it strikes up images of people exchanging recipes and baked goods back in the 50s and 60s.  Blame that on seeing them in my Mom’s old cookbooks.  You can also blame that on not seeing a lot of bundt cakes nowadays.  However, find the right recipe for a bundt cake, and they’re wonderful.

Such was the case for this week’s project:  Chocolate bundt cake, from the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book.

THE SETUP

A common concept in cooking is “mise en place”, which is generally translated as “everything in its place”.  It’s a concept I learned about recently, so I figured, let’s give it a shot.  The picture below shows all the ingredients prepped and in place so I could begin making the cake.

Organizing things like this helped me step through the recipe more quickly, as the ingredients were ready at hand.  It also avoided confusion of what I had put in and what I hadn’t.  While it takes a bit to get completed, I liked this concept and will try to use it again in the future.

PUTTING THINGS TOGETHER

The cookbook called for a special mixing to coat the bundt pan and allow the cake to release.  After mixing it up, I “painted” the inside of the pan with the pastry brush.  Here’s how that came out:

The Prepared Bundt Pan for the Chocolate Bundt Cake

It took a while to mix the ingredients together into their different groups, and then mix those different groups together in the right order in the stand mixer.  That being said, the mise en place approach made it easier and it did go (somewhat) smoothly.  The final batter looked like this:

Chocolate Bundt Cake Batter

The batter looked delicious.  As you can tell, it had eggs in it, but I had to try it (kids, don’t try that at home).  It tasted as good as it looked.

Into the pan the batter went, filling it very high up (glad I brushed the pan so well!).  Then, into the oven and, unfortunately, looking around and realizing how much of a mess I’d made.

THE RESULTS

You don’t get to flip the cake right away when it comes out of the oven; it has to sit first.  Impatience in hand, once the sitting was done, I flipped the pan.  After a moment of hesitation, the cake released from the pan and looked great.

The Finished Product

Of course, the outside could look great and the inside look a mess.  So with a couple cuts came the moment of truth.

A Cut of Chocolate Bundt Cake

It looked awesome.  In my initial taste test, it was great:  Slightly dry outside, but with a moist and chocolate crumb.  Our oldest tried it and loved it, and has had quite a few bites since.  The wife said it was almost like a fudge on the inside, which was definitely meant as a compliment.  Overall, it was all thumbs up, with a request out to make it again.

* To give credit where it is due, the image of Ohio’s outline at the top of this post is from 50states.com.  It was free and I’m cheap, so it was the perfect match.